[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 2, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H6024-H6025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DIRECTING FISH STOCKING IN CERTAIN WASHINGTON LAKES

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 2430) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
continue stocking fish in certain lakes in the North Cascades National 
Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National 
Recreation Area.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2430

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The North Cascades complex contains 245 mountain lakes, 
     of which 91 have been historically stocked with fish.
       (2) In many cases, the stocking of fish in these lakes 
     dates back to the 1800s.
       (3) This practice has been important to the economy of the 
     area because of the recreational opportunities it creates.
       (4) During congressional hearings on the designation of the 
     North Cascades National Park, the Department of the Interior 
     indicated that the practice of fish stocking would be 
     continued if the area became a unit of the National Park 
     Service system.
       (5) Since designation of the National Park in 1968, the 
     stocking of certain lakes has continued under various 
     agreements between the National Park Service and the State of 
     Washington.
       (6) An Environmental Impact Statement completed by the 
     National Park Service recommends continued stocking of up to 
     42 of the lakes that have historically been stocked with 
     fish.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to clarify the 
     continued authority of the National Park Service to allow the 
     stocking of fish in certain lakes in the North Cascades 
     National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake 
     Chelan National Recreation Area.

     SEC. 2. STOCKING OF CERTAIN LAKES IN NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL 
                   PARK, ROSS LAKE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, AND 
                   LAKE CHELAN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting 
     through the Director of the National Park Service, shall 
     authorize the stocking of fish in lakes in the North Cascades 
     National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake 
     Chelan National Recreation Area.
       (b) Conditions.--The following conditions shall apply to 
     stocking of lakes under subsection (a):
       (1) The Secretary is authorized to allow stocking in not 
     more than 42 of the 91 lakes which have historically been 
     stocked with fish.
       (2) The Secretary shall only stock fish that are--
       (A) native to the watershed; or
       (B) functionally sterile.
       (3) The Secretary shall coordinate the stocking of fish 
     with the State of Washington.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) and the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Lamborn) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which 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 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2430, introduced by the ranking 
member of the Natural Resources Committee, Doc Hastings, directs the 
Secretary of the Interior to stock certain lakes in the North Cascades 
National Park with fish.
  Fish did not naturally inhabit any of the 245 lakes in the North 
Cascades of

[[Page H6025]]

