[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H3414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ESTABLISHING DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TO FACILITATE LANDSCAPE RESTORATION 
         PROGRAMS WITHIN CERTAIN UNITS OF NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 309) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a 
demonstration program to facilitate landscape restoration programs 
within certain units of the National Park System established by law to 
preserve and interpret resources associated with American history, and 
for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 309

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

     SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to establish a demonstration 
     program to facilitate landscape restoration programs within 
     those units of the National Park System established by 
     statute to preserve and interpret resources associated with 
     American military history.

     SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

       (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of the Interior 
     (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary''), 
     acting through the Director of the National Park Service, 
     shall carry out a demonstration program that provides that 
     receipts from timber sales shall be retained for expenditure 
     within units of the National Park System from which the 
     timber is removed as part of an approved plan for the 
     restoration or protection of park resources or values.
       (b) Participation.--The Secretary shall permit each of the 
     24 National Battlefields, National Battlefield Parks, 
     National Military Parks, and National Battlefield Sites in 
     existence on the date of the enactment of this Act to 
     participate in the demonstration program authorized by 
     subsection (a) if the unit has in place, before the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, a general management plan, 
     cultural landscape plan, or other resources management plan 
     approved pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
     1969 (43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), that identifies specific 
     timber for removal for purposes of cultural or historic 
     landscape restoration or fuel load reduction.
       (c) Use of Receipts.--Each unit selected to participate in 
     the demonstration program authorized under subsection (a) 
     shall retain receipts from the sale or disposal of timber 
     removed from that unit. Such receipts shall be available for 
     expenditure without further appropriation or fiscal year 
     limitation for the following purposes only:
       (1) Landscape restoration within the unit.
       (2) Interpretive services within the unit.
       (3) Eradication of disease, insects, or invasive species 
     within the unit.
       (4) Fuel load reduction within the unit.

     SEC. 3. REPORT.

       Two years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     Secretary shall submit a report to the House Natural 
     Resources Committee and the Senate Committee on Energy and 
     Natural Resources that contains the results of the 
     demonstration program authorized under this Act, including--
       (1) a detailed accounting of the receipts generated in each 
     unit by the demonstration program;
       (2) the expenditure by each unit of those receipts; and
       (3) any resource or other impacts, positive or negative, on 
     each participating unit.

     SEC. 4. SUNSET.

       The authority granted to the Secretary in section 2 shall 
     expire 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Many units of the National Park System were established to conserve 
U.S. military history. All these units have restoration of their 
historic landscapes as an important management goal. This restoration 
entails removal of landscape features, including trees, which were not 
present at the time of the relevant historic event. However, removal of 
any natural resources from a National Park must be undertaken extremely 
carefully. In addition, many of these park units report a lack of 
funding for such work.
  H.R. 309, introduced by my colleague on the Natural Resources 
Committee, Representative Steve Pearce, would create a revenue source 
for such projects by allowing individual units to retain proceeds from 
the sale of timber removed from the unit. Importantly, the legislation 
is narrowly written as a demonstration project to apply within a 
defined list of 24 military parks and to prevent any change to existing 
environmental requirements governing logging on NPS land.
  Representative Pearce has worked tirelessly on behalf of this 
legislation and is to be commended for his efforts.
  We strongly support the passage of H.R. 309, as amended, by the House 
today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I appreciate the comments by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Grijalva).
  H.R. 309, introduced by me, would establish an innovative 4-year 
demonstration program in the National Park Service to improve and 
expedite landscape restoration programs within 24 units of the National 
Park System to better preserve and interpret resources associated with 
American military history.
  One of the tenets of the Park Service is to preserve the look of 
national battlefields as they existed at the time of the conflict. 
Often this involves removing trees and other woody debris that encroach 
on sightlines. Under current law, these trees are removed and any funds 
from their sale are returned to the General Treasury.
  As a part of this new program, selected parks would be permitted to 
retain receipts from any timber sales and use those funds on the 
respective landscape restoration programs and interpretive services. 
While this would not involve a lot of money, every little bit helps, 
especially given the National Park System maintenance backlog.
  This noncontroversial bill was favorably reported last Congress by 
unanimous consent, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 309.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 309, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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