House Panel OKs Land Swap by Boy Scouts, Forest Service : Legislation: Drafted by Rep. Christopher Cox, bill would resolve boundary dispute involving the Cleveland National Forest.

The Orange County Boy Scouts and the U.S. Forest Service moved one step closer Tuesday toward a land swap that would result in improved and new camp facilities for the Scouts and more acreage of public land in the Cleveland National Forest.

A House subcommittee unanimously approved legislation drafted by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) that would resolve a boundary conflict between the national forest and the Lost Valley Scout Reservation.

The Scout reservation, located on 1,400 acres in northern San Diego County, was purchased in 1956 by the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America based on an erroneous land survey conducted in 1880.

A U.S. Forest Service survey completed in 1987 found that part of the Scout reservation was encroaching on federal land. When the Scouts sought to make improvements to buildings on the property, they were unable to secure construction permits because of federal ownership.

The Scouts want to renovate a dining hall and build new dormitories to accommodate the 10,000 Orange County Scouts that visit each year.

The Orange County Boy Scouts agreed to give 94 acres of their land to the Cleveland National Forest in exchange for the rights to 60 acres already used by campers.

The land exchange was agreed upon by the Scouts and the U.S. Forest Service in 1992, but congressional approval is needed to finalize the deal.

Cox first introduced the legislation in 1992 during the 102nd Congress, and he brought it up again in 1993 during the 103rd Congress.

“The delays and difficulties in getting this simple but crucial piece of legislation passed served as an unfortunate reminder of the degree to which partisan politics ruled the day in the Democratic-controlled Congresses of the past,” Cox said in a prepared statement.

A spokesperson for Cox said that with Tuesday’s approval from the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands, the legislation should be approved by the full House later this fall. Then it will go to the Senate for consideration.