[Senate Hearing 114-509]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 114-509
PENDING LEGISLATION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
S. 346 S. 3203
S. 437 S. 3204
S. 1416 S. 3254
S. 2056 S. 3273
S. 2380 S. 3312
S. 2681 S. 3315
S. 2991 S. 3316
S. 3049 S. 3317
S. 3102 H.R. 1838
S. 3167 H.R. 2009
S. 3192
----------
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
----------
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
PENDING LEGISLATION
S. Hrg. 114-509
PENDING LEGISLATION
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
S. 346 S. 3203
S. 437 S. 3204
S. 1416 S. 3254
S. 2056 S. 3273
S. 2380 S. 3312
S. 2681 S. 3315
S. 2991 S. 3316
S. 3049 S. 3317
S. 3102 H.R. 1838
S. 3167 H.R. 2009
S. 3192
__________
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
__________
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
22-000 WASHINGTON : 2018
____________________________________________________________________
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Fax:(202) 512-2104 Mail:Stop IDCC,Washington,DC 20402-001
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho RON WYDEN, Oregon
MIKE LEE, Utah BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
STEVE DAINES, Montana AL FRANKEN, Minnesota
BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia
CORY GARDNER, Colorado MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia
Colin Hayes, Staff Director
Patrick J. McCormick III, Chief Counsel
Angela Becker-Dippmann, Democratic Staff Director
Sam E. Fowler, Democratic Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, Chairman and a U.S. Senator from Alaska.... 1
Cantwell, Hon. Maria, Ranking Member and a U.S. Senator from
Washington..................................................... 134
Manchin III, Hon. Joe, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia......... 137
Capito, Hon. Shelley Moore, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia.... 144
Heinrich, Hon. Martin, a U.S. Senator from New Mexico............ 145
Gardner, Hon. Cory, a U.S. Senator from Colorado................. 149
Daines, Hon. Steve, a U.S. Senator from Montana.................. 222
WITNESSES
Sullivan, Hon. Dan, a U.S. Senator from Alaska................... 135
Reid, Hon. Harry, Senate Minority Leader and a U.S. Senator from
Nevada......................................................... 141
Kornze, Hon. Neil, Director, Bureau of Land Management, U.S.
Department of the Interior..................................... 153
Weldon, Leslie, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, U.S. Forest
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture........................ 206
ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
2nd Indianhead Division Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 381
23rd Navajo Nation Council:
Letter for the Record........................................ 220
Access Fund:
Statement for the Record..................................... 382
Affeldt, Corlyss:
Letter for the Record........................................ 385
Alaska Chapter Sierra Club:
Statement for the Record..................................... 386
Alaska Department of Natural Resources:
Statement for the Record..................................... 388
Alaska Federation of Natives:
Resolution 15-7 for the Record............................... 59
Alaska Forest Association:
Statement for the Record..................................... 16
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority:
Letter for the Record........................................ 391
Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office:
Letter for the Record........................................ 4
Alaska Miners Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 393
Alaska Native Brotherhood & Alaska Native Sisterhood:
Resolution No. 14-08 for the Record.......................... 63
Alaska State Chamber of Commerce:
Letter for the Record........................................ 396
Alaska State Legislature (Juneau Delegation):
Letter for the Record........................................ 66
Alaska Wilderness League, et al.:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 2012...................... 398
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203...................... 406
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273...................... 411
Alaskans for Wildlife, et al.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 416
Aleut Corporation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 419
Allen, Marian:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273...................... 78
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203...................... 80
Alta Forest Products:
Letter for the Record........................................ 29
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company:
Letter for the Record........................................ 420
American Exploration and Mining Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 422
American Fly Fishing Trade Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 229
American Motorcyclist Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 424
American Rivers:
Letter for the Record........................................ 425
American Whitewater:
Letter for the Record........................................ 428
Andras Outfitters and Rachel Andras: Professional Health and
Wellness Coach:
Letter for the Record........................................ 431
Appalachian Forest Heritage Area, Inc.:
Statement for the Record..................................... 432
Archery Trade Association, et al.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 325
Arctic Slope Regional Corporation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 433
Argall, Phillip:
Letter for the Record........................................ 94
Arizona Association of Conservation Districts:
Letter for the Record........................................ 318
Arizona Cattle Growers' Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 355
Arizona Chamber Foundation and Prosper Foundation:
Policy Brief entitled ``The Proposed Grand Canyon Watershed
National Monument: A Monumental Mistake?''................. 442
Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry:
Statement for the Record..................................... 314
Arizona Department of Transportation:
Statement for the Record..................................... 351
Arizona Farm Bureau Federation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 356
Arizona Game and Fish Department:
Statement for the Record regarding S. 1416................... 301
Letter for the Record regarding Proposed Grand Canyon
Watershed National Monument................................ 303
Letter for the Record regarding H.R. 3882.................... 306
Resolution concerning the Loss of Multiple-Use Public Lands
due to Special Land-Use Designations....................... 307
Arizona Mining Association:
Statement for the Record..................................... 320
Arizona State Land Department:
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3316................... 298
Statement for the Record regarding S. 437.................... 309
Statement for the Record regarding S. 1416................... 312
Arizona State Parks:
Letter for the Record........................................ 273
Arizona/Utah Local Economic Coalition:
Letter for the Record........................................ 357
Ark Land Company:
Statement for the Record..................................... 455
Associated School Boards of South Dakota:
Letter for the Record........................................ 776
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers--Nevada Chapter:
Letter for the Record........................................ 690
Barlow, Leo:
Written Testimony on 10/8/15................................. 757
Barton, Mike:
Letter for the Record........................................ 457
Bass, Cynthia:
Letter for the Record........................................ 106
Bedford, Hon. Olivia Cajero:
Letter for the Record........................................ 279
Benbow, David:
Letter for the Record........................................ 458
Bloom, Arthur:
Statement for the Record..................................... 459
Bronson, Sharon:
Letter for the Record........................................ 280
Brown, Brian:
Letter for the Record........................................ 31
Brunner, Hon. Ryan:
Letter for the Record........................................ 778
Buckeye Water Conservation & Drainage District:
Letter for the Record........................................ 328
Bullock, Hon. Steve:
Letter for the Record........................................ 228
Campbell, Ray:
Letter for the Record........................................ 460
Cantwell, Hon. Maria:
Opening Statement............................................ 134
Capito, Hon. Shelley Moore:
Opening Statement............................................ 144
Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska:
Resolution TA/15-19 for the Record........................... 61
Champney, Kim:
Letter for the Record........................................ 461
Chugach Alaska Corporation:
Statement for the Record..................................... 111
City and Borough of Wrangell (Alaska):
Resolution No. 04-16-1341 for the Record..................... 48
City of Sturgis (South Dakota):
Letter for the Record........................................ 777
City of Tenakee Springs and the Chichagof Conservation Council:
Letter for the Record........................................ 75
City of Whitefish (Montana):
Letter for the Record........................................ 230
Clover Nevada LLC:
Letter for the Record........................................ 462
Coalition for Nevada's Wildlife:
Letter for the Record........................................ 464
Coeur Mining:
Letter for the Record........................................ 466
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment:
Letter for the Record........................................ 248
Community Connections:
Letter for the Record........................................ 468
(The) Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 469
Conitz, Jan:
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3203................... 470
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3273................... 471
Cook Inlet Region, Inc.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 107
Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments:
Letter for the Record........................................ 472
Curry County (Oregon) Business Coalition:
Letter for the Record........................................ 475
Resolution R1516-16 for the Record........................... 479
Dahlstrom Lumber Company:
Letter for the Record........................................ 30
Daines, Hon. Steve:
Opening Statement............................................ 222
Photo: View from Alex Diekmann Peak into Madison River Valley 223
Photo: Proposed Diekmann Peak................................ 225
Written Statement............................................ 227
Demerjian, Bonnie and Haig:
Statement for the Record..................................... 481
Diekmann, Lisa:
Statement for the Record..................................... 482
Doig, Clare:
Letter for the Record........................................ 39
Donn Leson Saddles:
Statement for the Record..................................... 484
Doyon, Limited:
Statement for the Record..................................... 109
Ducey, Hon. Douglas:
Statement for the Record..................................... 339
Dunn, Hon. Aubrey:
Letter for the Record........................................ 485
Earthworks:
Letter for the Record........................................ 487
Eastern Arizona Counties Organization:
Letter for the Record........................................ 330
Elias, Richard:
Letter for the Record........................................ 281
Elko Mining Group:
Letter for the Record........................................ 489
EP Minerals, LLC:
Letter for the Record........................................ 491
Farr, Hon. Sam:
Statement for the Record..................................... 493
Fecko, Cheryl:
Letter for the Record........................................ 497
Forest Recreation Management, Inc.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 498
Frank, Sr., Carlos:
Letter for the Record........................................ 90
Freymueller, Dr. Jeffrey:
Letter for the Record........................................ 500
Friends of the Kalmiopsis:
Letter for the Record........................................ 502
Gallatin County Commission (Montana):
Letter for the Record........................................ 231
Gardner, Hon. Cory:
Opening Statement............................................ 149
Newspaper Article by Gary Harmon entitled ``Tipton wants to
extend life of radioactive waste disposal site'' dated 9/
16/16...................................................... 251
Newspaper Article by Gary Harmon entitled ``County backs
keeping tailings dump site open'' dated 9/19/16............ 252
Garvey, Lydia:
Letter for the Record........................................ 508
Geos Institute:
Letter for the Record........................................ 510
Gold Acquisition Corporation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 520
Gould, Dean:
Statement for the Record..................................... 127
Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community:
Letter for the Record........................................ 40
Greenpeace:
Statement for the Record..................................... 522
Griffin, Hon. Gail:
Letter for the Record........................................ 333
Heinrich, Hon. Martin:
Opening Statement............................................ 145
Photo: Ah-shi-siei-pah....................................... 146
Photo: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, Las
Cruces, New Mexico......................................... 148
Heller, Hon. Dean:
Statement for the Record..................................... 561
Huff, Patrick:
Letter for the Record........................................ 92
IBC Advanced Technologies:
Letter for the Record........................................ 564
Inslee, Hon. Jay:
Letter for the Record........................................ 566
Iron Range Delegation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 664
Irwin, Hon. Patrick:
Statement for the Record..................................... 568
Jackson, Richard:
Letter for the Record........................................ 570
Jamieson, Christie:
Letter for the Record........................................ 74
Jobs for Minnesotans:
Letter for the Record........................................ 666
Johnson, Hon. Buster:
Statement for the Record..................................... 353
Johnson, Randy:
Letter for the Record........................................ 571
Josephine County (Oregon) Business Coalition:
Letter for the Record........................................ 573
Kalmiopsis Audubon Society:
Letter for the Record dated 9/19/16 regarding S. 346......... 575
Support for the Southwestern Oregon Watershed and Salmon
Protection Act for the Record:............................. 577
City of Gold Beach (Oregon)--Resolution R1516-16......... 578
City of Cave Junction (Oregon)--Letter................... 580
Smith River Watershed (California)--Resolution........... 581
McGuire, Hon. Mike--Letter............................... 583
Elk Valley Rancheria (California)--Letter................ 585
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians--Letter............ 587
County of Del Norte (California) Board of Supervisors--
Letter................................................. 589
City of Gold Beach (Oregon)--Letter...................... 591
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and
the Institute for Fisheries Resources--Letter.......... 593
Curry County (Oregon) Board of Commissioners--Letter..... 595
City of Cresent City (California)--Letter................ 597
Big Rock Community Services District (California)--Letter 598
Gasquet Community Services District (Oregon)--Letter..... 600
Cresent City/Del Norte County (California) Visitor's
Bureau--Letter......................................... 601
Wild Rivers, Wild Brews Coalition--Letter................ 602
Kalmiopsis Rivers and Wild Rivers Coast--List of
Supporters............................................. 604
Ketchikan Gateway Borough (Alaska):
Letter for the Record........................................ 32
Resolution No. 2667 for the Record........................... 34
Kinville, Michael:
Letter for the Record........................................ 609
Klawock Cooperative Association Tribal Council:
Critique of Proposed ANCSA Amendments........................ 611
Resolution No. 16-06 for the Record.......................... 620
Knight, Rebecca:
Letter for the Record........................................ 621
Exhibit A: Article by Becky Knight entitled ``My Turn: A
better solution for the mental health lands debacle''
dated 9/7/16 on the JuneauEmpire.com website........... 624
Exhibit B: Petersburg Borough Assembly (Alaska) Letter... 625
Exhibit C: Article by Nick Bowman entitled ``Deer
Mountain land buyout talk grows'' dated 9/17/16 in the
Ketchikan Daily News................................... 627
Exhibit D: Article by Juneau Empire entitled ``Forest
Service purchases land in Cube Cove, returning it to
Wilderness'' dated
9/19/16 on the JuneauEmpire.com website................ 629
Exhibit E: Article by Russ Webb entitled ``Trust has
duties to manage assets for beneficiaries'' dated 9/1/
16 in the Ketchikan Daily News......................... 630
Kornze, Hon. Neil:
Opening Statement............................................ 153
