South Dakota gets 9 acres of federal forest, with no strings attached.
H.R. 10190 — Pennington County Land Conveyance Act · Filed by Dusty Johnson (R-SD) · Introduced Aug 31, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to give Pennington County, South Dakota, approximately 8.97 acres of National Forest System land within the Black Hills National Forest at no cost. The county can use the land for a highway maintenance facility or any other public works purpose it deems necessary, and the Forest Service boundary will be adjusted to reflect the transfer.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a one-time transfer of federal forest land to a county government for stated public infrastructure purposes. It is a straightforward conveyance with no hidden riders or complex restrictions.
What the text implies
- The bill grants Pennington County unrestricted discretion to use the land for "any other uses determined to be necessary by the County," with no requirement to maintain the stated highway maintenance facility purpose or revert the land if that purpose is abandoned.
- No environmental review, public notice, or consultation requirement is specified in the bill, despite the land's location within a National Forest and potential ecological significance.
- Once conveyed, the land is removed from federal management and National Forest boundary protections; future county decisions about the parcel (including potential sale or lease to private parties) would not be subject to federal oversight.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The conveyance serves a stated local public purpose (highway maintenance facility) and transfers a small parcel from federal to local government control, which may improve local infrastructure efficiency. However, the bill grants the county unrestricted discretion over the land's use ("any other uses determined to be necessary by the County") without requiring public input, environmental review, or reversion if the stated purpose is abandoned, creating potential for future misuse or privatizatio
Named in the bill
Pennington County, South Dakota, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest
Where it stands
- Aug 31, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Aug 31, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,435 characters) on Sep 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“South Dakota gets 9 acres of federal forest, with no strings attached.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10190 Report an error
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