[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 106 (Tuesday, September 12, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7399-H7401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST LAND CONVEYANCE

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3657) to provide for the conveyance of a small 
parcel of public domain land in the San Bernardino National Forest in 
the State of California, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3657

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

     SECTION 1. LAND CONVEYANCE AND SETTLEMENT, SAN BERNARDINO 
                   NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA.

       (a) Conveyance Required.--Subject to valid existing rights 
     and settlement of claims as provided in this section, the 
     Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to KATY 101.3 FM (in 
     this section referred to as ``KATY'') all right, title and 
     interest of the United States in and to a parcel of real 
     property consisting of approximately 1.06 acres within the 
     San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County, 
     California, generally located in the north \1/2\ of section 
     23, township 5 south, range 2 east, San Bernardino meridian.
       (b) Legal Description.--The Secretary and KATY shall, by 
     mutual agreement, prepare the legal description of the parcel 
     of real property to be conveyed under subsection (a), which 
     is generally depicted as Exhibit A-2 in an appraisal report 
     of the subject property dated August 26, 1999, by Paul H. 
     Meiling.
       (c) Consideration.--Consideration for the conveyance under 
     subsection (a) shall be equal to the appraised fair market 
     value of the parcel to be conveyed. Any appraisal to 
     determine the fair market value of the parcel shall be 
     prepared in conformity with the Uniform Appraisal Standards 
     for Federal Land Acquisitions and approved by the Secretary.
       (d) Settlement.--In addition to the consideration referred 
     to in subsection (c), upon

[[Page H7400]]

     the receipt of $16,600 paid by KATY to the Secretary, the 
     Secretary shall release KATY from any and all claims of the 
     United States arising from the occupancy and use of the San 
     Bernardino National Forest by KATY for communication site 
     purposes.
       (e) Access Requirements.--Notwithstanding section 1323(a) 
     of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 
     U.S.C. 3210(a)) or any other law, the Secretary is not 
     required to provide access over National Forest System lands 
     to the parcel of real property conveyed under subsection (a).
       (f) Administrative Costs.--Any costs associated with the 
     creation of a subdivided parcel, recordation of a survey, 
     zoning, and planning approval, and similar expenses with 
     respect to the conveyance under this section, shall be borne 
     by KATY.
       (g) Assumption of Liability.--By acceptance of the 
     conveyance of the parcel referred to in subsection (a), KATY, 
     and its successors and assigns, will indemnify and hold 
     harmless the United States for any and all liability to 
     General Telephone and Electronics Corporation (also known as 
     ``GTE''), KATY, and any third party that is associated with 
     the parcel, including liability for any buildings or personal 
     property on the parcel belonging to GTE and any other third 
     parties.
       (h) Treatment of Receipts.--All funds received pursuant to 
     this section shall be deposited in the fund established under 
     Public Law 90-171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly known as the Sisk 
     Act), and the funds shall remain available to the Secretary, 
     until expended, for the acquisition of lands, waters, and 
     interests in land for the inclusion in the San Bernardino 
     National Forest.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Walden and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden).


