[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
        
        
        
        
                            _________ 

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               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.
    [The information referred to follows:]
    
    
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]    
    
   
    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.
    [The information referred to follows:]
    
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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.
    [The information referred to follows.]
    
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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