[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 20 (Monday, February 6, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H982-H983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ELKHORN RANCH AND WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST CONVEYANCE ACT OF 2017
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 698) to require a land conveyance involving the Elkhorn
Ranch and the White River National Forest in the State of Colorado, and
for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 698
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Elkhorn Ranch and White
River National Forest Conveyance Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. LAND CONVEYANCE, ELKHORN RANCH AND WHITE RIVER
NATIONAL FOREST, COLORADO.
(a) Land Conveyance Required.--Consistent with the purpose
of the Act of March 3, 1909 (43 U.S.C. 772), all right,
title, and interest of the United States (subject to
subsection (b)) in and to a parcel of land consisting of
approximately 148 acres as generally depicted on the map
entitled ``Elkhorn Ranch Land Parcel-White River National
Forest'' and dated March 2015 shall be conveyed by patent to
the Gordman-Leverich Partnership, a Colorado Limited
Liability Partnership (in this section referred to as
``GLP'').
(b) Existing Rights.--The conveyance under subsection (a)--
(1) is subject to the valid existing rights of the lessee
of Federal oil and gas lease COC-75070 and any other valid
existing rights; and
(2) shall reserve to the United States the right to collect
rent and royalty payments on the lease referred to in
paragraph (1) for the duration of the lease.
(c) Existing Boundaries.--The conveyance under subsection
(a) does not modify the exterior boundary of the White River
National Forest or the boundaries of Sections 18 and 19 of
Township 7 South, Range 93 West, Sixth Principal Meridian,
Colorado, as such boundaries are in effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(d) Time for Conveyance; Payment of Costs.--The conveyance
directed under subsection (a) shall be completed not later
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
The conveyance shall be without consideration, except that
all costs incurred by the Secretary of the Interior relating
to any survey, platting, legal description, or other
activities carried out to prepare and issue the patent shall
be paid by GLP to the Secretary prior to the land conveyance.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Lamborn) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).
General Leave
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 698, the Elkhorn Ranch and White River National Forest
Conveyance Act sponsored by my colleague, Congressman Scott Tipton of
the great State of Colorado, and cosponsored by Congressman Polis and
myself, resolves a longstanding surveying issue in the White River
National Forest in western Colorado.
In the early 20th century, the U.S. Government issued a series of
patents conveying Federal land to private landowners in the region.
However, a land survey conducted in 1949 brought these conveyances into
question, and the ownership of the land has been in dispute for nearly
70 years. In 2014 the White River National Forest conducted a survey to
finalize the land ownership and concluded that 148 acres were
improperly within the forest's boundary.
This legislation simply conveys this land back to its rightful
ownership. This land conveyance is consistent with the existing forest
management plan, and the Forest Service is managing this land as though
it were already private property.
This bill has the support of a wide range of stakeholders in the
community and I thank the Congressman from Colorado for his work on
this legislation. I would point out, as we discussed earlier, there is
bipartisan support from within the Colorado delegation for this bill as
well.
I urge adoption of the measure and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Living in and around public land, as Mr. Tipton, Mr. Lamborn, and I
do, we often have these kinds of bills to address the interactions
between our communities and our Federal lands in Colorado.
H.R. 698 is another bill that addresses public lands. I am proud to
join Mr. Tipton as a cosponsor of this bill. It will convey 148 acres
of land to the Gordman-Leverich Partnership, a company in Colorado,
which will remedy a land dispute between a private landowner and the
Forest Service.
Way back in 1947, just a few years after my dear mother--who is
watching us on C-SPAN as we speak--and my father were born, an
administrative error occurred that shifted the boundary between the
Elkhorn Ranch and the White River National Forest. This survey placed
148 acres of private land inside the forest boundary without providing
consideration to the landholders. Since then, the title of the ranch
has changed several times, but the administrative error has never been
corrected.
We all know how we hold private property rights dear in this country,
and this bill will correct the error, acknowledge the correct boundary
of the Elkhorn Ranch, providing the current owner with a clear and free
title rather than the encumbrance that the disputed nature of the land
previously provided.