Written Testimony............................................ 155
Responses to Questions for the Record........................ 366
LaRoe, Jen:
Statement for the Record..................................... 632
Leahy, Mike:
Letter for the Record........................................ 633
Levy, Abe:
Statement for the Record..................................... 636
Lewis, Steve:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3004/S. 3273.............. 637
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203...................... 639
Littlefield-Hurricane Valley Natural Resource Conservation
District:
Letter for the Record........................................ 332
Lord, William:
Letter for the Record........................................ 88
Lowe, Carol:
Letter for the Record........................................ 93
Lucy, Sam and Brooke:
Letter for the Record........................................ 640
Lyford, Gordon:
Letter for the Record........................................ 643
Mack, Hon. Stanley:
Statement for the Record..................................... 120
Madison County (Montana) Board of Commissioners:
Letter for the Record........................................ 232
Madison River Foundation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 236
Manchin III, Hon. Joe:
Opening Statement............................................ 137
Written Statement............................................ 139
Mapes, Craig:
Letter for the Record........................................ 644
Maricopa County (Arizona) Board of Supervisors:
Letter for the Record........................................ 271
McBeen, Joan:
Letter for the Record........................................ 645
McBeen, Samuel:
Letter for the Record........................................ 646
McCabe, Sheriff Jim:
Letter for the Record........................................ 336
Mesa County (Colorado) Board of County Commissioners:
Letter for the Record........................................ 249
Methow Valley Citizens Council:
Statement for the Record..................................... 654
Methow Valley/Flagg Mountain Businesses:
Letter for the Record........................................ 655
Michael, Mary Jane:
Letter for the Record........................................ 661
MiningMinnesota:
Letter for the Record........................................ 662
Moberly, Stan:
Statement for the Record..................................... 671
Momentum River Expeditions:
Letter for the Record........................................ 672
Monetta, Robert and Delene:
Letter for the Record........................................ 673
Monroe, Nicholas:
Letter for the Record........................................ 89
Montana Association of Land Trusts:
Letter for the Record........................................ 237
Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission:
Letter for the Record........................................ 239
(The) Mountaineers:
Letter for the Record........................................ 675
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa:
Opening Statement............................................ 1
Letter to Secretary Thomas Vilsack (USDA) dated 7/25/13...... 11
Murray, Hon. Patty:
Statement for the Record..................................... 677
National Association of Counties:
Letter for the Record........................................ 269
National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials:
Letter for the Record........................................ 274
National Association of State Park Directors:
Letter for the Record........................................ 270
National Congress of American Indians:
Letter for the Record........................................ 55
Resolution #DEN-07-097 for the Record........................ 57
National Mining Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 679
National Ocean Industries Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 681
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior:
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3167................... 682
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3315................... 684
National Parks Conservation Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 132
National Recreation and Park Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 276
National Wildlife Federation:
Statement for the Record..................................... 634
Native Fish Society:
Letter for the Record........................................ 686
Native Village of Shishmaref, City of Shishmaref and Shishmaref
Native Corporation (Alaska):
Letter for the Record........................................ 97
(The) Navajo Nation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 219
Neale, Graham:
Letter for the Record........................................ 688
Nevada Farm Bureau Federation:
Statement for the Record..................................... 691
Nevada Mining Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 692
Nicholls, Hon. Douglas:
Letter for the Record........................................ 329
Norene, Larry:
Letter for the Record........................................ 694
Norman, David:
Statement for the Record..................................... 695
Northwest Rafting Company:
Letter for the Record........................................ 696
Olmsted, Nicholas (and Molly Kemp):
Letter for the Record........................................ 697
Outdoor Alliance, et al.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 698
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations:
Letter for the Record........................................ 704
Palmer, Tim:
Letter for the Record........................................ 706
Papillon Airways, Grand Canyon Airlines and Maverick Aviation
Group:
Letter for the Record........................................ 323
Parlette, Hon. Linda Evans:
Letter for the Record........................................ 708
Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona:
Statement for the Record..................................... 282
Perkison, Donald:
Letter for the Record........................................ 709
Pershing County (Nevada) Board of Commissioners:
Letter for the Record........................................ 710
(The) Pew Charitable Trusts:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3102 and H.R. 5752........ 711
Statement for the Record regarding S. 346, S. 3049, S. 3102,
S. 3203, S. 437. S. 1416, and S. 3317...................... 713
Pierce, Hon. Steve:
Letter for the Record regarding the Grand Canyon Watershed
National Monument.......................................... 334
Letter for the Record regarding the Sedona Verde Valley Red
Rock National Monument..................................... 335
Preston, Christopher:
Letter for the Record........................................ 716
Rafter S Cattle Company:
Statement for the Record..................................... 717
Range Association of Municipalities and Schools:
Statement for the Record..................................... 667
Resolution 03-2016 for the Record............................ 669
Reid, Hon. Harry:
Opening Statement............................................ 141
Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc.:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203, S. 3204, S. 3273.... 720
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203, Title V............. 723
Rhodes, Doug:
Letter for the Record........................................ 725
Rinehart, Jr., Richard:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273 (Wrangell)........... 47
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273 (Letters and
Resolutions)............................................... 52
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273 (Alaska Legislators). 65
Rinehart, Richard ``Tashee'':
Letter for the Record........................................ 69
Risch, Hon. James E.:
Statement for the Record..................................... 727
Rye Patch Mining US Inc.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 728
San Juan County (New Mexico) Commission:
Letter for the Record........................................ 218
San Juan County (Utah):
Resolution No. 2016-08 for the Record........................ 263
Sarkar Cove/Point Area Residents and Property Owners:
Letter for the Record........................................ 15
Sealaska Corporation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 729
Shee Atika, Inc.:
Statement for the Record..................................... 100
Joint Press Release 16-07.................................... 103
Tongass National Forest Map.................................. 105
Shell Oil Company:
Letter for the Record........................................ 738
Sitka Conservation Society:
Letter for the Record........................................ 739
Sivertsen, Bob:
Letter for the Record........................................ 38
Solidus Resources, LLC:
Letter for the Record........................................ 742
Sorenson, Dru:
Statement for the Record..................................... 744
South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks:
Letter for the Record........................................ 745
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council:
Statement for the Record re: S. 3004......................... 82
Letter for the Record........................................ 746
Southeast Alaska Independent Living:
Letter for the Record........................................ 752
Southeast Alaska Landless Corporation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 753
Written Testimony of Leo Barlow on 10/8/15................... 757
Southeast Conference:
Resolution 13-03 for the Record.............................. 761
Spearfish Canyon Foundation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 762
SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 763
State of Utah:
Concurrent Resolution Opposing Unilateral Use of the
Antiquities Act............................................ 255
Stedman, Hon. Bert:
Letter for the Record........................................ 67
Stern, Wendy:
Letter for the Record........................................ 764
Stewart, Sarah and Family:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203...................... 765
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273...................... 766
Suckling, Theodore:
Letter for the Record........................................ 91
Sullivan, Hon. Dan:
Opening Statement............................................ 135
Swift, William:
Letter for the Record........................................ 37
Tanana Chiefs Conference:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3273...................... 84
Tanana Chiefs Conference, Chalkyitsik Village Council and
Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich'in Tribal Government:
Letter for the Record regarding S. 3203...................... 767
Tester, Hon. Jon:
Statement for the Record..................................... 771
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership:
Letter for the Record........................................ 316
Thorpe, Hon. Bob:
Statement for the Record..................................... 342
Thune, Hon. John:
Statement for the Record..................................... 772
Article entitled ``Preserving Spearfish Canyon'' from the
Rapid City Journal dated 6/19/14........................... 775
Town of Tusayan (Arizona):
Statement for the Record..................................... 337
Townsend, Hon. Kelly:
Letter for the Record........................................ 779
Trout Unlimited:
Letter for the Record regarding Methow River Headwaters...... 780
Letters for the Record regarding various bills............... 782
Trumble, Della:
Statement for the Record..................................... 124
(The) Trust for Public Land and Northern Rockies Advisory Board:
Letter for the Record........................................ 243
Ucore Rare Metals, Inc. and the Greater Ketchikan Chamber of
Commerce (Alaska):
Letter for the Record........................................ 43
Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation:
Statement for the Record..................................... 95
Supplemental Statement for the Record........................ 792
U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Secretary's Memorandum 1044-009 addressing Sustainable
Forestry in Southeast Alaska dated 7/2/13.................. 7
Joint Press Release 16-07.................................... 103
U.S. Department of Energy:
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3312................... 151
Response to Question for the Record.......................... 377
U.S. Magnetic Materials Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 45
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States:
Letter for the Record........................................ 794
Viking Lumber:
Statement for the Record..................................... 25
Vilsack, Hon. Thomas (USDA):
Letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski dated 11/19/13.............. 13
Visit Spearfish, Inc.:
Letter for the Record........................................ 774
Vollmer, Alex:
Statement for the Record..................................... 795
Waring, Margo:
Statement for the Record..................................... 796
Washington Outdoor Alliance:
Letter for the Record........................................ 797
Weldon, Leslie:
Opening Statement............................................ 206
Written Testimony............................................ 208
Responses to Questions for the Record........................ 374
Western Landowners Alliance:
Letter for the Record........................................ 241
Western States Land Commissioners Association:
Statement for the Record..................................... 800
Whitesell, Edward:
Letter for the Record........................................ 804
Wild Rivers Wild Brews, Craft Brewers for Clean Water:
Statement for the Record..................................... 805
(The) Wilderness Society:
Letter for the Record........................................ 807
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Throughput: Facts, Data, and
their Implications......................................... 826
Whittington-Evans, Nicole:
Written Testimony on 4/14/16............................. 827
(The) Wilderness Society, et al.:
Letter for the Record re: S. 347, S. 1416, and S. 3317....... 129
Woods, James:
Letter for the Record........................................ 843
Woolston, Kristina:
Letter for the Record........................................ 844
Wrangell (Alaska) Chamber of Commerce:
Resolution of Support for the Landless Natives of Wrangell... 50
Wrangell Cooperative Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 53
Young, Jack:
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3273, Section 10....... 72
Statement for the Record regarding S. 3273, Section 11....... 73
Ziller, Bob and Gloria:
Statement for the Record..................................... 845
----------
The text for each of the bills which were addressed in this hearing can
be found on the committee's website at: https://www.energy.senate.gov/
public/index.cfm/hearings-and-business-meetings?ID=ABDA167D-50B9-47E9-
9912-AEB86FD53A35.
PENDING LEGISLATION
----------
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:39 a.m. in Room
SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
The Chairman. Good morning, everyone.
The Committee will now come to order as we begin our
legislative hearing this morning to consider 21 measures that
are broadly focused on our nation's public lands, natural
hazards, conservations, monument designations and various other
measures.
I am the sponsor of six of the bills on the agenda this
morning so I am going to just cut right to the chase, speak to
them and try to move through our program this morning as
expeditiously as we can.
The first bill that I have on the agenda this morning is
the Second Division Memorial Modification Act that will
authorize three new benches for the memorial in President's
Park on the National Mall. Those benches will honor soldiers
from the Army's Second Infantry Division who were killed in the
Cold War in Korea, the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan.
Apparently it actually takes an act of Congress to do this
modification.
As we consider the bill I want to give a special shout out
to a gentleman by the name of Aves Thompson and all those who
are streaming this hearing from the Second Infantry Division's
reunion in Missouri this morning. Know that I am going to be
working hard, before you all come to Washington, DC next
September, to celebrate the Second Infantry Division's 100th
year of active service to our nation. I am going to be working
hard to get this through.
Next up on the agenda is the National Volcano Early
Monitoring System Act. Few may realize this, Senator Cantwell
certainly does coming from the Pacific Northwest, but the
United States has 169 active volcanoes, many in Alaska, some in
Washington and along the Pacific Northwest. Establishing a
national watch office will help us monitor, warn and protect
millions of Americans from the dangers and impacts of their
eruptions.
The third measure is my Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Improvement Act which includes a series of adjustments to help
communities throughout Alaska. The original Alaska Native
Claims Settlements Act, or ANCSA, was always meant to be a
living law. Forty-five years after its passage we have a range
of issues that demand our attention, whether it be land
conveyances that have still not yet been completed or land
allotments for our Alaska Natives who are veterans of the
Vietnam War, and this bill deserves the Senate's timely
approval.
