Mount Hood Cooper Spur Land Exchange Clarification Act

Mr. Speaker and Ranking Member Torres, thank you for bringing this legislation to the floor once again.

I want to elaborate a little bit on what my friend and colleague from Portland talked about. It was more than just a camping trip. It was 3 nights with backpacks, 4 days, 41 miles, and 9,000 feet of gain and loss in elevation. We went all the way around Mt. Hood, which is an extraordinary piece of Oregon, and we had a wonderful time.

Along the way, we had our ornithologist there; we had geologists there; we had biologists; we had advocates for wilderness and advocates for recreation. We were met by, I think it was, the Mazamas with watermelons. One afternoon, they hiked them up I don't know how many thousand feet to share with us. It was really a kind of Oregon-way experience, because we all care deeply about the watersheds, the jobs, the recreation, the beauty, the incredible piece of the world we live in around Mt. Hood.

It is my home area. I grew up around the Hood River. This land exchange has been a battle since the 1970s, in a sense, in that my community long ago said: We don't want a lot of development up in this Crystal Springs watershed and in this very pristine area around the Hood River upper valley. It really belongs around the corner of Mt. Hood, up in Government Camp where there already is development.

This fight has gone on for years; and all sides came together, as we did in our legislation, and said: We agree. And so we said: Fine, we will put that in the bill. They worked it out with the Forest Service and everybody else, and then we said: Okay. They have done the heavy lift for the last, I don't know, 30 years. Forest Service, you just make this transfer and do it in 16 months. That is what the law said.

We are nearly 8 years later and this is still languishing; and, unfortunately, we are back trying again, because we are never going to quit until we are done. We are getting much closer.

In fact, the law we passed back in 2009, Public Law 111-11, deals with this Public Lands Act. It said: ``Deadline for completion of land exchange. It is the intent of the Congress that the land exchange under this subsection shall be completed not later than 16 months after the date of enactment of this Act.''

Again, that was back in 2009. It is important to protect this watershed. It is important that where development occurs, it occurs in the right places. We have always felt that way in Oregon. And, indeed, facilitating this exchange resolves a decades-long controversy and puts development where it belongs, protects a special area in the upper Hood River Valley that needs protection, and finally brings certainty and resolution.

I hope you all will come out and see it, or you can come over to the Energy and Commerce Mt. Hood Room which soon will have a beautiful photograph there of Mt. Hood at Lost Lake, and I encourage you to come over. When you are tired of that, you can come over to the new Crater Lake room in the Energy and Commerce Committee suites as well. I have discovered being chairman of the full committee, you get to name rooms--at least briefly during your tenure--and show off some of the best aspects of your State.

With that, Mr. Speaker, thank you for bringing this to the floor. I look forward to House passage, Senate passage, and getting this puppy signed into law.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 699) to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to modify provisions relating to certain land exchanges in the Mt. Hood Wilderness in the State of Oregon.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 699, the Mount Hood Cooper Spur Land Exchange Clarification Act, was introduced by Congressman Greg Walden and cosponsored by Congressman Earl Blumenauer to address an ongoing land exchange issue in the State of Oregon.

In 2009, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act authorized a land exchange in Government Camp, Oregon. This land exchange was supposed to be completed within 16 months of the enactment of the legislation; however, this still has not occurred more than 7 years later. The long delay, primarily due to disagreements surrounding easement terms, has frustrated local communities such as Mt. Hood Meadows and other local groups.

This legislation, along with the Senate companion, comes as a result of a mediation session held by the Forest Service in September 2015 to resolve longstanding issues between the agency and the local community. Subsequently, the parties released a joint statement that they arrived at mutually satisfactory terms during the mediation session.

H.R. 699 updates the details and process for the land exchange to clarify issues relating to land appraisals and the parameters of a wetland conservation easement on the Federal portion of the conveyance. This legislation also includes several technical provisions, including changes to conveyance conditions regarding wetland boundaries on the Federal land, reservation of a nonexclusive trail easement, and equalization of values of the exchange properties.

