The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“RAGGEDS WILDERNESS, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3232-H3233 on June 3, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RAGGEDS WILDERNESS, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1019) to provide for a boundary adjustment and land conveyance involving the Raggeds Wilderness, White River National Forest, CO, to correct the effects of earlier erroneous land surveys.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1019
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT AND LAND CONVEYANCE, RAGGEDS
WILDERNESS, WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST,
COLORADO.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(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.
(3) The resurvey indicated 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-521i) 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 (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. Such map shall be on file and available for inspection in the appropriate offices of the United States Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
(d) 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-521i) 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 those owners of real property in Gunnison County, Colorado, whose real property adjoins the excluded lands and who have occupied the excluded lands in good faith reliance on an erroneous survey.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] and the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. Faleomavaega] each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth].
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mrs. CHENOWETH asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1019 provides for a boundary adjustment and land conveyance involving the Raggeds Wilderness, White River National Forest in Colorado, to correct the effects of earlier erroneous land surveys. This bill is identical to legislation which passed within the House of Representatives last year by voice vote. However, the legislation was not acted upon by the Senate prior to the conclusion of the 104th Congress.
In 1993, following a boundary survey, the White River National Forest discovered an encroachment into the Raggeds Wilderness area just west of the town of Marble in Colorado. The encroachment consists of approximately 400 feet of power line and 400 feet of road. In addition, portions of four subdivision lots extend into this wilderness. The road is a county road and provides the sole legal access to the four lots. The entire encroachment is less than 1 acre of land.
The Bureau of Land Management/Forest Service surveys found that the original survey of the Crystal Meadows subdivision was erroneous. Although less than 1 acre is affected, the Forest Service cannot settle the matter under the authority of 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.
H.R. 1019 follows the guidelines established by the Small Tracts Act, Public Law 97-465. The bill is noncontroversial, Mr. Speaker, and I urge its passage.
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, this is the first of four national forest bills on the floor today which are sponsored by our Republican members. Along with other Democratic members of the Committee on Resources, I am pleased to support this legislation introduced by the gentleman from Colorado. This bill would correct an erroneous land survey which has resulted in the encroachment of 1 acre of private land on the Raggeds Wilderness area in the White River National Forest. The legislation is without controversy, and it is supported by the administration. A similar bill passed the House in the last Congress. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation of the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis].
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis].
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1019. I would also like to comment briefly on H.R. 1020, but prior to that I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young] and the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth], subcommittee chairman, for rapidly moving this legislation forward. I would also like to thank the gentleman from American Samoa for his courtesies and support in regard to H.R. 1019.
Briefly on H.R. 1020, that is also a noncontroversial issue and ties into this. It adjusts the boundary of the White River National Forest to include all the National Forest System Lands within Summit County, CO, which are currently part of the Arapaho National Forest, being the Dillon Ranger District. The White River National Forest has administered these lands for a number of years. Therefore, the inclusion of the Dillon Ranger District within the White River National Forest will more accurately depict the administration of these lands. Furthermore, the inclusion should reduce confusion within the general public as to who administers the Dillon Ranger District. The legislation will not alter the current distribution of forest receipts to the affected county governments. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and again H.R. 1019, once again expressing my appreciation.
{time} 1515
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Delahunt], my good friend, who unfortunately, because of a traffic jam, was unable to deliver his statements in support of the previous legislation.
Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of House Resolution 1019 offered by the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis], and I support that and I commend his efforts. I would also like to speak, Mr. Speaker, to House bill 1420.
Mr. Speaker, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the first wildlife refuge in Florida 94 years ago, he could have hardly imagined a national system of 500 refuges covering 93 million acres. Today we have an opportunity to make a genuine contribution to this remarkable legacy of wildlife conservation and management.
It is in that spirit that I do support enthusiastically House Resolution 1420, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997. The chairman and ranking member have worked together to craft a bill for consideration by the full House that fulfills the conservation objective and ensures the future biological integrity of our refuge.
Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased to offer my support of this legislation because of the important role in building that legacy played by my predecessor in this Chamber, former Congressman Gerry Studds. As chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Mr. Studds fought tenaciously for species large and small, beautiful and not so beautiful, endangered and common alike. Legacies are not historical relics. Like the species that inhabit our refuge, they survive only if they prosper and evolve.
Mr. Speaker, the bill before us explicitly encourages the Fish and Wildlife Service to pursue partnerships with local communities, States, private and nonprofit groups. It is precisely such a partnership that has characterized our progress toward one of the newest additions to the refuge system in Mashpee on Cape Cod, home to over 180 migratory fish and bird species.
Like so many others across the country, the Mashpee Refuge has value even beyond its statutory objectives, in this case in safeguarding the quality and quantity of the area's fragile water resources. This imperative has become particularly acute with recent findings that pollution emanating from a nearby military reservation is seriously contaminating groundwater and jeopardizing future drinking water supplies.
For all these reasons, I can think of no better way to honor the work of Mr. Studds and others who have advanced these objectives than to fulfill the Federal commitment by completing acquisition of the final 325-acre tract of the Mashpee Refuge, and to enact H.R. 420 into law.
Mr. Speaker, this bill draws on historic bipartisan support for the basic mission of the refuge system and makes adjustments that keep this refuge system alive and viable, and I urge my colleagues to join me in helping the House to pass it.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Delahunt] for his fine statements.
Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers at this time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1019.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________
