[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4887-S4888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Torricelli, Ms. Moseley-Braun, 
        Mrs. Murray, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Boxer, 
        and Mr. Reed):
  S. 773. A bill to designate certain Federal lands in the State of 
Utah as wilderness, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources.


                   America's Red Rock Wilderness Act

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing America's Red Rock 
Wilderness Act to protect an important part of our Nation's natural 
heritage. America's Red Rock Wilderness Act designates 5.7 million 
acres of the 22 million acres of public, Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) lands in Southern Utah as wilderness.
  Passage of America's Red Rock Wilderness Act is essential to protect 
a national treasure for future generations of Americans. A companion 
bill, H.R. 1500, has been introduced in the House by Representative 
Maurice Hinchey with over 100 original cosponsors.
  America's Red Rock Wilderness Act will protect 5.7 million acres of 
magnificent canyons, red rock cliffs and rock formations which are 
unlike any on Earth. The lands included in this legislation contain 
steep slick rock canyons, high cliffs offering spectacular vistas of 
rare rock formations, important archeological sites and rare plant and 
animal species. Each year, almost 8 million people from across the 
United States and the world visit these lands to see a part of their 
natural heritage and experience the beauty and solitude of this 
wilderness area.
  However, these fragile, scenic lands are threatened by oil, gas and 
mining interests which are willing to sacrifice these lands for short-
term economic gain. These wilderness areas are also threatened by off-
road vehicle use and proposals to construct roads, communication 
towers, transmission lines, and dams.
  Because of flaws in the original wilderness inventory conducted by 
BLM during the Reagan administration, only 3.2 million acres in 
southern Utah are currently protected as wilderness study areas. The 
wilderness areas included in America's Red Rock Wilderness Act are 
based on a careful assessment of BLM lands which meet the criteria for 
wilderness designation by citizen groups that form the Utah Wilderness 
Coalition. Unlike other proposals, this legislation does not include 
special interest exemptions that would undermine the integrity of the 
1964 Wilderness Act.
  America's Red Rock Wilderness Act is supported by a broad coalition 
of environmental organizations and citizen groups. In a national survey 
conducted by USA Today, over 90 percent of the respondents supported 
the designation of 5.7 million acres in southern Utah as wilderness. 
Newspapers across the Nation have also editorialized in support of 
protecting America's Red Rock Wilderness Area.
  Theodore Roosevelt once stated that, ``The Nation behaves well if it 
treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the 
next generation increased and not impaired in value.'' Because of the 
foresight of leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, national treasures such 
as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone were preserved for all Americans. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to protect America's Red 
Rock Wilderness Area in southern Utah for future generations.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am very pleased to be joining the 
junior Senator from Illinois [Mr. Durbin] as an original cosponsor of 
legislation to designate 5.7 million acres of Federal lands in Utah as 
wilderness.
  Though this is the first time this particular measure has been 
introduced in this body, it is not the first time that the protection 
of Utah's public lands has been before the Senate. During the last 
Congress, I joined with the former Senator from New Jersey, Mr. 
Bradley, in opposing the Omnibus Parks legislation because it contained 
provisions, which were eventually removed, that many in my home State 
of Wisconsin believed not only designated as wilderness too little of 
the Bureau of Land Management's holding in Utah deserving of such 
protection, but also substantively changed the protections afforded 
designated lands under the Wilderness Act of 1964.
  Wallace Stegner wrote ``No place is a place until things that have 
happened there are remembered in history, ballads, yarns, legends, or 
monuments.''
  The lands of southern Utah are legendary, alive, and well remembered 
in

[[Page S4888]]

the minds and hearts of the people of Wisconsin. In writing to me last 
Congress, my constituents described these lands as places of special 
family moments, healing silence, and incredible beauty. In March 1996, 
during debate on the omnibus parks bill, Ed Culhane of the Appleton 
Post-Crescent wrote:

       This is some of the most beautiful landscape in the world 
     and each year hundreds of thousands of people hike into these 
     canyons, into this hard, dry land of varnished cliffs and 
     blasted mesas.
       Aldo Leopold once asked if a still higher standard of 
     living was worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free. 
     If we lose the Redrock Wilderness, we will get precious 
     little in return.

