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[DOCID: f:h2079enr.txt]
H.R.2079
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
An Act
To provide for the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in
the State of South Dakota.
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 ``Terry Peak Land Transfer Act of
1999''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Certain National Forest System land located in the Black
Hills National Forest in Lawrence County, South Dakota, is
currently permitted to the Terry Peak Ski Area by the Secretary of
Agriculture pursuant to section 3 of the National Forest Ski Area
Permit Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 497b).
(2) The National Forest System land comprises only 10 percent
of the land at the Ski Area, with the remaining 90 percent located
on private land owned by the Ski Area operator.
(3) As the fractional Forest Service land holding at the Ski
Area is also encumbered by ski lifts, ski trails, a base lodge
parking lot and other privately owned improvements, it serves
little purpose in continued public ownership, and can more
logically be conveyed to the Ski Area to unify land management and
eliminate permitting and other administrative costs to the United
States.
(4) The Ski Area is interested in acquiring the land from the
United States, but the Secretary does not have administrative
authority to convey such land in a nonsimultaneous land exchange
absent specific authorization from Congress.
(5) The Black Hills National Forest contains several small
inholdings of undeveloped private land with multiple landowners
which complicate National Forest land management and which can be
acquired by the United States from willing sellers if acquisition
funds are made available to the Secretary.
(6) The proceeds from the Terry Peak conveyance can provide a
modest, but readily available and flexible, funding source for the
Secretary to acquire certain inholdings in the Black Hills National
Forest from willing sellers, and given the small and scattered
nature of such inholdings, and number of potential sellers
involved, can do so more efficiently and quickly than through
administrative land exchanges.
(7) It is, therefore, in the public interest to convey the
National Forest System land at Terry Peak to the Ski Area at fair
market value and to utilize the proceeds to acquire more desirable
lands for addition to the Black Hills National Forest for permanent
public use and enjoyment.
(b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to require the
conveyance of certain National Forest System lands at the Terry Peak
Ski Area to the Ski Area and to utilize the proceeds to acquire more
desirable lands for the United States for permanent public use and
enjoyment.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Agriculture,
unless otherwise specified.
(2) The term ``selected land'' means land comprising
approximately 41.42 acres and generally depicted as Government lots
6 and 11, section 2, township 4 north, range 2 east, Black Hills
meridian, on a map entitled ``Terry Peak Land Conveyance'', dated
March 1999.
(3) The terms ``Terry Peak Ski Area'' and ``Ski Area'' mean the
Black Hills Chairlift Company, a South Dakota Corporation, or its
successors, heirs and assigns.
SEC. 4. LAND CONVEYANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
(a) Conveyance Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall convey
the selected land to the Terry Peak Ski Area at fair market value, as
determined by the Secretary.
(b) Appraisal.--The value of the selected land shall be determined
by the Secretary utilizing nationally recognized appraisal standards,
including to the extent appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards
For Federal Land Acquisitions (1992), the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice, and other applicable law. The costs of
the appraisal shall be paid for by the Ski Area.
(c) Completion of Conveyance.--It is the sense of the Congress that
the conveyance to the Ski Area required by this Act be consummated no
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless
the Secretary and the Ski Area mutually agree to extend the
consummation date. Prior to conveying the selected land to the Ski
Area, the Secretary shall complete standard pre-disposal analyses and
clearances pertaining to threatened and endangered species, cultural
and historic resources, wetlands and floodplains, and hazardous
materials.
(d) Use of Proceeds by the Secretary.--All monies received by the
Secretary pursuant to this Act shall be considered monies received and
deposited pursuant to Public Law 90-171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly known
as the Sisk Act) and shall be utilized by the Secretary to acquire
replacement land from willing sellers for addition to the Black Hills
National Forest in South Dakota. Any lands so acquired shall be added
to and administered as part of the Black Hills National Forest and, if
any such land lies outside the exterior boundaries of the Forest, the
Secretary may modify the boundary of the Forest to include such land.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of
the Secretary to adjust the boundaries of the Forest pursuant to
section 11 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 521; commonly known
as the Weeks Act).
(e) Conveyance Subject to Valid Existing Rights, Easements.--The
conveyance to the Ski Area required by this Act shall be subject to
valid existing rights and to existing easements, rights-of-way, utility
lines and any other right, title or interest of record on the selected
land as of the date of transfer of the selected land to the Terry Peak
Ski Area.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
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