When we are talking about timely approval I cannot not
mention the situation in King Cove and my request for the King
Cove Road Land Exchange Act. This would provide a lifesaving
road for this small, isolated community. The Interior
Department had a chance to do the right thing, but back in
December 2013 it refused. Since then, King Cove has seen 52
more Medivacs, including 17 that have been carried out by the
Coast Guard. Members of this Committee have had an opportunity
to hear about this situation over the months and over the
years.
Just last week on the Senate Floor I shared the story of a
Native Elder in her 70s who came into the King Cove Clinic. She
had a broken hip, but she had to wait 40 hours for the fog to
lift before she could be Medivacked to Anchorage.
I am seeking to avoid pain and suffering that could be
avoided if we had a short, gravel, one-lane, non-commercial use
road to connect it to Cold Bay. We have an opportunity to do
the right thing by approving this lifesaving road. This measure
is not included as part of my Alaska Economic Development and
Access Act because it is not an economic development issue for
me. It is a life safety issue.
I do have a measure that we have entitled the Alaska
Economic Development and Access to Resources Act. This is a
measure that will help unlock Alaska's federal areas, and allow
responsible oil, gas, mineral and timber production to proceed.
Right now, we are facing, pretty much, a brick wall of
opposition in these areas.
What this package will do will help facilitate production
in the NPRA, the non-wilderness portion of ANWR and our
offshore Arctic and that will work to refill our Trans-Alaska
Pipeline, help to reduce our state's budget crisis and fulfill
the promises made to Alaska at statehood, just as it creates
tens of thousands of new jobs, bolsters our competitiveness and
protects our national security. At its core, my economic
development package is a measure to ensure that Alaska is not
just a resource rich state but also a resource producing state,
especially when it comes to our federal lands and waters.
I would just remind the Committee that was our deal in
Alaska. When President Carter signed ANILCA into law in 1980,
he promised and this was his words, ``100 percent of the
offshore areas and 95 percent of the potentially productive oil
and mineral areas will be available for exploration or for
drilling in Alaska.''
Today that promise has effectively been turned on its head.
It seems like 100 percent of our offshore areas are effectively
closed and only about five percent of our onshore areas are
actually open. That cannot be allowed to stand, and my
legislation is a way to change that course.
The economic development package would also resolve a
difficult situation that has emerged in Southeastern Alaska.
The Alaska Mental Health Trust was constitutionally established
with the responsibility to use its lands to raise revenues to
provide care for the most vulnerable across our state and that
includes resources through timber. The Trust has announced that
it will hold two timber sales on the lands that it holds near
Ketchikan and Petersburg where logging is widely opposed, and
the Trust basically says it does not have any other choice
here.
While the Trust might not have a choice, we do, in the form
of language to expedite a land exchange that the Trust and the
Forest Service have already agreed to in concept. There has
been an agreement to initiate that was executed last year, and
its assumption is in the proposed Tongass Land Management Plan.
This is our chance to reach an agreement to help the Trust,
help our small timber industries and address the concerns of
the residents in these communities. If the Administration is
serious about a successful transition to young growth, my bill
will help ensure it.
Finally one of the main topics of today's hearing will be
monument designations, an area where the Administration has
repeatedly pushed its authority. It seems like we are reading
about a new designation almost every week. That is probably an
exaggeration, but it just seems like that.
The Antiquities Act was a response to an existential threat
that Congress could not respond to in a timely manner, the
theft of and from archeological sites. That is why designations
under it were supposed to cover the smallest area possible, not
the largest.
Now not all presidents have found it necessary to call upon
this authority, although presidents from both parties have done
so and some have used their authority to diminish the size of a
previous designation. But in this Administration the
Antiquities Act has been wielded as a tool to both sidestep and
threaten Congress.
What needs to be recognized is that monument designations
have an impact on local communities. What needs to be
recognized is that public comments cannot only come from
supportive organizations. We need to rethink and reform how
monument designations can be made and that is why I have
introduced the legislation entitled the ``Improve National
Monument Designation Process Act'' which requires both local
consultation and congressional approval.
While we may hear other perspectives here today, I am proud
to speak on behalf of the vast majority of Alaskans when I say
these bills are critical to our economy and to our future. They
will protect us from natural hazards, open up new economic
opportunities, restore balance between Congress and the
Executive Branch and also honor our military heroes.
I have already received about 70 statements for the record,
and I would ask that they be included as part of the Committee
hearing record today.
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The Chairman. With that, I will turn to Ranking Member
Cantwell for your comments and then we will turn to our
colleagues.
Thank you.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I know we have a lengthy agenda today including several
proposals that have been the subject of intense debate for many
years, but we also have 21 bills on the agenda that are much
less controversial. I hope we will be able to work with our
colleagues to try to find ways to move forward on these
proposals.
So I would like to discuss a few of these bills.
First of all, thank you for including S. 2991, a bill
Senator Murray and I introduced, which would protect the
headwaters of the Methow River in the North Cascades region of
our state withdrawing national forest lands from mining.
I am proud to have worked with Senator Murray to protect
the headwaters of the Methow Valley. Governor Inslee, tribes,
local elected officials, business owners and residents are all
on the same page in wanting to protect this area. Our bill
would withdraw from future mining, subject to valid existing
rights, 340,000 acres of National Forest lands that are prime
habitat for salmon, spotted owl, lynx and grizzly bear.
This bill is about two things: clean water and keeping an
amazing place the way it is.
Federal, state, local and private investments have funded
$100 million of salmon recovery and other fish and wildlife
restoration in the Methow Valley. So no one wants to put that
investment at risk. A copper mine that has been proposed near
the town of Mazama would jeopardize that.
More than a million tourists come to the Valley every year
and contribute $150 million to the local economy. That, by a
mine, would also be jeopardized. So, it would threaten the
identity of the Valley.
This area has had lots of discussion over the last 40 years
about its future. It turned down the idea of being a
destination ski resort just so the rural nature of the area
could continue.
Since then the Valley has been working on being just a
mecca for outdoor recreation, including Nordic skiing,
climbing, hunting, backpacking. This is not a place to develop
a copper mine, and yet it is also a stark reminder that the
Mining Law of 1872 is widely outdated.
While this bill would permanently withdraw the Methow
headwaters from mining, the Forest Service and Department of
Interior have administrative authority to temporarily withdraw
this land while the bill is being considered. I strongly urge
the agencies to use their authority to protect these headwaters
and this particular area.
A handful of the bills on the agenda today are
controversial. For the record, I strongly oppose anything that
would prohibit or restrict the President's ability to designate
national monuments using the Antiquities Act. Similarly, I have
fought for many years to protect the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, the Tongass National Forest, and other important
conservation lands in Alaska which are important to all
Americans.
I would like to focus on a couple areas of bipartisan
support. I strongly support a bill that I have co-sponsored and
the Chair mentioned, the National Volcano Early Warning and
Monitoring System, to help warn the public against avoidable
harm from volcanic activity.
I know some of our colleagues, Madam Chair, might think
that this is something just distant and far away, but I
guarantee you, since these volcanoes are all up and down the
West Coast of the Pacific Northwest, it so impacts us. Not
having information that detects whether they are causing or
could cause immediate impact--we need the science to help guide
us here. Having the information is so critical. This is a very
important part for Alaska and Washington. We look forward to
working together.
Many of our colleagues have bills on the agenda that
reflect important priorities for their state, so I look forward
to working with you and our colleagues to find areas of
agreement on these important legislative bills.
Since we have so many of them on the agenda, I am going to
end my remarks there and thank you again for the hearing.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Cantwell.
We have two Senate colleagues that will constitute the
first panel. The Minority Leader, Senator Reid, will be here to
testify and speak to one of the matters that is on the docket
today. We also have my friend and colleague, the Senator from
Alaska. Senator Sullivan, if you would like to proceed with
your comments and then when Senator Reid comes in we will hear
from him.
STATEMENT OF HON. DAN SULLIVAN,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning everybody. Ranking Member Cantwell, my
colleagues and friends on the Committee, thank you for allowing
me the opportunity to discuss several bills which are
critically important to Alaska's future.
I want to begin, as Madam Chair, you did, by underscoring
the bravery of the members of the Second Infantry Division and
urge support of its Memorial Modification Act.
The Alaska-specific bills on today's agenda, the Alaska
Economic Development and Access to Resources Act or the King
Cove Land Exchange Act and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Improvement Act all hold monumental importance to Alaska's
communities and the future of our great state.
Madam Chair, I am going to re-emphasize a number of the
points you made in your opening statement. I also want to
acknowledge your leadership on so many of these issues for our
state and our country. It has been so important having you in
the Chair.
I want to start by talking about the King Cove Road, as you
did. As you know, Congress, and specifically this Committee,
previously passed legislation authorizing a lifesaving,
emergency access road for the people of King Cove, Alaska. Yet,
due to a callous decision made on Christmas Eve by the
Secretary of Interior, Sally Jewell, these Americans have been
denied reliable, lifesaving access to medical care, something
that most other Americans take for granted.
Since Secretary Jewell's decision in 2013, as you mentioned
Madam Chair, there have been 52 life flight evacuations, most
recently last week when an expectant mother experienced
complications. Of these, 17 have been conducted by the brave
men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard.
This road has been needed for decades. It was needed in
2009 when Congress first provided authorization, it was needed
in 2013 when Secretary Jewell turned her back on the people of
King Cove, and it is needed today. I strongly urge the
Committee to act on this.
As this Committee knows, Alaska is a very resource-rich
state. Indeed if it were its own country, we would rank in the
top ten of many of the most important minerals in the world. We
have a proud tradition of responsible resource development
while upholding the most rigorous environmental standards.
Unfortunately, some areas of my state also have some of the
highest costs of energy and some of the highest rates of
poverty in the country. Among the promises of Alaska statehood
was the agreement that Alaska could support itself through
responsible resource development while also helping meet the
country's energy needs. Today the Federal Government's
restrictive land use policies and layer upon layer of
burdensome regulations have broken this promise. These bills
today start to turn this around.
The Alaska Economic Development and Access to Resources Act
would jump start Alaska's economy and touch every corner of the
state by increasing opportunities for responsible resource
development of our abundant resources.
Over the August work period, like many of you, like all of
you, I traveled back home and I was in Southeast Alaska and saw
first-hand the importance of one provision of this bill that
you already spoke to, Madam Chair. That is the land exchange
for the Mental Health Trust Authority.
Now it is important to recognize the Mental Health Trust,
which was established in our constitution, serves a population
of Alaska's most vulnerable citizens, those with disabilities,
and the land exchange in this bill is critical towards
achieving the responsibilities towards these citizens in the
most environmentally sensitive way. This bill would help the
country and it would also help some of Alaska's most remarkable
and courageous citizens.
Since the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA)
passage in 1971, it has been amended many times. In this
legislation, S. 3273, is a combination of many small efforts
that aim to resolve many local issues, some of which have been
around since the passage of ANCSA. This collection of
provisions does not represent monumental issues for Congress
but are life changing for the citizens and many small Alaskan
Native communities that are affected by this bill.
Finally, Madam Chair, I would like to just mention one
other provision that is very important in this bill, which I
care deeply about and I know members of this Committee do as
well. This is a resolution for Alaska Native Vietnam-era
Veterans who missed the opportunity to apply for a Native
allotment. Now, the Alaska Allotment Act of 1906 enabled every
Alaska Native to apply for an allotment, 160 acres. ANCSA
extinguished that opportunity in 1971. But many of these Alaska
Natives were serving in the military in 1971, some in Vietnam,
some in other places and they missed the deadline.
So all this bill is trying to do is to give people who were
serving their country at a time when, let's face it, a lot of
Americans were avoiding serving their country, the opportunity
to finally apply for the Native allotment that was rightfully
theirs. I believe that just in terms of pure fairness, taking
care of our veterans, that this is a critical, critical
provision that, hopefully, every member of this Committee and
every member of Congress can agree on.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to these
important bills.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Sullivan. We appreciate
your support and your leadership in these areas for our state.
I know that members of the Committee also have bills on the
calendar today that you would like to speak briefly to. As we
await Senator Reid I am happy to give you a moment to speak to
them, if you would so desire.
Senator Manchin, you indicated a desire to speak?
STATEMENT OF HON. JOE MANCHIN III,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA
Senator Manchin. Yes, I do and I am happy to have my
colleague also with me, Senator Capito, because we are both
very much concerned about our national heritage area, which is
the Appalachian Forest.
My statement is in support of Senate bill 3167 which is on
the agenda. I appreciate, Madam Chairman, your putting that on
there and making it part of the agenda. I want to thank you for
holding the hearing and including Senate bill 3167, the
Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area Act of 2016.
I would also like to thank the distinguished witnesses for
joining us today. We appreciate their expertise and perspective
on these issues.
