[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H11794-H11796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST LAND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1995

  Mr. COOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 207) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into 
a land exchange involving the Cleveland National Forest, California, 
and to require a boundary adjustment for the national forest to reflect 
the land exchange, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 207

       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 ``Cleveland National Forest 
     Land Exchange Act of 1995''.

     SEC. 2. LAND EXCHANGE, CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA.

       (a) Conveyance by the Secretary of Agriculture.--
       (1) Conveyance.--In exchange for the conveyance described 
     in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter 
     referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall convey to the Orange 
     County Council of the Boy Scouts of America all right, title, 
     and interest of the United States in and to the parcel of 
     land described in paragraph (2) located in the Cleveland 
     National Forest. The parcel conveyed by the Secretary shall 
     be subject to valid existing rights and to any easements that 
     the Secretary considers necessary for public and 
     administrative access.
       (2) Description of parcel.--The parcel of land referred to 
     in paragraph (1) consists of not more than 60 acres of land 
     in Section 28, Township 9 South, Range 4 East, San Bernardino 
     Meridian, in the unincorporated territory of San Diego 
     County, California.
       (b) Conveyance by the Boy Scouts of America.--
       (1) Conveyance.--In exchange for the conveyance described 
     in subsection (a), the Orange County Council of the Boy 
     Scouts of America shall convey to the United States all 
     right, title, and interest to the parcel of land described in 
     paragraph (2). The parcel conveyed under this subsection 
     shall be subject to such valid existing rights of record as 
     may be acceptable to the Secretary, and the title to the 
     parcel shall conform with the title approval standards 
     applicable to Federal land acquisitions.
       (2) Description of parcel.--The parcel of land referred to 
     in paragraph (1) shall be approximately equal in value to the 
     lands described in subsection (a)(2) and shall be at least 
     the Southerly 94 acres of the Westerly \1/2\ of Section 34, 
     Township 9 South, Range 4 East, San Bernardino Meridian, in 
     the unincorporated territory of San Diego County, California.
       (c) Boundary Adjustment.--Upon the completion of the land 
     exchange authorized under this section, the Secretary shall 
     adjust the boundaries of the Cleveland National Forest to 
     exclude the parcel conveyed by the Secretary under subsection 
     (a) and to include the parcel obtained by the Secretary under 
     subsection (b). For purposes of section 7 of the Land and 
     Water Conservation Fund Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 460l-9), the 
     boundary of the Cleveland National Forest, as modified by 
     this Act, shall be considered the boundary of the forest as 
     of January 1, 1965.
       (d) Incorporation Into Cleveland National Forest.--Upon 
     acceptance of title by the Secretary, the parcel obtained by 
     the Secretary under subsection (b) shall become part of the 
     Cleveland National Forest and shall be subject to all laws 
     applicable to such national forest.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon [Mr. Cooley] and the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Richardson] 
will be recognized for 20 minutes each.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. Cooley].
  Mr. COOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. COOLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. COOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 207, sponsored by 
Mr. Cox, which would clear up a problem between the Boy Scouts and the 
Cleveland National Forest. The Lost Valley 

