[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 41 (Friday, March 9, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S2970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Bennett):
  S. 832. A bill to provide for the sale of approximately 25 acres of 
public land to the Turnabout Ranch, Escalante, Utah, at fair market 
value; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation that would 
correct a property trespass question involving a 25-acre parcel of 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Garfield County, UT. The parcel 
is part of the Turnabout Ranch, which hosts a successful and popular 
program to rehabilitate troubled youth.
  The trespass conflict is the result of an erroneous survey in January 
1999, at the time the Congress approved a major land exchange, P.L. 
105-335, between the State of Utah and the BLM and erroneously included 
a part of the Turnabout Ranch. The land is located along the border of 
the Grand Staircase Escalante (GSE) Monument. My bill makes a slight 
boundary change to resolve the trespass question. This would grant the 
owners of the ranch the opportunity to purchase the erroneously 
surveyed land at fair market value so that this very important program 
for at-risk youth can continue unhindered.
  Since 1995, Turn-About Ranch has graduated some 500 troubled and at-
risk teenagers through an intense program of training and 
rehabilitation. The ranch employs about 35 Garfield County residents. 
The Turn-About Ranch program has strong support from the local 
community and the Garfield Country Commission.
  Historically used for agriculture and grazing purposes, the ranch was 
purchased by the Townsend Family who leased the land to Turn-About 
Ranch, Inc., for the exclusive purpose of restoring dignity and self-
esteem to wayward teenagers. Because government-owned land administered 
by the BLM surrounds the private land, the only way to resolve the 
trespass is for the Congress to pass legislation.
  This legislation offers a simple and fair solution to a fairly 
technical problem on our public lands. I hope Congress can use this 
legislation to resolve this problem in the very near future.
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