[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3227-S3228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. JEFFORDS (for himself and Mr. Leahy):
  S. 2565. A bill to designate certain National Forest System land in 
the State of Vermont for inclusion in the National Wilderness 
Preservation system and designate a National Recreation Area; to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague from 
Vermont, Mr. Leahy, in introducing the Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006. 
This legislation designates 48,051 acres within the Green Mountain 
National Forest for management under the 1964 Wilderness Act.
  The Green Mountain National Forest constitutes more than 400,000 
acres of woodlands in central and southern Vermont. The Forest hosts up 
to 3.4 million visitors each year and is capable of supporting a 
variety of uses, from timber production to snowmobiling to hiking, 
which contribute to Vermont's economy. The forest is also an important 
wildlife habitat and source of clean, fresh water. If well managed, the 
Green Mountain National Forest will remain one of Vermont's most 
precious environmental treasures, while continuing to support our 
state's economic and recreational needs for generations to come.
  The National Forest Service is responsible for most aspects of 
national forest management but Congress reserved the authority to set 
aside undisturbed wilderness lands. Good stewardship of the forest 
requires leadership, and now is the time for us to accept this 
responsibility to designate additional wilderness areas.
  Twenty-two years ago, as a member of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, I joined my Senate colleagues, Mr. Stafford and Mr. 
Leahy, to introduce the Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984. That act 
designated 41,260 acres as wilderness. Since that time the Green 
Mountain National Forest has acquired over 110,000 additional acres, 
while the populations of the State and the region have increased. These 
changing demands, and the changing landscape, provide the opportunity 
and drive the need to designate additional land as wilderness.
  The Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 directed Congress to consider 
additional wilderness designations in the Green Mountain National 
Forest only after 15 years had elapsed and the management plan for the 
Forest had been thoroughly reviewed. With last month's adoption of a 
completely revised Land Resource Management Plan for the Green Mountain 
National Forest, these conditions have been met and it is time to act.
  I have worked for the past 6 years with the other members of 
Vermont's Congressional delegation, the National Forest Service, and 
State leaders. I have reviewed comments from thousands of constituents, 
visited the forest on the ground and viewed it from the air, and spent 
countless hours studying maps. These new designations are the result of 
thorough analysis and thought, and we do not make them lightly.
  Many Vermonters disagree with the need for any wilderness 
designations, much less additional lands to be set aside at this time. 
I understand their concerns, but I also recognize the intent of the 
Wilderness Act of 1964, and I believe deeply in the benefits of 
managing some areas so that forces of nature hold sway.
  The Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006 designates two significant new 
wilderness areas: the 28,491-acre Glastenbury wilderness in southern 
Vermont, and the 12,437-acre Battell wilderness in central Vermont. 
These are pristine, remote forest lands, and would remain undisturbed 
for future generations.
  The recently completed Land and Resource Management Plan for the 
Green Mountain National Forest is a credit to everyone who worked on 
it, and reflects the hard work of the U.S. National Forest Service. 
This plan calls for additions to several existing wilderness areas 
including Peru Peak, Big Branch, Breadloaf and Lye Brook. These 
recommended additions are included in this legislation, with some 
modification.
  This legislation also calls for 16,890 acres of the Moosalamoo 
Recreation Area in Central Vermont to be designated a national 
recreation area. Moosalamoo exists today as a world-class destination 
for widely diverse outdoor recreation activities on both public and 
private land. Moosalamoo is managed cooperatively by a group of owners 
and it attracts visitors from far and wide for hiking, camping, Nordic 
and alpine skiing and other activities. From the Robert Frost 
interpretive trails to the blueberry management areas and oak clad 
escarpments, Moosalamoo is uniquely deserving of national recreation 
area designation.
  The Green Mountain National Forest is an important source of wood 
products and the timber industry is critically important to Vermont's 
economy. These wilderness and national recreation area designations are 
not meant to interfere with a robust timber management program within 
the forest, and I will work to support that program at every 
opportunity.
  As we introduce this legislation it is important to acknowledge the 
fine work of Supervisor Paul Brewster and the staff of the Green 
Mountain National Forest. They applied great skill and technical 
expertise in developing the new management plan for the forest. The 
same professionalism will certainly be applied to implement the plan. 
Our wilderness designations differ somewhat from those proposed by the 
Forest Service, which is the reason this authority is reserved for 
Congress, but the new management plan has helped to inform and guide 
our work.
  It is with great pride that I join my colleagues to introduce the 
Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006. Our great state has been blessed with a 
beautiful natural landscape, which Vermonters have worked hard to 
preserve. This bill will continue in that tradition by helping to 
secure areas of the unspoiled wilderness that Vermont is known and 
admired for.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I join with Senator Jeffords today to 
introduce the Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006, to designate two new 
wilderness areas and to make a number of additions to existing 
wilderness areas in Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest. This 
legislation will also designate a new National Recreation Area (NRA) in 
the Green Mountain National Forest in the area commonly known as 
Moosalamoo.
  The U.S. Forest Service has recently released its Record of Decision 
(ROD) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the revision 
of

[[Page S3228]]

the Green Mountain National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. 
This has been an effort encompassing several years, a lengthy process 
including significant public involvement, and a great deal of difficult 
and detailed work on the part of the Forest Service staff in Vermont 
and our region.
  I want to extend my appreciation and thanks to the staff of the Green 
Mountain National Forest for their perseverance and professionalism 
throughout the plan revision process. This has been by no means an easy 
task, with Vermonters and other interested citizens who care deeply 
about the National Forest weighing in with sincere and often 
conflicting views on land, resource and forest management decisions.
