66 



7 



Bureau of Land Management operates are granted to the Forest Service for the 

 two national forests covered by S. 59, those forests would be administered 

 differently than all other national forests. This situation would likely lead 

 to Inconsistencies in management within Nevada and elsewhere. For instance, 

 the authority to handle Recreation and Public Purposes Act leases would not 

 apply to other national forest lands. It would therefore be necessary for the 

 Forest Service to develop regulations specific to just two of the 154 

 proclaimed national forests within the national forest system. The 

 Administration's Interchange bill would clarify land entry, sales and 

 withdrawal provisions on a nationwide basis, while also ensuring continuity in 

 public service between national forests and public lands throughout and among 

 states. 



S. 59 would likely open the door to other state-by-state proposals for land 

 exchange which might only lead to further inconsistencies in management 

 procedures among states, if the individual Interchange laws were not Identical. 



In summary, we support the concept of land adjustments between the Bureau of 

 Land Management and the Forest Service. However, the findings In subsections 

 1 through 3 of section 1 of S. 59 and the objectives of the bill would be only 

 minimally achieved. They could be achieved more effectively and efficiently 

 on a multi-state basis. Transfers of land on an individual state basis as 

 proposed by S. 59 do not provide a coherent approach to adjusting boundaries. 

 Such adjustments should be on a broad-scale basis rather than on a 

 state-by-state basis because of the probability that Issues would be treated 

 differently among states. Administrative juridlction and land holdings of the 

 two agencies often cross State boundaries. Thus the most practical approach 

 to adjusting land ownership patterns is on a nationwide basis which would 

 allow Interstate holdings to be adjusted. We still believe that the 