I am here to discuss Senate bill 3167, which is the
Appalachian Forest National Heritage Act of 2016, which I was
pleased to introduce with my good friends, Senators Capito,
Mikulski, Cardin and our Chairman. This bipartisan legislation
designates 18 counties in the Central Appalachian Mountains of
West Virginia and Maryland as a national heritage area, which,
taken as a whole, possess cultural, natural and historical
resources that form a cohesive and nationally distinctive
landscape.
In an effort to conserve the distinctive cultural, natural
and historical features of this area, the Appalachian Forest
National Heritage Act will designate a new national heritage
area which will provide a cooperative framework to increase
collaboration between the Federal Government, states and the
local governments of these 18 counties. The national heritage
area will ensure the area is protected for the enjoyment of
future generations, promote the area for tourism and highlight
its historical value.
The historical value of this area reflects the
contributions of West Virginia and Maryland's timber harvesting
industry which helped fuel industrial growth in the late 19th
and 20th century. The area also includes numerous historical
and cultural sites such as the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park,
five national historical landmarks, segments of four national
scenic byways and one all American road as well as a nationally
significant natural, physical resources. This designation will
also provide positive economic development in the area.
There are currently 49 national heritage areas, two of
which are located in West Virginia--the Coal Heritage Area and
the Wheeling Heritage Area. An example of the positive economic
impacts that a national heritage area designation can bring,
the Wheeling National Heritage Area generates an annual $56.7
million in economic impacts, supports 784 jobs and generates
$3.8 million in annual taxes.
I would like to submit the rest of my remarks for the
record, Madam Chairman.
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Senator Manchin. But this is very, very, very important for
our two states of West Virginia and Maryland. All of our
delegation is in support and it is a tremendous economic
opportunity. This is one time when we have everybody from our
environmentalists, to our naturalists, to our basically,
hunters and fishermen, all of our sporting clubs, in agreement
this is something that would be well worth it and much needed.
So, I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak on
this.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Manchin, we appreciate the
coalition building that goes on ahead of time.
Let's turn to Senator Capito, then we will go to Senator
Heinrich and Senator Daines.
Senator Capito.
Senator Capito. Well, thank you and I don't want to keep
our witness waiting so I will be very, very--should we go
first?
The Chairman. I am sorry. I failed to see. [Laughter.]
Senator Reid has arrived.
Senator Reid, welcome to the Committee. [Laughter.]
We are honored to have you before the Committee this
morning and would welcome your statement on the bill before the
Committee.
STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY REID,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Reid. I appreciate very much your arranging for and
allowing me to speak. I am sorry I am late, but I had a little
work to do on the Floor when we opened the Senate.
I appreciate all the work that the two of you do to lead
this Committee. It is an extremely important Committee.
Nevada is different than most people think. Nevada is more
than the bright lights of Las Vegas. It is a stunningly
beautiful state and, except for Alaska, one of the most
mountainous states in the Union. People don't realize that.
We have 314 separate mountain ranges. We have 32 mountains
over 11,000 feet high. We have one mountain that is 14,000 feet
high. We have about four million acres of wilderness. So it is
really a beautiful state, and the legislation that Senator
Heller and I have worked on in this regard is also as part of
the beauty of Nevada.
In the large state of Nevada, we have very few counties.
You know, it is hard to believe that I hear, I don't know, for
example, West Virginia has how many counties do you have, Joe?
Senator Manchin. 55.
Senator Reid. How many?
Senator Manchin. 55. [Laughter.]
Senator Reid. We have just a handful of counties. We have
one county that is quite large in area that has less than a
thousand people in it.
So anyway, Nevada is a unique place and it is an extremely
beautiful place.
Pershing County is 6,000 square miles. We have one person
living in that area per square mile. It is a sparsely populated
county but it is rich with all kinds of beautiful things, a lot
of minerals. Mining has taken place there for well more than a
century.
We have historic wonders, snowcapped mountains. Mount Limbo
Wilderness Area overlooks the dry lake bed of Lake Winnemucca
which was, at one time, a desert terminus lake, and it has
dried up mainly because of what we have done, the Bureau of
Reclamation, over the years. That is all history behind us, but
that's the reason Lake Winnemucca is dry.
The areas that we are talking about here today are the home
of some of the oldest petroglyphs found in all of North
America, dating back 10,000 years. It is just a stunningly
beautiful place, and I want everyone to know how important it
is for Nevada.
I can remember, I will be real quick here, I know you have
a lot to do. But I went from being the most popular person in
the world in Nevada, I am from rural Nevada, to the most
unpopular. It did not take long. I supported wilderness. Now
that I have gotten most of that done, wilderness has now become
a big selling point in Nevada. So people who are afraid of
wilderness should not be.
In Elko County I created a lot of wilderness. I helped
create it, I should say. And oh, we got so much opposition. Now
they advertise because of the wilderness. We have a Heli-skier
there. And they come, people come from all over the world to
ski in Elko County. Why? Because they are advertising skiing
through wilderness that I helped create.
So, wilderness is important for the economy of any state,
and with a sparsely populated area like Pershing County, it is
also popular. And it doesn't affect hunting. It doesn't affect
fishing. It just is a wonderful thing to preserve that land for
my children, my children's children and for generations to
come. Preserve it in its pristine state.
In Nevada we still have many areas that are pristine. They
are untouched. And that is what this is all about. So I
appreciate it very much.
Just one quick thing because Neil Kornze, he used to work
for me, is now head of the BLM. He said, would you please
mention if you ever appear before the Committee, H.R. 3844,
which is the BLM Foundation Act. So whenever this comes up I
know you will schedule it here at some point in time. Consider
this my testimony for that bill, okay? [Laughter.]
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Reid. So if you will leave me alone with no
difficult cross examination, I will take leave.
The Chairman. We thank you for coming before the Committee.
Senator Cantwell.
Senator Cantwell. Well, I just would be remiss if I did not
use this opportunity to thank you, Senator Reid, for your
Annual Energy Conference that you hold in Nevada every year. I
know that conference is a place where many people come to
discuss the future of energy policy, and Nevada has definitely
been at the forefront of some of these policies. So thank you
for your leadership in having those discussions.
Senator Reid. Senator Cantwell, thank you.
You know, as a result of those hearings that started a long
time ago, we now have, in Nevada, you can't believe how much
solar energy. At one place driving from Railroad Pass to my
property on Searchlight, you can drive for three and a half
miles and all you see are solar panels.
It looks like a big lake, but it's not. They are solar
panels. Millions and millions of them are there. So thank you
very much.
The one thing I didn't mention and I should. We just
completed, just less than a month ago, my 20th annual Summit on
Lake Tahoe. It is because of the work done, principally by this
Committee and others, but this Committee, we have brought to
Lake Tahoe which we share with the State of California and the
beautiful, beautiful, unique lake. There is only one other lake
like it in the world and that is in Siberia, Lake Baikal. Lake
Tahoe is so beautiful, and we have been able to bring more than
$2 billion to that basin during the last 20 years to preserve
that lake.
The last event we had, Dianne Feinstein said, why are you
doing this? I said, ``Listen Dianne, it is my last summit and I
am going to do it my way.'' So what we did, we did the usual.
People testified a little bit and we had 8,000 people there,
8,000 people. Why? Because I brought on The Killers, Nevada's
rock group, and we educated those people who had never heard of
Lake Tahoe and certainly not all the issues dealing with the
environment. They were forced to come because we did the
program before The Killers came on.
So anyway, we had a great time. President Obama was there.
I just didn't want to leave here without mentioning what a
treasure we share with California, Lake Tahoe.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Reid, we appreciate you
being before the Committee.
Senator Manchin. If I may ask the Senator one question?
Senator, this legislation has no opposition. I don't see
anybody opposing it whatsoever. I don't know why we haven't----
Senator Reid. So get to work on it.
Senator Manchin. What?
Senator Reid. Get to work on it. Report it out. [Laughter.]
Senator Manchin. But have you had any opposition back home
on it?
Senator Reid. No, no.
Senator Manchin. All you are doing is exchanging, aren't
you?
Senator Reid. Joe, wilderness now, I am sorry, I'll be more
formal, Senator Manchin. [Laughter.]
Opposition now to wilderness in Nevada just is almost
nonexistent. There are some people who oppose President Obama
doing things under the Antiquities Act, but he has only done
one thing there. I hope he is going to do one other. But other
than that, wilderness is something----
Senator Manchin. I am saying your outdoorsmen seem to be
working with you on that because they are, still have habitat.
They are still able to use the land, hunt and fish, everything.
Senator Reid. You bet. You indicated really how it is.
Everyone has come to accept that we need to preserve these
properties. It's just wonderful.
Now, also, Joe, Senator Manchin, we have this going for us.
Eighty-six percent of the State of Nevada is owned by the
Federal Government. There is no other state like it. New Mexico
has quite a bit. You don't match us.
Arizona has quite a bit, but, you know, no one comes close
to 86 percent of the state is Federal Government. We have given
plenty to the Federal Government. More than 40 percent of the
State of Nevada is restricted airspace. You cannot fly over in
a civilian airplane. It is all military.
Then, you know, we have had the above ground nuclear test,
underground nuclear test. We have two of the finest, wait, not
two of the finest, we have the finest training facilities for
fighter trainers for the Air Force and the Navy in Nevada. One
is in Las Vegas, well, outside of Las Vegas. The other is near
Fallon, Nevada, where Senator Heinrich was born. If you want to
land on a carrier air craft anymore in the United States Navy,
you learn to do it in Fallon.
Senator Manchin. I'll be darned.
Senator Reid. There is not, there isn't a puddle of water
there in many, many months. [Laughter.]
Okay.
Senator Manchin. Thank you.
Senator Heinrich. There are a couple of irrigation ditches.
[Laughter.]
Senator Reid. Yeah, but they are little puddles.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Reid. We will make sure
that all this is part of the record because this is certainly
going to enhance the tourism opportunities in your fine state.
So----
Senator Reid. Thank you, Senator.
The Chairman. We are happy to have you here.
With that, let's turn to Senator Capito for your comments
and then Senator Heinrich and then we will move to our second
panel with our Administration witnesses.
Senator Capito.
STATEMENT OF HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA
Senator Capito. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank the
Ranking Member too for bringing forth these bills.
I just briefly wanted to comment and join my fellow
Senator, Senator Manchin, to talk about the importance to us to
have the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Act of 2016.
I have enjoyed the Committee, but what I really enjoy about
the Committee is that we all get to talk about the relative
beauty and great things about all of our individual states and
particularly when we look at the more wilder and more beautiful
parts of our state, like Senator Reid was talking about his
state.
So I am really pleased that this is coming forward on the
first day of Fall, I believe, because in this region, the
Appalachian Forest National Heritage region, you will see some
of the most beautiful leaves as we move through the Fall. It is
quite a tourism event for our state.
We have a vast and unique landscape. We get tens of
thousands of visitors, many from the Washington, DC area. And
we have just moved in a little bit further so we are making it
easier for you to really see our beautiful state and do our
skiing. But this heritage area really gives us a chance to
highlight the many years, decades, of both Appalachian heritage
and in the timbering industry.
We know that West Virginia has been under immense strain. I
have talked about that in this Committee and other Committees.
I think things like this, like this Act, will help us enhance
and multiply the dollars for our tourism and help us transition
into other areas of economic development which I have really
spent the several years I have been in the Senate trying to do.
So, we have got hard work at the Appalachian Forest
Heritage, the folks who are there now. We have had 35
AmeriCorps members that have logged 65,000 hours in their local
communities. And it has proved already over 1,700 acres of
public land.
Senator Manchin mentioned that this spans mostly in West
Virginia but does go into Maryland, and the two Maryland
Senators are very much in favor of this.
So again, I would like to commend Senator Manchin for
offering this and thank the Chair for bringing this forward and
invite everybody who is listening and who is watching on this
first day of Fall, to come into that Appalachian Heritage and
see the beautiful parts of West Virginia. You won't regret it.
Thank you.
Senator Manchin: There might be some leaf peepers around
here, huh?
Senator Capito. Yeah, leaf peepers. [Laughter.]
Senator Manchin. That is what we call them.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Capito.
Senator Capito. Additionally, I would like to say to the
Chairman, please. The King Cove Land Exchange Act, I am so for
it, I know more about it than some of the things in my state.
[Laughter.]
So, I hope today brings good news for that.
The Chairman. Thank you. Thank you for listening and for
your support.
Senator Heinrich, it is now your turn to extol the virtues
of New Mexico.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARTIN HEINRICH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO
Senator Heinrich. I will be happy to do that.
I want to thank the Committee for considering several bills
of interest to my constituents in New Mexico today on the
agenda.
First I want to talk a little bit, maybe we can swap this
out real quick with the other photo, but I want to talk a
little bit about the San Juan County Settlement Implementation
Act.
