[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 19, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H1962-H1963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CIBOLA WILDLIFE REFUGE BOUNDARY CORRECTION

  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 417) to revoke a Public Land Order with respect to certain lands 
erroneously included in the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, 
California.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 417

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

     SECTION 1. REVOCATION OF PUBLIC LAND ORDER WITH RESPECT TO 
                   LANDS ERRONEOUSLY INCLUDED IN CIBOLA NATIONAL 
                   WILDLIFE REFUGE, CALIFORNIA.

       Public Land Order 3442, dated August 21, 1964, is revoked 
     insofar as it applies to the following described lands: San 
     Bernardino Meridian, T11S, R22E, sec. 6, all of lots 1, 16, 
     and 17, and SE\1/4\ of SW\1/4\ in Imperial County, 
     California, aggregating approximately 140.32 acres.

     SEC. 2. RESURVEY AND NOTICE OF MODIFIED BOUNDARIES.

       The Secretary of the Interior shall, by not later than 6 
     months after the date of the enactment of this Act--
       (1) resurvey the boundaries of the Cibola National Wildlife 
     Refuge, as modified by the revocation under section 1;
       (2) publish notice of, and post conspicuous signs marking, 
     the boundaries of the refuge determined in such resurvey; and
       (3) prepare and publish a map showing the boundaries of the 
     refuge.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Pombo) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands 
(Mrs. Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo).
  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am pleased to strongly support this legislation introduced by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter). He has done a superb job of 
representing his constituents, who, through no fault of their own, find 
themselves operating a concession within the National Wildlife Refuge 
System.
  This concession, known as Walters Camp, has existed since 1962, and 
it has provided recreational opportunities to thousands of Americans. 
In fact, it is one of the few places along the lower Colorado River 
that offers such a variety of healthy outdoor activity.
  About 3 years ago the concessionaire was advised by the Fish and 
Wildlife Service that Walters Camp was inadvertently added to the 
Cibola Refuge and that corrective legislation was necessary. This is 
the goal of this measure, to correct this mistake, and there is no 
opposition to returning the title of this property to the Bureau of 
Land Management.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Hunter), the author of the bill.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time, and I just wanted to say, Mr. Speaker, first, I wanted to give my 
thanks to the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the chairman of 
the Committee on Resources, for his leadership and for understanding 
how important this bill that deals with a fairly small parcel of land, 
how important this is to working folks in southern California who need 
a place to get away from the boss and be with the family and enjoy rock 
hounding and fishing and canoeing and all the neat things one does on 
the Colorado River. The chairman, in his usual, very plain-spoken and 
straightforward style, has explained this very well.
  This is 140 acres of land, known as Walters Camp, and that is 
probably named after a gentleman who was a gold miner on the Colorado 
River at one time. It was a concession that was operated for average 
folks who could come in and have a great time and rock hound and canoe 
and fish.
  Unfortunately, in the land withdrawal for the Cibola Refuge in 1964, 
it was mistakenly added into the withdrawal.

                              {time}  1030

  Fish and Wildlife have testified on several occasions that it does 
not have a significant value in terms of wildlife, and so they have no 
problem with righting this wrong and correcting this mistake.
  Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Pombo), who is doing a superb job of chairing this committee and 
allowing me to move this bill, bringing it forward; and hopefully we 
can get the other body to act on it and restore a good measure of 
outdoor enjoyment to working families in Southern California. I thank 
the chairman, and I hope that we can pass this with an overwhelming 
vote.
  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, before I get to my remarks on H.R. 
417, this is the first opportunity I have had to be on the floor with 
the new chairman of the Committee on Resources, and I wanted to welcome 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the new chairman of the 
Committee on Resources, and say that I look forward to working with the 
gentleman.
  As stated by the previous speakers, the overall purpose of this 
legislation is to resolve a long-standing error that included a 
preexisting concession known as Walters Camp within the original 1964 
public land withdrawal that created the Cibola National Wildlife 
Refuge.
  In the 107th Congress, the Committee on Resources determined after a 
lengthy investigation that the inclusion of this concession was a 
genuine error in the original withdrawal and agreed that this error 
should be corrected.
  H.R. 417 would make that legal adjustment. But just as important, 
this legislation will also ensure that all title interests to the 140 
acres of land revoked from the Cibola Refuge remain public lands under 
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Allow me to be 
clear: nothing is being conveyed to the concession operator as part of 
this legislation. It is simply a transfer of lands from one Federal 
agency to another.
  This legislation has also retained amendments adopted last year by 
the Committee on Resources to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
resurvey and conspicuously mark the new adjusted boundaries. These are 
prudent actions that should help reduce the likelihood of future 
encroachment by off-road vehicles onto the Cibola Refuge, which has 
been a growing management concern for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
  In closing, H.R. 417 is commonsense legislation. The bill will 
correct a technical error that could not be resolved administratively. 
And furthermore, it will help protect fragile refuge habitats

[[Page H1963]]

without compromising opportunities for outdoor recreation in a remote 
area. I urge Members to support H.R. 417.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you for allowing a 
vote on H.R. 417, necessary to right a past error by the Department of 
Interior in designating the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. Mr. Frank 
Dokter, a former constituent whose family business depends on the 
outcome of this legislation, testified before this panel last year on a 
similar bill. Although it passed the House, the Senate unfortunately 
could not act before the end of the 107th Congress.
  Mr. Dokter and his family operate Walter's Camp, a Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) concession on land near the lower Colorado River in 
Imperial County, California, near and within the Cibola Refuge. The 
facility provides visitors with a family-friendly outdoors experience, 
which includes camping, hiking, canoeing, fishing, birdwatching and 
rock-hounding. In an increasingly crowded Southern California, Mr. 
Dokter and his family have provided a welcome diversion from city life 
to many of the region's outdoors enthusiasts.
  Walter's Camp was first authorized in 1962, and in August 1964, 
Public Land Order 3442 withdrew 16,627 acres along the Colorado River 
to create the Refuge. The withdrawal erroneously included the 140.32 
acre Walter's Camp, but neither the BLM or the Fish and Wildlife 
Service immediately recognized the mistake. The BLM continued to renew 
the original permit, allowing the recreational concession use to 
continue unbroken until the present time. However, given the discovery 
of the past mistake, the BLM does not have the authority to continue 
issuing the concession contracts to Walter's Camp.
  The Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM agree that the land has 
``insignificant, if any, existing . . . or potential . . . wildlife 
habitat value,'' as stated in a Department of Interior memo. Therefor, 
I have introduced H.R. 417 to correct this mistake and allow the BLM to 
continue to issue contracts to Walter's Camp.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer my sincere recommendation that this land to 
taken out of the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, and that Mr. Dokter's 
family be allowed to continue such a valuable and productive service to 
our region. Respectfully, I urge my colleagues' support on final 
passage.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 417.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________