It will help avoid costly litigation to both sides, provides clarity
for landowners and the Forest Service. It recognizes today's reality on
the ground and it will help local officials in the Forest Service as
well.
I thank my colleague, Mr. Tipton, for his good work on this
legislation, working with stakeholders. I want to point out that the
Forest Service testified in support of this bill. I join my colleagues
in urging its adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those comments. I would point
out, for anyone who is interested, that the three of us who are here--
and I am about to yield the floor to Representative Tipton--we are all
on the Natural Resources Committee. This is a committee that is going
to be doing a lot of exciting and interesting things in this Congress.
We are going to be very busy. I am looking forward to that.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), my friend and colleague, who is also a
member of the committee.
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my thanks to my
colleagues, Mr. Polis and Mr. Lamborn. I think among our three
congressional districts, we hold the vast majority of public lands in
the State of Colorado. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to work
with you on these significant bills, to be able to address many of the
challenges that we have, and to be able to work together in a
bipartisan manner as well.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me time to be able to discuss
this important legislation. H.R. 698 is a very straightforward bill,
which Congressmen Lamborn and Polis and I have reintroduced this year
that confirms private ownership of 148 acres of land in my
congressional district.
The lands concerned were patented into private ownership via the
United States land patents issued in 1914, 1917, and 1957, but their
ownership came into question by virtue of a 1949 government
[[Page H983]]
survey which erroneously showed them to be National Forest land rather
than private land. A long-held U.S. law specifically states that a
government resurvey cannot take away private property or private
property rights.
Mr. Speaker, the Forest Service and the private landowner of the
Elkhorn Ranch only became aware of the potential title issue in the
early 2000s, and thereafter, the Forest Service conducted a lengthy and
thorough review of the matter. Upon completion of their review in 2014,
both the supervisor and the surveyor of the White River National Forest
concluded the ownership of the 148 acres should be confirmed in the
successors in interest to the original patentee; namely, the Elkhorn
Ranch.
In reaching this conclusion, the Forest Service noted that the land
has never been managed as National Forest land and, indeed, has been
fenced and occupied with stock ponds, developed springs, roads and
other private improvements, and has been used as private land for
ranching and agriculture for the better part of the past 100 years.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is a simple matter of fairness and equity to a
private landowner to honor government land patents that were granted by
the Federal Government to the landowner's predecessors 60 to 100 years
ago. The bill is supported by both the surveyor and supervisor of the
White River National Forest; the Garfield County surveyor; the Garfield
County Commissioner; the city of Rifle; Colorado Club 20, which
represents 20 Colorado counties; and Piceance Energy, which has a lease
on part of the area.
{time} 1700
In addition, the legislative hearing that was held on the same bill
in 2015, the administration testified that this bill is a practical and
workable way to address this longstanding issue. This bill is identical
to the one that passed out of the House by voice vote in the last
Congress, and I once again urge my colleagues to support this
legislation.
Once again, I extend my thanks to my colleagues Congressman Lamborn
and Congressman Polis for all of their hard work on this legislation.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight, as Mr. Tipton said, a number
of the bills that we are going through, including this one, have passed
the House before, and yet the Senate failed to send them to the
President's desk. These are real issues that our constituents face.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the Senate to simply take up these
noncontroversial bills, pass them, and allow President Trump to sign
them so we can resolve these real-life issues that affect our
constituents. While it feels good to pass a bill as a legislator--and
Mr. Tipton deserves credit, and I look forward to being able to argue
for the passage of a bill that I am a lead sponsor on shortly; and, of
course, we recently passed, by voice vote, Mr. Lamborn's bill--these
issues will remain pending until the Senate acts.
I urge my colleagues in the Senate to bring forward these bills so we
can address these pressing concerns that our constituents have and deal
with them in an appropriate multistakeholder manner, where Democrats
and Republicans can join in support of addressing the real-life issues
that those of us who represent areas in and around public land have.
I urge a ``yes'' vote.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LAMBORN. 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 Colorado (Mr. Lamborn) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 698.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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