Home > 105th Congressional Bills > S. 1079 (es) To permit the mineral leasing of Indian land located within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in any case in which there is consent from a majority interest in the parcel of land under consideration for lease. ...S. 1079 (es) To permit the mineral leasing of Indian land located within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in any case in which there is consent from a majority interest in the parcel of land under consideration for lease. ...
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1079
_______________________________________________________________________
AMENDMENTS
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
November 12, 1997.
Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1079) entitled ``An Act to
permit the mineral leasing of Indian land located within the Fort Berthold
Indian Reservation in any case in which there is consent from a majority
interest in the parcel of land under consideration for lease.'', do pass with
the following
AMENDMENTS:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. LEASES OF ALLOTTED LANDS OF THE FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN
RESERVATION.
(a) In General.--
(1) Definitions.--In this section:
(A) Indian land.--The term ``Indian land'' means an
undivided interest in a single parcel of land that--
(i) is located within the Fort Berthold
Indian Reservation in North Dakota; and
(ii) is held in trust or restricted status
by the United States.
(B) Individually owned indian land.--The term
``individually owned Indian land'' means Indian land
that is owned by 1 or more individuals.
(C) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the
Secretary of the Interior.
(2) Effect of approval by secretary of the interior.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary may approve any
mineral lease or agreement that affects individually
owned Indian land, if--
(i) the owners of a majority of the
undivided interest in the Indian land that is
the subject of the mineral lease or agreement
(including any interest covered by a lease or
agreement executed by the Secretary under
paragraph (3)) consent to the lease or
agreement; and
(ii) the Secretary determines that
approving the lease or agreement is in the best
interest of the Indian owners of the Indian
land.
(B) Effect of approval.--Upon the approval by the
Secretary under subparagraph (A), the lease or
agreement shall be binding, to the same extent as if
all of the Indian owners of the Indian land involved
had consented to the lease or agreement, upon--
(i) all owners of the undivided interest in
the Indian land subject to the lease or
agreement (including any interest owned by an
Indian tribe); and
(ii) all other parties to the lease or
agreement.
(C) Distribution of proceeds.--The proceeds derived
from a lease or agreement that is approved by the
Secretary under subparagraph (A) shall be distributed
to all owners of the Indian land that is subject to the
lease or agreement in accordance with the interest
owned by each such owner.
(3) Execution of lease or agreement by secretary.--The
Secretary may execute a mineral lease or agreement that affects
individually owned Indian land on behalf of an Indian owner
if--
(A) that owner is deceased and the heirs to, or
devisees of, the interest of the deceased owner have
not been determined; or
(B) the heirs or devisees referred to in
subparagraph (A) have been determined, but 1 or more of
the heirs or devisees cannot be located.
(4) Public auction or advertised sale not required.--It
shall not be a requirement for the approval or execution of a
lease or agreement under this subsection that the lease or
agreement be offered for sale through a public auction or
advertised sale.
(b) Rule of Construction.--This Act supersedes the Act of March 3,
1909 (35 Stat. 783, chapter 263; 25 U.S.C. 396) only to the extent
provided in subsection (a).
SEC. 2. PILOT PROJECT FOR PLUMAS, LASSEN, AND TAHOE NATIONAL FORESTS TO
IMPLEMENT QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP PROPOSAL.
(a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``Quincy
Library Group-Community Stability Proposal'' means the agreement by a
coalition of representatives of fisheries, timber, environmental,
county government, citizen groups, and local communities that formed in
northern California to develop a resource management program that
promotes ecologic and economic health for certain Federal lands and
communities in the Sierra Nevada area. Such proposal includes the map
entitled ``QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP Community Stability Proposal'', dated
October 12, 1993, and prepared by VESTRA Resources of Redding,
California.
(b) Pilot Project Required.--
(1) Pilot project and purpose.--The Secretary of
Agriculture (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary''),
acting through the Forest Service and after completion of an
environmental impact statement (a record of decision for which
shall be adopted within 300 days), shall conduct a pilot
project on the Federal lands described in paragraph (2) to
implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of the resource
management activities described in subsection (d) and the other
requirements of this section, as recommended in the Quincy
Library Group-Community Stability Proposal.
(2) Pilot project area.--The Secretary shall conduct the
pilot project on the Federal lands within Plumas National
Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger
District of Tahoe National Forest in the State of California
designated as ``Available for Group Selection'' on the map
entitled ``QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP Community Stability Proposal'',
dated October 12, 1993 (in this section referred to as the
``pilot project area''). Such map shall be on file and
available for inspection in the appropriate offices of the
Forest Service.
(c) Exclusion of Certain Lands, Riparian Protection and
Compliance.--
(1) Exclusion.--All spotted owl habitat areas and protected
activity centers located within the pilot project area
designated under subsection (b)(2) will be deferred from
resource management activities required under subsection (d)
and timber harvesting during the term of the pilot project.
(2) Riparian protection.--
(A) In general.--The Scientific Analysis Team
guidelines for riparian system protection described in
subparagraph (B) shall apply to all resource management
activities conducted under subsection (d) and all
timber harvesting activities that occur in the pilot
project area during the term of the pilot project.
(B) Guidelines described.--The guidelines referred
to in subparagraph (A) are those in the document
entitled ``Viability Assessments and Management
Considerations for Species Associated with Late-
Successional and Old-Growth Forests of the Pacific
Northwest'', a Forest Service research document dated
March 1993 and co-authored by the Scientific Analysis
Team, including Dr. Jack Ward Thomas.
(C) Limitation.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to require the application of the Scientific
Analysis Team guidelines to any livestock grazing in
the pilot project area during the term of the pilot
project, unless the livestock grazing is being
conducted in the specific location at which the
Scientific Analysis Team guidelines are being applied
to an activity under subsection (d).
