[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 118 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H8118-H8121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SPANISH PEAKS WILDERNESS ACT OF 1999
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 898) designating certain land in the San Isabel National
Forest in the State of Colorado as the ``Spanish Peaks Wilderness.''
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 898
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act
of 1999''.
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF SPANISH PEAKS WILDERNESS.
(a) Colorado Wilderness Act.--Section 2(a) of the Colorado
Wilderness Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-77; 107 Stat. 756; 16
U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(20) Spanish peaks wilderness.--Certain land in the San
Isabel National Forest that--
``(A) comprises approximately 18,000 acres, as generally
depicted on a map entitled `Proposed Spanish Peaks
Wilderness', dated February 10, 1999; and
``(B) shall be known as the `Spanish Peaks Wilderness'.''.
(b) Map; Boundary Description.--
(1) Filing.--As soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred
to in this Act as the ``Secretary''), shall file a map and
boundary description of the area designated under subsection
(a) with--
(A) the Committee on Resources of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate.
(2) Force and effect.--The map and boundary description
under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as
if included in the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (Public
Law 103-77; 107 Stat. 756), except that the Secretary may
correct clerical and typographical errors in the map and
boundary description.
(3) Availability.--The map and boundary description under
paragraph (1) shall be on file and available for public
inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
SEC. 3. ACCESS.
Within the Spanish Peaks Wilderness designated under
section 2--
(1) the Secretary shall allow the continuation of historic
uses of the Bulls Eye Mine Road established prior to the date
of enactment of this Act, subject to such terms and
conditions as the Secretary may provide; and
(2) access to any privately owned land within the
wilderness areas designated under section 2 shall be provided
in accordance with section 5 of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.
1134 et seq.).
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Section 10 of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (Public
Law 103-77; 107 Stat. 756; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note) is repealed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Sherwood) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr.
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sherwood).
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
(Mr. SHERWOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 898, the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act
of 1999, was introduced by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis),
my esteemed colleague, and would simply add the Spanish Peaks area to a
list of areas designated as wilderness by the Colorado Wilderness Act
of 1993.
The gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) has worked long and hard to
protect local interests while trying to preserve an outstanding scenic
and geological area. I have hunted and hiked through the Spanish Peaks,
and they rise above the high plains majestically all by themselves and
are an area certainly worthy of preservation.
This bill passed through subcommittee and full committee on a voice
vote, therefore, I would urge my colleagues to support the passage of
H.R. 898, the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act of 1999, under suspension of
the rules.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 898 would designate approximately
18,000 acres of land in Colorado, San Isabel National Forest, as
wilderness. These lands which contain headwaters in two spectacular
13,000 foot peaks have been studied and considered for wilderness
designation for nearly two decades.
This month marks the 35th anniversary of the law that created a
national wilderness preservation system. The Wilderness Act has led to
the protection of more than 104 million acres of Federal lands. In
light of this anniversary, it is most appropriate, Mr. Speaker, that
the House is acting on a wilderness bill, an all too infrequent event
in recent years I would say.
I do commend the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) and the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall), our Democratic colleague, for
their sponsorship and hard work on this legislation.
This is a worthy bill, this legislation. It certainly deserves the
support of our colleagues, and I ask my colleagues to support this
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to engage in a colloquy here with the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis).
Mr. Speaker, this bill does differ from last year's Skaggs-McInnis
bill in a few respects, and I want to take a few moments to discuss one
in particular, namely the exclusion from wilderness of an old road,
known as the Bulls Eye Mine Road and the inclusion of language related
to that road.
Because some questions have been raised about the scope and effect of
that language, contained in subsection 3(1), I think it appropriate to
provide a further explanation of how that subsection would or would not
affect management of this area.
[[Page H8119]]
Accordingly, at the request of the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
Udall) I would like to engage the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis)
in a brief colloquy regarding this part of the bill.
Mr. Speaker, one of the questions that has been raised concerning the
authority of the Secretary of Agriculture with regard to regulating the
use of the road. During the subcommittee hearing of the bill, the
gentleman from Montana (Mr. Hill) asked whether the Secretary would
continue to limit those uses to hiking and horseback riding and was
assured that the Secretary could do that under the terms of the bill.
Would my colleague agree that, under this bill, the Secretary will
continue to have that authority?
