To provide for a land exchange with the Trinity Public Utilities District of Trinity County, California, involving the transfer of land to the Bureau of Land Management and the Six Rivers National Forest in exchange for National Forest System land in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1237) to provide for a land exchange with the Trinity Public Utilities District of Trinity County, California, involving the transfer of land to the Bureau of Land Management and the Six Rivers National Forest in exchange for National Forest System land in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1237, authored by our friend from California (Mr. Herger), authorizes a land exchange between the Trinity County Public Utilities District, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management in northern California.

The utilities district currently owns a parcel of land within the city of Weaverville that is cut off by the surrounding Federal land. The utilities district would like to acquire approximately 100 acres of the national forest to consolidate its holdings and guarantee access for future use of the property near the Weaverville Airport. In exchange for this parcel, the utilities district will convey about 150 acres it currently owns to the Six Rivers National Forest and approximately 50 acres to the Bureau of Land Management.

Passage of this legislation will allow additional opportunity for economic development in remote Trinity County, California, while allowing the Forest Service to consolidate its land base and the Bureau of Land Management to acquire a prime recreational site.

The suspension text makes a minor amendment to the bill to conform to House rules by specifying that any cash equalization payments for the parcels that may be paid to the Secretary must be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. It also requires that no cash equalization payment may be paid to the utilities district.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 5 minutes to the author of this legislation and somebody that this body will miss, as he is retiring at the end of this session, the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger).

Mr. Speaker, I have no more requests for time. If the gentleman is prepared to close, I'll close.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good piece of legislation, and I congratulate the gentleman for his introduction and getting this far.

With that, I urge adoption and yield back the balance of my time.

I thank my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge support for H.R. 1237, a noncontroversial land exchange bill I introduced to provide for greater economic opportunities in Trinity County, located in the northern California congressional district I represent. With a 19 percent unemployment rate, this rural community faces significant economic challenges.

The Trinity County Public Utilities District owns property surrounded by land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. The TPUD seeks to economically improve one parcel near the Weaverville Airport, but it currently cannot do so because it is landlocked by the Forest Service.

This legislation would transfer 47 acres of the district's property near the Trinity River, known as Sky Ranch, to the Bureau of Land Management and 150 acres within Six Rivers National Forest, known as Van Duzen, to the Forest Service. The district would receive a parcel of equal value from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest that surrounds their site at the airport.

This land exchange would benefit the Federal Government as well by consolidating BLM and Forest Service holdings and increasing the efficiency of managing the land. This would allow the TPUD to develop the property and enhance economic opportunities for the community.

Trinity County faces significant challenges attracting businesses because the Federal Government currently owns 75 percent of the available land--over 1.5 million acres--limiting the availability of land for commercial use.

The county also faces significant economic challenges because government mismanagement and lawsuits from fringe groups have shut down responsible stewardship and management of the county's vast timber resources. This decline in management has been devastating to the timber industry and has had a multiplier effect on the county's economy, with severe impacts on schools, infrastructure, and small retail businesses.

In closing, I strongly believe that these resources belong to the people, and local needs should drive their management. Sensible land exchanges like the one this legislation would implement would have the twofold benefit of making Federal land management more efficient while providing local communities with greater access to their natural resources.

I want to thank Chairman Hastings and Ranking Member Grijalva for their efforts on behalf of this commonsense bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1237 provides for the exchange of land between the Trinity Public Utilities District in California, the United States Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. We do not object to this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire if Chairman Hastings has any additional speakers at this time?

Mr. Speaker, again, like I said, we have no objection to this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.