BLM authorization : hearing before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands of the Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, first session, on H.R. 1603, to authorize appropriations for prog

284 Pages·1993·9.2 MB·English

by  United States. Congress. House. Committee on Natural Resources. Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands

BLM AUTHORIZATION
Y 4. R 31/3: 103-27
JtING
DLH Authorization! Serial Ho. 103-2... DBE THE
duowMMITTEE ON
NATIONAL PARKS, FORESTS AND PUBLIC LANDS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
NATURAL RESOURCES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H.R. 1603
TO AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS FOR PROGRAMS, FUNCTIONS, AND AC-
TIVITIES OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL
YEARS 1994 THROUGH 1997; TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC LANDS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC
MAY 25, 1993
Serial No. 103-27
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
69-906 WASHINGTON : 1993
ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice
SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402
ISBN 0-16-041147-5

f BLM AUTHORIZATION
4.R 31/3:103-27
JUNG
1 Authorization, Serial Ho. 103-2... 3RE TH£
oux>^uiviMITTEE ON
NATIONAL PAKKS, FORESTS AND PUBLIC LANDS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
NATURAL RESOURCES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H.R. 1603
TO AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS FOR PROGRAMS, FUNCTIONS, AND AC-
TIVITIES OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL
YEARS 1994 THROUGH 1997; TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC LANDS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC
MAY 25, 1993
Serial No. 103-27
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
69-906 WASHINGTON 1993
I
ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice
SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402
ISBN 0-16-041147-5
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
House of Representatives
GEORGE MILLER, California, Chairman
PHILIP R. SHARP, Indiana DONYOUNG, Alaska,
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts RankingRepublican Member
AUSTIN J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah
NICKJOE RAHALL II, WestVirginia BARBARAF. VUCANOVICH, Nevada
BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota ELTON GALLEGLY, California
PAT WILLIAMS, Montana ROBERT F. SMITH, Oregon
RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming
SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut JOHNJ. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee
RICHARD H. LEHMAN, California JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado
BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana
American Samoa KEN CALVERT, California
TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota SCOTT McINNIS, Colorado
LARRY LaROCCO, Idaho RICHARD W. POMBO, California
NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii JAYDICKEY, Arkansas
CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California
CARLOS ROMERO-BARCELO, Puerto Rico
KARAN ENGLISH, Arizona
KAREN SHEPHERD, Utah
NATHAN DEAL, Georgia
MAURICE D. HINCHEY, NewYork
ROBERT A UNDERWOOD, Guam
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
LANE EVANS, Illinois
PATSYT. MINK, Hawaii
THOMAS J. BARLOW III, Kentucky
THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin
John Lawrence, StaffDirector
Richard Meltzer, General Counsel
Daniel Val Kish, RepublicanStaffDirector
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota, Chairman
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JAMESV. HANSEN, Utah,
NICKJOE RAHALL II,WestVirginia RankingRepublican Member
PAT WILLIAMS, Montana ROBERT F. SMITH, Oregon
PETERA. DeFAZIO, Oregon CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming
TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota JOHNJ. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee
LARRY LaROCCO, Idaho JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado
NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California
CARLOS ROMERO-BARCELO, Puerto Rico RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana
KARAN ENGLISH, Arizona KEN CALVERT, California
KAREN SHEPHERD, Utah JAY DICKEY, Arkansas
MAURICE D. HINCHEY, NewYork
ROBERT A UNDERWOOD, Guam
AUSTIN J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania
BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico
PATSYT. MINK, Hawaii
Richard Healv, StaffDirector
Charles (Stan) Sloss, Counsel
Gwyn Fletcher, StaffAssistant
Allen Freemyer, Republican CounselonNational Parks, Forests and Public Lands
(ID
CONTENTS
Page
Hearingheld: May 25, 1993 1
Textofthebill: H\R. 1603 5
Member statements:
BruceVento 1
JamesV. Hansen 29
CraigThomas 32
Witnpflfl sfat^Tn^nt-fl*
Hon. Bill Orton, aRepresentativein Congress fromthe StateofUtah 33
Panel consistingof:
PeteT. Cenarrusa, SecretaryofState, StateofIdaho 49
Barbara Hielle, UtahAssociationofCounties 76
DavidJ. Simon,NationalParks and ConservationAssociation 90
Cynthia Shogan, Washington Representative, Southern Utah Wilder-
nessAlliance 100
Panelconsistingof:
George Lea, President, PublicLands Foundation, McLean,Virginia ... 147
Cathy Carlson, Legislative Representative, Public Lands and Energy
Division, NationalWildlife Federation 154
Nancy Green, Director, BLM program, TheWilderness Society 165
Constance E. Brooks, Esq., Denver, CO 176
Panel consistingof:
Jim Magagna, Wyoming rancher and immediate past-president,
American Sheep Industry Association, and past-president, Public
Lands Council 192
David L. Hook, Director/Legislative Liaison, United Four Wheel
DriveAssociationsofU.S. and Canada, Felton, PA 202
George Early, BLM Lands Foundation 205
Jim Baca, Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the
Interior 212
Additional material submitted forthe recordbyMembersfrom:
Hon. Orrin G. Hatch, a Senator in Congress from the State of Utah:
Prepared statement 30
Save Our Access and Rights-of-Way, Soda Springs, ID: Comments con-
cerningH.R. 1603 115
State of Alaska: Prepared statement of Lt. Governor John B. Coghill
includingattachments 120
Hon. Robert F. (Bob) Smith, a Representative in Congress from the
StateofOregon: Prepared statement 145
APPENDDC
Tuesday, May 25, 1993
Additional material submittedforthe recordfrom:
Hon. Karen Shepherd, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Utah: Prepared^statement 221
Hon. Michael D. Crapo, a Representative in Congress from the State
ofIdaho: Prepared statement 224
NationalAudubon Society: LetterdatedJune 7, 1993 230
David J. Simon, National Parks and Conservation Association: National
Park Service informationreR.S. 2477 234
(III)

