HR837-119

What This Bill Does

The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the Forest Service, to transfer the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site in Arizona to Gila County if the county submits a written request within 180 days after enactment. The parcel is the roughly 232.9-acre area shown on the September 23, 2021 Pleasant Valley Admin Site Proposal map in the Tonto National Forest, including land and improvements. The conveyance must be by quitclaim deed, without payment to the United States, subject to valid existing rights and terms the Secretary considers necessary to protect federal interests. The county must use the property only for serving and supporting Armed Forces veterans. If it uses the property for another purpose, the United States may take the land back.

Who Benefits and How

Gila County receives federal land and existing improvements without paying a purchase price, giving the county a dedicated site for veterans services or related facilities. Veterans in Gila County benefit because the use restriction reserves the land for programs that serve or support former service members. Local veterans service organizations benefit if the county uses the site to host counseling, benefits navigation, outreach, or other support functions. The Forest Service benefits from a clean statutory transfer rule for an administrative site that Congress has identified for county veterans use.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Gila County must request the conveyance within 180 days, pay survey costs, pay for any environmental analysis or resource survey required under federal law, and pay for National Historic Preservation Act review if needed. The Secretary of Agriculture and Forest Service staff must process the request, determine the final acreage and legal description, keep the map available for inspection, and monitor the veterans-use condition. The county also bears the practical risk that inconsistent use can trigger reversion of all right, title, and interest back to the United States.

Key Provisions

• Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site to Gila County after a timely county request.
• Provides the transfer without consideration by quitclaim deed while preserving valid existing rights and protective federal terms.
• Requires a survey to determine the exact acreage and legal description and keeps the map on file for public inspection.
• Requires Gila County to pay survey, environmental-analysis, resource-survey, and historic-preservation review costs tied to the conveyance.
• Restricts the land to serving and supporting Armed Forces veterans and authorizes federal reversion if the county violates that use condition.