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FOREST SERVICE HANDBOOK
Portland, Oregon
TITLE 5409.13 - LAND ACQUISITION HANDBOOK
R6 Supplement No. 5409.13-91-3
Effective October 15, 1991
POSTING NOTICE. Supplements to this handbook are numbered consecutively.
Check the last transmittal sheet received for this handbook to see that the above
supplement number is in sequence. If not, obtain intervening supplement(s) at once
from the Information Center. Do not post this supplement until the missing one(s)
is received and posted. After posting, place the transmittal at the front of the title
and retain until the first transmittal of the next calendar year is received.
The last R6 Supplement to this handbook was No. 5409.13-91-2 (50.3-54.2)
Document Name
Sheets)
50.3-54.2
5409.13,50
Superseded New
(Number of
5
5
Digest:
This supplement reissues Chapter 50 to conform the format and structure of the
Handbook to the requirements of electronic directive issuance.
Only minor changes to correct spelling, punctuation, and so forth have been made.
This supplement is available in the R6FSH Information Center Service in the same
format as the paper copy.
/s/ John F. Butruille
JOHN F. BUTRUILLE
Regional Forester
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FSH 5409.13 - LAND ACQUISITION HANDBOOK
R6 SUPPLEMENT 5409.13-91-3
EFFECTIVE 10/15/91
CHAPTER 50 - TITLE EVIDENCE
50.3 - Policy. All title dockets submitted to the Office of General Counsel will be by
or through a Certified Title Examiner.
50.4 - Responsibility. The Regional Director of Lands and Minerals shall certify
title examiners.
1.
Definitions.
a. Title Examiner. A person who reviews and determines the legal merits of
case title reports and supporting documents. Cases include USDA and USDT
easement grants, cost-share and other right-of-way acquisitions,
terminations, purchases, land exchanges, donations, small tracts act cases,
conservation easements, and condemnations.
b. Title work. Title work is all functions required to establish complete,
accurate, and administratively and legally sufficient title to all Land
Adjustment and Right-of-Way cases. These functions include, but are not
limited to: review, evaluation, and preparation of legal documents in
compliance with standards; assembly and transmittal of title packets;
recognizing title problems and recommending curative action; providing
guidance to field personnel involved in right-of-way and land adjustment
cases regarding legal and administrative requirements; preparing alternative
language for legal documents; and preparing title approval documents for
Regional Attorney signature. Many of these activities are not and will not be
accomplished by a title examiner; that is, on many Forests the deeds, special
clauses, or other legal documents, will be prepared by the right-of-way or
land exchange personnel.
c. Certified Title Examiner. A title examiner who is qualified to submit title
dockets directly to the Office of General Counsel, if so authorized.
d. Area Title Examiner. A certified title examiner who is authorized by the
Regional Director of Lands and Minerals to submit title dockets directly to
the Office of General Counsel. Authorization is limited to the certified
individual so designated.
2.
Qualifications.
a. The minimum qualifications to be designated as a Certified Title
Examiner are:
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(1) The title examiner shall have completed 200 hours of recognized
classroom training including American Right-of-Way Association Course 101
(80 hours). The remaining 120 hours of classroom training and an additional
240 hours of approved In-Service training may be chosen from the list in
exhibit 01. This list may be supplemented by other courses approved by the
Regional Office. Three years of work preparing title packets and legal
documents for both right-of-way and landownership adjustment cases may be
substituted for the 120 hours of classroom training.
(2) Three years' experience in lands, two of which include title examination
work.
(3) One week training working on right-of-way cases and one week working
on landownership adjustment cases (10 days total). Work will be done under
the guidance of a certified title examiner and will involve preparing cases for
transmittal to the Office of General Counsel and the Washington Office,
including preliminary title opinions and final title approval.
(4) Acceptable submission to the Regional Title Examiner of three different
kinds of cases in each of the following areas (nine cases in all):
(a) Right-of-way acquisition cases: cost-share, noncost-share, FRTA,
easement exchange outside cost share agreement area, trail, or termination.
(b) USDA grants and termination documents: FLPMA, FRTA, public or
private road easements, Department of Transportation letter of consent, cost
share, BLM right-of-way reservation, or 2730 termination documents.
(c) Landownership adjustment cases: purchase, small tracts interchange,
conservation easement, donation, Weeks Law Act land exchange, or General
Exchange Act land exchange.
