[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 82 (Friday, June 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          ARIZONA WILDERNESS LAND TITLE RESOLUTION ACT OF 1994

  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 445, S. 1233, 
relating to a land claim dispute in Arizona; that the committee 
amendments be agreed to; that the bill be read a third time, and 
passed; that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and, that 
any statements appear at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  So the bill (S. 1233) was deemed read for a third time, and passed, 
as follows:

                                S. 1233

       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 ``Arizona Wilderness Land 
     Title Resolution Act of 1994''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the Act entitled ``An Act granting Lands to aid in the 
     Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the States 
     of Missouri and Arkansas to the Pacific Coast'', approved 
     July 27, 1866 (14 Stat. 292), granted a right-of-way in 
     Arizona to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, 
     together with certain alternate sections of public lands on 
     both sides of the right-of-way;
       (2) patents were not issued to some of the lands in the 
     grant described in paragraph (1);
       (3) as successors in interest to the Atlantic and Pacific 
     Railroad Company, the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad, and Perrin 
     Properties, Inc., a California corporation--
       (A) claim rights to approximately 14,632.72 acres of the 
     lands described in paragraph (1), and
       (B) applied to the Secretary of the Interior for a patent 
     to the lands;
       (4) the Secretary of the Interior denied the application 
     for the patent, which was filed in the name of the Santa Fe 
     Railroad Company for the benefit of Perrin Properties, Inc., 
     on the ground that the claim had been extinguished by failure 
     to record the claim in accordance with the Act entitled ``An 
     Act to require the recordation of scrip, lieu selection, and 
     similar rights'', approved August 5, 1955 (69 Stat. 534; 43 
     U.S.C. 274 note) (commonly known as the ``Recordation Act'');
       (5) on appeal the United States Court of Appeals for the 
     District of Columbia Circuit ruled in Santa Fe Pacific 
     Railroad Company, et al. v. Secretary of the Interior, 830 
     F.2d 1168 (D.C. Cir. 1987), that such Act was not applicable 
     and did not bar the issuance of a patent;
       (6) ultimate resolution of the question of the title to the 
     14,632.72 acres may require years of additional litigation;
       (7) the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-406) 
     designated certain lands in the Prescott National Forest in 
     Arizona as components of the National Wilderness Preservation 
     System established by the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 
     seq.), including the Apache Creek Wilderness and the Juniper 
     Mesa Wilderness;
       (8) the 14,632.72 acres are in the Prescott National Forest 
     and comprise large portions of the Apache Creek and Juniper 
     Mesa Wilderness areas; and
       (9) if the 14,632.72 acres are patented to private owners, 
     the creation of a checkerboard ownership pattern over the 
     wilderness areas will effectively preclude management of the 
     areas as wilderness.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to resolve the status of the title to the approximately 
     14,632.72 acres in the Prescott National Forest described in 
     section 3(c);
       (2) to ensure that the lands are permanently retained in 
     Federal ownership; and
       (3) to preserve the integrity of the Apache Creek and 
     Juniper Mesa Wilderness areas consistent with the Arizona 
     Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-406).

     SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF STATUS OF LANDS.

       (a) Payment by the Secretary of the Treasury.--
       (1) Payment.--Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of 
     the Treasury shall pay to Perrin Properties, Inc., the sum of 
     $3,854,000 from the permanent judgment appropriation 
     established pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United 
     States Code.
       (2) Interest.--No funds shall be made available for the 
     payment of interest on the amounts payable under paragraph 
     (1).
       (b) Conditions of Payment.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall make the payment described in subsection (a) if the 
     Attorney General of the United States notifies the Secretary 
     of the Treasury that the appellants in Santa Fe Pacific 
     Railroad Company, et al. v. Secretary of the Interior, 830 
     F.2d 1168 (1987), and Perrin Properties, Inc., have executed 
     in forms satisfactory to the Attorney General all documents 
     necessary--
       (1) to dismiss with prejudice all litigation involving the 
     title to the lands described in subsection (c); and
       (2) to release and quitclaim to the United States all 
     right, title, and interest of the appellants and of Perrin 
     Properties, Inc., arising out of the Act entitled ``An Act 
     granting Lands to aid in the Construction of a Railroad and 
     Telegraph Line from the States of Missouri and Arkansas to 
     the Pacific Coast'', approved July 27, 1866 (14 Stat. 292), 
     in and to lands in the Prescott National Forest.
       (c) Description of Lands.--The lands described in this 
     subsection are the approximately 14,632.72 acres of land in 
     the Prescott National Forest in Arizona described in the 
     decision by the Interior Board of Land Appeals, Santa Fe 
     Pacific Railroad Co., No. 82-449, 72 IBLA 197 (April 19, 
     1983).
       (d) Management of Lands.--Upon the execution of documents 
     and dismissal of the litigation as described in subsection 
     (b), the lands described in subsection (c) shall be managed 
     in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations 
     pertaining to the National Forest System. Lands described in 
     subsection (c) that lie within the boundaries of a wilderness 
     area, as designated on or before the date of enactment of 
     this Act, shall also be managed in accordance with the 
     applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 
     et seq.).

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