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis).
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, to the gentleman's inquiry, the answer to
that is yes.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, another important question concerns
the extent to which the bill might be read as requiring the federal
government to repair or maintain the road. This is important, Mr.
Speaker, because my colleague will recall that the Forest Service
testified that they are in no position to make any commitments to keep
the road open, and because its condition is such as to raise serious
safety problems and possibly even questions of liability, would the
gentleman from Colorado agree that nothing in the bill would have the
effect of requiring the United States to undertake any improvements of
the road or to maintain any part of the road?
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, to the gentleman from American Samoa, the
answer is yes.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, some parties have
raised the question about ownership of the road right-of-way itself.
Does the gentleman from Colorado agree that nothing in this bill would
have the effect of lessening any property before the United States of
that land or of limiting the ability of the Secretary to take legal
action to assert those interests?
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman repeat the question.
{time} 1515
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Does my colleague agree that nothing in this bill
would have the effect of lessening any of the property interests of the
United States in that land or of limiting the ability of the Secretary
to take legal action to assert those interests?
Mr. McINNIS. The answer to that is yes.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this
time, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis).
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, this is a very exciting day for me and for
the people of the State of Colorado that the designation of the Spanish
Peaks as a wilderness area is about to pass the House of
Representatives. This bill has bipartisan support. This bill does
something that we should have done a couple of years ago.
At the very beginning of my comments, I think it is appropriate to
give credit to my former colleague, our former colleague, David Skaggs,
who retired from Congress 2 years ago, I think. The gentleman put a lot
of effort into the Spanish Peaks wilderness. I was privileged to work
with David Skaggs for a period of several years on this legislation,
and today I hope he is watching so he gets to see this pass.
I have got a lot of personal interest in the Spanish Peaks of
Colorado. First a little description of the Spanish Peaks. There are
two peaks, the east and west peak. These peaks were often used as
guidance for the pioneers who settled in Colorado. When we see them
against the Colorado horizon, they stand out against that beautiful
blue sky. It really is an asset to the people of this country to have
the Spanish Peaks. Now to take that movement to put the Spanish Peaks
into a wilderness area is a designation that is well served.
Let me point out an issue that I think is very important. Number one,
it is important for all who are watching today and my colleagues on the
floor to understand that there are lots of different ways to manage
public lands. Wilderness is not the only way to manage public lands. We
have lots of tools out there.
For example, we have national parks, we have national forests, we
have special areas. There are lots of different ways to manage public
lands. The most restrictive and, therefore, the one we should utilize
with the most caution is the wilderness designation.
How should we go about naming an area or designating an area as
``wilderness''? The first thing that I think fundamentally to the
principle of wilderness is that we have got to have local input. We do
not have an outside interest come in and dictate to the local people
what they ought to do in that local community. We had a lot of local
input.
This bill did not start with an outside interest. This bill did not
start with some organization outside of the area. This bill started
with the local people. I know a lot of those local people.
My great grandparents homesteaded down in that area in La Veta,
Colorado, in the 1880s. I know those people down there, and they got
together several years ago and they said, the Spanish Peaks at the very
top where, by the way, Mr. Speaker, it does not affect water rights,
which are absolutely crucial in the State of Colorado, the local people
got together and said these are beautiful peaks. Let us manage a small
part of the peaks, about 18,000 acres, as wilderness; and let us do it
at the very top where it does not impact water rights, where it limits
impact on private property.
I am a strong advocate of private property rights in this country.
When this idea first came up, there was some conflict, there was some
controversy. So did we look outside of the State of Colorado or even
outside that area for advice or dictate on how we ought to resolve that
controversy or that conflict? No. We sat down together; we sat down and
we talked.
We have had a lot of able leadership through that community to come
to a resolution that we are now seeing today about ready to pass the
United States House of Representatives.
This bill will mark the Spanish Peaks as a wilderness for many, many,
many centuries to come. And long after we are all gone, people will
look back and say, the United States Congress, with these conditions
and this particular area, made the right decision for wilderness.
