[Senate Report 105-98]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 193
105th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 1st Session                                                     105-98
_______________________________________________________________________


 
  RAGGEDS WILDERNESS, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT

                                _______
                                

                October 6, 1997.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 589]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 589) to provide for a boundary adjustment 
and land conveyance involving the Raggeds Wilderness, White 
River National Forest, Colorado, to correct the effects of 
earlier erroneous lands surveys, having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that 
the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT AND LAND CONVEYANCE, RAGGEDS WILDERNESS, 
                    WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST, COLORADO.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
          (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; and
          (3) the resurvey indicates 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 et 
seq.) 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 (94 Stat. 3267; 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.
    (d) Map.--The map described in subsection (c) shall be on file and 
available for inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture.
    (e) 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 et seq.) 
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 the owners of real property in 
Gunnison County, Colorado, whose real property adjoins the excluded 
real property and who have occupied the excluded real property in good 
faith reliance on an erroneous survey.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of S. 589 is to direct for a boundary 
adjustment and land conveyance of federal lands in the Raggeds 
Wilderness within the White River National Forest, Colorado, in 
order to correct the effects of earlier erroneous land surveys.

                BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    In 1993, following a boundary survey, an encroachment into 
the Raggeds Wilderness Area was discovered in the White River 
National Forest, just west of the Town of Marble, Colorado. The 
encroachment consists of approximately 400 feet of power line 
and 450 feet of road. In addition, portions of four subdivision 
lots extend into the wilderness. The road is a county road and 
provides the sole legal access to the four lots. The entire 
encroachment is less than one acre of land. Portions of Section 
28, Township 11 South, Range 88 West became private land 
through the homesteading process in the late 1800s. In 1959, 
the area was surveyed and subdivided as the Crystal Meadows 
Subdivision, lots were sold, roads constructed and utilities 
installed. Landowners in the area have used the roads and built 
homes since 1959. In 1982, Public Law 96-560 created the 
Raggeds Wilderness. In 1988, the Bureau of Land Management, 
acting under the request of the Forest Service, surveyed 
Section 28. In 1993, the Forest Service posted and marked the 
federal boundary. During the posting process, the Forest 
Service identified the encroachment in an area where the 
private/federal property line is coincident with the boundary 
of the Raggeds Wilderness.
    The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service surveys 
found that the original survey of the Crystal Meadows 
subdivision in 1959 was erroneous. Although less than one acre 
is affected, the Forest Service cannot settle the matter under 
existing authority in 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.

                      SUMMARY OF MAJOR PROVISIONS

    S. 589 adjusts the boundary of the Raggeds Wilderness and 
directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the affected 
property to the private landowners under the authority of Small 
Tracts Act (16 U.S.C. 521c-521i).

                          legislative history

    S. 589 was introduced on April 16, 1997 by Senator 
Campbell. On June 18, 1997, the Subcommittee on Forests and 
Public Land Management held a hearing on S. 589. At the 
business meeting on September 24, 1997, the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources ordered S. 589, as amended, favorably 
reported.

            COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTES

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on September 24, 1997, by a unanimous voice 
vote of the quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
589, if amended as described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

    During the consideration of S. 589, the Committee adopted 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute that incorporates 
changes recommended by the Administration and makes technical 
and clarifying modifications.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The cost and budgetary considerations prepared by 
Congressional Budget Office are as follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 26, 1997.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 589, a bill to 
provide for a boundary adjustment and land conveyance involving 
the Raggeds Wilderness, White River National Forest, Colorado, 
to correct the effects of earlier erroneous land surveys.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Victoria V. 
Heid.
            Sincerely,
                                         June E. O'Neill, Director.

               congressional budget office cost estimate

S. 589.--A bill to provide for a boundary adjustment and land 
        conveyance involving the Raggeds Wilderness, White River 
        National Forest, Colorado, to correct the effects of earlier 
        erroneous land surveys

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 589 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. The bill would adjust 
the boundaries of the Raggeds Wilderness Area in Colorado to 
exclude about one acre of land on which roads and other 
improvements were inadvertently constructed. Enacting this bill 
would allow the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the property 
under the Small Tracts Act. Based on information from the 
Forest Service, CBO estimates that enacting S. 589 would 
increase offsetting receipts as a result of the sale, but that 
the increase would total less than $5,000. This amount would be 
considered the proceeds of an asset sale.
    Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, proceeds from an 
asset sale are counted in determining compliance with pay-as-
you-go requirements only if the sale does not result in a 
financial cost to the government over time. CBO estimates that 
the asset sale under S. 589 would not result in such a cost. 
Hence, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply to the bill, but 
the decrease in direct spending would be negligible.
    S. 589 contains no private-sector or intergovernmental 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
and would have no impact on the budgets of state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Victoria V. 
Heid. This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      regulatory impact evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 589. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 589, as ordered reported.

                        executive communications

    The administration testified in favor of the legislation at 
a June 18, 1997 hearing held by the Subcommittee on Forests and 
Public Land Management. Legislative reports from the Department 
of Agriculture, the Department of Interior, and the Office of 
Management and Budget setting forth Executive agency 
recommendations on S. 589 were unavailable at the time the 
report was filed. When these reports become available, the 
Chairman will request that they be printed in the Congressional 
Record for the advice of the Senate.
    The testimony provided at the committee hearing follows:

    Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: I am Bob 
Joslin, the new Deputy Chief of the Forest Service for the 
National Forest System. I am pleased to be here to share the 
Administration's views on S. 589.
S. 589, Boundary adjustment and land conveyance involving the Raggeds 
        Wilderness, White River National Forest, Colorado
    The Administration recommends passage of S. 589, a bill to 
provide a boundary adjustment involving the Raggeds Wilderness, 
White River National Forest, Colorado, to allow a land 
conveyance to correct the effects of earlier erroneous land 
surveys.
    S. 589 would modify the Raggeds Wilderness boundary to 
exclude a less than one acre parcel. It would also authorize 
the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the parcel to private 
landowners who unknowingly encroached on the Wilderness for 
fair market value under the provisions of the Small Tracts Act. 
The encroachment consists of approximately 400 feet of a 
powerline, 450 feet of a road, and portions of four subdivision 
lots. The road provides the sole legal access to the four lots, 
including one year-round residence.
    The land within the subdivision became private land through 
the homesteading process in the late 1800's. In 1959, the area 
was surveyed and subdivided as Crystal Meadows Subdivision; 
lots were sold, roads constructed, and utilities installed. 
Landowners in the area have occupied homes since 1959. In 1980 
Congress passed Public Law 96-560, creating the Raggeds 
Wilderness. The private/federal property line adjacent to the 
subdivision is the Wilderness boundary.
    Subsequent Federal surveys discovered that the 1959 survey 
of the Crystal Meadows subdivision was done improperly. 
Portions of the four residential lots, the subdivision road, 
and related infrastructure extend 62 feet into the Raggeds 
Wilderness.
    The Forest Service has the authority to resolve some 
encroachments under the Small Tracts Act but does not have 
authority to dispose of lands within a designated Wilderness 
area. The small parcel of land involved in this encroachment 
does not have wilderness characteristics and, had this survey 
error been detected at the time, the area would probably have 
been exempted from the Raggeds Wilderness.
    A similar version of this bill was introduced by 
Congressman McInnis (H.R. 2438). It has been modified to 
statutorily adjust the boundary of the Raggeds Wilderness 
allowing the Secretary to convey the lands, for consideration, 
using existing authority. We appreciate Senator Campbell's 
willingness to work with us on this legislation.

                        changes in existing law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the Act, S. 589, as ordered 
reported.

                                
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