[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E105]]



   INTRODUCTION OF THE MOUNT NEBO WILDERNESS BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT

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                          HON. JAMES V. HANSEN

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 6, 2001

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Mount Nebo 
Wilderness Boundary Adjustment Act.
  The Mount Nebo Wilderness Area is located in the Uinta National 
Forest in Juab County, Utah. This is a very beautiful area, rich in 
biological diversity. Inside the Wilderness Area are streams teeming 
with Rainbow Trout, collages of wildflowers during Spring and Summer, 
and beautiful mountain scenery. This area is also home to mule deer, 
elk, and moose. The Mount Nebo area undoubtedly deserves Wilderness 
protection.
  Mount Nebo was designated a Wilderness Area in the Utah Wilderness 
Act of 1984, which I sponsored. However, during the legislative 
process, various oversights occurred because a map of the area was not 
adequately reviewed at the committee level. Erroneously included inside 
the boundaries were various preexisting developments to the water 
systems that have supplied clean water to Juab County since the late 
1800s. These systems are in need of constant maintenance and care, and 
due to the restrictions on motorized vehicles in Wilderness Areas, it 
became very difficult--and sometimes impossible--to adequately maintain 
these facilities. In addition to these maintenance problems, the 
Wilderness Area includes a very small portion of private land that 
should not be inside the boundaries.
  This bill will remedy this situation by adjusting the current 
boundary to exclude these water developments, and the small portion of 
private land. The boundary will then be modified to include an area of 
roadless Forest Service land to compensate for the boundary adjustment, 
resulting in a ten acre net-gain in the Wilderness Area. Thus, this 
bill results in a net gain of Wilderness acreage within the Mount Nebo 
Wilderness Area.
  As this bill is non-controversial, I urge all of my colleagues to 
support the Mount Nebo Wilderness Boundary Adjustment Act.

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