# 119-hr-197: Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2025

119-hr-197, Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8] (R-MN); status passed_house (as of 2026-07-15).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-197
- As of: 2026-07-15
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-197
- Congress: 119
- Title: Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2025
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-01-03
- Sponsor: Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8] (R-MN)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-15

## Summary

**A land exchange in the Chippewa National Forest** would trade about 17.5 acres of federal land for about 36.7 acres from Big Winnie Land and Timber, LLC. The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, would have one year after Big Winnie Land and Timber offers to accept the trade, convey the federal parcel while reserving a road-access easement, and add the non-federal parcel to the National Forest. The exchange is conditioned on title approval, appraisals by an independent qualified appraiser with cash equalization if values differ, completion of a Phase I environmental site assessment before acceptance, and Big Winnie Land and Timber paying closing and survey and survey costs.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1] (R-MN), 2025-01-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fischbach, Michelle [R-MN-7] (R-MN), 2025-01-06T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Appraisals and cash rules for land swap: benefit, low. If enacted, an independent appraiser agreed by the Secretary and BWLT would set the land values. Appraisals would follow the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and USPAP. The swap would be for equal value or fixed by a cash payment. If BWLT’s land is worth more than the feder…
- Finalize map and add land to forest: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary would finalize the map and legal descriptions as soon as practical after enactment. If the map and a written description differ, the map would control. The Secretary and BWLT could fix small errors by agreement. The final map and descriptions would be on file at Forest Ser…
- Forest land swap on one-year timeline: benefit, low. If enacted, BWLT could offer about 36.7 acres to the United States. The Secretary of Agriculture would be required to finish the exchange within 1 year of that offer. The United States would convey about 17.5 acres to BWLT and keep a road access easement to Forest Service land west of that parcel.…
- BWLT pays surveys and closing costs: cost, low. If enacted, BWLT would pay for all needed surveys to set exact acres and legal descriptions. BWLT would also pay closing costs like title insurance, searches, inspections, escrow, attorney fees, and recording. BWLT would pay for required environmental studies and give the Secretary a Phase I Enviro…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1163: Prove It Act
- 119-hr-6766: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025
- 119-hr-740: Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-197 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/197)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-1163: Prove It Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1163)
- [119-hr-6766: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6766)
- [119-hr-740: Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-740)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-197 (as of 2026-07-15).