A moment to comment about my colleague Wayne Allard. Senator Wayne
Allard is also carrying this. He has put a lot of time into this
effort. We have got a good team working. We have also had good support
from the Colorado delegation. I would be remiss if I did not mention
the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley), our senior Member from
Colorado Springs; if I did not mention the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
Schaffer), if I did not mention the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
Tancredo), and the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
I should also mention the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall) who has
spent a good deal of time since he has been elected to Congress to work
specifically with me on making sure that the agreements that we have in
place are being kept. He has been supportive. I know that that came up
a little quicker today than we imagined, so he is not in our presence.
He certainly would be here today, but he does support it. And his
concerns I think are well protected.
But back to what I think is something all of us can be proud of, and
that is, if my colleagues have the opportunity to go to Colorado, my
district, the third congressional district is the highest district in
the country in elevation and so on. It has got 56 mountains over 14,000
feet, and one of those Spanish Peaks goes over that 14,000. If my
colleagues have an opportunity to go to Colorado, take a look at the
Spanish Peaks. Understand the history of those mountains and what it
means to the people of this country, what it means to the people of
Huerfano County, what it means to the people of every county in the
State of Colorado.
Today, a great moment for the State of Colorado. It is a great moment
for this country. I am proud to be the sponsor of the Spanish Peaks
Wilderness area.
[[Page H8120]]
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado for his
eloquence and certainly for in a more specific way allowing Members of
our body to understand the specifics of this legislation. I, too, would
like to commend his former colleague and our good friend, the gentleman
from Colorado, Mr. David Skaggs, for his cosponsorship originally of
this legislation with my good friend from Colorado.
Mr. Speaker, since I do not have any additional speakers, I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, could we have a time check?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Foley). The gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Sherwood) has 12 minutes remaining, and the gentleman from
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) has yielded back the balance.
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis).
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, to my good colleagues on the other side, I
would like to make a couple more comments. I do not have any other
speakers. My colleague, although he has yielded back his time, if he
would like me to yield time, I would be happy to.
Again, now that I know I have got a couple more minutes, let me be a
little more exhaustive in my remarks about, number one, David Skaggs.
David came to me several years ago. As my colleagues know, David is a
Democrat. I am a Republican. David and I have known each other for a
long period of time. We worked together in the Colorado House of
Representatives. At the time, I was the majority leader and he was the
minority leader.
It was kind of fun to come back here in Congress and to be able to
work on something that we completely agreed on and we had our hearts
in. I wish David were here today, but I know that David will be at the
dedication that we have of the Spanish Peaks down in southern Colorado
when we dedicate that portion of the wilderness.
I also want to emphasize and talk for just a couple more minutes
about wilderness and what is important about it. There is a philosophy
out there or a thought out there that the only way to protect federal
lands is to put them in wilderness. As I mentioned, earlier in my
remarks, wilderness is the most restrictive and most inflexible
management tool we have in our arsenal of tools to manage federal
lands. Once we put an area into wilderness, it is in essence locked
into that designation forever.
Now, it is true that Congress can overturn a wilderness designation,
but for that politically to occur it would be next to impossible.
So before we designate wilderness, I think we, one, need to take our
time and make sure that it meets all of the conditions for wilderness
designation; number two, that we try to think into the future and try
to come up with what might be the unintended consequences in putting
that into wilderness instead of, say, a special area or some type of
reserve or a conservation area or national park and so on.
Because the measure is so dramatic, we should manage a wilderness
designation just like the former Congressman David Skaggs and myself
and the Colorado delegation and my good colleague on the other side of
the aisle have done, and that is we sat down and we met with the local
community, we took the local input; we let most of the controversy be
resolved at the local level; we put together legislation in a very open
type of manner. We did not push this as a public relations type of
campaign, going out and getting billboards for wilderness and things
like that. This has a lot of substance to it. It has got a lot of study
and a lot of energy into it. This is the way we ought to name
wilderness bills that go through this Congress.
So once again, I thank my colleagues from the Colorado delegation. I
thank my good colleague from the other side of the aisle. But more than
anything else, I thank the people of America for allowing us to take
care of the Spanish Peaks with this designation at the very top.
Every one of my colleagues, this vote they make today will be a vote
that generations from now will look back and say, my grandpa and my
grandma or my great grandpa or my great grandma voted yes for this.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McINNIS. I yield to the gentleman from American Samoa.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I want to note, for the Record, if
there is anything as a demonstration of my colleagues in this chamber,
I would say that the delegation from Colorado, both Republican and
Democrats, probably has displayed the highest example of what
bipartisanship should be when it comes to this issue of wilderness
legislation.
