MAY 20 1989 STATEMENT OF JAMES PARKER, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, SUPPORT SERVICES, BUREAU OF I appreciate the opportunity to appear here today to discuss S. 1461. S. 1461 would convey, without consideration, to the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Las Vegas, Nevada, forty acres of land described in the bill. We oppose enactment of S. 1461. The bill would create a Federal subsidy in excess of $1 million to a nonprofit entity, with the resulting loss to the U.S. Treasury. No benefit enures to the United States. The 40 acres of land described in S. 1461 were conveyed to the YMCA under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act in two patents, both of which contained the standard reversionary clause in favor of the United States. The transfer price for the entire 40-acre tract was $2,525.00. Private land in the neighborhood of the 40-acre parcel is rapidly being developed now for multifamily housing. A preliminary estimate of the current market value of the land is in excess of $1 million. This estimate is based on the sale of two similar 40-acre parcels of land within one-half mile of the subject land in late 1984. Those two parcels sold for $26,000 and $29,500 per acre. 2 The land has not been developed by the YMCA. On February 11, 1983, the YMCA filed a petition in bankruptcy. introduced is to permit the YMCA to sell the land and pay some of its debts as a part of the bankruptcy proceedings. We believe this is completely inappropriate. In other instances when it became apparent that development would not occur, the patentees have reconveyed the land to the United States for nondevelopment. We believe this would be the appropriate procedure for We understand that the reason S. 1461 was the YMCA to follow. Additionally, two preexisting rights-of-way cross this parcel of land. One is to Clark County Sanitation District for pipeline purposes; the other is to the Nevada Power Company for transmission lines. S. 1461 makes no provision for protecting these valid existing rights for public utility purposes. The In addition to our objection to the bill conceptually, we find the bill itself to be confusing and inadequate. The lands have already been patented. United States has only a reversionary interest. Yet S. 1461 would require the United States to convey the land to the YMCA. It is not clear whether it is intended to reconvey the land, to convey only the reversionary interest or to do something more. The bill does not address whatever mineral values may be on the land. Minerals were required by law to be reserved to the United States when the land was patented. At a minimum, the bill should indicate that minerals would not be conveyed by this bill. This concludes my statement. I will be pleased to respond to questions. Senator DOMENICI. Thank you very much. Please proceed, Senator Hecht. Senator HECHT. In my statement, which I have for the record, I am just going to take one paragraph out to address what you brought up. I would argue that this sale will promote increased recreational opportunities for southern Nevadans. It is clearly in the public interest and, therefore, fulfills the spirit of the law. However, I recognize that the letter of the law also must be observed. This bill would exempt the land from reverting back to the Federal Government. While I favor the broader wording of the bill because I feel it will insure in the future that there is no cloud on the title held by the YMCA, I would have no objection to alternative wording which would accomplish the same objective. Now, the basic objective is to provide recreational facilities for Henderson, and this financial problem must be addressed so these recreational facilities can be provided. And to all of you who are not familiar with southern Nevada, Henderson and Las Vegas are approximately 10 to 12 miles apart. Senator DOMENICI. Thank you very much, Senator Hecht. Did you have anything further to add with reference to the observations of the Senator? Mr. PARKER. We recognize that the YMCA is having financial difficulties and probably could never develop that land. However, another R&PP could be issued to the City of Henderson or to some other nonprofit entity that could develop that land. That would be an alternative. Senator HECHT. Well, we are quite willing to work with you on alternative wording on this. Mr. PARKER. Fine. We'd be happy to do that. Senator HECHT. Our primary purpose is recreational facilities, and Henderson is number one right now. That's the whole purpose of this. Mr. PARKER. I think that could be worked out. Senator HECHT. I appreciate your willingness to work together. My staff will get with you. Mr. PARKER. Fine. Senator HECHT. Thank you very much. Senator DOMENICI. Thank you very much. Now, I understand, Mr. Parker, you want to testify on Senate bill 2264. Thank you, Senator Hecht. I would like to insert a statement in the record that describes this bill. [The prepared statement of Senator Domenici follows:] Pete V. Domenici United States Senator STATEMENT OF SENATOR PETE V. DOMENICI S. 2264 would resolve a conflict over the competing uses of a parcel of land known as "A" Mountain, which is located in Las Cruces, NM. This bill will remove some mining claims on "A" Mountain that interfere with a very important National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project and will allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to consolidate its ownership of lands in another area where it proposes to create a new national conservation area. "A" MOUNTAIN has "A" Mountain, which derives its name from the fact that it a large letter "A" painted on its face, is situated near the campus of New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces. Although "A" Mountain is owned by BLM, the land has been withdrawn for the use of NMSU and NASA under two separate public land orders. Approximately 1,400 acres of it have been withdrawn from public use and dedicated to use by NMSU for educational purposes. An additional 2,800 acres of "A" Mountain have been withdrawn for use by NASA as a communications antenna site operated in conjunction with NMSU. research. NMSU operates a satellite tracking observatory for NASA on the 2,800-acre NASA site on "A" Mountain. The antenna range is used for tracking and for applied sounding rocket antenna design According to NASA, the range is vital to its research efforts and is important as it is one of the few areas in the country which is free of radio frequency interference. The research done at this range often requires very precise calibrations that may be distorted or degraded should mining equipment or other heavy equipment items be brought onto the range. NASA has stated that it is necessary to maintain the range in an undisturbed condition to ensure the accuracy of the exacting work which is done there. REMOVAL OF MINING CLAIMS Section 1 of S. 2264 directs BLM to transfer unpatented mining claims within the two land withdrawals on "A" Mountain for other BLM lands of equal value in the vicinity. There currently are 7 unpatented mining claims on the lands covered by these two withdrawals. Two of these claims are operated as commercial gravel pits, one of which is adjacent to the NASA site. It is likely that a patent will be issued for one of these gravel pits. Although no patent application has yet been filed for the other gravel pit, it is believed that the mining claim also is patentable. NMSU shares NASA's concern about the impact of the gravel operation on the NASA site. NMSU desires to remove the gravel pit from the site because the traffic at the gravel pit disrupts |