[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 57 (Thursday, April 10, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2016, NATIONAL LANDSCAPE 
                        CONSERVATION SYSTEM ACT

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                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Chairman, I am a cosponsor of this 
legislation and I rise in its support. Its sole purpose and effect is 
to establish the National Landscape Conservation System, NLCS, as a 
matter of statutory law.
  The NLCS now includes more than 800 units, including all National 
Scenic and Historic Trails, National Conservation Areas, National 
Monuments, wilderness areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and wilderness 
study areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM. In all, 
it includes some 26 million acres, or about 10 percent of the land that 
BLM manages.
  As a system it was established in 2000 by an administrative action of 
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. However, each of its units was 
originally established by Congress or through a Presidential 
Proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906 and each is managed 
according to its enabling authority, as well as other laws applicable 
to various units or portions of units, such as the Wilderness Act, Wild 
and Scenic Rivers Act, or the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976.
  The purpose of Secretary Babbitt's administrative action was to erect 
a framework to tie each unit of the NLCS together into a larger 
conservation system, and the result has been to increase the public 
recognition and understanding of these special places within the array 
of public lands under management of the BLM.
  The NLCS units include significant natural resources, including 
approximately 12 percent of the BLM-managed sage grouse habitat, as 
well as important cultural and scientific resources. For example, in 
Colorado the system includes the Canyons of the Ancients National 
Monument, which has more than 6,000 archeological sites significant to 
Native American cultures, as well the Gunnison Gorge and McInnis 
Canyons National Conservation Areas (the latter of which is named for 
our former colleague, Representative Scott McInnis).
  These and the other NLCS units provide unique recreational 
opportunities, and their status as part of the system has proved 
valuable not only in terms of their recognition by the public but also 
as it relates to funding for their management.
  The bill makes that status a matter of law. At the same time, it 
specifies that any future additions to the system must be authorized 
separately--as the existing units have been--and that each unit is to 
be managed in accordance with all laws applicable to that unit and in a 
manner that protects the values for which the components of the system 
were designated.
  The legislation does not impose any new conditions on use of the 
lands involved, nor does it affect existing rights with respect to 
those lands, whether those are related to grazing or other purposes. 
The Congressional Budget Office says its enactment will not affect 
BLM's budget because BLM already has permanent authority to manage the 
lands in the system, subject to amounts provided annually in 
appropriations acts, and that enacting H.R. 2016 will not affect direct 
spending or revenues or the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
  The bill is supported by the Bush Administration as well as by many 
other groups, including the Colorado-based Outdoor Industry Association 
as well as the American Hiking Society, National Council of Churches, 
Boone and Crockett Club, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and 
the National Wildlife Federation.
  Mr. Chairman, this is a modest measure but one that deserves 
enactment, and I urge its approval by the House.

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