[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 708 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 708

 To require the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in 
 Mendocino National Forest, California, to provide for the use of the 
  proceeds from such conveyance for National Forest purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2003

  Mr. Thompson of California introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in 
 Mendocino National Forest, California, to provide for the use of the 
  proceeds from such conveyance for National Forest purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LAND CONVEYANCE, FARAWAY RANCH, MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, 
              CALIFORNIA.

    (a) Conveyance Required.--Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall convey to the owner of the property known as the 
Faraway Ranch in Lake County, California (in this section referred to 
as the ``recipient''), by quitclaim deed, all right, title, and 
interest of the United States in and to the following National Forest 
System lands in Mendocino National Forest in Lake County, California:
            (1) ``Faraway Ranch, Tract 39'' (approximately 15.8 acres), 
        consisting of a portion of lot 6 of section 4, township 18 
        north, range 10 west, Mount Diablo base and meridian, as 
        generally depicted on the map entitled ``Faraway Ranch, Tracts 
        39 and 40'' and dated June 30, 2002.
            (2) ``Faraway Ranch, Tract 40'' (approximately 105.1 acres) 
        consisting of a portion of the N1/2SW1/4 and lot 7 of section 
        4, and a portion of lots 15 and 16 of section 5, township 18 
        north, range 10 west, Mount Diablo base and meridian, as 
        generally depicted on the map referred to in paragraph (1).
    (b) Time for Conveyance.--The Secretary shall make the conveyance 
under subsection (a) not later than 120 days after the date on which 
the recipient deposits sufficient funds with the Bureau of Land 
Management, California State Office, Branch of Geographic Services, to 
cover survey work costs and with the Forest Service, Mendocino National 
Forest, to cover Forest Service direct transaction costs described in 
subsection (e).
    (c) Corrections.--With the agreement of the recipient, the 
Secretary may make minor corrections to the legal descriptions and map 
of the lands to be conveyed pursuant to this section.
    (d) Consideration.--As consideration for the conveyance under 
subsection (a), the recipient shall pay to the Secretary an amount 
equal to the fair market value of the National Forest System lands 
conveyed under such subsection. The fair market value of such lands 
shall be determined by an appraisal that is acceptable to the Secretary 
and conforms with the Federal appraisal standards, as defined in the 
Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions developed by 
the Interagency Land Acquisition Conference.
    (e) Payment of Costs.--All direct transaction costs associated with 
the conveyance under section (a), including the costs of appraisal, 
title, and survey work, shall be paid by the recipient.
    (f) Use of Proceeds.--
            (1) Deposit.--The Secretary shall deposit the amounts 
        received by the Secretary as consideration under subsection (d) 
        in the fund established by Public Law 90-171 (commonly known as 
        the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C. 484a).
            (2) Use.--Funds deposited under paragraph (1) shall be 
        available to the Secretary until expended, without further 
        appropriation--
                    (A) for the acquisition of land and interests in 
                land for National Forest System purposes in the State 
                of California; and
                    (B) for reimbursement of costs incurred by the 
                Forest Service in making the conveyance under 
                subsection (a).
            (3) Status of acquired land.--Notwithstanding Public Law 
        85-862 (16 U.S.C. 521a), any lands acquired under paragraph 
        (2)(A) shall be managed as lands acquired under the Act of 
        March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C. 480, 
        500, 515 et seq.), regardless of whether any of the lands 
        conveyed under subsection (a) were reserved from the public 
        domain.
    (g) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, the lands to be 
conveyed under subsection (a) are hereby withdrawn from all forms of 
location, entry, and patent under the public land laws and the mining 
and mineral leasing laws of the United States.
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