[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 126 (Thursday, August 2, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1687-E1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TUMACACORI HIGHLANDS WILDERNESS ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 1, 2007

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce legislation 
today to protect a magnificently diverse natural landscape in the 
mountains southwest of Tucson. When enacted, the Tumacacori Highlands 
Wilderness Act will make a major contribution to the conservation of 
the natural wonders of Arizona, to the benefit of all of our citizens--
those alive today and all the generations to come.
  The Tumacacori Highlands is the collective name for two adjacent 
wilderness areas on public lands that are part of the Coronado National 
Forest.
  These desert peaks and canyons are key parts of the world-renowned 
Sky Island bioregion, a biological ``hotspot'' where the southern 
margin of habitats for many species from the Rocky Mountain west 
overlaps the northern extent of habitats for many tropical species 
better known in Mexico. The area is home to subtropical species like 
the elegant trogon and Chiricahua leopard frog that are found nowhere 
else in the United States, and offers secluded habitat vital for 
jaguars, the rare and elusive spotted cat that is now repopulating this 
portion of its former range.


                        the new wilderness areas

  This legislation will expand the existing 7,553-acre Pajarita 
Wilderness, which Congress protected in 1984 under the leadership of 
one of America's greatest conservation leaders, Rep. Morris K. Udall, 
and his close colleague, Sen. John McCain. As the House committee 
report explained, this ``is one of the most delicate and important 
ecotypes in all of Arizona,'' providing ``an important corridor for 
life zones to the north and south.'' My new legislation will afford 
statutory wilderness protection to some 5,750 additional acres, 
enhancing overall protection for this rare biological gem.
  Just to the north, separated only by an unpaved Forest Service road 
that crosses the mountains between Nogales and Arivaca, the legislation 
will also designate the Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness. This larger 
area comprises some 70,000 acres surrounding Atascosa Peak and the 
ridges and canyons that fall away from it on all sides. This is 
important intact habitat--a remaining oasis of what southern Arizona 
used to be--and protects important parts of the watersheds for both the 
Santa Cruz River and the world-renowned riparian area of Sycamore 
Canyon in the core of the expanded Pajarita Wilderness. The area offers 
outstanding opportunities for recreation and renewal. Some folks hike 
to Atascosa Peak or other high points for sweeping views hundreds of 
miles in all directions. Others linger along the highly accessible 
margins of the area enjoying the scenic wonders of this wilderness 
landscape from the roadside.


                        user-friendly wilderness

  Madam Speaker, along the roads that offer extraordinary access to 
these wilderness areas, one is surrounded by wild scenery. These ``user 
friendly'' wilderness areas offer diverse recreational opportunities 
for people of all ages, whether for an easy stroll and picnic or a more 
vigorous extended outing.
  For the visitor who craves wild scenery but chooses not to hike, the 
Ruby Road and its numerous spurs offer a marvelous motoring experience, 
with the wilderness literally at the roadside untarnished by 
intervening roadside development beyond turnouts and trailheads that 
offer inviting picnic stops. As we too often forget, one of the 
greatest values of preserving our wilderness areas is for the enjoyment 
of those who use them by viewing their scenic vistas from the edges. 
And I hasten to add that other public lands in this region are 
available for those who choose other forms of outdoor recreation, 
including motorized recreation.
  The boundaries proposed in this legislation have been adjusted to 
ensure plentiful road access to the wilderness for recreation. We 
emphasize protection of habitat, which is vital to increasing numbers 
of sportsmen who seek true wilderness hunting. As a result, this 
proposal has earned the support of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and 
the Arizona Wildlife Federation.


                     community-friendly wilderness

  Protecting open space and scenic wild places like the Tumacacori 
Highlands contributes directly to the high quality-of-life sought by 
our people. The dramatic scenic backdrop of these mountains, 
uncluttered by development creeping up the slopes, entices people to 
choose to make their homes in these communities, including Green Valley 
and Rio Rico. Indeed, seven homeowners' associations in Green Valley, 
representing some 1,400 households, have formally endorsed this 
proposal.
  The wild landscape of the Pajarita and Tumacacori Highlands are an 
essential asset for our small business owners, a matter of particular 
importance to me as a member of the Committee on Small Business. A 
University of Arizona study found that in Santa Cruz County alone, 
visitors to natural areas spent between $10 million and $16 million 
annually on travel and accommodations. The natural wonders of this 
landscape draw artists to artist colonies such as Tubac and Arivaca--
and bring art lovers to patronize local galleries and studios. My 
friends in the local arts community tell me that art that evokes the 
wild splendors of the southern Arizona landscape is perennially popular 
with their customers.