TO AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS
H.R. 1603,
FOR PROGRAMS, FUNCTIONS, AND ACTIVI-
TIES OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGE-
MENT FOR FISCAL YEARS 1994 THROUGH
TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF
1997;
THE PUBLIC LANDS; AND FOR OTHER PUR-
POSES
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1993
House of Representatives,
Committee on Natural Resources,
Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests and Public Lands,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 10 a.m. in room 1324, Longworth
House Office Building, Hon. Bruce F. Vento presiding.
Mr. DeFazio. Good morning. We will begin the hearing.
Chairman Vento is still down at the White House, and hopefully
they are working on his good arm and not his bad arm. So we are
going to start the hearing so we can move along and not delay peo-
ple too much.
Without objection, I will first enter a very astute statement by
the Chairman as opening remarks into the record. No objection,
that is entered.
[Opening statement ofMr. Vento follows:]
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRUCE F.VENTO
The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
will come to order.
As Members have been advised, we are meeting today for a hear-
ing on H.R. 1603, a bill to authorize appropriations for activities of
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the 4 fiscal years end-
ing on September 30, 1997, and to improve the management ofthe
public lands for which BLM has responsibility.
I am very happy that the Senate has now acted to confirm the
appointment of Mr. Baca as Director of BLM. I know that we all
look forward to hearing from him today. This will be his first ap-
pearance on this side ofthe Capitol as Director.
However, this morning Director Baca has a scheduling conflict.
He and officials ofthe BLM are the sole witnesses testifying before
the Senate Appropriati—ons Subcommittee concerning BLM's appro-
priation for fiscal 1994 an appropriation that would be authorized
by enactment ofH.R. 1603.
(l)
the Senate Appropriati—ons Subcommittee concerning BLM's appro-
priation for fiscal 1994 an appropriation that would be authorized
by enactment ofH.R. 1603.
Therefore, we will take the testimony ofthe other scheduled wit-
nesses first, and then will hear from the Director after he con-
cludes his appearance before the Senate Appropriations Sub-
committee. If we have concluded with the other witnesses before
the Director arrives, we will recess and then resume later today to
hear from him.
The BLM is a very important agency of Government, wi—th sole
responsibility for management of some 27—0 million acres about
13% of the total land surface ofthe Nation and for administering
mineral leasing and supervising mineral operations on an addi-
tional 300 million acres throughout the United States.
The basic law governing BLM's activities is th—e Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976—or "FLPMA" sometimes re-
ferred to as BLM's "organic act."
FLPMA BLM
provides for periodic reauthorization of appropria-
tions, but such reauthorization has occurred only once, and there
has been no authorization for appropriations for most BLM activi-
ties since the end offiscal 1982.
Since that time, in order for appropriations to be provided, it has
been necessary for the House either to adopt a rule waiving the re-
qu—irement of the House ru—les that appropriations be authorized,
or as was done last year for the appropriations bill to provide
that the funding is subject to enactment of authorizing legislation.
For several years, this committee and the House have been at-
BLM
tempting to resolve this problem through enactment of a re-
authorization bill. The House passed such a bill in 1990, and again
in 1991.
As Members who served in the last Congress are aware, the bill
the House passed in 1991 provided for more than a simple reau-
thorization ofappropriations.
Like the earlier version passed by the House, the 1991 bill in-
cluded a number ofother provisions intended to clarify BLM's man-
date and improve the agency's ability to properly manage the pub-
lic lands.
Those provisions were based on the continuing oversight work of
the subcommittee and full committee during the 15 years since en-
actment of FLPMA, and also responded to judicial decisions and to
the way FLPMA had been implemented by several administrations.
H.R. 1603 is similar in most respects to the House-passed bill of
the 102d Congress, but there are some differences. For one thing,
H.R. 1603 does not include the provisions related to grazing fees
and other aspects of range management that were in the bill ap-
proved by the House in 1991. Instead, those and related provisions
