[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.
<all>