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Senator Heinrich. This bill would finally resolve a number
of, literally decades long, public land and resource issues in
Northwestern New Mexico; it would bring to a close decades of
litigation over mineral leases; it would allow the Navajo
Nation to receive its final settlement acts pursuant to a legal
settlement dating back to 1974; and, it would permanently
protect unique geologic, paleontological and cultural resources
in the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah area managed by the Bureau of Land
Management.
I also want to speak momentarily about another bill, the
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act, that would
complete the community proposal for the region included in the
2014 designation of the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National
Monument.
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Senator Heinrich. This monument has been an incredible
economic and community success for Dona Ana County in the two
years since its designation but only Congress can complete the
original community vision for this area by improving
operational flexibility for Customs and Border Patrol by
protecting the important missions at nearby Fort Bliss from
encroachment by incompatible development and by designating
wilderness in the monument's back country.
Lastly, I want to mention that Senator Flake and I recently
introduced legislation to improve the process for land
exchanges between state trust lands in western states and
federal public land management agencies. Our bill would address
the checkerboard land ownership pattern that is all too common
all across the intermountain west by exchanging state land
inholdings within federal conservation areas, parks, and
wilderness areas for lands of equal value that are more likely
to produce revenue for the schools and hospitals that benefit
from development of state trust lands.
All three of these measures would improve public land
management in New Mexico, and I thank the Committee for their
consideration.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Heinrich.
I know Senator Daines was interested in speaking, but we
are it for right now. So let's move to our second panel so we
have an opportunity to hear from our agency witnesses.
Senator Gardner, we had just given members an opportunity
to make comments about any of the bills that they have
introduced. Since you are here and we have not yet seated the
second panel, I will extend the same courtesy to you if you
would like or if you want to include that as part of your
questioning. It is your preference.
STATEMENT OF HON. CORY GARDNER,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO
Senator Gardner. Well, I will just be quick in terms of the
hearing. Thank you, Chairman, for having this hearing today and
including 3312, the Disposal Reauthorization Act, which is a
riveting title for a very important issue in Colorado.
Grand Junction, Colorado, of course, the Western Slope, has
a long history of uranium and at one point even paved the
streets of Grand Junction with uranium mine tailings because
they were proud of the work of being the atomic city. Of
course, over the years, we have learned that that probably was
not the best thing to do and as a result have had decades worth
of clean ups and programs to make sure that we are restoring
the work that they did from decades ago. So, undoing the
restoration of that work.
So, thank you, Madam Chair, for holding this hearing and
including this bill.
The Chairman. Great. Thank you.
Gentlemen, if you would like to join the Committee. We
appreciate you being here and your patience this morning,
gentlemen, gentleman and lady.
We are pleased this morning to have Mr. Neil Kornze, who is
the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. We are also
joined by Ms. Leslie Weldon, who is the Deputy Chief of the
U.S. Forest Service.
Normally, we would invite additional stakeholders to
testify but there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not
we were even going to be able to have this hearing this week,
whether we were going to be in session. Recognizing that we
were looking to bring, perhaps, witnesses from as far away as
King Cove or from Juneau, it did not seem fair or right to ask
them to come and then not be able to have some certainty with
the timing of the hearing.
So we have our witnesses here from the BLM and from the
Forest Service. The Department of Energy will also be
submitting a written statement about the bill within its
jurisdiction which is S. 3312. So, that will also be part of
the record.
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The Chairman. With that, if you would like to proceed, Mr.
Kornze, we will hear your statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. NEIL KORNZE, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF LAND
MANAGEMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. Kornze. Wonderful.
Good morning, Chairman Murkowski, Ranking Member Cantwell,
rest of the Committee. It's a pleasure to be with you.
I'll begin briefly by summarizing the written statements
concerning the 13 bills on today's agenda that relate to the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
S. 346, the Oregon Withdrawal, withdraws 101,000 acres of
federal land in Southwest Oregon from public land mining and
mineral leasing laws. The Department supports S. 346 which will
protect important habitat and resources unique to this region.
S. 2681, San Juan County, and S. 3049, Oregon Mountains,
the Department appreciates the hard work of the Senators from
New Mexico on both of these bills. S. 2681 allows for the
exchange of certain federal coal leases, authorizes the
substitution of Navajo Nation land selections and designates
two wilderness areas in Northern New Mexico. S. 3049 designates
eight wilderness areas within the Oregon Mountains Desert Peaks
National Monument and includes direction for future management
of additional public land in Dona Ana County. The Department
supports the goals of both of these bills and would like to
work with the sponsors on some modifications.
S. 3102, Pershing County, Nevada, proposes an innovative
way to consolidate checkerboard lands and designates 136,000
acres of wilderness in Pershing County which we heard a lot
about this morning. We largely support the goals of S. 3102 and
welcome the opportunity to work on some modifications to the
bill.
S. 2380, the Recreation Public Purposes Act Commercial
Recreation Concessions Pilot Bill. This bill would amend what
we call the RMPP Act to allow the commercial uses on lands that
are leased or acquired through the RMPP law. The Department
strongly opposes this bill because it undermines the public
purpose mandate of the original RMPP Act and conflicts directly
with the BLM's responsibility to obtain fair market value for
the use of public lands.
S. 3203, the Alaska Economic Development Access to
Resources Act, would increase federal oil and gas production
requirements in the State of Alaska. It would lift the
prohibition of oil and gas leasing and production in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and includes numerous other
provisions related to the Department of the Interior and some
to agriculture, I believe. The Department opposes S. 3203.
S. 3273, the ANCSA Improvement Act, amends the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act and other laws concerning numerous
Alaska Native Corporations and issues. The bill affects
resources managed by several Interior and Ag agencies. We
appreciate the efforts of the sponsors in developing this
legislation. Many of the matters are very complex, and we look
forward to working with them on addressing the issues outlined
in our written testimony.
H.R. 1838, Clear Creek, establishes the Clear Creek
National Recreation Area in San Benito and Fresno Counties,
California. The Department does not support this designation as
currently written due to serious public health concerns. The
Department, however, supports the bill's separate designation
of the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness.
S. 3316, the ACE Act, provides a new approach for
consolidating state lands that are scattered across 13 Western
states. The Act allows states to relinquish inholdings within
federally-designated conservation units and in return acquire
other BLM-managed properties. The Department endorses this
concept and would like to work with the sponsors on some
important amendments.
H.R. 2009, Pascua Yaqui, involves three small parcels of
public land in Tucson, Arizona. The Department supports this
bill.
The Antiquities Act bills, there are three of them. They
each amend the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Administration
strongly opposes these three bills because they would severely
limit the President's authority to protect the nation's
resources for the American public.
The Antiquities Act has been used by presidents of both
parties for over 100 years to preserve critical natural,
historic and scientific treasures on public lands. Moreover,
nearly half of the nation's national parks, including the Grand
Canyon, Zion Arches and Olympic National Park were initially
protected as national monuments.
In addition to these BLM-related bills, the Department of
the Interior also has submitted statements for the record on
four bills that fall under the jurisdiction of other
departmental bureaus. I will quickly go through those.
The Department strongly opposes the King Cove Land Exchange
Act. It does not support S. 3315, the Second Division Memorial
Act. The Department does support S. 2056, the National Volcano
Early Warning and Monitoring System Act, and S. 3167, which
establishes the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area.
We appreciate the inclusion of all of the DOI statements in
the hearing record.
Finally, Chairman, I would like to note that in early July
the House passed H.R. 3844, the BLM Foundation Act. The
establishment of the BLM Foundation is an important
Administration initiative and will help us facilitate critical
work from the clean-up of legacy wells in places like Alaska to
the management of wild horses and burros which span many of the
states represented by members here.
We hope that the BLM Foundation will be among the
priorities that this Committee moves forward in the weeks
ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I will be
happy to answer any questions you might have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kornze follows:]
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The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Kornze.
Next, we will turn to Ms. Weldon. Thank you for joining us
this morning.
STATEMENT OF LESLIE WELDON, DEPUTY CHIEF, NATIONAL FOREST
SYSTEM, U.S. FOREST SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Ms. Weldon. Thank you very much, Madam Chair and members of
the Committee, for the opportunity to discuss six bills that
are before the Committee that relate to the Forest Service. In
my opening statement today I'd like to briefly address each of
the six bills, and my written testimony contains more extensive
comments and background information.
Beginning with S. 364, the Southwest Oregon Watershed and
Salmon Protection Act. This bill would permanently withdraw
95,000 acres in the Smith River, Illinois River and Rogue River
watersheds within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest from
new mining claims, mineral leasing and geothermal leasing.
These lands have exceptionally high conservation values and the
Department supports this bill and the Forest Service has been
working with the BLM on administrative withdrawal in aid of the
legislation.
With S. 2991, the Methow Headwaters Protection Act, this
bill proposes to withdraw over 340,000 acres of the Okanogan-
Wenatchee National Forest from all forms of mineral
development. The Department supports S. 2291 and believes
mineral withdrawal is the best path forward towards upholding
the tribal, traditional, spiritual and recreational values as
well as the significant economic benefits of the Methow Valley
to surrounding communities.
With S. 3192, the Alex Diekmann Peak Designation Act, this
bill would name a currently unnamed mountain for
conservationist Alex Diekmann in the Beaverhead National
Forest. The Department supports this bill and this recognition
acknowledgement.
I'd like now to discuss the two Alaska-related bills, S.
3203, the Alaska Economic Development and Access to Resources
Act, and S. 3273, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Improvement Act.
Both bills involve the Department of Interior so you've
heard the comments related to those issues. I'd like to
specifically address Title V, including sections exempting
Alaska from the roadless rule and proposed land exchanges
between the Tongass National Forest and the Mental Health Trust
and directing the Forest Service to convey up to two million
acres of Alaska State land for the use as a state forest.
The Administration opposes the exemption of Alaska from the
roadless rule. Application of the rule as ruled to national
forests has not hindered approval of appropriate access and the
forests in Alaska have requested and received approval for
approximately 46 projects within the inventoried roadless area
since 2011, including hydroelectric projects.
Section 502 directs the Forest Service to conduct a land
exchange with the Alaska Mental Health Trust. The Department
supports the goal of this legislation and has worked diligently
and very effectively with the executives of the Alaska Mental
Health Trust Authority to refine technical details of the
exchange, and we hope that this work will be considered as the
legislation continues to develop.
Section 503 directs the Forest Service to convey up to two
million acres of the Tongass National Forest to the State of
Alaska for use as a state forest. The Department opposes this
section of the bill because conversion of these lands to state
forest jeopardizes the values and benefits provided to Alaska
by the multiple use mandate of the Forest Service. The Tongass
National Forest is a major economic driver and contributes to a
robust diversity of opportunities and jobs including 4,000 jobs
resulting from the fisheries industry in 2014 as well as
supports and enhances an over $1 billion in visitor spending to
Alaska's tourism industry.
To briefly discuss two sections of 3273. Section V
addresses consideration received by Shee Atika Incorporated for
the purchase of Cube Cove land by the Forest Service. The
Department does not have concerns with this section of the
bill. Section VI directs the exchange of subsurface estate
owned by Sealaska Corporation at Cube Cove on Admiralty Island
for a mixture of subsurface and surface acres, surface estate,
within the Tongass Forest. Although the Department agrees with
the goals of this legislation, we believe this exchange should
be completed using an equal value exchange following existing
regulations and policies. The Department does--would like to
continue to pursue resolution of the split estate land interest
with Sealaska Corporation using our administrative processes.
Lastly, on 3254, the Spearfish Canyon and Bismarck Lake
Land Exchange Act, this bill proposes to exchange national
forest system land for land owned by the State of South Dakota.
The Department opposes this bill as it contains provisions that
raise concerns and existing authority already exist for the
Forest Service to exchange lands within the state.
Thank you for the opportunity and would be happy to answer
any questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Weldon follows:]
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The Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Weldon.
We will now begin with questions for our second panel.
Ms. Weldon, let me begin with you and this relates to the
provision within the Alaska Economic Development Access to
Resources Act relating to the Alaska Mental Health Trust
Exchange with Forest Service.
You have indicated that you support the goal of the
legislation which we appreciate. You will recall that I sent a
letter to Secretary Vilsack back in November of 2013, some time
ago. At that time there was discussion about how we can move
forward with an exchange and it involved various stakeholders
supported by the Tongass Futures Roundtable. In his response
back to me, the Secretary said that this was something we need
to properly and promptly consider.
This was something that was proposed back in 2007. It is
now 2016. We have got the agreement initiated, as I have noted.
That is one step. You have indicated that you are supportive of
the goal, and we need to work through some technical
difficulties.