I want to commend the gentleman for being a part of that ability to
give and take. Sometimes we get to be a little too extreme in our views
and not be tolerable to the views of another Member, especially on an
issue as important as wilderness area. So I commend and thank the
gentleman for yielding.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I too share the comments of the gentleman.
We did not try to sneak minimum wage or the Republican tax cut in this
bill. This bill was kept clean through the process. It is purely
bipartisan, and we can all be very proud when the vote names the
Spanish Peaks of Colorado as a wilderness.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H.R.
898, I rise in support of this important bill to designate the Spanish
Peaks as wilderness.
The mountains we call the Spanish Peaks are two volcanic peaks in Las
Animas and Huerfano Counties. Their Native American name is Wayatoya.
The eastern peak rises to 12,893 feet above sea level, and the summit
of the western peak is at 13,626 feet.
These two peaks were landmarks for Native Americans and for some of
Colorado's other early settlers and for travelers along the trail
between Bent's Old Fort on the Arkansas River and Taos, New Mexico.
This part of the San Isabel National Forest has outstanding scenic,
geologic, and wilderness values, including a spectacular system of more
than 250 free-standing dikes and ramps of volcanic materials radiating
from the peaks. These lands are striking for their beauty and are also
very valuable for wildlife habitat.
Since 1977, the Spanish Peaks have been included on the National
Registry of Natural Landmarks, and the State of Colorado has designated
them as a natural area. The Forest Service first reviewed them for
possible wilderness designation as part of its second roadless area
review and evaluation and first recommended them for wilderness in
1979. However, the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1980 instead provided for
their continued management as a wilderness study area--a status that
was continued on an interim basis by the Colorado Wilderness Act of
1993.
In short, Mr. Speaker, the Spanish Peaks are a very special part of
Colorado. Their inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation
System has been too long delayed. In fact, I had hoped that designation
of this area as wilderness would be completed last year. The House did
pass a Spanish Peaks wilderness bill sponsored by my predecessor,
Representative David Skaggs, and Representative McInnis after it was
favorably reported by the Resources Committee. Unfortunately, the
Senate did not act on that measure.
So, I am very appreciative of the persistence shown by Representative
McInnis as well as the good work of Chairman Young and Subcommittee
Chairman Chenoweth, and the leadership of Representative Miller of
California and the gentleman from Washington, Mr. Smith. As a new
Member of the Committee, I am very glad to have been able to work with
them to bring us to where we are today with this bill.
This bill does differ from last year's Skaggs-McInnis bill in a few
respects, and in particular by the exclusion from wilderness of an old
road, known as the Bulls Eye Mine Road, and the inclusion of language
related to that road.
Because some questions have been raised about the scope and effect of
that language, contained in subsection 3(1), I thought it was important
to provide a further explanation of how that subsection would or would
not affect management of this area. Accordingly, I greatly appreciate
the assistance of the gentleman from American Samoa in engaging my
colleague from Colorado, Mr. McInnis, in a brief colloquy regarding
that part of the bill. This colloquy is an important part of the
legislative history of this bill.
As was mentioned earlier during debate on this bill, its passage is
an appropriate step in recognition of the recent 35th anniversary of
the enactment of the Wilderness Act. As a strong supporter of
protecting wilderness--and particularly of protecting our wilderness
areas in Colorado--I hope that this is only the first of several
Colorado wilderness bills that will come before the House in the months
ahead.
Already, the Resources Committee has approved a bill that, among
other things, would
[[Page H8121]]
designate additional wilderness in the area of the Black Canyon of the
Gunnison. And currently pending before the Committee are two wilderness
bills I have introduced, dealing with the James Peak area and with
lands within Rocky Mountain National Park, as well as a very important
bill by our colleague Ms. DeGette that breaks important new ground in
terms of protecting wilderness areas on public lands in Colorado
managed by the Bureau of Land Management. In my opinion, all these
measures deserve priority consideration in our Committee and here on
the floor of the House.
Meanwhile, Mr. Speaker, I again thank both the gentleman from
American Samoa and my colleague, Mr. McInnis, for their cooperation,
and am glad to join in support of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act.
Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I have no more requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sherwood) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R.898.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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