[[Page E1688]]

  Little wonder then that business people have been among the voices 
urging that we designate these new wilderness areas. More than 100 
southern Arizona businesses have endorsed the proposal. In giving their 
formal support, the board of directors of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce 
pointed out that protecting open space and wild landscapes such as the 
Tumacacori Highlands contributes directly to a high quality-of-life and 
is a key component in drawing local business patrons and tourists 
dollars to the area.
  This is the wildest land in the spectrum of the open spaces and 
recreational lands we have to offer our increasingly urban population. 
In this sense, I think of these new wilderness areas as lungs for our 
city dwellers, and as their preserved public lands where they can go to 
recreate, to reconnect with family, friends, or personal spirituality. 
And I think of them, too, as particularly vital classrooms. In these 
wildest expanses of the natural world, we offer our children the 
opportunity to experience nature in its most unspoiled state and to 
learn first-hand how the natural world works. Wilderness inspires awe 
and offers a living, breathing learning environment that cannot be 
replicated in a classroom. More than 80 professors and graduate 
students in fields such as wildlife and fisheries, natural resources 
management, and environmental science have endorsed designation of 
these new wilderness areas.

  These wildest places in the rapidly growing southern Arizona region 
offer our people sanctuaries--refuges of quiet offering outstanding 
opportunities for solitude, high quality recreation, and spiritual 
reflection. Many of my constituents express the great value they place 
on protecting these wild sanctuaries, feeling that doing so is part of 
our responsibility in caring for God's creation and fulfilling the 
obligation we share to preserve such places for the benefit of future 
generations. This has led both the Arizona Ecumenical Council and the 
National Council of Churches to support this proposal.


                     KEY ISSUES IN THIS LEGISLATION

  As we have perfected these wilderness proposals, my staff and I have 
addressed two major issues that we are sure to discuss carefully when 
we hold hearings in the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and 
Public Lands, which I have the honor to chair.
  First, livestock grazing: my goal is to assure that in protecting 
these Wilderness areas, we reaffirm the longstanding congressional 
policy of respecting the use privileges held by local ranchers who have 
Forest Service permits to graze livestock on these public lands.
  This is a common situation in the West, and it is one that Congress 
understood and accounted for when the Wilderness Act was enacted in 
1964. That Act provides that where it was established prior to the 
designation of an area as wilderness, such existing grazing use shall 
continue. Over the years, there have been some problems in the 
practical conformance with this policy by the U.S. Forest Service, 
prompting complaints from ranchers, some of whom even worked against 
designation of new wilderness areas for this reason. Our committee has 
responded to those complaints, and the leader in that response was my 
revered predecessor, Rep. Morris Udall, the long-time chairman of what 
is now the Committee on Natural Resources.
  Under Chairman Udall's leadership, Congress adopted very detailed 
``Congressional Grazing Guidelines'' that apply wherever wilderness 
designations and existing livestock grazing overlap. Those guidelines 
bring clarity to the situation, protecting both the legitimate 
practical needs of the ranchers to carry out their permitted grazing 
use, with the access and facilities that are necessary, and the public 
interest in preserving wilderness values. Among other things, those 
guidelines spell out that livestock numbers cannot be reduced solely 
due to wilderness designation. In the case of this proposed 
legislation, I appreciate the fact that local conservation groups have 
taken the initiative to work with cooperative ranchers holding grazing 
permits within the proposed area to craft a mutually supportable plan 
consistent with the congressional guidelines.
  The other major concern in shaping this legislation is the 
international border. These new wilderness areas lie adjacent to the 
border, so it has been my concern to be sure that the agencies charged 
with border and customs enforcement have the operational flexibility 
they need to do their jobs. In carrying out this vital work, let us not 
accept the false choice between protecting our natural heritage or our 
national security--we can do both. After all, these will not be the 
first wilderness areas Congress has designated on or very near the 
Mexican border, only the most recent.
  This is a complex matter, which my staff and I have pursued in detail 
with both the U.S. Forest Service, which administers these lands, and 
the Department of Homeland Security and its specialized border and 
customs agencies. This legislation references the highly detailed 2006 
Memorandum of Understanding adopted by Homeland Security, the Forest 
Service, and other land management agencies regarding operations within 
wilderness areas and other public lands.


                       WHY WE PRESERVE WILDERNESS

  Finally, Madam Speaker, I would like to comment on one of the more 
philosophical reasons that preserving areas like those proposed in the 
Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness Act is so important. Yes, we protect 
wilderness for our fellow Americans, who today treasure it for the 
opportunities it provides to hike, ride horseback, hunt, photograph or 
paint, go birding or enjoy the wild scenery. If we have the foresight 
to protect wilderness, it will be treasured and enjoyed for years to 
come by our children, grandchildren and future generations.
  But we also preserve wilderness because we recognize the role it has 
played in shaping our Nation and our national character. The wilderness 
areas we preserve are patches of the original American landscape, 
protected to the best of our ability so that future generations of 
Americans will have the chance to know what wild America was and is 
still. So that future generations will have the opportunity to explore 
wilderness, to enjoy wilderness, to test themselves and grow in 
wilderness as did their ancestors. Wilderness is their rightful 
inheritance from us and we must be certain that they receive it. The 
public lands that will be given wilderness protection by the Tumacacori 
Highlands Wilderness Act represent important additions to southern 
Arizona's protected landscapes and I am pleased to introduce this 
legislation to preserve it now and for the future.

                          ____________________