What I need to know, what the people of Alaska, and
specifically the people in Southeast and in Wrangell and
Petersburg and Juneau want to know, is whether or not we can
complete this exchange in a timely manner because Mental Health
Trust is prepared to begin harvesting in areas that the
communities are clearly concerned about. Mental Health Trust
has said they have no option right now, and they have, kind of,
put some fire under moving this legislation now.
If they don't see that it is going to move, they are going
to move forward with the harvest. They have an obligation, a
trust obligation, to the most vulnerable of our population
under establishment of the Mental Health Trust. They feel like
they have got their hands tied.
I understand your words and I appreciate that, but I need
some commitment from you that you will not only work with us in
a collaborative manner, and I appreciate that, but work with us
to get it done this year because otherwise I am afraid they,
the Mental Health Trust, will move forward. They will harvest
in these areas and the conveyance that we have been working on
for so many years goes nowhere. Can you give me that
commitment?
Ms. Weldon. Thank you for your question.
And yes, the commitment is clearly there and we've really
appreciated the work that we've been able to do with the
executive group with the Mental Health Authority as far as
getting clarity around which lands as well as talking a little
bit more about what is entailed with, for example, many of the
parcels that may be more isolated and what's required for
analysis.
So our goal is to work very closely and, to the extent that
we can, expedite our ability to get the land exchange done.
The Chairman. Well, I am concerned when we use the words
like analysis and reviews because we know around here that
stuff like that takes a long time.
Again, there is a very specific timeline that the Mental
Health Trust has given us with this. My concern is if we need
to look at some practical steps that we need to address,
whether it is changes in the scope of land surveying, ways to
accelerate the environmental reviews, ways to prioritize the
tracks that can be conveyed, whatever it is its going to take
to get this commitment moving. That is what I need to hear from
you today, from the Department, that we are going to be able to
resolve this so that, again, the people who are writing and
calling me from Juneau and Petersburg and Wrangell, have some
assurance.
Ms. Weldon. Yes, and we will do our best to be as strategic
and as efficient in moving through the process as possible.
The Chairman. Okay, well, we are going to work aggressively
with you.
I will comment on a statement that you just made in your
statement. In your testimony when you were talking about the
Administration's opposition to the Tongass Roadless Rule
exemption, you say application of the Roadless Rule to national
forest in Alaska has not hindered approval or appropriate
access or removal of timber in accordance with the rule. You
said that in your written testimony and then you just repeated
that here. I just do not think that that is plausible. I do not
think that is accurate, even with these five words as a
qualifier.
We had Alaska Electric Light and Power in Juneau several
years ago. They waited months and, you know, we have got a very
short summer season. They needed to get equipment off loaded to
reduce trees that were growing within in their power lines
because they needed to cross 100 yards of inventoried roadless
to unload these brush cutters from a barge, and it took months
to get that.
Just this year Forest Service required helicopter
installation of a power line between Petersburg and Kake
because they would not allow for a road installation that would
have reduced the cost of the project significantly because of
the roadless.
So, your statement, I think, really misses the point here.
The Roadless Rule in Alaska has devastated our state's timber
industry. The rule currently prevents most activities on 9.2
million acres out of a 16.7-million-acre forest, 57 percent of
the forest. By your most recent record of decision, it takes
2.56 million acres of commercial timber from the timber base.
I find it difficult to even imagine that you can make the
statement that it has no impact, that it has not hindered or
delayed in any way activities. Believe you me, the people on
the ground are saying that it does because they see it almost
on a daily basis.
Senator Cantwell had to take a conference call, so I will
go to you, Senator Heinrich.
Senator Heinrich. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Director Kornze, as you know, the issues that would be
resolved by the San Juan County Settlement Implementation Act
have been around for a little while. If you look back at the
mineral issues in the bill, they date back to 1964. The Navajo
Nation is still waiting for land that they were promised in
1974.
Can you talk a little bit about why the BLM sees this
legislation as a better option than continuing to pursue
legislation?
I would also mention that we look forward to working with
you on the pay-for issues. I think we have a path forward
there. But if we don't resolve these issues legislatively, what
are the chances of a quick resolution through the courts?
Mr. Kornze. Well I think Senator Murkowski just highlighted
that things can take all too long. And if we don't have a
legislative solution for this particular place and the
complicated issues around it related to preference right
leasing, related to Navajo selection, I couldn't even put a
number on how many years it would take to unwind this ball of
yarn.
Senator Heinrich. Okay.
Mr. Kornze. And so, we are excited to see this resolved and
also, we do understand that there are, there's a solution in
hand or nearby for dealing with the pay issues which has been
the stumbling block for many years. And so, we're pleased to
see that come together.
Senator Heinrich. Well, we are excited about that as well.
Madam Chair, I will just mention we have some letters that
I will be seeking later to introduce into the record regarding
this legislation from San Juan County, New Mexico, from the
Navajo Nation President's Office, as well as from the Navajo
Nation Speaker's Office.
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Senator Heinrich. On a little bit of an item that is not
related directly to the legislation in front of us today, I was
wondering if you could quickly provide an update on the
Sabinoso Wilderness issue in Northeastern New Mexico. The work
that the BLM has been doing, and I commend you for it, in
working with private partners to finally open this area to
public access.
As you know, this is literally the only wilderness area in
the country that lacks legal public access today. I know there
are many New Mexicans, especially from the Northeastern part of
the state, that are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to go
visit and hopefully see it open for things like hiking and
hunting and camping next year.
Mr. Kornze. So we are excited to see this happen also,
opened up to the public. As you noted, it is the only
wilderness area that we're aware of that does not have public
access. A generous foundation and land trust have been working
together to acquire an adjacent parcel, and I believe that has
been executed. So we are looking at early, very early, in the
new year to have our process completed to open up that public
access.
Senator Heinrich. That is great news.
Has the Department of the Interior had any discussions with
or communication with Customs and Border Patrol regarding
border security to the south of the OMDP area and what feedback
have you received about the impact of this bill on their
operations?
Mr. Kornze. So related to the Dona Ana bill, Border Patrol
has weighed in and noted that it would give them significant
additional flexibility so they seem to be very pleased with the
legislation.
Senator Heinrich. One last question while I have got a
little bit of time left.
Since the establishment of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks
National Monument it has certainly been a tremendous asset for
the local community and small businesses. In particular, we
have been, sort of, astounded at how quickly it was embraced by
the small business community. A recent survey of local
businesses in tourism-related industries showed that 20 percent
of businesses had introduced new products or new services
related directly to the monument and that 32 percent of them
used the monument in their promotional and marketing materials.
I am curious from the management perspective of the Bureau,
what have you seen as far as changes in either visitorship or
interest from the public in experience in the places that were
included in the monument designation?
Mr. Kornze. So we have seen a lot of excitement in the
community. As you noted, there's a lot of businesses that have
attached themselves to it in a positive way. We've seen about a
ten percent increase in visitorship. We've got new signage out
there. We're completing a public process then we'll have a plan
for management in place. So, we're pretty excited.
The Green Chamber of Commerce has been very, very active in
bringing additional attention, and I believe I saw numbers that
they think nearly 100 jobs have been added in the community as
a result of the designation.
Senator Heinrich. That is fantastic.
I know in September there is apparently ``Monuments to Main
Street,'' a whole series of activities around the monument,
getting people out into the monument for both educational and
economic reasons. We certainly appreciate BLM's work with the
local chamber and economic leadership.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Heinrich.
Senator Daines.
STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DAINES,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Daines. Thank you, Chair Murkowski and Ranking
Member Cantwell, for holding a hearing on my bill, Senate bill
3192, the Alex Diekmann Peak Designation Act.
This bill, that I introduced with my colleague, Senator
Tester, as well as Representative Zinke, who introduced the
House version, will name a peak in the Beaverhead Deer Lodge
National Forest after Alex Diekmann. Alex was a resident of my
hometown of Bozeman. Alex passed away earlier this year from
cancer after spending his life work fostering meaningful
conservation work, taking landowners, federal and state
agencies across Montana as well as neighboring states and
bringing them together.
My condolences to his wife, Lisa, and his two sons, Logan
and Liam. Logan is a graduate of Bozeman High School. Liam
attends Bozeman High. That is also the high school that I
attended.
Thank you, Ms. Weldon, for the Forest Service support for
this legislation as well. I appreciate that today.
We know that in the West the land projects are not easy
tasks. It takes special people to really balance the needs of
landowners, of ranchers, of foresters, of local cities, of
towns, county commissioners, federal and state interests, as
well as allowing all these stakeholders to come together to
benefit each other and to benefit our community, as well as our
iconic wildlife in Montana.
What will become Alex Diekmann Peak is pictured behind me.
I am getting homesick as I look behind me.
[The information referred to follows:]
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Senator Daines. One is a view looking into the Madison
Valley. That is from the top of the peak. You can see the
Madison Valley, in fact, the Madison River in the distance, a
river I fly fished on in August and caught some great trout. It
looks over a private ranch with a conservation easement that
was facilitated by Alex Diekmann.
The peak abuts the national forest, federal land. It also
neighbors state property.
[The information referred to follows:]
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Senator Daines. It is a convergence of an ownership pattern
that Alex was intimately familiar with and synchronized in such
an amazing way.
The lines there show, you can actually see Alex Diekmann
Peak. You can see state lands, private lands and national
forest. In so many ways, this peak then really captures what
Alex Diekmann was all about.
That is why this bill is supported from Montanans from all
walks of life. Our Gallatin and Madison County Commissioners,
the State of Montana, the Montana Association of Land Trust,
Sportsmens groups, many more ranchers, foresters, who knew and
truly loved Alex Diekmann.
I ask unanimous consent to submit my longer written
statement in the record as well as letters and resolutions in
support of this peak designation from our state, Madison
County, where the peak is located, Gallatin County, Alex's home
area, and several others from mayors, sportsmen groups and
others.
The Chairman. It will be included as part of the record.
[The information referred to follows:]
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Senator Daines. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to commend Chair Murkowski and Ranking Member
Cantwell for considering a series of bills here today dealing
with the Antiquities Act.
Director Kornze, many Montanans will be concerned about any
national monument unilaterally created by the Obama
Administration in my home state without input from local
community and our state.
Before my time here in Congress, President Obama and the
Department of the Interior proposed designating the Northern
Prairies as a national monument, which is land across what we
Montanan's call our high line. This would have been a
unilateral decision done without Congressional approval and
most importantly, done without including our farmers, our
ranchers, our county commissioners, our local sportsmen, the
Montanans who are most affected by this decision as part of
that process.
Any bill which has a potential to impact land management
must be locally driven and not just spearheaded here in
Washington. I can tell you that is how we do business in
Montana, and that is how we bring people together versus
polarizing them.
Director Kornze, what is the Administration's process for
getting local land users and local governments on board with
Antiquities Act designations?
Mr. Kornze. Well the Administration, you know, listens to
communities. We listen to many stakeholders, you know, all
Americans own our public lands. It's one of the great virtues
of this country.
And so, we take feedback from people all the time on all
sorts of different ideas. And so, we take that outreach. We
visit with people. We go to the ground. We've been to many
places around the country where people have asked us to visit,
to hear first-hand and to see resources.
Senator Daines. Regarding that input, is that a statutory
authority to get the input from local governments and land----
Mr. Kornze. Statutory authority?
I'm not sure, I mean, the President has the power to use
the Antiquities Act. It is his alone.
Senator Daines. It is. But is there any statutory authority
that would say we probably ought to have the county
commissioners, local sportsmen groups, conservation groups, be
a part of that process?
Mr. Kornze. I'm not aware of a structure similar to that.
Senator Daines. My point here, if the Administration is
already consulting with local governments and states, would you
support legislation to require state or government approval?
Mr. Kornze. I'm not in a position to suggest any
limitations on the President's powers.
Senator Daines. Well, you are representing the Department
of the Interior here today and the Park Service is in charge of
managing most national monuments. Why wouldn't you want to see
the local governments and the local groups there be a part of
that approval process, particularly the state and local
government?
Mr. Kornze. I think we have had very successful engagement
with communities. I think things have been done well with some
of the monuments that have been created during this
Administration. And we have, you have seen a commitment from
Secretary Jewell, from Secretary Vilsack, to have real public
engagement.
Senator Daines. Yes.
Mr. Kornze. So.
Senator Daines. I would just respectfully disagree. I would
be happy to bring you back to Montana. You might hear a little
different view of your assessments being done well and
opportunities to improve that process.
Mr. Kornze. So, is there a designation in Montana that
you're talking about?
Senator Daines. There is this, this goes back to that high
line designation that I referred to that stirred up a lot of
concern and consternation and they felt like----
Mr. Kornze. I've not heard of that one before.
Senator Daines. Okay, I would be happy to chat more with
you about that, but I know I am out of time.
This is just a concern, and I will just say Alex Diekmann
was one who brought people together.
Mr. Kornze. Yes.
