To facilitate a land exchange involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo National Forest, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 2157.

I want to thank Chairman Hastings and Ranking Member Markey, as well as Subcommittee Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member Grijalva, for giving my legislation a fair hearing and moving the bill through the committee.

Mr. Speaker, the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is located in the northern half of my district in the eastern

Sierra Mountains. Mammoth provides between 10 and 30 percent of the total employment in Mono County, and it's a primary recreation destination for tourists all throughout California and the United States. Each winter, Mammoth sees an average of 1.3 million visitors.

These visitors pump vital money into the local economy by populating hotels, motels, restaurants, and stores throughout the region.

Tourism is the lifeblood of the eastern Sierra. Mammoth has operated on a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service since 1953. The base area of the mountain is aging rapidly and is in need of renovation and redevelopment in order to provide a safer, more enjoyable experience for visitors to Mammoth Mountain; however, these renovations are difficult to achieve under the terms of the special use permit.

Since 1998, Mammoth Mountain has been working with the Forest Service to complete a land exchange between their main base parcel and other desired Forest Service acquisitions. These acquisitions include high- resource value lands in the Inyo, El Dorado, Stanislaus, and Plumas National Forests. The exchange would allow the main base to undergo significant and needed renovations.

My legislation is meant to supplement and codify this agreement. It is needed for two reasons:

Number one, the two parcels that the Forest Service wants are outside Inyo National Forest boundaries. Both parcels are currently leased by the Inyo National Forest from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power;

Number two, there's more value in the Mammoth Mountain parcel than in all the land parcels exchanged in total. So Mammoth needs legislation for permission to pay a cash equalization to the Federal Government that will be used for future forest acquisition.

The agreement is widely supported by the local community because residents, business owners, local governments understand the great value of having Mammoth Mountain in their community. Besides jobs and recreation, Mammoth supports a significant portion of the tax base providing needed revenue throughout the region.

We've received numerous letters of support from community members, including those from Duane Hazard, chair of the Mono County Board of Supervisors; Vikki Bauer, member of the Mono County Board of Supervisors; the Mono Lake Committee; the Eastern Sierra Land Trust; and the Mammoth Lakes Town Council.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving my bill time on the floor. Mammoth Mountain has been a good steward of the environment, a solid partner in economic vitality for the region, and an honest party in negotiations with the Forest Service. This land exchange will be mutually beneficial for all parties involved, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2157.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2157) to facilitate a land exchange involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo National Forest, and for other purposes.

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

This is another good bill that solves a problem that should have been solved at another level, and to introduce it I would yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor, the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).

This is another great bill. I urge its adoption.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday April 24, 2012 I had obligations that necessitated my attention in my district and missed a suspension vote on H.R. 2157, to facilitate a land exchange involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo National Forest. Had I been present for this vote, I would have cast an ``aye'' vote for this piece of legislation.

Again, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on H.R. 2157.

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

(Ms. TSONGAS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

H.R. 2157 provides for a land exchange between the United States Forest Service and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. We applaud Congressman McKeon for this legislation and support the passage of this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to state for the record that on April 24, 2012, I missed the one rollcall vote of the day.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 178, the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 2157--To facilitate a land exchange involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo National Forest, and for other purposes.