[[Page H 11795]]
Scout Reservation, located in a remote area of northern San Diego 
County and bordered by the Cleveland National Forest, is the principal 
summer camp for the 80,000 youth now served annually by the Orange 
County Council of the Boy Scouts of America. This 1,400-acre property 
was acquired by the council in 1956 through deeds based on an 1880 
survey.
  In 1987, the Forest Service surveyed the shared boundaries, and 
finding the 1880 surveys to be inaccurate, discovered a number of 
encroachments on Forest Service land. These included permanent 
buildings, a year-round residence, an unauthorized road, and buried 
water and electrical lines. The land is also heavily impacted by Scout 
use, as it lies between two camp activity centers.
  The bill would authorize the exchange of the 43 acres of the 
Cleveland National Forest presently encroached upon or heavily impacted 
by the Lost Valley Scout Reservation for 94 acres now owned by the 
council.
  H.R. 207 is noncontroversial and was reported favorably by the House 
Resources Committee by voice vote. I commend the sponsor for his work 
on this measure and urge the Members of the House to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, we will be supporting this bill. This is 
a good piece of legislation. I think, as the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. 
Cooley] explained, the Lost Valley Scout Reservation in California was 
built according to an 1880 survey. In 1987, a survey conducted by the 
Forest Service found that the Boy Scouts had encroached onto Cleveland 
National Forest in several locations. These locations include a year-
round residence, an unauthorized road, and buried electrical and water 
lines.
  Further, the land has been heavily impacted from Boy Scout use. This 
bill would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange the 
encroached land to the Boy Scouts for land owned by the Scouts 
elsewhere in Orange County.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this transfer which will allow the Orange 
County Council of Boy Scouts of America to use this land unencumbered 
for years to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I am always pleased to pass good legislation that 
benefits the gentleman from California [Mr. Cox], the Boy Scouts, and 
does away with unneeded bureaucracy.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Cox], the author of this legislation.
  Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, the 
gentleman from Oregon [Mr. Cooley] and the gentleman from New Mexico 
[Mr. Richardson], for the kind words that they have just spoken in 
behalf of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, it should not take an act of Congress for kids to go to 
summer camp, but that really is what this bill is going to facilitate. 
For several years, the facilities used by up to 10,000 Boy Scouts in 
the Orange County area have been deteriorating. They have been unable 
to build improvements on their land because a master plan cannot be 
approved by San Diego County until this boundary dispute, which as the 
gentleman states goes back to 1880, is resolved.
  Mr. Speaker, like good neighbors, the Boy Scouts who discovered this 
problem with their property some 30 years after acquiring it from the 
Federal Government, worked with the Forest Service in good neighborly 
fashion to resolve it and they have now done so.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like especially to take a moment to thank Mike 
Harrison, Kent Gibbs, and Craig Reide of the Orange County Council of 
the Boy Scouts of America for the extraordinary work they have done in 
getting this bill this close to passage. I am also grateful to the 
gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen] and other members of the Subcommittee 
on National Parks, Forests and Lands.
  Mr. Speaker, I first introduced this bill in 1992, along with 
California Senator John Seymour. It has taken us a great deal of hard 
work and effort to get to this point. Instrumental in our success was 
the work of my colleague, the gentleman from southern California [Mr. 
Calvert], who also authored this legislation with me, and who has 
worked tirelessly to make certain that Members of this body recognize 
the special urgency of this legislation. While the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Calvert] wanted to be here to mark the passage of this 
legislation, he has been unavoidably detained off the Hill.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 207 may not be the most significant piece of 
legislation that this Congress considers, but it will have an 
immediate, tangible, and lasting positive impact on the lives of the 
thousands of Boy Scouts who spend their summers at the Lost Valley 
Scout Reservation.
  H.R. 207 is the legislative route to implement the agreement that has 
been reached by the Boy Scouts and the Federal Government. Under the 
bill, up to 60 acres of the Cleveland National Forest presently 
encroached upon or heavily impacted by the Lost Valley Scout 
Reservation will be exchanged for 94 acres now owned by the Boy Scouts. 
The 94 acres of land do border the existing national forest and will 
expand the size of the Cleveland National Forest. Additionally, the Boy 
Scouts have agreed, at their own expense, to pay for new surveys and 
place monuments which will clearly mark the new boundaries.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 207 is supported by the Forest Service, which 
testified earlier this year that enactment of this legislation will 
``benefit the management of the National Forests by solving boundary, 
encroachment issues.''
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I cannot stress enough the special 
urgency of this legislation. The county of San Diego has denied 
building permits for needed improvements at Lost Valley Scout 
Reservation, pending a master land use plan as I have mentioned. That 
master land use plan depends on passage of this bill. For all of these 
reasons, time is of the essence.
  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that the leadership of this Congress has 
made passage of H.R. 207 a priority and I urge my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to join with me in supporting a bill that is good 
for our national parks, good for the Federal Government, and good for 
the Boy Scouts and good for about 10,000 campers.
  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, today we will have the opportunity to bring 
an ongoing boundary issue to rest. H.R. 207, introduced by my 
colleague, Congressman Cox, is long overdue and reinforces the 
Republican-led Congress' commitment to the concerns of ordinary 
citizens.
  As a former Boy Scout myself, I understand the importance of the Lost 
Valley Scout Reservation to the tens of thousands of young people in 
southern California served by the facility since 1954. In 1987, the 
U.S. Forest Service conducted a border survey and found that a small 
portion of land in use by the Boy Scouts was actually on Federal land. 
Since that time, the camp has been denied permits by the county of San 
Diego to make necessary repairs to the facility until the property 
rights issue was resolved.
  This no-nonsense legislation simply exchanges land between the Forest 
Service and the Boy Scouts. As simple as that may sound, it has taken a 
considerable amount of time for the bill to be considered. It was first 
introduced in 1992, but no action was taken by the Democrat-controlled 
Congress. It was again introduced in the 103d Congress, but efforts 
were stalled by the Clinton administration's refusal to issue an 
official Forest Service opinion.
  I applaud Congressman Cox for his tenacity and commitment to our 
young people. I urge all of my colleagues to put aside petty politics 
and support the Cleveland National Forest land exchange.
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 207 as introduced 
by my esteemed colleague from California [Mr. Cox]. This is a matter of 
importance to my district and with that in mind I ask for passage of 
this bill.
  Time is of the essence in this case. The county of San Diego has 
decided to disallow all building permits on the Lost Valley Scout 
Reservation until a master land plan is approved. This approval cannot 
come until this boundary dispute is resolved.

[[Page H 11796]]

  Lost Valley needs building permits now. The scout population at Lost 
Valley has increased 150 percent in just the past 3 years. As a result, 
repairs, and capital improvements must quickly commence. The 
Reservation is in dire need of 18 new staff cabins and a new dinning 
hall. In fact, the local health department has only allowed the 
existing dining hall's continued operation with the understanding that 
it will be replaced in the near future.
  This bill is a fair settlement to end this boundary dispute and I 
urge its passage.
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, as I stated, I strongly support this 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Cox] for introducing this legislation. I think it is a 
very worthy cause, and I urge my colleagues also to support this.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shays). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. Cooley] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 207, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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