  Some may say, Mr. President, that this legislation is unnecessary and 
Utah already has the ``monument'' that Wallace Stegner wrote about, 
designated by President Clinton on September 18, 1997. However, it is 
important to note, the land of the Grand Staircase Escalante National 
Monument, included among the lands to be given wilderness protection in 
this bill, is less than one third of the lands this bill protects.
  I supported the President's actions to designate the Grand Staircase 
Escalante National Monument. On September 17, 1997, amid reports of the 
pending designation, I authored a letter to President Clinton, cosigned 
by six other members of the Senate, supporting that action. That letter 
concluded with the following statement ``We remain interested in 
working with the Administration on appropriate legislation to evaluate 
and protect the full extent of public lands in Utah that meet the 
criteria of the 1964 Wilderness Act.''

  I believe that the measure being introduced today accomplishes that 
goal. Identical in its designations to H.R. 1500 sponsored in the other 
body by Representative Maurice Hinchey of New York, it is the 
culmination of more than 10 years and four Congresses of effort in the 
other body beginning with the legislative work of the former 
Congressman from Utah, Mr. Owens.
  The measure protects wild lands that really are not done justice in 
words. Truly remarkable American resources of red rock cliff walls, 
desert, canyons and gorges are found on these BLM lands which encompass 
the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau, the Mojave Desert and 
portions of the Great Basin. They include mountain ranges in western 
Utah, stark areas like the new National Monument, and wildlife 
intensive areas like the Deep Creek and Stansbury Mountains, that 
support habitat for deer, elk, cougars, bobcats, bighorn sheep, 
coyotes, birds, reptiles, and other wildlife. These regions appeal to 
all types of American outdoor interests from hikers and sightseers to 
hunters.
  Phil Haslanger of the Capital Times, a paper in Madison, answered an 
important question I am often asked when people want to know why a 
Senator from Wisconsin would cosponsor legislation to protect lands in 
Utah. He wrote on September 13, 1995 simply that ``These are not scenes 
that you could see in Wisconsin. That's part of what makes them 
special.'' He continues, and adds what I think is an even more 
important reason to act to protect these lands than the landscape's 
uniqueness, ``the fight over wilderness lands in Utah is a test case of 
sorts. The anti-environmental factions in Congress are trying hard to 
remove restrictions on development in some of the Nation's most 
splendid areas.''
  Wisconsinites are watching this test case closely. I believe, Mr. 
President, that Wisconsinites view the outcome of this fight to save 
Utah's lands as a sign of where the Nation is headed with respect to 
its stewardship of natural resources in Wisconsin. For example, some in 
my home State believe that among Federal lands that comprise the 
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the Nicolet and Chequamegon 
National Forests there are lands that are deserving of wilderness 
protection. I know first hand what spectacular and special places these 
Federal properties are, and what they mean to the people of Wisconsin. 
Wisconsinites want to know that, should additional lands in Wisconsin 
be brought forward for wilderness designation, the type of protection 
they expect from Federal law is still available to be extended because 
it had been properly extended to other places of national significance.
  What Haslanger's Capital Times comments make clear is that while some 
in Congress may express concern about creating new wilderness in Utah, 
wilderness, as Wisconsinites know, is not created by legislation. 
Legislation to protect existing wilderness insures that future 
generations may have an experience on public lands equal to that which 
is available today. The action of Congress to preserve wild lands by 
extending the protections of the Wilderness Act of 1964 publicly 
codifies that expectation and promise.
  Finally, and perhaps the most important reason why this legislation 
is receiving my support, and deserves the support of others in this 
body, is that all of the 5.7 million acres that will be protected under 
this bill are already public lands held in trust by the Federal 
Government. Thus, while they are physically located in Utah, their 
preservation is important to the citizens of Wisconsin as it is for 
others.
  I am eager to work with my colleague from Illinois, Mr. Durbin, to 
protect these lands. I commend him for introducing this measure.
                                 ______