[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H9966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               GUNNISON COUNTY, COLORADO, LAND CONVEYANCE

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2438) to provide for the conveyance of lands to certain 
individuals in Gunnison County, CO, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2438

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

     SECTION 1. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT AND LAND CONVEYANCE, RAGGEDS 
                   WILDERNESS, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST, 
                   COLORADO.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       (1) Certain landowners in Gunnison County, Colorado, who 
     own real property adjacent to the portion of the Raggeds 
     Wilderness in the White River National Forest, Colorado, have 
     occupied or improved their property in good faith and in 
     reliance on erroneous surveys of their properties that the 
     landowners reasonably believed were accurate.
       (2) In 1993, a Forest Service resurvey of the Raggeds 
     Wilderness established accurate boundaries between the 
     wilderness area and adjacent private lands.
       (3) The resurvey indicated that a small portion of the 
     Raggeds Wilderness is occupied by adjacent landowners on the 
     basis of the earlier erroneous land surveys.
       (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to remove 
     from the boundaries of the Raggeds Wilderness certain real 
     property so as to permit the Secretary of Agriculture to use 
     the authority of Public Law 97-465 (commonly known as the 
     Small Tracts Act; 16 U.S.C. 521c-521i) to convey the property 
     to the landowners who occupied the property on the basis of 
     erroneous land surveys.
       (c) Boundary Adjustment.--The boundary of the Raggeds 
     Wilderness, Gunnison and White River National Forests, 
     Colorado, as designated by section 102(a)(16) of Public Law 
     96-560 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note), is hereby modified to exclude 
     from the area encompassed by the wilderness a parcel of real 
     property approximately 0.86-acres in size situated in the 
     SW\1/4\ of the NE\1/4\ of Section 28, Township 11 South, 
     Range 88 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, as depicted on 
     the map entitled ``Encroachment-Raggeds Wilderness'', dated 
     November 17, 1993. Such map shall be on file and available 
     for inspection in the appropriate offices of the United 
     States Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
       (d) Conveyance of Land Removed From Wilderness Area.--The 
     Secretary of Agriculture shall use the authority provided by 
     Public Law 97-465 (commonly known as the Small Tracts Act; 16 
     U.S.C. 521C-521i) to convey all right, title, and interest of 
     the United States in and to the real property excluded from 
     the boundaries of the Raggeds Wilderness under subsection (c) 
     to those owners of real property in Gunnison County, 
     Colorado, whose real property adjoins the excluded lands and 
     who have occupied the excluded lands in good faith reliance 
     on an erroneous survey.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Doolittle] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Miller] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle].
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2438, 
introduced by Mr. McInnis of Colorado. H.R. 2438 corrects an 
encroachment into the Raggeds Wilderness on the White River National 
Forest, just west of the Town of Marble, CO. The encroachment, 
discovered in 1993 following a new boundary survey, consists of 
approximately 400 feet of power line and 450 feet of road. In addition, 
portions of four subdivision lots extend into the wilderness. The road 
is a county road and provides the sole legal access to the four lots. 
The entire encroachment is less than 1 acre of land.
  The land in question does not have any wilderness characteristics. 
This land was used as it is today for 23 years before Congress 
designated the Raggeds Wilderness in 1982. Although only 0.86 acres is 
affected, the Forest Service cannot settle the matter under authority 
of the Small Tracts Act because the lands in question are within the 
Raggeds Wilderness.
  H.R. 2438 adjusts the wilderness boundary to exclude the 0.86 acres 
from the wilderness area, and, as amended in the Subcommittee on 
National Parks, Forests and Lands, it directs the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey the affected lands to the landowners under the 
authority of the Small Tracts Act.
  I urge the Members of the House to support H.R. 2438, so that the 
Forest Service will have the authority it needs to complete this minor 
land adjustment.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no objection to the consideration of this 
measure. The bill was amended by the Committee on Resources to require 
that land transfers should be made pursuant to the Small Tracts Act, 
thereby protecting the public interest in this land transfer.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2238 deletes approximately 1 acre from the Raggeds 
Wilderness and authorizes the transfer of this land to the adjacent 
private landowners who thought the land was theirs based on erroneous 
private surveys.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2438, 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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