The cases in (a), (b), and (c) must be submitted within the 3-year period prior
to a request for certification. If current cases are unavailable on a title
examiner's Forest, title dockets from other Forests and/or areas may be
requested through the Regional Title Examiner.
b. Authorization may be granted separately for right-of-way and
landownership adjustment when individual requirements are met.
c. Certified Title Examiners shall review and transmit to OGC a minimum of
three cases per year in both right-of-way and landownership adjustment to
maintain their certification.
3.
Title Examiner Duties/Responsibilities. The primary duty of the title
examiner is to review all elements of the title docket and accompanying documents
pertaining to title. Upon request, the title examiner will counsel and advise the
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District and Forest personnel on technical matters pertaining to landownership
adjustment and right-of-way case title.
Responsibilities include the determination that the package is correct in all respects
and meets the standards required by the Department of Justice and the Forest
Service. Elements of responsibility include: correct legal documents; proper
authorities cited and requirements met; unacceptable encumbrances cured; other
Federal laws and policies do not conflict; State and county laws and procedures
have been followed; title policies or title search process is correct and complete; and
all required certificates are correct.
4. Monitor and Review Procedures. The Regional Director of Lands and
Minerals shall establish, monitor, and review procedures to ensure that the
Certified Title Examiner and Area Title Examiner are following the correct policies
and procedures.
5. Designation.
Region 6 has three Certified Area Title Examiners who are authorized to submit
title dockets directly to the Office of General Counsel:
- Gloria A. Reams, Regional Title Examiner.
- Carol J. Walker, Certified Title Examiner for all Oregon Forests.
- Dorylee Engle, Certified Title Examiner for Columbia River Gorge National
Scenic Area.
6. Revocation of Designation.
a. Certified Title Examiner. The Regional Director of Lands shall revoke or
revise the Certified Title Examiner designation when either one of the
following occurs:
- CTE fails to process required number of cases to OGC to maintain
certification.
- CTE fails to perform at an acceptable level as determined by the monitoring
and review process.
b. Area Title Examiner. The Regional Director of Lands shall revoke or
revise the Area Title Examiner authorization when either one of the following
occurs:
- Decertification.
- Individual no longer functions as a Certified Title Examiner within the
Region.
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50.4 - Exhibit 01
CERTIFIED TITLE EXAMINER EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
Basic Classroom Training (200 hour minimum)
COURSE
DESCRIPTION
HOURS
Principles of Real Estate Acquisition
80
Communication in RE Acquisition
Land Titles
Legal Aspects of Easements
Property Descriptions
Real Estate Appraisal Principles
Concepts, and Theory
Interpersonal Relations of Real
Estate Acquisition
Transactional Analysis: A Communication
Nonverbal Communication
Interpreting Engineering Drawings
Basic Real Estate Law or Public
Land Law
Appraisal of Partial Acquisitions
Presentation Skills
Relocation Assistance
FAA, FHWA Course
Basic Lands and Minerals Adjudication
Adjudication Decision-making
Master Adjudication Seminar
Real Property Boundary Law Seminar
40
8
8
8
40
Required
IRWA 101q
Other
IRWA 201
IRWA 801
IRWA 802
IRWA 902
SREA 101
or AIREA 1A-1
IRWA 202
IRWA 203
IRWA 210
IRWA 901
Community College
or Corresp. Course
IRWA 401
IRWA 206
IRWA 501 or
BLM 3000-2
BLM 2000
BLM 2000-10
WFPS
24
16
8
8
Variable
40
16
24
80
40
40
8
In-Service Training* (240 hour minimum)
LCC - A
LCC - B
LCC - C
LCC - E
LRnG - 3
Field Trip
Field Trip
Field Trip
Detail
Field Trip
FS
Foundations
Land Use Authorization
Valuation and Landownership Adjustment
Landownership status, title claims,
withdrawals
Land Use Grants - Policy
County land and title records
Title Company Procedures
BLM Master Title plats, historical
indices, FS land records
WO Title Approval section
FS Surveyors, locating corners and
descriptions on-the ground
Effective Briefing Techniques
Variable
Variable
Variable
Variable
Variable
8
8
8
40
16
Variable
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*Additional L&M workshops and seminars may be approved by the Regional Office.