[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3232-H3233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RAGGEDS WILDERNESS, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT

  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1019) to provide for a boundary adjustment and land 
conveyance involving the Raggeds Wilderness, White River National 
Forest, CO, to correct the effects of earlier erroneous land surveys.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1019

       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 gentlewoman from 
Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] and the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. 
Faleomavaega] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth].
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mrs. CHENOWETH asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1019 provides for a boundary 
adjustment and land conveyance involving the Raggeds Wilderness, White 
River National Forest in Colorado, to correct the effects of earlier 
erroneous land surveys. This bill is identical to legislation which 
passed within the House of Representatives last year by voice vote. 
However, the legislation was not acted upon by the Senate prior to the 
conclusion of the 104th Congress.
  In 1993, following a boundary survey, the White River National Forest 
discovered an encroachment into the

[[Page H3233]]

Raggeds Wilderness area just west of the town of Marble in Colorado. 
The encroachment consists of approximately 400 feet of power line and 
400 feet of road. In addition, portions of four subdivision lots extend 
into this 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 Bureau of Land Management/Forest Service surveys found that the 
original survey of the Crystal Meadows subdivision was erroneous. 
Although less than 1 acre is affected, the Forest Service cannot settle 
the matter under the authority of the Small Tracts Act because the 
lands in question are within the Raggeds Wilderness. The wilderness 
boundary may only be modified by an act of Congress.
  H.R. 1019 follows the guidelines established by the Small Tracts Act, 
Public Law 97-465. The bill is noncontroversial, Mr. Speaker, and I 
urge its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, this is the first of four national 
forest bills on the floor today which are sponsored by our Republican 
members. Along with other Democratic members of the Committee on 
Resources, I am pleased to support this legislation introduced by the 
gentleman from Colorado. This bill would correct an erroneous land 
survey which has resulted in the encroachment of 1 acre of private land 
on the Raggeds Wilderness area in the White River National Forest. The 
legislation is without controversy, and it is supported by the 
administration. A similar bill passed the House in the last Congress. I 
urge my colleagues to support the legislation of the gentleman from 
Colorado [Mr. McInnis].
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Colorado [Mr. McInnis].
  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1019. 
I would also like to comment briefly on H.R. 1020, but prior to that I 
want to thank the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young] and the gentlewoman 
from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth], subcommittee chairman, for rapidly moving 
this legislation forward. I would also like to thank the gentleman from 
American Samoa for his courtesies and support in regard to H.R. 1019.
  Briefly on H.R. 1020, that is also a noncontroversial issue and ties 
into this. It adjusts the boundary of the White River National Forest 
to include all the National Forest System Lands within Summit County, 
CO, which are currently part of the Arapaho National Forest, being the 
Dillon Ranger District. The White River National Forest has 
administered these lands for a number of years. Therefore, the 
inclusion of the Dillon Ranger District within the White River National 
Forest will more accurately depict the administration of these lands. 
Furthermore, the inclusion should reduce confusion within the general 
public as to who administers the Dillon Ranger District. The 
legislation will not alter the current distribution of forest receipts 
to the affected county governments. I urge my colleagues to support 
this legislation and again H.R. 1019, once again expressing my 
appreciation.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Massachusetts [Mr. Delahunt], my good friend, who unfortunately, 
because of a traffic jam, was unable to deliver his statements in 
support of the previous legislation.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of House Resolution 
1019 offered by the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis], and I 
support that and I commend his efforts. I would also like to speak, Mr. 
Speaker, to House bill 1420.
  Mr. Speaker, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the first 
wildlife refuge in Florida 94 years ago, he could have hardly imagined 
a national system of 500 refuges covering 93 million acres. Today we 
have an opportunity to make a genuine contribution to this remarkable 
legacy of wildlife conservation and management.
  It is in that spirit that I do support enthusiastically House 
Resolution 1420, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 
1997. The chairman and ranking member have worked together to craft a 
bill for consideration by the full House that fulfills the conservation 
objective and ensures the future biological integrity of our refuge.
  Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased to offer my support of this 
legislation because of the important role in building that legacy 
played by my predecessor in this Chamber, former Congressman Gerry 
Studds. As chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 
Mr. Studds fought tenaciously for species large and small, beautiful 
and not so beautiful, endangered and common alike. Legacies are not 
historical relics. Like the species that inhabit our refuge, they 
survive only if they prosper and evolve.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill before us explicitly encourages the Fish and 
Wildlife Service to pursue partnerships with local communities, States, 
private and nonprofit groups. It is precisely such a partnership that 
has characterized our progress toward one of the newest additions to 
the refuge system in Mashpee on Cape Cod, home to over 180 migratory 
fish and bird species.
  Like so many others across the country, the Mashpee Refuge has value 
even beyond its statutory objectives, in this case in safeguarding the 
quality and quantity of the area's fragile water resources. This 
imperative has become particularly acute with recent findings that 
pollution emanating from a nearby military reservation is seriously 
contaminating groundwater and jeopardizing future drinking water 
supplies.
  For all these reasons, I can think of no better way to honor the work 
of Mr. Studds and others who have advanced these objectives than to 
fulfill the Federal commitment by completing acquisition of the final 
325-acre tract of the Mashpee Refuge, and to enact H.R. 420 into law.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill draws on historic bipartisan support for the 
basic mission of the refuge system and makes adjustments that keep this 
refuge system alive and viable, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
helping the House to pass it.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts [Mr. Delahunt] for his fine statements.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers at this time, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1019.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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