S 1636 — Fence Line Fairness Act of 2025

Summary

This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish mediation committees in each state with National Forest System land to help resolve disputes over property boundaries between private land and national forests. Each committee is composed of five private, active farmers or ranchers—two appointed by the Secretary and three by the applicable state department of agriculture or natural resources—serving five-year terms with a maximum of two terms. When a boundary dispute occurs, the Secretary must notify the private landowner within 30 days and offer the mediation option; if the landowner accepts, the dispute is referred to the committee within 60 days. The committee holds private hearings with both parties, develops recommendations for resolving the dispute, and submits findings and recommendations to the Secretary, Forest Service Chief, state officials, and Congress within 180 days.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD)

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Mike Rounds’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $30,350
NULL $26,450
APOLLO $19,250
ROCKET MORTGAGE $15,700
APOLLO MGMT. $13,200

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Mike Rounds → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)

May 7, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. · senate
May 7, 2025 Introduced in Senate

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 7, 2025

Mr. Rounds introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish oversight mediation committees to help resolve property boundary disputes regarding National Forest System land, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Fence Line Fairness Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM OVERSIGHT MEDIATION COMMITTEES.

(a) In General.—The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”), in consultation with State departments of agriculture and State departments of natural resources, shall establish in each State in which National Forest System land is located an oversight mediation committee (referred to in this section as a “mediation committee”) to help resolve disputes between private landowners and the Secretary regarding the location of boundaries between National Forest System land and private land.

(b) Composition.—

(1) In general.—A mediation committee shall be composed of—

(A) 2 individuals who are private, active farmers or ranchers from the State in which the mediation committee is established, to be appointed by the Secretary; and

(B) 3 individuals who are private, active farmers or ranchers from the State in which the mediation committee is established, to be appointed by the applicable State department of agriculture or State department of natural resources.

(2) Terms.—A member of a mediation committee—

(A) shall be appointed for a term of 5 years; and

(B) may serve for not more than 2 terms.

(c) Notification.—If there is a dispute regarding the location of a boundary between National Forest System land and private land, the Secretary shall—

(1) notify the private landowner of the dispute not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary becomes aware of the dispute; and

(2) provide to the private landowner the option to use the mediation committee process described in subsection (d) to help resolve the dispute.

(d) Dispute Resolution Process.—

(1) Referral.—If a private landowner notifies the Secretary that the landowner chooses to use the mediation committee process referred to in subsection (c)(2), the Secretary shall refer the dispute to the applicable mediation committee not later than 60 days after the date on which the private landowner notifies the Secretary.

(2) Process.—With respect to a dispute referred to a mediation committee under paragraph (1), the mediation committee shall—

(A) hold private hearings regarding the dispute to analyze information and testimony from the private landowner and appropriate officials of the Forest Service;

(B) provide to the parties to the dispute described in subparagraph (A) recommendations for actions that can be taken by the parties to resolve the dispute; and

(C) submit a report describing findings of fact regarding the dispute and recommendations described in subparagraph (B) to—

(i) the Secretary;

(ii) the Chief of the Forest Service;

(iii) the head of the applicable State department of agriculture;

(iv) the head of the applicable State department of natural resources;

(v) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and

(vi) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives.

(3) Timeline.—Not later than 180 days after the date on which a dispute is referred to a mediation committee under paragraph (1), the mediation committee shall commence holding hearings under paragraph (2)(A). <all>

Comments

Loading comments…