S. 638 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Feb 19, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryProtects Minnesota county payments for wilderness lands
The federal government makes annual payments to three Minnesota counties—Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis—based on the value of national forest lands in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This bill stops those payments from going down by changing how the payment amount is calculated. Instead of using the current land value, the Treasury Department would base payments on the highest value the land has ever had.
How it affects you
If you live in Cook, Lake, or Saint Louis County in Minnesota, this affects your local government's budget. These counties rely on these federal payments to fund services, so the bill helps ensure those payments don't shrink over time.
Read the official summary (Reported to Senate, Oct 27, 2025)
This bill prevents decreases in annual payments provided to Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties in Minnesota for national forest lands in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Specifically, the bill modifies the formula created under the Thye-Blatnik Act that the Department of the Treasury uses to determine the amount of the payments. Treasury must base the payments on the highest fair appraised value, including historical fair appraised values, rather than on the fair appraised value of the land.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 638
A BILL
A bill to amend the Act of June 22, 1948.
Sponsor: Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) · Introduced Feb 19, 2025 · Public Lands and Natural Resources · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Oct 27, 2025: “Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 208.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.