[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 102 (Friday, July 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1387-E1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCTION OF COLORADO SCHOOL LANDS BILL

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                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 20, 2001

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I am today introducing a bill to 
modify the 1875 Act--usually referred to as the Colorado Enabling Act--
that provided for admission of Colroado to the Union. The bill is 
cosponsored

[[Page E1388]]

by my colleague, Representative DeGette. I greatly appreciate her 
support.
  The purpose of this bill is to remove any possible conflict between a 
decision of the people of Colorado and that original federal 
legislation under which some 3 million acres of federal lands were 
granted to our state.
  In granting the lands to Colorado, Congress provided that they were 
to be used as a source of revenue for the public schools--and for many 
years they were managed for that purpose.
  However, over the years the revenue derived from these lands has 
become a less and less significant part of the funding for Colorado's 
schools, while there has been an increasing appreciation of the other 
values of these lands.
  As a result, in 1996 the people of Colorado voted to amend our state 
constitution to permit part of these school trust lands to be set aside 
in a ``stewardship trust'' and managed to preserve their open space, 
wildlife and other natural qualities.
  To assure that this decision of the voters can be implemented, my 
bill would amend the original Colorado Enabling Act to eliminate the 
requirement that the state must raise revenue from the school-trust 
lands that are set aside for their natural resource values and 
qualities.
  Similar legislation has been introduced by other Members of 
Colorado's delegation in the Congress. However, those bills include a 
specific limit on the acreage that could be placed in the stewardship 
trust.
  The 1996 state legislation does set such a limit. I supported that 
part of the state legislation. However, I think that whether that limit 
should be retained or revised should be decided solely by the people of 
Colorado, and not determined by Congress. So, the bill I am introducing 
today does not include a specific acreage limit. That would be left to 
Colorado law to control.
  Mr. Speaker, Colorado is experiencing rapid population growth. That 
is putting increasing pressure on all our undeveloped lands. In 
response, the people of Colorado have voted to allow some of these 
school-grant lands to remain as open spaces to be managed for their 
wildlife and other natural resources and values. This bill will keep 
faith with that decision by our votes by removing any conflict with 
federal law. I will do all I can to press for its speedy enactment.
  For the information of our colleagues, I submit a recent newspaper 
editorial on this subject:

                  [From the Denver Post, May 28, 2001]

                        Enable Land-board Fixes

       Disputes over State Land Board deals arise partly because 
     the board's narrow mandate may no longer fit Colorado's 
     needs. But altering the board's focus literally may take an 
     act of Congress.
       As Uncle Sam welcomed new states into the union, the 
     federal government set aside entire sections of land to raise 
     money for public education through grazing leases, mineral 
     rights, etc. The federal law that granted Colorado statehood 
     in 1876, called the Enabling Act, included a similar 
     provision.
       But during the past 125 years, Colorado has found other 
     ways to fund public education. Colorado's school acres now 
     supply less than 2 percent of the state's annual K-12 budget.
       Today, some school sections offer tremendous public value 
     as open space or recreational land. Emerald Mountain forms 
     the scenic backdrop to Steamboat Springs.
       In 1996, Colorado voters put Amendment 16 in the state 
     Constitution, aiming to give the State Land Board, which 
     manages the school lands, flexibility to preserve open space 
     and wildlife habitat, as well as support public education. 
     The amendment told the land board to set aside 300,000 acres 
     of the 3 million school acres as a Stewardship Trust. Note 
     that 90 percent of the school acres still raise money for 
     education.
       But soon after the amendment's passage, a federal court 
     firmly said the land board is obligated always to fund 
     schools first, under the federal law that granted Colorado 
     statehood. That means the State Land Board might have to 
     accept profitable offers even on lands now in the Stewardship 
     Trust.
       Clearly, public school funding is of utmost importance. But 
     taken together, the court decsision and statehood act mean 
     the Stewardship Trust that voters thought they were putting 
     in place might prove ephemeral. Instead of preserving the 
     cherished 300,000 acres, Amendment 16 simply may have run up 
     their utlimate real estate development value.
       To solve the problem, Colorado must ask Congress to amend 
     our statehood act. The 10 percent of state lands held in the 
     Stewardship Trust then could be permanently set aside.
       However, the state could only ask the federal government to 
     do so if the legislature guaranteed an equally secure funding 
     source for public education.
       Moreover, the Stewardship Trust will work in the long run 
     only if the legislature also patches an obvious and troubling 
     gap in Amendment 16, which we'll discuss tomorrow.

     

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