[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5732 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5732

 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to continue stocking fish in 
 certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National 
       Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 29, 2006

Mr. Hastings of Washington (for himself, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. 
  Dicks, and Miss McMorris) introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to continue stocking fish in 
 certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National 
       Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The North Cascades complex contains 245 mountain lakes, 
        of which 91 have been historically stocked with fish.
            (2) In many cases, the stocking of fish in these lakes 
        dates back to the 1800s.
            (3) This practice has been important to the economy of the 
        area because of the recreational opportunities it creates.
            (4) During congressional hearings on the designation of the 
        North Cascades National Park, the Department of the Interior 
        indicated that the practice of fish stocking would be continued 
        if the area became a unit of the National Park Service system.
            (5) Since designation of the National Park in 1968, the 
        stocking of certain lakes has continued under various 
        agreements between the National Park Service and the State of 
        Washington.
            (6) A recent 12-year university research effort found no 
        statistically significant long-term ecological impacts in lakes 
        where fish populations are non-reproducing in low densities.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this bill is to clarify the continued 
authority of the National Park Service to allow the stocking of fish in 
certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National 
Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

SEC. 2. STOCKING OF CERTAIN LAKES IN NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK, ROSS 
              LAKE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, AND LAKE CHELAN NATIONAL 
              RECREATION AREA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Director of the National Park Service, shall authorize the stocking of 
fish in lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National 
Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.
    (b) Conditions.--The following conditions shall apply to stocking 
of lakes under subsection (a):
            (1) The Secretary shall stock fish only with the 
        concurrence of and in coordination with the State of 
        Washington.
            (2) The Secretary shall only select lakes to be stocked 
        from the 91 lakes that have historically had fish stocking.
            (3) The Secretary shall only stock fish that are--
                    (A) native to the watershed; or
                    (B) functionally sterile.
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