have been grouped into a separate measure, H.R. 1602, on which
the subcommittee has already held a hearing.
It may be appropriate for these two bills to be joined into a larg-
er measure later, but we have not reached the stage in the legisla-
tive process where that would occur, ifit is to occur.
Another difference between H.R. 1603 and the—House-pass—ed bill
of 1991, is that H.R. 1603 includes a new section section 19 that
would require the Secretary of the Interior to inform the Congress
3
whether there are portions of the public lands managed by BLM
that should be considered for possible designation as national con-
servation areas.
In recent years, our committee has considered a number of such
proposals. Several have been enacted into law, including the des-
ignation of the Le Malpais National Conservation Area in New
Mexico, the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Ne-
vada, and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area and
Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, both in Arizona.
Earlier similar designations include lands in California and Alaska.
Just this month the House approved the bill of our colleague
NCA
from Idaho, Mr. LaRocco, to give a statutory designation to
the Snake River Birds of Prey Area previously reserved by admin-
istrative actions.
In my opinion, the time has come to establish a more regular
procedure for identifying which BLM lands might be appropriate
for such designations, and to move toward more uniform manage-
ment ofnational conservaton areas. These are the objectives ofsec-
tion 19 ofthe bill before us.
Finally, let me mention one feature of the bill that is not new,
but that is of continuing importance. That is section 14, which
would amend FLPMA to addr—ess potential claims for rights-of-way
based on a 19th-century law later grouped into the revise—d stat-
utes as section 2477, and so usually referred to as R.S. 2477 prior
FLPMA
to that law's repeal by in 1976.
Last year, to maintain the status quo on the ground while simi-
lar provisions were under consideration, the House's version of the
fiscal 1993 appropriations bill included a moratorium on processing
ofsuch claims.
That moratorium was dropped in conference, but the conferees
required submission from the Interior Department of a report on
R.S. 2477 and its significance for management of the public lands.
A draft version of that report has been made available to the pub-
lic, and there is evidently, and properly, considerable public inter-
est in this matter. It is my understanding that the final version of
the report will be transmitted fairly soon.
Section 14 of H.R. 1603 is identical to the corresponding provi-
sions ofthe bill the House passed in 1991. It may be that the infor-
mation developed by the administration, and such recommenda-
tions as they may make, will lead to suggestions for revisions of
that part of the bill, and I am sure such suggestions will be care-
fully considered.
I am hopeful that with the help of the Clinton administration,
this year we can break the gridlock and enact a reauthorization
measure for BLM. Certainly I intend to continue to work to achieve
that goal, and in the process, to provide an opportunity for the Nat-
ural Resources Committee to properly exert itsjurisdiction oyer the
management of the public lands by resolving the policy disputes
that in the past have too often been dealt with by the Appropria-
tions committees both in the House and in the other body.
A copy of the bill and a fairly detailed description of its provi-
sions are before each Member, so I will dispense with further de-
scription ofit at this time.
In a moment, I will recognize other Members who wish to make
opening statements, but first let me briefly outline the procedures
we will follow today:
Without objection, the full statements ofall witnesses will be in-
cluded in the record as if read, and I will ask each public witness
to summarize their testimony in no more than five minutes.
We will allow the witness on behalfofthe administration to take
more time if necessary, so that we may have a full explanation of
the administration's views.
As usual, we have grouped some of the witnesses into panels, to
expedite matters, and will hear from all witnesses on each panel
before Members are recognized under the five-minute rule to ques-
tion those witnesses.
If Members desire, we can have more than one round of ques-
tions. I will attempt to recognize Members in the order of their ar-
rival at the hearing, in the usual rotation between majority and
minority sides.
Now, let me recognize other Members who wish to make opening
statements before we hear from our witnesses.
[Text ofthe bill, H.R. 1603, follows:]