[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 72 (Wednesday, June 5, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 2589. A bill to provide for the prohibition of snow machines 
within the boundaries of the ``Old Park'' within the boundaries of 
Denali National Park and Preserve, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to 
resolve the issue of snowmobile access in Denali National Park in my 
home State of Alaska.
  Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses just under 5 million 
acres in the interior of Alaska, including North America's highest 
mountain, 20,320-foot Mount McKinley. Large glaciers of the Alaska 
Range, caribou, Dall sheep, moose, grizzly bears and timber wolves live 
within this great landscape.
  The original Mt. McKinley National Park was created on February 26, 
1917 and additional acreage was added in 1922 and 1932, bringing the 
park size to 1.9 million acres. In September of 1978 a separate Denali 
National Monument was proclaimed. In 1980, Congress enacted the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act, ANILCA. ANILCA incorporated 
Mt. McKinley National Park and the National Monument to create the 4.7, 
plus million acre Denali National Park and Preserve.
  Section 1110(a) of ANILCA, mandates motorized vehicle access for the 
purpose of engaging in traditional activities in specific conservation 
system units. However, the National Park Service recently redefined 
``traditional use,'' and instead ordered the ``old Mt. McKinley 
National Park closed to snowmobiles, which common sense dictates are 
motorized vehicles.
  For the past two years,this closure has been before the Federal 
Courts in Alaska in litigation filed by the International Snowmobile 
Manufactures Association and the Alaska State Snowmobilers Association 
against the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.
  A few months ago, the plaintiffs dismissed their suit against the 
Government, and, with the approval of the Department of Justice, both 
parties are seeking a more reasoned legislative solution to address the 
access issue once and for all.
  This legislation provides such a solution, it addresses snowmobile 
access in the 1.9 million acre ``Old Park'' by permanently excluding 
approximately 1.5 million acres north of the Alaska Range from snow 
machine access while reaffirming the applicability to Section 1110(a) 
access for this actibviey in approximately 400,000 acres south of the 
Alaska Range. In short, this solution eliminates conflict between the 
various user groups, and the many issues relating to wildlife and 
natural resource protection.
  I thank the Alaska State Snowmobile Association, Inc. and the 
International Snowmobile Manufactures Association, for their actions to 
dismiss the legal challenge involving the used of snow machines in 
Denali National Park and Preserve. I look forward to working with the 
Associations; the Department of the Interior; the National Park 
Service; my colleagues on both sides of the Capitol; as well as other 
interested parties, for their assistance in developing environmentally 
and scientifically sound decisions and solution that will achieve both 
reasonable access and protection for the wildlife and valuable natural 
resources found in this outstanding unit of the National Park System.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2589

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SNOWMOBILE CLOSURE.

       (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, those 
     portions of Denali National Park and Preserve depicted as 
     ``Area A'', within the exterior boundaries of the former Mt. 
     McKinley National Park, on map numbered 222 and entitled 
     Denali National Park and Preserve, dated ``revised 1999'', 
     shall not be considered a conservation system unit for the 
     purposes of access by snowmachines pursuant to Section 
     1110(a) of Public Law 96-487 nor subject to the Departmental 
     regulations implementing that subsection.
       (b) The Statement of Finding, dated June 2000; the 
     Environmental Assessment, revised June 6, 2000; the Finding 
     of No Significant Impact, dated June 6, 2000; and the 
     regulations promulgated by the National Park Service on June 
     19, 2000 that are codified at 36 Code of Federal Regulations 
     13.63(h)(1)-(3), all relating to the closure of portions of 
     Denali National Park and Preserve to snowmobile use, are 
     hereby revoked, and the use of snow machines shall be 
     permitted within ``Area B'' as depicted on the map referenced 
     in subsection (a).
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