[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 263 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 263

 To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman 
           Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2019

 Mr. Suozzi (for himself, Mr. Rose of New York, Mr. King of New York, 
Miss Rice of New York, Ms. Meng, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Engel, Mrs. Lowey, 
and Mr. Tonko) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman 
           Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge was created in 
        1968. It is located on the north shore of Long Island in 
        eastern Nassau County, is the largest refuge in the Long Island 
        National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and receives the most public 
        use of all the refuges in the Complex.
            (2) The State of New York designated Oyster Bay a 
        significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. It is especially 
        important for wintering waterfowl such as black duck, greater 
        scaup, bufflehead, canvasback and long-tailed ducks. Management 
        activities include wetland restoration and protection of the 
        natural shoreline and vegetation.
            (3) The refuge is unique in consisting solely of bay bottom 
        and adjacent shoreline up to the mean high-tide mark. Ninety 
        percent of New York's commercial oyster harvest comes from the 
        refuge. Visitors enjoy fishing, wildlife observation, 
        photography and environmental education. The refuge is truly a 
        national treasure.
            (4) Many visitors are unaware that were it not for the 
        tireless work and advocacy of then-freshman Congressman Lester 
        Wolff, this area would today be an 8.5-mile causeway and bridge 
        across Long Island Sound between Oyster Bay and Rye, New York, 
        connecting Nassau and Westchester Counties.
            (5) The bridge was first proposed by Robert Moses, the 
        well-known New York City Planner, to divert traffic from New 
        York City. Former Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed into law 
        legislation creating the bridge authorized by the New York 
        State Legislature in 1967.
            (6) Congressman Wolff, elected in 1964, quickly decided the 
        bridge would be an intrusion in a pristine area, and that Long 
        Island Sound was a very precious resource that was despoiled. 
        The conservation threats in the mid-1960s were suburban 
        development, wetland filling, and industrial pollution. The 
        fight to preserve this land became an enormous political fight 
        and is considered to be a turning point in New York State's 
        environmental legacy.
            (7) With State and local political and community leaders, 
        and especially the North Shore leaders and the Committee to 
        Save the Long Island Sound, Congressman Wolff arranged a 
        meeting with Department of the Interior representatives and 
        local leaders where the idea of creating a wildlife refuge from 
        municipal and privately owned wetlands was created.
            (8) The Town of Oyster Bay, in which one end of the bridge 
        was to be located, deeded 5,000 acres of wetlands to the United 
        States to be maintained as a Federal wildlife preserve. It was 
        stipulated that if the Department of the Interior agreed to an 
        intrusion of the property, it would revert to the town. 
        Creating a Federal wildlife preserve provided the land with 
        Federal protection.
            (9) Because of the vision, dedication, and perseverance of 
        Congressman Lester Wolff, all of us and future generations can 
        enjoy the beauty and magnificence of this refuge.

SEC. 2. RENAMING THE OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AS THE 
              CONGRESSMAN LESTER WOLFF OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE 
              REFUGE.

    (a) Renaming.--The unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System 
known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge and located near 
Oyster Bay, New York, shall be known as the ``Congressman Lester Wolff 
Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge''.
    (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 
paper, or other record of the United States to the unit of the National 
Wildlife Refuge System known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge 
is deemed to be a reference to the ``Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster 
Bay National Wildlife Refuge''.
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