Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 6.djvu/305

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PUBLIC LAW 104-333 —NOV. 12, 1996 110 STAT. 4127 (f) No PRECEDENT. —Nothing in subsection (c)(4)(B) of this section relating to conditions or limitations on the appraisal of the Federal lands, or any provision of subsection (e), relating to the approval by the Congress or the Forest Service of facilities on National Forest System lands, shall be construed as a precedent for subsequent legislation. SEC. 305. ARKANSAS AND OKLAHOMA LAND EXCHANGE. (a) FINDINGS. —Congress finds that: (1) The Weyerhaeuser Company has offered to the United States Government an exchange of lands under which Weyerhaeuser would receive approximately 48,000 acres of Federal land in Arkansas and Oklahoma and all mineral interests and oil and gas interests pertaining to these exchanged lands in which the United States Government has an interest in return for conveying to the United States lands owned by Weyerhaeuser consisting of approximately 181,000 acres of forested wetlands and other forest land of public interest in Arkansas and Oklahoma and all mineral interests and all oil and gas interests pertaining to 48,000 acres of these 181,000 acres of exchanged lands in which Weyerhaeuser has an interest, consisting of— (A) certain lands in Arkansas (Arkansas Ouachita lands) located near Poteau Mountain, Caney Creek Wilderness, Lake Ouachita, Little Missouri Wild and Scenic River, Flatside Wilderness and the Ouachita National Forest; (B) certain lands in Oklahoma (Oklahoma lands) located near the McCurtain County Wilderness, the Broken Bow Reservoir, the Glover River, and the Ouachita National Forest; and (C) certain lands in Arkansas (Arkansas Cossatot lands) located on the Little and Cossatot Rivers and identified as the "Pond Creek Bottoms" in the Lower Mississippi River Delta section of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan; (2) acquisition of the Arkansas Cossatot lands by the United States will remove the lands in the heart of a critical wetland ecosystem from sustained timber production and other development; (3) the acquisition of the Arkansas Ouachita lands and the Oklahoma lands by the United States for administration by the Forest Service will provide an opportunity for enhancement of ecosystem management of the National Forest System lands and resources; (4) the Arkansas Ouachita lands and the Oklahoma lands have outstanding wildlife habitat and important recreational values and should continue to be made available for activities such as public hunting, fishing, trapping, nature observation, enjo3anent, education, and timber management whenever these activities are consistent with applicable Federal laws and land and resource management plans; these lands, especially in the riparian zones, also harbor endangered, threatened and sensitive plants and animals and the conservation and restoration of these areas are important to the recreational and educational public uses and will represent a valuable ecological resource which should be conserved;