(3) Compliance.--All resource management activities
required by subsection (d) shall be implemented to the extent
consistent with applicable Federal law and the standards and
guidelines for the conservation of the California spotted owl
as set forth in the California Spotted Owl Sierran Provence
Interim Guidelines or the subsequently issued guidelines,
whichever are in effect.
(4) Roadless area protection.--The Regional Forester for
Region 5 shall direct that any resource management activity
required by subsection (d)(1) and (2), all road building, all
timber harvesting activities, and any riparian management under
subsection (d)(4) that utilizes road construction or timber
harvesting shall not be conducted on Federal lands within the
Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the
Sierraville Ranger District of the Tahoe National Forest that
are designated as either ``Off Base'' or ``Deferred'' on the
map referred to in subsection (a). Such direction shall be
effective during the term of the pilot project.
(d) Resource Management Activities.--During the term of the pilot
project, the Secretary shall implement and carry out the following
resource management activities on an acreage basis on the Federal lands
included within the pilot project area designated under subsection
(b)(2):
(1) Fuelbreak construction.--Construction of a strategic
system of defensible fuel profile zones, including shaded
fuelbreaks, utilizing thinning, individual tree selection, and
other methods of vegetation management consistent with the
Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal, on not less
than 40,000, but not more than 60,000, acres per year.
(2) Group selection and individual tree selection.--
Utilization of group selection and individual tree selection
uneven-aged forest management prescriptions described in the
Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal to achieve a
desired future condition of all-age, multistory, fire resilient
forests as follows:
(A) Group selection.--Group selection on an average
acreage of .57 percent of the pilot project area land
each year of the pilot project.
(B) Individual tree selection.--Individual tree
selection may also be utilized within the pilot project
area.
(3) Total acreage.--The total acreage on which resource
management activities are implemented under this subsection
shall not exceed 70,000 acres each year.
(4) Riparian management.--A program of riparian management,
including wide protection zones and riparian restoration
projects, consistent with riparian protection guidelines in
subsection (c)(2)(B).
(e) Cost-Effectiveness.--In conducting the pilot project, Secretary
shall use the most cost-effective means available, as determined by the
Secretary, to implement resource management activities described in
subsection (d).
(f) Funding.--
(1) Source of funds.--In conducting the pilot project, the
Secretary shall use, subject to the relevant reprogramming
guidelines of the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations--
(A) those funds specifically provided to the Forest
Service by the Secretary to implement resource
management activities according to the Quincy Library
Group-Community Stability Proposal; and
(B) year-end excess funds that are allocated for
the administration and management of Plumas National
Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville
Ranger District of Tahoe National Forest.
(2) Prohibition on use of certain funds.--The Secretary may
not conduct the pilot project using funds appropriated for any
other unit of the National Forest System.
(3) Flexibility.--Subject to normal reprogramming
guidelines, during the term of the pilot project, the forest
supervisors of Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest,
and Tahoe National Forest may allocate and use all accounts
that contain year-end excess funds and all available excess
funds for the administration and management of Plumas National
Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger
District of Tahoe National Forest to perform the resource
management activities described in subsection (d).
(4) Restriction.--The Secretary or the forest supervisors,
as the case may be, shall not utilize authority provided under
paragraphs (1)(B) and (3) if, in their judgment, doing so will
limit other nontimber related multiple use activities for which
such funds were available.
(5) Overhead.--The Secretary shall seek to ensure that of
amounts available to carry out this section--
(A) not more than 12 percent is used or allocated
for general administration or other overhead; and
(B) at least 88 percent is used to implement and
carry out activities required by this section.
(6) Authorized supplemental funds.--There are authorized to
be appropriated to implement and carry out the pilot project
such sums as are necessary.
(7) Baseline funds.--Amounts available for resource
management activities authorized under subsection (d) shall at
a minimum include existing baseline funding levels.
(g) Term of Pilot Project.--The Secretary shall conduct the pilot
project until the earlier of: (1) the date on which the Secretary
completes amendment or revision of the land and resource management
plans directed under and in compliance with subsection (i) for the
Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Tahoe National
Forest; or (2) five years after the date of the commencement of the
pilot project.
(h) Consultation.--(1) The statement required by subsection (b)(1)
shall be prepared in consultation with interested members of the
public, including the Quincy Library Group.
(2) Contracting.--The Forest Service, subject to the availability
of appropriations, may carry out any (or all) of the requirements of
this section using private contracts.
(i) Corresponding Forest Plan Amendments.--Within 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Regional Forester for Region 5
shall initiate the process to amend or revise the land and resource
management plans for Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest,
and Tahoe National Forest. The process shall include preparation of at
least one alternative that--
(1) incorporates the pilot project and area designations
made by subsection (b), the resource management activities
described in subsection (d), and other aspects of the Quincy
Library Group-Community Stability Proposal; and
(2) makes other changes warranted by the analyses conducted
in compliance with section 102(2) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)), section 6 of the Forest
and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16
U.S.C. 1604), and other applicable laws.
(j) Status Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than February 28 of each year
during the term of the pilot project, the Secretary shall
submit to Congress a report on the status of the pilot project.
The report shall include at least the following:
(A) A complete accounting of the use of funds made
available under subsection (f)(1)(A) until such funds
are fully expended.
(B) A complete accounting of the use of funds and
accounts made available under subsection (f)(1) for the
previous fiscal year, including a schedule of the
amounts drawn from each account used to perform
resource management activities described in subsection
(d).
(C) A description of total acres treated for each
of the resource management activities required under
subsection (d), forest health improvements, fire risk
reductions, water yield increases, and other natural
resources-related benefits achieved by the
implementation of the resource management activities
described in subsection (d).
(D) A description of the economic benefits to local
communities achieved by the implementation of the pilot
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