This bill was amended in committee last Congress to address concerns raised by the Forest Service, including clarifying language for the easement allowed in the bill and the length of time allowed for the Forest Service to implement this legislation.

It is illustrative of the state of Federal Land Management that the Forest Service has not already carried out the provisions of this bill. This bill previously passed the House in September 2016, and it is my hope that the Senate will see fit to act on the legislation during this Congress.

I appreciate Congressman Walden's continuous efforts to see this issue addressed once and for all, and I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill. I urge adoption of the measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the author of this measure, whose dogged determination has brought us within reach of resolving this dispute.

Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers and yet another show of bipartisan comity.

Mr. Speaker, I ask for adoption of this measure.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be on the floor here this afternoon with my friend and colleague, Congressman Walden, who is going to talk at great length--maybe not, but he could.

This represents, hopefully, the culmination of over 12 years' work. Congressman Walden and I spent a good deal of time with stakeholders back in Oregon focusing on what needed to be done to protect the treasure that is Mt. Hood and the surrounding wilderness area.

It culminated with a hike that we took around Mt. Hood--a 3-day camping trip with Congressman Walden, his

family, our staff, having a series of meetings with people who cared about the work. It was, for me, one of the most memorable experiences I have had as a Member of the House, both in terms of the delightful experience we had enjoying that wilderness area, but also being able to focus on things that were concrete, that would make a difference.

This is the remaining piece. In fact, it was 8 years ago in the first hours of the first Obama administration that the legislation that we worked on as part of the Wilderness Act was signed into law. And as has been referenced by our friend from California, we have been here before trying to complete this last piece.

The land exchange is necessary to be able to fully realize the benefits of the hard work of the stakeholders, to preserve the recreational benefits, to preserve the water, to be able to have a true win-win situation. All that remains is this little exchange.

I know my colleague is frustrated, as am I, that we have to be back here again with a piece of legislation. I am hopeful, as it was in the past, the House will approve, that our friends in the Senate will follow through, and that, somehow, this time it won't be a casualty in conference. It is important to be able to finish this land exchange to realize the potential of the hard work that people back in Oregon have done with us to be able to realize the benefit of this hard work.

I actually will just stop at this point. I look forward to hearing from my friend. I look forward to making sure we get this across the finish line so that this important, bipartisan piece of legislation is finally enacted into law and that we have the Forest Service follow through on the last elements of this critical land exchange.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 699 clarifies the terms of the land exchange between the Forest Service and Mt. Hood Meadows, a privately held ski resort. The exchange was authorized by Congress in 2009, but due to lack of clarity, here we are 7 years later and the exchange still has not been executed.

Last year, the Forest Service and Mt. Hood Meadows engaged in mediation to resolve the issues that have held up the exchange. This bill is a result of that mediation, and its passage will ensure that, after 7 long years, the exchange will finally move forward.

I want to thank the sponsors, Representative Walden and Representative Blumenauer from Oregon, for their hard work and commitment to resolving this issue.

Last year, this bill passed the House and Senate as part of S. 2012. Given all the positive momentum this legislation has seen in recent years, I hope that we can get this bill across the finish line as soon as possible and finally complete the land exchange. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee be discharged from further consideration of the following bills: S. 1438 and H.R. 1927; and that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of those bills and the following bills en bloc: Calendar No. 49, S. 35; Calendar No. 54, S. 432; Calendar No. 55, S. 466; Calendar No. 62, H.R. 267; Calendar No. 64, H.R. 560; Calendar No. 72, H.R. 699; Calendar No. 88, H.R. 863; Calendar No. 125, S. 167; Calendar No. 148, H.R. 381; Calendar No. 170, H.R. 954; H.R. 1242, received from the House; H.R. 1306, received from the House; and H.R. 2611, received from the House.

I further ask unanimous consent that, where applicable, the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, and the bills, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time.