[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3181 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3181

 To provide for the exchange of certain lands in the Arapaho-Roosevelt 
  National Forests in the State of Colorado with the Sugar Loaf Fire 
              Protection District, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2007

Mr. Udall of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the exchange of certain lands in the Arapaho-Roosevelt 
  National Forests in the State of Colorado with the Sugar Loaf Fire 
              Protection District, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests 
Land Exchange Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Since 1967, the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District, 
        located west of Boulder, Colorado, has owned and operated two 
        fire stations on National Forest System land pursuant to 
        special use permits issued by the Forest Service.
            (2) The Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District seeks ownership 
        of the land on which the fire stations are situated so that the 
        District can establish an area for fire fighter training, 
        install bathroom facilities in the stations, and expand the 
        stations in the future.
            (3) The National Forest System land containing the fire 
        stations consists of approximately 5.08 acres and are of 
        limited utility for public administration, recreation, or any 
        other use since the land has been occupied by the stations for 
        30 years.
            (4) The Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District owns a parcel 
        of non-Federal land consisting of approximately 5.17 acres that 
        the District is willing to convey to the United States in 
        exchange for the National Forest System land containing the 
        fire stations.
            (5) The non-Federal land offered by the Sugar Loaf Fire 
        Protection District, if conveyed to the United States, is 
        suitable for addition to the Arapaho-Roosevelt National 
        Forests, will eliminate an isolated inholding in the National 
        Forests, result in administrative cost savings to the United 
        States by reducing costs of forest boundary administration, and 
        provide the United States with environmental and public 
        recreational use benefits that greatly exceed the benefits of 
        the National Forest System land containing the fire stations.
            (6) It is in the public interest to direct, expedite, and 
        facilitate completion of a land exchange involving these 
        Federal and non-Federal lands to enable the Sugar Loaf Fire 
        Protection District to better provide fire protection services 
        for residents of the District, residents of neighboring 
        districts and persons who travel through the District on 
        Colorado Highway 119, and National Forest System land within or 
        adjacent to the District.

SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE, ARAPAHO-ROOSEVELT NATIONAL FORESTS, COLORADO.