  While there is much of interest in such a comprehensive plan, the 
primary role of the Congress lies with wilderness and other related 
special designations, such as National Recreation Areas. The Vermont 
Congressional Delegation has taken this responsibility seriously as we 
have sought a compromise between those who would prefer significant 
additions in wilderness areas and those who would prefer none. If this 
recommendation were enacted, about a quarter of the current Green 
Mountain National Forest would be designated as wilderness.
  Just as the recently released Land and Resource Management Plan for 
the Green Mountain National Forest has elicited abundant feedback 
across the spectrum of interested citizens and organizations, we expect 
our proposal to do the same. We offer this legislation as a good-faith 
effort to find a middle ground, and once this proposal is referred to 
the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry--of which 
I am a member--we will welcome constructive comments and criticisms to 
improve the bill. Since the Vermont Congressional Delegation has long 
been on the public record in favor of additional wilderness 
designations within the Green Mountain National Forest, comments that 
are as specific as possible will be especially helpful in helping to 
refine our proposal.
  In specific terms, this legislation proposes a new wilderness area in 
the Glastenbury Mountain area of approximately 28,500 acres. In the 
Romance, Monastery and Worth Mountain areas the bill proposes adding 
approximately 12,500 acres, which together would become the Battell 
Wilderness in honor of Joseph Battell, who once owned some 9,000 acres 
in this area and bequeathed thousands of acres to Middlebury College, 
which eventually became the core of the north half of the Green 
Mountain National Forest.
  The bill also proposes designating approximately 4,200 acres for 
addition to the existing Breadloaf Wilderness, 2,200 acres to the Lye 
Brook Wilderness, 800 acres to the Peru Peak Wilderness, and 40 acres 
to the Big Branch Wilderness. The proposed Moosalamoo National 
Recreation Area covers approximately 17,000 acres.
  This legislation does not include additional acreage for the George 
D. Aiken Wilderness Area or the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness Area. It does 
not propose a wilderness designation for the area known as Lamb Brook, 
and it does not propose a new National Recreation Area in the Somerset 
region.
  Our legislation builds on the recommendations of the Forest Service. 
In many areas the Delegation bill closely tracks the Forest Service 
plan--Breadloaf, Big Branch and Peru Peak areas are nearly identical. 
In the Glastenbury area, the Forest Service added more than 8,000 acres 
to their original plan, and we have further increased the acreage of a 
proposed Glastenbury Wilderness Area. In addition, this legislation 
adds about 2,000 acres to the Lye Brook Wilderness, above the Forest 
Service recommendation. Finally, we are proposing the new Battell 
Wilderness Area, which encompasses lands the Forest Service included in 
a Remote Backcountry management category, which is essentially managed 
as a wilderness area.
  In the Moosalamoo area, this legislation codifies the Moosalamoo 
National Recreation Area, which has the strong support of the various 
communities and local partners in the area. We believe this designation 
best represents the actual goals of the various stakeholders and merits 
this national designation. Furthermore, we have included the Forest 
Service's Escarpment management category in the designated area and 
have also included previously agreed upon management guidelines in the 
bill.
  I would offer the following thoughts which we have returned to on 
those numerous occasions over recent years whenever this subject has 
been brought up for discussion in our State.
  In sponsoring this legislation today, the Vermont Congressional 
Delegation is demonstrating our commitment to additional wilderness 
designations on the Green Mountain National Forest. The Green Mountain 
National Forest is the largest contiguous public land area in Vermont 
and within a days drive for over 70 million people. We are committed to 
protecting some National Forest lands for future generations under the 
National Wilderness Preservation System.
  Our proposals have not been driven by acreage quotas, but rather by 
data supplied by the Forest Service and by interested Vermonters. 
Therefore, what is too much for some will be too little for others.
  The timing of this introduction was conditioned so as to allow the 
Forest Service process to reach its conclusion and, at the same time, 
to enable Vermonters and other interested parties to review both the 
Forest Service and the Delegation recommendations. Throughout our 
deliberations, we have appreciated the help of the Forest Service staff 
and have recognized their commitment to their planning regulations, 
guidelines and timetable. We invite all Vermonters to join us in 
thanking the Forest Service staff for all the hard work in their 
planning effort.
  While this legislation proposes to add significant wilderness to the 
Green Mountain National Forest, it bears noting that most of the lands 
designated in this bill are not suitable for timber harvesting. This 
legislation would retain many thousands of acres available for timber 
harvesting which will have to be managed in a fair, open and 
professional manner. We are committed to the development of such a 
process and we know the Forest Service shares this commitment. We 
invite all interested parties to join in this effort. It is our hope 
that given the superior manner in which the Forest Service conducted 
the Forest Plan Revision process, unnecessary appeals and litigation of 
the plan and future management activities can be avoided.
  The Green Mountain National Forest has expanded since the last 
wilderness designations were made. As Senator Stafford, then 
Congressman Jeffords and I remember, during the consideration of the 
last Vermont Wilderness bill in 1984 there were many perspectives on 
the use of our National Forest. We assume there will be again this 
time. As we were 1984, we remain committed to carrying on the strong 
conservation legacy that generations of Vermonters, like Senator Robert 
Stafford, have fostered over the decades.
  We urge anyone who is interested in the Green Mountain National 
Forest to review the whole Plan, as the Forest Service has recommended, 
and to look beyond their own primary areas of concern so that we can 
all do what we can to help implement the Plan.
  In closing, I would note that the Delegation knows that you cannot 
undertake every possible use on every acre of National Forest land, and 
we believe most Vermonters support our approach to this issue. In 
recognition of this fact, we are introducing this legislation as a 
vision for the Green Mountain Forest for this and future generations.
                                 ______