[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2560-H2561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      JOHN R. AND MARGARET J. LOWE

  The Clerk called the bill (H.R. 510) to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to transfer to John R. and Margaret J. Lowe of Big Horn 
County, Wyoming, certain land so as to correct an error in the patent 
issued to their predecessors in interest.
  There being no objection, the Clerk read the bill as follows:

                                H.R. 510

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

     SECTION 1. TRANSFER OF LOWE FAMILY PROPERTY.

       (a) Conveyance.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
     Secretary of the Interior is directed to issue, without 
     consideration, a quitclaim deed to John R. and Margaret J. 
     Lowe of Big Horn County, Wyoming, to the land described in 
     subsection (b): Provided, That all minerals underlying such 
     land are hereby reserved to the United States.
       (b) Land Description.--The land referred to in subsection 
     (a) is the approximately 40-acre parcel located in the SW\1/
     4\SE\1/4\ of Section 11, Township 51 North, Range 96 West, 
     6th Principal Meridian, Wyoming.

  Mrs. CUBIN. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 509 and H.R. 510, as introduced in the 
House, mirror the bills introduced by Senators Mike Enzi and Craig 
Thomas that passed last year in the Senate by unanimous consent.
  The first bill, H.R. 509, transfers eighty acres of public land in 
Big Horn County, Wyoming, to the estate of Mr. Fred Steffens.
  The property outlined in the bill has been a part of the Steffens' 
family working farm since the land was purchased in 1928. Mr. Steffens 
was issued a warranty deed to the property by Mr. Frank McKinney, 
predecessor of interest.
  Unfortunately, Mr. McKinney knowingly had neither title to the 
property nor an assignable right of entry. However, the fact that Mr. 
McKinney did not own the land did not stop him from selling the 
property or issuing the warranty deed.
  In good faith, Mr. Steffens purchased the property and, according to 
the Big Horn County Assessor's office, paid taxes since the date of 
purchase in 1928.
  Upon Mr. Steffens' death, in an attempt to settle his estate, it was 
discovered that a patent had never been issued for these lands. Mr. 
Steffens' sister and representative of the estate filed a Color of 
Title application with the BLM's Wyoming state office, but the title 
was rejected.
  The reason given was that the lands at issue were, and continue to 
be, withdrawn by

[[Page H2561]]

the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for the Shoshone Reclamation Project. 
Regulations specifically preclude claims under the Color of Title Act 
when lands are withdrawn for Federal purposes.
  The only option to remedy this situation is to pass H.R. 509. Both 
the BOR and the BLM support the transfer of title to the Steffens' 
estate. The bill preserves the rights of the federal government to own 
the mineral interests and transfers the right, title and surface estate 
to the Steffens.
  Mr. Steffens' and his family occupied this property in good faith. I 
believe it's time for the issue to be resolved and ask my colleagues to 
favorably report the bill to the House floor.
  H.R. 510 is another bill that the BLM supports which transfers forty 
acres of public land in Big Horn County, Wyoming, to John and Margaret 
Lowe.
  Although there is a confusing history to this particular parcel, 
there is abundant evidence that the Lowe's claim to the land is 
justified.
  The latest evidence comes at the hand of a Big Horn County assessor 
who wrote that based on other entries in the county records, the legal 
description of the land being transferred by the original patent should 
have included the forty acres under consideration.
  The Lowe family, since acquiring the land in 1966, have paid taxes on 
the land since that time.
  H.R. 510, although not the only alternative the Lowe's have in 
acquiring the forty acres, is the only alternative that will bring 
minimal additional expense to either the Lowe family or the BLM.
  As I mentioned before, the BLM supports the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This concludes the call of the Private 
Calendar.

                          ____________________