    (a) Conveyance of Non-Federal Land.--The land exchange directed by 
this section shall proceed if, within 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District of 
Boulder, Colorado (in this section referred to as the ``District''), 
offers to convey title acceptable to the United States in and to a 
parcel of land consisting of approximately 5.17 acres located in 
unincorporated Boulder County, Colorado, between the communities of 
Boulder and Nederland, as depicted on a map entitled ``Non-Federal 
Lands--Hibernian Load'' and dated November, 2006.
    (b) Conveyance of Federal Land.--Upon receipt of acceptable title 
in and to the non-Federal lands identified in subsection (a), the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to the District all right, title, 
and interest of the United States in and to a parcel of National Forest 
System land within the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests, Colorado, 
consisting of approximately 5.08 acres, as generally depicted on maps 
entitled ``Sugar Loaf Federal Lands--Station 1'' and ``Sugar Loaf 
Federal Lands--Station 2'', and dated November 2006.
    (c) Appraisals.--The values of the non-Federal land identified in 
subsection (a) and the Federal lands identified in subsection (b) shall 
be determined by the Secretary through appraisals performed in 
accordance with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
Acquisitions (December 20, 2000) and the Uniform Standards of 
Professional Appraisal Practice. The encumbrance on the Federal land 
granted by subsection (g) before its conveyance shall not be considered 
for purposes of the appraisal of the land.
    (d) Valuation.--
            (1) Surplus of non-federal value.--If the final appraised 
        value, as approved by the Secretary, of the non-Federal lands 
        identified in subsection (a) exceeds the final appraised value, 
        as approved by the Secretary, of the Federal land identified in 
        subsection (b), the values may be equalized--
                    (A) by reducing the acreage of the non-Federal 
                lands to be conveyed, as determined appropriate and 
                acceptable by the Secretary and the District;
                    (B) by the Secretary making a cash equalization 
                payment to the District, including a cash equalization 
                payment in excess of the amount authorized by section 
                206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
                1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)); or
                    (C) by a combination of acreage reduction and cash 
                equalization payment.
            (2) Surplus of federal value.--If the final appraised 
        value, as approved by the Secretary, of the Federal land 
        identified in subsection (b) exceeds the final appraised value, 
        as approved by the Secretary, of the non-Federal lands 
        identified in subsection (a), and the Secretary declines to 
        accept the non-Federal lands because of inadequate appraised 
        value, the District shall make a cash equalization payment to 
        the Secretary in such amount as may be necessary to equalize 
        the values of the lands to be exchanged.
    (e) Exchange Costs.--As a condition on the land exchange under this 
section and in order to expedite the land exchange and to save 
administrative costs to the United States, the District shall be 
required to cover the costs of the following:
            (1) Any necessary land surveys of the Non-Federal land or 
        Federal land to be exchanged.
            (2) The appraisals under subsection (c).
    (f) Completion of Exchange.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
land exchange directed by this section should be completed not later 
than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (g) Interim Use of Federal Land.--Pending completion of the land 
exchange directed by this section, the District may commence 
modification of the fire stations located on the Federal land 
identified in subsection (b) without further action or authorization by 
the Secretary, except that, before initiating any construction in 
connection with the modifications, the District shall execute and 
submit to the Secretary a legal document that--
            (1) permanently holds the United States harmless for any 
        and all liability arising from the construction;
            (2) indemnifies the United States against any costs arising 
        from the United States' ownership of the Federal land and any 
        actions, operations, or other acts of the District or its 
        licensees, employees, or agents in undertaking the construction 
        or engaging in other acts on the Federal land before its 
        conveyance to the District.
    (h) Alternative Sale Authority.--If the land exchange directed by 
this section is not completed for any reason, the Secretary may sell 
the Federal land identified in subsection (b) to the District at its 
final appraised value, as determined under subsection (c).
    (i) Use of Proceeds.--Any consideration received under subsection 
(h) and any cash equalization payment received under subsection (d)(2) 
shall be deposited in the fund established by Public Law 90-171 
(commonly known as the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C. 484a). The amount so 
deposited shall be available to the Secretary, without further 
appropriation, for expenditure for the acquisition of land and 
interests in land for addition to the National Forest System in the 
State of Colorado.
    (j) Incorporation, Management, and Status of Acquired Land.--The 
non-Federal land identified in subsection (a) acquired by the United 
States in the land exchange shall become part of the Arapaho-Roosevelt 
National Forests, and the boundary of such national forests is 
modified, without further action by the Secretary, to incorporate the 
non-Federal land. Upon its acquisition, the land shall be administered 
in accordance with the laws generally applicable to the National Forest 
System. For purposes of section 7 of the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund Act of l965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-9), the boundaries of the Arapaho-
Roosevelt National Forests, as modified by this subsection, shall be 
deemed to be the boundaries of such national forests as of January 1, 
1965.
    (k) Technical Corrections.--The Secretary, with the agreement of 
the District, may make technical corrections or correct clerical errors 
in the maps referred to in this section or adjust the boundaries of the 
Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests to leave the United States with a 
manageable post-exchange or sale boundary. In the event of any 
discrepancy between a map, acreage estimate, or legal description, the 
map shall prevail unless the Secretary and the District agree 
otherwise.
    (l) Revocation of Orders and Withdrawal.--Any public orders 
withdrawing any of the Federal lands identified in subsection (b) from 
appropriation or disposal under the public land laws are hereby revoked 
to the extent necessary to permit conveyance of the Federal lands. If 
not already withdrawn or segregated from entry and appropriation under 
the public land laws, including the mining and mineral leasing laws and 
the Geothermal Steam Act of l970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Federal 
land is hereby withdrawn until the date of its conveyance to the 
District.
                                 <all>