Lake Bistineau Land Title Stability Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3392 requires the Bureau of Land Management to disclaim interest in 230 acres of land in northern Louisiana. The land at issue was originally surveyed in 1842, transferred to the Bossier Levee District in 1892, and conveyed to private owners in 1904.

However, BLM conducted a resurvey in 1967 after realizing that certain lands were omitted from previous Federal surveys. The resurvey puts more than 200 acres of land previously thought to belong to Louisiana and private interests back into Federal ownership.

Until recently, the results of this resurvey were largely ignored or forgotten, and now there are several homeowners with clouded titles and some confusion regarding the ownership of mineral rights in the area.

BLM is currently working to evaluate ownership and authorized conveyance where appropriate under the Color-of-Title Act. The Color- of-Title Act authorizes the BLM to convey public lands that have been acquired by peaceful adverse possession often caused by historical surveying anomalies, such as in this case. However, the Color-of-Title Act does not authorize the transfer of mineral rights owned by the United States, which is why this bill is necessary.

To be clear, under most circumstances, we would not support legislation to transfer Federal mineral rights without fair compensation to the American taxpayer, but this is a very unusual and special case. Over 40 years have passed since the BLM attempted to enforce Federal ownership of this land. This lack of clarity and communication is unacceptable. For that reason, I support this bill and I urge its adoption.
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