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on H.R. 3657.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3657 was introduced by the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Bono). This legislation would convey a little over an 
acre of Forest Service land to a radio station located in the San 
Bernardino National Forest in California for fair market value.
  During the subcommittee hearing on this bill, the administration 
requested that the bill be amended to include language that would 
require the radio station to prove that it had clear title to all 
existing structures on the site. During the markup, the legislation was 
amended to include that language. The bill is supported by the 
administration.
  I would urge Members to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3657, as 
amended.
  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, I thank my good friend, the gentleman 
from Oregon, for management of this legislation. I thank our Chairman 
of the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), 
and our ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Miller), for 
their sponsorship and support of this bill as well.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill resolves an ongoing dispute between the Forest 
Service and a radio station, KATY, regarding the station's unauthorized 
use of a Forest Service site. H.R. 3657 would require the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey for fair market value 1.06 acres within the San 
Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County, California to KATY. The 
bill requires KATY to pay $16,600 (representing rent for 1996-99 
without interest) to the Secretary. It also provides that the Forest 
Service is not required to provide access to the site as it would for 
an official communications site. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mrs. BONO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3657 would provide for the conveyance at 
fair market value of a small tract of Forest Service land in the San 
Bernardino National Forest to a locally-owned radio station that serves 
mountain communities in my district. I would like to thank Chairman 
Young and Chairman Chenoweth-Hage for their assistance in bringing this 
bill to the floor.
  In 1988, Cliff and Katy Gill began a search for an antenna site that 
would allow them to obtain an FCC construction permit for a radio 
station to serve Idyllwild, California, a community of about 3000 
residents located at 5200 feet elevation in the San Jacinto Mountains. 
The community is nestled in mountainous terrain and surrounded by the 
San Bernardino National Forest and other State and local park land. The 
Gills discovered that the rugged terrain sharply limited the sites that 
could host an antenna capable of reaching the residents of Idyllwild, 
the neighboring mountain communities, and the highway that connects 
them to the valley below. Wanting to start up their station, the Gills 
ultimately went on the air in December 1989 from a temporary antenna on 
a time-share private campground. Mr. Gill named this new radio station, 
KATY-FM, for his wife Katy.
  However, because the original site for the antenna drastically 
limited KATY's coverage, the Gills kept looking. The Gills first 
searched for sites on private land. But with the private land 
constituting only a small island--only a few hundred acres--within the 
sea of public land, it soon became apparent that the only workable 
sites would be found on public land. Six years later, they thought they 
had found the perfect site. GTE had operated a small wooden 
communications tower in the San Bernardino National Forest for 30 years 
under a Forest Service special use permit. GTE offered to sublease to 
KATY space on their tower and in their small equipment shed. In 1995, 
after seven years of searching for an antenna site, the Gills moved 
onto the GTE tower and gained the coverage they had long sought for 
their station.
  Unfortunately, they were soon informed by the District Ranger that 
they must strip their antenna from the GTE tower and vacate the site. 
Petitions signed by almost half the residents of Idyllwild, its Chamber 
of Commerce, and others did not budge the agency. The Forest Service 
maintained that subleasing of tower space could only occur on sites 
that had been formally designated as communications sites in the forest 
plans and that this site had not received such a designation in the San 
Bernardino plan. The agency argued that, even though it had allowed 
this site to be used as a communications site for three decades and was 
continuing to permit such use by GTE, KATY was in trespass and GTE had 
violated its special use authorization. The Forest Service continued to 
insist that KATY leave even as the station was proving how critically 
important it is to the communities it serves.
  Because of their location in rugged country, Idyllwild and 
neighboring mountain communities are vulnerable to extreme weather and 
other adverse natural events. In recognition of this and in its effort 
to provide the best possible public service, KATY signed an agreement 
with the local 10-watt emergency broadcast station, WNKI, which has 
very limited coverage, to broadcast WNKI's emergency bulletins. Shortly 
thereafter, the Federal Communications Commission and the California 
State Office of Emergency Services selected KATY as the Local Primary 
Station to broadcast information in the event of disaster.
  KATY's dedication to providing emergency service paid off for the 
mountain communities in 1996 when the Bee Canyon fire raged through 
9000 acres in their vicinity. KATY broadcast the mandatory evacuation 
orders and the announcement that it was safe to return home. In all, 
KATY aired nearly 200 announcements that were closely monitored not 
only by the residents but also by the firefighters and other emergency 
service personnel. Again, in 1998 KATY broadcast the mandatory order to 
evacuate the community of Juniper Flats also threatened by fire during 
severe thunderstorms.
  My late husband took up the cause of KATY. In August 1996, he and 
Chairman Young wrote a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture 
requesting his assistance in permitting KATY to retain its antenna 
site. This was followed by letters from the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
and the chairman of the Interior subcommittee of the Senate 
Appropriations Committee. Finally, a House-Senate conference committee 
added to the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 a 
provision requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to consider whether 
maintaining the KATY antenna site was in the public interest and to 
report his conclusions to Congress.
  That report was never delivered to Congress. A draft of the report 
would have offered a new site for KATY's antenna on a neighboring 
mountain in the San Bernardino National Forest. When the Forest Service 
learned from KATY that placing the antenna on that site would be 
prohibited by three FCC regulations, the agency approached Cliff and 
Katy Gill and asked if they would entertain purchasing the antenna 
site. I am happy to say that H.R. 3657 is the product of subsequent 
amicable negotiations between the Gills and the agency.

[[Page H7401]]

  I want to assure my colleagues that this purchase will have no 
discernible impact on the National Forest or the environment. The tract 
to be purchased is only approximately 1.06 acres in size. It is on the 
very edge of the National Forest, directly adjacent to a residential 
development. The station has purchased the neighboring residential lot 
to assure access to the antenna site. The tower and equipment shed are 
shielded by tall evergreen trees and large rocks and are not visible 
above Inspiration Point where the site is located.
  The bill would require that KATY pay fair market value for the tract 
and an additional sum of $16,600 to settle any claims the government 
might have for the unauthorized occupation of national forest land. 
That sum represents the rent that the Gills should have paid to the 
Forest Service for use of the site. Although the Gills paid more than 
twice that amount in rent to GTE under the sublease, they believe this 
is a fair resolution. I appreciate the efforts of the Forest Service to 
design a good solution to a difficult problem.
  Cliff Gill passed away last year before he saw enactment of this bill 
and fulfillment of his dream. We can ensure that his widow, Katy, will 
be able to continue KATY's service to the community by enacting H.R. 
3657. I urge passage of this bill.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3657, 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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