[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE FARMLAND PROTECTION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Woolsey] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the introduction of a 
bill that is crucial to my district. It is very important. It is the 
Point Reyes National Seashore Farmland Protection Act, H.R. 1995.
  Just 45 miles north of San Francisco lies the Point Reyes National 
Seashore, a peninsula containing 71,000 acres of the most beautiful 
vistas and pristine wilderness in America. Across Tomales Bay from the 
seashore lie 38,000 acres of privately held land that is used for 
agriculture, primarily for dairy ranching.
  In Marin and Sonoma Counties, we like it that way, since we know that 
farmland makes our community economically strong and economically 
diverse. The national seashore likes it that way because the careful 
stewardship of these lands by ranchers has helped to safeguard the 
seashore and the bay, keeping it one of the most pristine areas in our 
Nation.
  The ranchers like it that way because ranching is their livelihood, 
and they like what they do.
  And the community likes it that way, because local residents know 
that agriculture plays an important role in the mix that gives the 
north bay a strong economy and makes it a wonderful place to live.
  No one, Mr. Speaker, absolutely no one in the community wants to see 
the land turned into housing developments or casinos, except possibly 
developers who are putting pressure on the area to change.
  So that is what I have set out to do in the Point Reyes National 
Seashore Farmlands Protection Act, keep everything the way it is now. 
That means keeping those 38,000 acres in private ownership and 
productive agriculture, safeguarding the livelihood of the farmers who 
live there along with protecting the park and the bay that are nearby.
  The way we would do this is through a public-private partnership, a 
partnership to purchase conservation easements, instead of outright 
purchase of the land, an innovative and cost-effective, cost-saving 
method that can serve as a model for farmland protection around this 
Nation.
  My bill establishes a boundary, a boundary that allows Federal 
matching funds to be available to willing local farmers who volunteer 
to sell their conservation easements.
  Participation in the program is 100 percent voluntary. The easements 
would be managed by a local nonprofit land trust or open space 
districts. These are groups that already have experienced managing 
11,000 of the 38,000 acres in question, meaning that the Federal role 
will be limited and administrative costs will be kept low.
  Now, I knew that the local landowners would have some concerns about 
a proposal that involved the Federal Government. So I sat down with 
them, not the Federal Government, but with the local farmers. I sat 
down one on one at their ranches, around the kitchen tables, and we 
talked the program through. I listened carefully, and the results of 
those talks is the bill that I am confident will fully protect the 
private property rights.
  In fact, the way this bill is crafted, ranchers who do not choose to 
participate in the program will go on living their lives exactly as 
they do now, and those who do choose to participate will also see 
little change, except that their land, once they have negotiated their 
easements, will be protected as farmland in perpetuity.
  This idea, Mr. Speaker, is so powerful that it has already attracted 
some very influential bipartisan supporters, and it has also attracted 
some serious interest at the committee level. I am proud to announce 
that the original cosponsors of my bill are the gentleman from Maryland 
[Mr. Gilchrest], the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell], the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Campbell], the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Dooley], and the gentleman from California [Mr. Condit].
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1995 is a way to preserve farmland and protect 
neighboring park land at the same time, in a private-public partnership 
with a very limited Federal role. It is a win/win solution for my 
district, and it is a win/win solution for the Nation. H.R. 1995 makes 
a difference. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

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