Senator Daines. As we say in Montana, we are a blend of
Merle Haggard and John Denver, and we would like to bring those
two melodies together----
Mr. Kornze. Do they really say that?
Senator Daines. Come back and I will show you that.
Mr. Kornze. That would be great.
Senator Daines. Montana.
But anyway, I am out of time, and thanks for your time
here, Director Kornze.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Daines.
Senator Wyden.
Senator Wyden. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Daines is a good friend. I am not going to try
singing to try the fact that he has made a very good analogy.
[Laughter.]
Madam Chair, my thanks to you and to Senator Cantwell for
including our bill, the Southwest Oregon Watershed and Salmon
Protection Act, this morning.
Mr. Kornze, Ms. Weldon, it is great to see you both here.
We have worked often with you and know of your good work.
I want to talk briefly about the Southwest Oregon Watershed
and Salmon Protection Act. The land surrounding Rough and Ready
Baldface Creeks have some of the most exceptional, ecological
values in Oregon. The streams are not only vitally important,
the salmon runs, but they provide the drinking water supply for
several nearby communities. Keeping the area free from new
mining is essential to ensuring clean water, healthy habitats
and ecosystems and the protection of valued recreation areas.
What we are talking about, Mr. Kornze and I have had lots
of conversations on this topic over the years because there is
always confusion. We are talking about limits on new mining. We
are not talking about affecting existing, valid rights.
I know that when you get into these kinds of issues in our
part of the world, as we have seen so often, stuff sort of gets
lost in the translation. But we are talking about nothing that
would affect existing, valid rights.
We have been working on this legislation, practically since
the days when I had a full head of hair and rugged good looks.
I mean, we have been trying to protect this landscape from
mining since the 1990s.
Over the years public opposition to this kind of strip
mining has really grown tremendously and the withdrawal now has
the overwhelming support from the local communities interested
in protecting the lands and the rivers they love.
To their credit, the Administration has recognized the
significance of the area. We are pleased that the Bureau of
Land Management is moving forward with an administrative
withdrawal of this exceptional area.
I would just make one request. Ms. Weldon, I guess I am
going to spare you this morning. You and I have had lots of
questions over the years here in this room.
Just one point for you to take away, Director Kornze. I
know the agency, the BLM, and the Forest Service have been
working together on that five-year administrative mineral
withdrawal. I will tell you that 600 plus comments that we
heard at our public hearings, at your public hearings,
virtually everyone asked for a twenty-year or a permanent
withdrawal.
So my request is, and as I say, I appreciate the Chair's
courtesy here, I hope that you all will consider what the folks
said, overwhelmingly, at these community meetings. If you want
to you can just respond in writing and give us a sense of
process.
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Senator Wyden. But Director Kornze, we have worked closely
with you for many years. We appreciate your professionalism.
Ms. Weldon, you as well, and thank you for the good work
you are doing.
As my Western colleagues know, we have got only Westerners
in the room. How fitting. Public lands issues in the West are
not for the faint-hearted. These are issues that generate a
great deal of passion, and we appreciate your professionalism
and look forward to working with you.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Wyden.
Senator Gardner.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Director Kornze and Deputy Chief Weldon, for
being here this morning.
Again, thank you Chairman, for putting S. 3312 on the
agenda this morning, the Responsible Disposal Reauthorization
Act. I do have several letters of support that I would ask
unanimous consent be put into the record.
One is from the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment supporting the extension of the reauthorization of
this uranium mill tailings disposal site. This is a site that
is responsible for taking care of mill tailings that were used
in road construction projects during the height of the Cold War
from Colorado as well as from Utah and Arizona. I believe,
Senator Lee, it is Monticello, not Montichello, Utah that
receives some of these tailings from and this would extend it
to 2048.
The second letter would be from the Mesa County
Commissioners and thank you for that.
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Senator Gardner. I would also ask for permission to insert
two newspaper articles to the record as well.
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Senator Gardner. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Again, Director Kornze, I think conversations we have had
on this dais about the Antiquities Act continue to be a
question that I receive back home meeting with county
commissioners in Southwestern Colorado and other places.
Secretary Jewell was here before the Committee earlier this
year talking about national park issues, Department of the
Interior issues. One of the questions that I asked her was
whether or not she was aware of any more Colorado designations
from the President this year under the Antiquities Act. At the
time she said she was not aware of any but those decisions
reside with the President as you said.
She also said and committed to me that she would get back
to me if she heard of any designations in Colorado. I would ask
you the same thing. Are you aware of any considerations being
made in Colorado using the Antiquities Act that are being
considered right now?
Mr. Kornze. I will give you the same caveats that, you
know, these decisions lie with the President. And so, I can't
know what decision, you know, what the President plans to do,
but I will tell you I'm not aware of any conversations in terms
of proposals for anything in Colorado. Maybe you're hearing
things in your office. I'm not having people visit in my office
to talk about possible monuments in Colorado.
Senator Gardner. Thanks, Director.
I would just ask you the same commitment just to make sure
that if you do hear this, if you could relay that to my office
because I get asked that whether anything is cooking in
Washington by county commissioners on a regular basis.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back my time.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Lee.
Senator Lee. Thank you Madam Chair, and thanks for holding
this hearing. We thank our witnesses as well.
This past Monday marked an anniversary, a significant
anniversary, for people in my state, the State of Utah. It
marked the 20th anniversary of the date that President Bill
Clinton utilized the Antiquities Act to designate as a national
monument more than 1.5 million acres of land in Southern Utah.
This is the area that became known as the Grand Staircase
Escalante National Monument.
After the designation occurred, Utah's Congressional
Delegation, Utah's state and county leaders and local residents
in Utah, especially residents living closest to the area
designated as a monument, all warned that a national monument
designation would dramatically disrupt their way of life in
Southern Utah and make it harder for hard working Utahans to
earn a living.
You know, discussing these concerns, the Administration
officials and monument advocates insisted that an Antiquities
Act designation, that the creation of this particular national
monument, would actually enhance the local economy. It would
boost it.
Twenty years later the verdict is out. The people of Utah
were right. The Grand Staircase has been devastating for the
people of Utah's Garfield and Kane Counties. It has depressed
economic development and recreation on nearly two million acres
of land and undermined economic stability in the region.
Land use restrictions that accompanied the monument have
wiped out many of the stable jobs that once existed in this
area of South Central Utah where the monument was designated.
Those were jobs that previously formed the backbone, the core,
of the local economy. These jobs included jobs in areas such as
ranching and mining and timber harvesting, all of which were
affected to a significant and in many ways devastating degree
by the designation of this monument.
Utah is, once again, 20 years later facing the threat of a
national monument designation under the Antiquities Act. At the
behest of a clamorous group of environmental activists, and I
want to make clear here, mostly out-of-state environmental
activists, people who mostly do not live in Utah. President
Obama is currently considering designating under the
Antiquities Act what would be called the Bears Ears National
Monument in Southeastern Utah.
Just like the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument,
the proposed Bears Ears Monument would deprive these vulnerable
communities and especially vulnerable populations within these
already vulnerable communities of vital economic, recreational
and cultural resources.
Yesterday a group of Native Americans from Utah delivered
to the Secretary of the Interior a series of letters, petitions
and resolutions opposing the proposed Bears Ears National
Monument. I would like to enter those documents into the
record.
The Chairman. Those will be included.
Senator Lee. Thank you.
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Senator Lee. Those documents include a resolution from the
Blue Mountain Dine, a petition from the descendants of
Kahlelli, a resolution from the Aneth Chapter of the Navajo
Nation, a resolution from the City of Blanding, a resolution
from the City of Monticello, a resolution from the San Juan
County Board of Commissions, a letter from the Utah Wildlife
Board and a resolution from the Utah State Legislature. Each of
these documents expressed Utahans' strong opposition to the
Presidential creation of a national monument in the Bears Ears
area. Their message should be heard loud and clear. Enough is
enough. These petitioners know their land and these petitioners
know there is a better way.
Congressman Rob Bishop, the Chairman of the House Natural
Resources Committee, along with Congressman Jason Chaffetz,
both from Utah, have spent the last three years working on the
Public Lands Initiative (PLI), legislation that would further
protect the lands, the very same lands, that President Obama is
considering for a possible designation under the Antiquities
Act. After holding more than a thousand meetings, Chairman
Bishop is on the verge of passing the PLI. Unfortunately, this
process risks being short-circuited by the premature creation
of a national monument by executive fiat. This threat is
exactly why I have introduced S. 3317 which would prohibit the
further extension or establishment of national monuments in the
State of Utah, except by express authorization of Congress.
To be clear, this is not some new radical idea or some
special unique carve out just for Utah. Since 1950, the State
of Wyoming has enjoyed an identical exception from the
Antiquities Act and the state is not some hellscape as a result
of this. My bill would simply put Utah on an equal footing with
Wyoming and give the people of Utah, who have been severely
harmed by the abuse, the flagrant abuse, of the Antiquities
Act, some piece of mind about the future of their lands and
their livelihoods.
Mr. Kornze, last week you praised the process that has
brought us this far. We know we have further to go. Please, I
implore you, I beg of you, let us continue to work toward
consensus. Tell the President not to declare a national
monument in San Juan County, Utah.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Lee. I know this is an
extraordinarily important issue for you and the people of Utah.
I got the feedback from you about the field hearing that you
were able to conduct earlier this summer. This is a critically
important issue to Utah and to those of us in the West, so
thank you for your advocacy on this.
Senator Flake.
Senator Flake. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for
holding this expansive hearing on a number of important lands
bills.
I introduced S. 2380, the RPPA Commercial Recreation
Concessions Pilot Program Act, to allow local governments
greater flexibility when offering recreation opportunities.
States and counties should be able to provide the same types of
commercial recreation concessions that the BLM can.
I would like to submit for the record six letters of
support for this bill, including ones from the National
Association of Counties, National Association of State Park
Directors, Maricopa County, Arizona and the Arizona State
Parks.
The Chairman. They will be included as part of the record.
Senator Flake. Okay, thank you.
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Senator Flake. I also thank you for including H.R. 2009.
This bill takes a small amount of land into trust for the
Pascua Yaqui Tribe and it has the support of the entire Arizona
delegation.
Before Congress takes land into trust for tribes, it is
important for all jurisdiction issues to be worked out with the
affected governments. In this particular case to which H.R.
2009 applies, that has already been done.
I would like to submit letters of support from Pima County
and the tribe into the record.
The Chairman. Those will also be included.
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Senator Flake. I am also glad to work with my friend,
Senator Heinrich, to introduce the Ace Act. This is truly a
win/win. State trust lands get to swap their trapped lands for
those with greater economic potential while federal land
managers get to eliminate inholdings. We were able to work with
Arizona's ranchers, miners and water users to ensure their
interest are protected in these exchanges.
I would like to submit this letter of support from the
Arizona State Land Department.
The Chairman. That also will be included as part of the
record.
Senator Flake. Alright.
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Senator Flake. Just a broader statement on national
monuments, Madam Chair. You and other members of the Committee
have heard me talk many times about the importance of the
Colorado River to Arizona. We have enough challenges on the
river without the specter of a new federal reserved right of
bending the already perilous apple cart. That is why I
introduced S. 1416 to prohibit the President from creating a
new federal reserve water right with a national monument.
Madam Chair, I am also glad to co-sponsor your improved
National Monument Designation Process Act. The Federal
Government owns nearly half of Arizona and when you account for
other lands, public lands and tribal lands, you will find that
only 18 percent of the state is actually in private ownership.
With so little private land in Arizona, multiple use, public
lands provide opportunities for grazing, mineral development
and recreation of all types. Any action that removes those
opportunities needs to be done in conjunction with the state
and local governments, and your bill will ensure that
cooperation happens.
I would like to submit for the record these statements that
I have received from a wide range of Arizona interests opposed
to yet another national monument, including the Game and Fish
Department, Arizona Game and Fish, Chamber of Commerce and the
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
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Senator Flake. When I travel around the state I repeatedly
hear from constituents asking me to help stop a new
designation. Senator Lee talked about some of the issues that
go along with that and the lack of economic opportunity that
results.
It is frustrating, Madam Chair, that we cannot do anything
about these monuments and we have no voice in the process. That
is why it is important to have these kind of fixes that this
bill would put in place.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Flake, and all of the
letters and reports that you have asked to be included as part
of the record shall be included as such.
There has clearly been a fair amount of discussion and
concern raised by members of the Committee here this morning as
it relates to monuments and monument designations. The fact
that we have three measures before the Committee that relate to
that, I think, is significant.
As I mentioned in my opening comments, utilization of the
Antiquities Act, designation of monuments is not a partisan
exercise. Sixteen of the 19 presidents since 1906 have created
152 different monuments. I find it rather interesting that it
was President Franklin Roosevelt who used the authority the
most often, 36 times. But when you look at what he set aside
through these monument designations it was 2.8 million acres of
monuments, only on land.