Washington because they are at such high elevations. But in the late 
1800s, local officials began stocking some of these mountain lakes with 
nonnative fish. By the late 1930s, the State had assumed management of 
this effort, and recreational fishing in these lakes became 
increasingly popular.
  In 1968, North Cascades was designated as a national park, and in 
1988, the Steven T. Mather Wilderness Area was set aside within the 
park. Now, all but one of these lakes are located within the Mather 
Wilderness Area. Stocking continued, though, through a series of 
National Park Service waivers, but the National Park Service has made 
it clear that stocking will not continue unless the practice is 
specifically authorized by Congress.
  H.R. 2430 will provide that authorization. We have no objections to 
H.R. 2430.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2430 was introduced by the ranking Republican of 
the committee, Mr. Hastings of Washington, and has the bipartisan 
support of five other Members of the Washington delegation.
  This legislation simply implements the recommendations of the 
National Park Service's 2008 final Environmental Impact Statement on 
mountain lakes fishery management in the North Cascades National Park.
  Beginning in the 1880s, 91 of the 245 lakes within the park complex 
have been stocked with trout. When the North Cascades National Park was 
created in 1968, the Park Service continued to allow fish stocking 
under the supervision of the Washington State Department of Fish and 
Wildlife.
  To address subsequent questions about the environmental impact of 
stocking the lakes, the Park Service agreed to complete a NEPA review 
on fisheries management within the park. This review began in 2002 and 
resulted in a record of decision last year, which concluded that fish 
stocking could continue in 42 of these lakes without adversely 
affecting native ecosystems.
  The legislation creating the North Cascades National Park 
specifically identifies fishing as an important recreational use. 
Although recreational fishing is called for in the park's enabling act 
and stocking has continued throughout its existence, the Park Service 
has requested that this authority be specifically authorized for it to 
continue.
  H.R. 2430 adopts the 42 lakes identified in the Park Service's 
Environmental Impact Statement as a ceiling for fish stocking, directs 
the agency to work with the Washington State Department of Fish and 
Wildlife to supervise this activity, and limits stocking to native or 
sterile fish.
  Passing this legislation will authorize fish stocking in limited 
circumstances in this particular park rather than relying on a waiver 
from the director of the Park Service to the agency's general policy 
against stocking lakes. This will ensure that allowing this activity to 
continue where it has been carefully reviewed and found to be 
appropriate does not set a precedent for other Parks.
  Mr. Speaker, the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands 
Subcommittee held hearings on this legislation on April 24 of last 
year, and it passed the House by voice vote on July 14, 2008. This 
bipartisan legislation has been carefully and narrowly drafted and has 
the support of recreation advocates, as well as State and local 
government. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
support for H.R. 2430, legislation which will allow for the continued 
stocking of trout in mountain lakes in the North Cascades National 
Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, and Ross Lake National 
Recreation Area in my home State of Washington.
  For over 100 years, sportsmen and women in the Pacific Northwest have 
stocked lakes in the North Cascades with trout early each summer and 
returned later in the year with family and friends to camp and fish.
  Fish stocking brings not only recreational benefits, but also 
economic benefits for rural communities that rely on sportsmen and park 
visitors to sustain local businesses.
  The practice of fish stocking is supported by both the angling 
community and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. 
Earlier this year, the North Cascades National Park issued an 
Environmental Impact Statement supporting the continued stocking of 
fish.
  However, a recent legal opinion issued by the National Parks Service 
threatens this decades-old tradition. The Parks Service has determined 
that, without legal clarification from Congress, they will be unable to 
allow fish stocking in the future.
  H.R. 2430 would provide the Parks Service with the clarification it 
needs to continue to allow fish stocking. This legislation will 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the State 
of Washington, to allow sportsmen to stock native or functionally 
sterile trout in up to 42 alpine lakes in the North Cascades National 
Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, and Ross Lake National 
Recreation Area.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan 
legislation to protect the tradition of fish stocking in and around the 
North Cascades National Park.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 2430, legislation to allow for the continued stocking of 
fish in certain alpine lakes in the North Cascades National Park 
Complex, including the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National 
Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.
  Many of these lakes have been stocked since the late 19th century, 
long before they became part of the National Park complex. For decades, 
volunteer groups, working with the State of Washington, have stocked 
trout in a number of lakes in this area under carefully constructed 
management plans written by State and Park Service biologists. In 
addition, congressional consideration of the creation of the North 
Cascades National Park clearly indicated that fish stocking should 
continue. More significantly, the legislation creating the Park even 
identifies fishing as an important recreational use.
  When questions were raised about the environmental impacts of fish 
stocking, the Park Service prepared an Environmental Impact Statement 
on the fisheries in these mountain lakes. The preferred alternative 
selected in the final record of decision is to allow continued fish 
stocking in forty-two lakes where the agency has concluded there would 
be no adverse impact on native ecosystems. In this report the Park 
Service also requested explicit authority to allow fish stocking to 
continue within the Park.
  In order to protect this longstanding practice in the North Cascades, 
I introduced H.R. 2430 to ensure that fish stocking can continue. After 
years of consultation with local leaders on this issue, it is clear to 
me that communities in and around the North Cascades National Park 
Complex want fish stocking to continue. Many tourists visit the Park 
for its scenic beauty as well as for its fishing opportunities, helping 
make fish stocking an important component of the Central Washington 
economy.
  Finally, I would like to thank many of my Washington state colleagues 
who cosponsored H.R. 2430, including Rick Larsen, Norm Dicks, Cathy 
McMorris Rodgers, Brian Baird and Adam Smith. I especially would like 
to note the assistance provided by Norm Dicks, whose involvement in 
this issue goes back to his time as a staff member in Congress. I urge 
all my colleagues to support this common sense legislation and ensure 
that local residents and all visitors to the North Cascades National 
Park can continue to enjoy recreational fishing as they have for more 
than a century.
  Mr. LAMBORN. I would yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2430.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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