[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 37 (Friday, March 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTRODUCTION OF THE AMERICA'S WILDERNESS PROTECTION ACT

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                       HON. C.L. ``BUTCH'' OTTER

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 2003

  Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise before the House today to introduce 
the America's Wilderness Protection Act--a bill to apply urgency and 
accountability to the process of evaluating potential wilderness by 
setting firm deadlines.
  There are 666 wilderness study areas across the nation that were 
designated more than 10 years ago, totaling nearly 23 million acres in 
18 states. In Idaho alone there are 86 wilderness study areas totaling 
about 3.1 million acres.
  Sixty-three of the 67 Idaho parcels managed by the Bureau of Land 
Management have been locked up since the early 1980s--even though 40 of 
them have been found unsuitable for wilderness protection. The other 
four have been withdrawn from multiple-use since 1976. Most of the 19 
Forest Service wilderness study areas have been in place since the mid-
I980s and two have held that status since 1972.
  That means Congress has dragged its feet and obstructionists have 
gladly accepted the do-nothing status quo on these lands through the 
administrations of seven presidents and during the entire lifetime of 
many working people in Idaho.
  The problem stems from the failure of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, which created the 
wilderness study area process, to provide for release of areas 
eventually deemed unsuitable for wilderness designation.
  America's Wilderness Protection Act addresses that intractable 
situation by establishing a timetable for completion of wilderness 
studies. Lands designated as study areas would be released from that 
status on the earlier of: (1) 10 years after the legislation is 
enacted; (2) the date the area is designated wilderness by Congress, or 
(3) the date that the secretary of Interior or Agriculture determines 
the area is unsuitable for wilderness designation.
  In the past, some have referred to acreage allowed to languish as 
wilderness study areas for decades as ``de facto wilderness.'' This 
term is too kind. Designated wilderness has the advantage under law of 
being actively managed to retain its values. Wilderness study areas, on 
the other hand, are virtually untouchable. These lands are left to 
overgrowth, disease and infestation by noxious weeds and other invasive 
species. They become ripe for catastrophic wildfires that threaten not 
only the acreage being ``studied'' for preservation but nearby private 
and public land as well.
  Critics contend this bill would eliminate any incentive for ranchers 
and other multiple-use advocates to become engaged in earnest 
discussions of possible wilderness designations. The argument goes that 
they would only have to wait out the process and protection ultimately 
would be denied any parcel they choose. That couldn't be further from 
the truth.
  There are no more avid outdoors enthusiasts and conservationists than 
those who make their living from the land. They have a deep 
understanding of the cycles of life and the value of protecting and 
cherishing the natural world. They appreciate the importance of 
stewardship; it's a principle they embody every day.
  While the land itself is timeless, the scenic, cultural, habitat and 
aesthetic values of any particular tract--if left to the ravages of 
time--are decidedly limited. Just as vulnerable are the economic 
futures of the many families whose livelihoods have been stripped away 
by the loss of access to so much of what now can only laughingly be 
called `public' land in the West.
  This legislation promotes resolution and collaboration. After a 
generation of paralyzing indecision and refusal to accept 
responsibility, the 108th Congress has an historic opportunity--if it 
can muster the wisdom and courage to embrace it.

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