Yet, when you look at what has come out of this
Administration, President Obama has clearly proclaimed the most
monument acreage, nearly 553 million acres both on land and on
sea. Again, the Antiquities Act was designed to reserve the
smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects to be protected is the language.
I recognize that some of the monument designations are
smaller in size, less than 5,000 acres. But then you look at
some of the larger ones, particularly the marine designations,
the largest is 283 million acres.
As has been noted by my colleagues from not only Arizona
and Utah, but also Montana and Colorado, there is impact when
you do these designations, real impact on the livelihoods of
those who live near the designated areas, whether we are
talking about traditional hunting and gathering practices or
commercial fishing or mineral or grazing rights or just the
ability to use a snow machine in the winter time. There is a
real life impact on local communities.
Mr. Kornze, I have a couple questions for you as they
relate to national monuments.
First is along the same lines as Senator Gardner asked in
Colorado, and that is whether or not you can give me any
information as to whether the Administration plans to designate
any new onshore or offshore monuments in the State of Alaska
before this President leaves office?
Mr. Kornze. So, if I can indulge just for one second, and
Senator Flake raised a number of important points. I just want
to note the Ace Act is exciting. I think we need to clean up a
lot of the scattered lands.
The Concessions Act, the BLM would be very excited to have
Congress develop a concessions authority that applies to us in
the same way that it does to the Park Service or the Bureau of
Reclamation. Your legislation does something quite different.
We would be, we would love to sit down with you and develop
something that is a true concessions authority. We think it
would be great for recreation in all states. Thank you,
Chairman.
Related to Alaska, I can give you the same answer that I
gave Senator Gardner. You know, I don't have anyone in my
office, talking about monuments in Alaska. Again, I can't tell
you what the President is or isn't thinking but in terms of,
you know, my interaction with these issues, I'm not aware.
The Chairman. Well, you have indicated there is nobody in
your office. Are you aware of any conversations outside of your
particular office where there is discussion about designation
of either an onshore or offshore monument designation in
Alaska?
Mr. Kornze. I'm not.
The Chairman. Okay.
I would ask the same that Senator Gardner has which is that
if you are made aware of such conversations we would certainly
appreciate that information.
I wanted to ask about the comment or a comment in your
written testimony. In my bill, S. 437, we have the requirement
to apply NEPA to the President's designation to designate a
monument. You have suggested in your testimony that this
requirement would be unprecedented because you say that NEPA
only applies to federal agencies, and the President is not a
federal agency.
I certainly understand the President is not a federal
agency, but also, Congress is not a federal agency. Since
Congress is not a federal agency, how is it that the
Administration requires or demands that a NEPA analysis be done
on decisions that are made by Congress and legislation?
I will give you my specific example, and it ties back to an
issue that I care very much about and that is the King Cove
Land Exchange. When we passed the Omnibus Lands Act back in
2009 and through Public Law 111-11, we subjected to NEPA our
decision to authorize that land exchange. You will recall that
was a 300 to 1 land exchange to facilitate the construction of
the King Cove Road.
Was it inappropriate to do that? We are not, again,
Congress is not a federal agency. So if you think that it was
appropriate in that instance how do you justify the President's
decisions being excluded from a NEPA?
Mr. Kornze. So, I'm not intimately familiar with all the
process that has run on King Cove but I can----
The Chairman. I just use that as an example.
Mr. Kornze. Yeah.
The Chairman. Because King Cove was, of course, on my mind.
Mr. Kornze. So here's my understanding of the issue. You
know, NEPA does not necessarily apply to Congress.
The Chairman. Right.
Mr. Kornze. President or the courts. But when federal
agencies are asked to take an action, NEPA is something that is
done, right?
So Congress, for instance, and again, I'm not the world's
expert on this issue, but I'll give you what I think I know. If
Congress has the power to say, you know, ``x'' thing is
established, right? This thing does exist or Congress could say
we direct the Bureau of Land Management to do this. So, if
you're putting us in motion, NEPA would be part of our process.
You could, though, definitively say, ``x'' is established.
So, I think it's a fine line. It's a piece of
administrative law or what sector of law we would describe this
as, but the President has the authority, like Congress does, to
take actions.
The Chairman. I guess I would just suggest that it would
not be unprecedented to suggest that monument designations
should be subjected to NEPA analysis.
You have indicated in response to a couple questions on
this that you would not suggest anything that would limit the
President's powers to move forward under the Antiquities Act.
Congress has done that a couple times. It was mentioned back in
1950 when Wyoming had its exclusion and Alaska under ANILCA in
1980 it was determined that Alaska basically had certainly
provided enough to the country when it came to designation by
the President, by President Carter at that time, that any
designation would be subject to a limitation.
So it is not something where, again, the President should
be able to advance just on his or her own volition and
directive. The suggestion that has been made, certainly, by
members here is that it is appropriate to take into account
local stakeholder input, the input from the councils and the
assemblies, the input from congressional delegations and
legislatures, legislators.
When you have responded to the inquiry about what level of
weight or significance is given to that local input and
recognizing, for instance what Senator Lee has presented to the
Administration, to the President, with respect to Bears Ears, I
think it is important that we figure out a way that the public
is listened to, that there is a process, that stakeholder
engagement is not only encouraged, but that it is heard.
I think you have heard from many, all Westerners, on the
issue of monument designation but it is something that is on
the top of Westerner's minds and, I think, for good reason. We
have to have a way that we can weigh in when our economies are
being impacted. We hear from our constituents that this is an
issue that is as big as anything that is out for discussion
right now. I think you need to carry that message back to all
those within the Administration.
Senator Cantwell has not had an opportunity to ask
questions.
Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I wanted to go to Ms. Weldon. Thank you for being here
today.
This is the first time the Forest Service has publicly
announced its support for mineral withdrawal of the Methow
headwaters. I believe this is an important step, and I hope we
can coordinate with you and the Forest Service and the staff in
the region to work on this particular area.
I saw in your testimony that the Forest Service proposed a
five-year administrative withdrawal for S. 364, the Southwest
Oregon watershed bill which you described as a withdrawal in
aid of legislation. Can you describe how this would work,
particularly with the Methow, and would you start working on
that withdrawal immediately?
Ms. Weldon. Yes, our goal is to begin working on that,
coordinating with the Bureau of Land Management on the process
for an administrative withdrawal. There's quite a bit of work,
as you know, that's entailed within that. So, as we get started
we'll be looking at how long it takes for us to get through
that, but definitely we'll be initiating the process.
Senator Cantwell. So you do not think it would be
consistent while you are going through that process to approve
anything that would be counter to that?
Ms. Weldon. In light of us beginning this process the
likelihood of us approving any additional expirations is low.
We need to make sure we're focusing on the long-term withdrawal
process.
Senator Cantwell. Okay, because we certainly would see that
as very inconsistent to start on a withdrawal and then all of a
sudden make an approval. So we certainly hope that working
together, both legislatively and administratively, we can make
sure that we are listening to the people of that area, who
certainly do not support any mining activity that would
threaten those headwaters since they are such vital headwaters
for the entire region. So, thank you for that.
Ms. Weldon. Thank you.
Senator Cantwell. Also, regarding one of the bills on the
agenda, S. 2056, the bill Senator Murkowski and I introduced,
establishing a national volcano and early warning system. Can
you expand on what role the Forest Service might play? I bring
this up because Mount Baker and Glacier Peak, two of our
volcanoes--I think we have only one seismometer on each of
those peaks. People have said you need at least five to make
sure that we are assessing the risk. What are your thoughts
about how the Forest Service could work with USGS and local
emergency managers, particularly since Lahar is such a major
threat to us?
Ms. Weldon. Thank you.
Yeah, I spent quite a bit of my career working in those
landscapes, especially with the Cascade ranges there. I know we
have some continuing activity that we're coordinating,
especially with Mount St. Helens. We plan to continue to work
with the USGS as we keep exploring the value of warning system
that's more extensive.
I'm not totally up to date on the status of that but with
our actions and activities that we do and coordinate on an
emergency basis, the preventative side of that, I think, is
equally important. So, we look forward to continuing
coordinating closely with the USGS, with our local elected
officials, local communities as well.
Senator Cantwell. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you.
I have one last question and Mr. Kornze, I am sure you must
have anticipated that there had to be a King Cove question.
Mr. Kornze. Right.
The Chairman. I also tried to loop it into my comments on
monuments, but I am just clearly so troubled. You heard the
Senator from West Virginia weigh in and say for gosh sakes,
can't we please just finally get this resolved? She is so
supportive of the some thousand people who live in King Cove,
who are just looking for a 11-mile, one lane, gravel, non-
commercial use road to gain access to the all-weather airport
there in Cold Bay. It is such a simple thing, yet it has risen
to a level where it is not just about King Cove, it is the
principle of the matter. How can the Federal Government be
denying these people living in a very remote part of America
something that we would absolutely take for granted in any
other part of America?
I struggle with this because this situation has not gotten
better, as you know. Fifty-two, 52 Medivacs since the Secretary
rejected this road in 2013, 52 of them, 17 requiring the Coast
Guard to come in.
I was in Kodiak this weekend as the Coast Guard was cutting
a ribbon on new Coast Guard housing. I had to thank every
single one of those Coast Guard men and women and their spouses
for the call outs that they do as one of the most potentially
dangerous and threatening missions that they do. This is not
part of Coast Guard's core services to provide Medivac service
to a community 600 miles away. And yet, that is what has
happened. It is simply not acceptable.
When you hear stories like a 70-year-old man waiting 40
hours for the fog to lift when if there were a road he could be
there. He could be to a full hospital. And the story that
Senator Sullivan shared this morning, just last week. Yet
another incident.
I do not understand how those in the Department can just
sit back and say this is okay or this is acceptable or maybe
Lisa will just stand down one of these days. No.
So, the question to you is the question that I have asked
Secretary Jewell every time she is before any of the committees
that I sit on. She made a promise to me saying that she was
going to be there to help, that she would find a way to help. I
still have yet to see any proposal, any plan that would help
the nearly 1,000 Alaskans that live in this remote community.
There was one proposal that was written down and it was
basically a rehash of the various ideas that have been out
there over the past couple decades, but we have gotten nothing.
In the meantime, people's lives are in jeopardy.
Mr. Kornze. So this is a very important issue. I know it's
extremely important to you.
As I noted earlier I've not been intimately involved with
this, as you can imagine, working from the Bureau of Land
Management, but I am happy to take your thoughts back to the
Secretary and to the Fish and Wildlife Service and we do take
them very, very seriously.
The Chairman. Well, it is not just my thoughts.
Mr. Kornze. Yeah.
The Chairman. It is not my thoughts. It is my prayers
because I just cannot stand by thinking that there is going to
be a tragedy. Instead, it is just suffering, lots of suffering
and pain and fear and fright, needless, unnecessary because we
can do something about it.
For crying out loud, this is a small, one lane, gravel,
non-commercial use road. And it is the government that says
nope, we can't do that. We cannot add a small connector road
because we are afraid that somehow or other that is going to
disturb the waterfowl that come through the area. The waterfowl
that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service promotes for hunting. How
ironic is that?
This is crazy talk. When people get frustrated with their
government, it is because of situations just like this where
they say, wait a minute, can't there be some way to work this
out?
Well, there was. It was a 300 to 1 exchange. The Federal
Government was going to get wilderness. The Native people were
willing to give up their lands that they had received as part
of their settlement because they wanted 206 acres to build out
this small, connector road.
You already have road that goes right up to the boundary of
the refuge on the King Cove side and a road that comes right up
to the boundary from the Cold Bay side. All we need is that
connector. And in the middle of this refuge are roads that
crisscross all over and back that have been part of the
landscape since World War II.
I know what is happening. This Administration is just
running the clock. They are running the clock, and they will be
able to wash their hands of it. In the meantime, as of today,
52 different Alaskans, infants, elders, have suffered. That is
absolutely unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable.
So the message that you need to take back to the Secretary
and to the President is on their watch, on their watch, they
have turned their back on Alaskans, on Alaska Natives, on their
responsibility, on our responsibility. And they are now going
to walk away, and they will be able to wipe their hands clean.
I just hope they will still remember that in the meantime under
their watch people have been living in fear, in trepidation and
with pain and suffering that could have been addressed. It is
inexcusable, and I am not backing down on this.
One way or another, it probably won't be with this
Administration, but one way or another the people of King Cove
are going to find safety. That is the message that you can take
back.
Mr. Kornze. I will.
The Chairman. Okay.
With that, we stand adjourned. I thank you both for coming
before the Committee and 21 bills we would like to work with
you in these areas to advance them.
Thank you so much and we stand adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:31 a.m. the hearing was adjourned.]
APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
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