Arizona county gets 233 acres of federal forest land free—for veteran services

What it does

This bill requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to transfer ownership of a 232.9-acre federal property (the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest) to Gila County, Arizona at no cost to the county. The county must use the land exclusively to serve and support military veterans; if it violates this restriction, the land reverts to federal ownership. The county pays all survey, environmental analysis, and legal compliance costs.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward conveyance of federal real property to a county government with use restrictions tied to veteran services. It is not a tax provision, subsidy program, or regulatory change—it is a one-time property transfer.

What the text implies

• Environmental liability waiver under CERCLA § 120(3) means the federal government will not warrant the land's environmental condition or provide cleanup covenants, potentially leaving Gila County responsible for any contamination discovered post-transfer.
• The 180-day window for the county to request conveyance creates a hard deadline; if missed, the bill's mandate lapses and the land remains federal property, creating uncertainty for county planning.
• Reversion clause gives the Secretary discretionary authority to reclaim the land if veteran-service use is deemed inconsistent with the restriction, but 'inconsistent' is undefined and may invite litigation.
• The bill does not specify what constitutes 'serving and supporting veterans'—a broad definition that could encompass many uses (housing, healthcare, employment training, recreation) or be narrowly construed, creating ambiguity in enforcement.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill serves a stated public purpose—veteran support services—and transfers federal land to a local government entity (not a private corporation) with enforceable use restrictions and reversion rights protecting the public interest. However, the transfer is a subsidy to one county (no payment required; federal taxpayers absorb the land value), and the bill contains environmental liability waivers that shield the federal government from cleanup obligations, potentially leaving environmental co

Who stands to gain

• Gila County, Arizona (receives ~233 acres of federal land at no cost)

Named in the bill

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Gila County, Arizona, Tonto National Forest, Pleasant Valley Ranger District, Senator Mark Kelly, Senator Ruben Gallego, Senator Mike Lee

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.

• Feb 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Feb 25, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
• Feb 4, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $175,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 43 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Mark Kelly, the sponsor, reported $48,750 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Alliance for Retired Americans — $175,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.