[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 53 (Thursday, April 18, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           INTRODUCTION OF AMERICA'S RED ROCK WILDERNESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 2013

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, for decades, Americans have been calling on 
Congress to support the designation of a Red Rock Wilderness Area on 
the Colorado Plateau in Utah.
  In 1984, the people of Utah began to conduct a volunteer driven 
wilderness inventory of America's Red Rock Country.
  Soon thereafter--in 1989--former Utah Rep. Wayne Owens introduced 
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act.
  Then in 1996, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began their own 
survey of the Red Rock Wilderness Area.
  During this time President Bill Clinton, using the Antiquities Act, 
proclaimed Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
  The next year, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois first introduced a Red 
Rocks bill in the Senate.
  In recent Congress Rep. Maurice Hinchey introduced a Red Rock bill in 
the House.
  Today, Senator Durbin and I are introducing companion bills to 
protect 9.5 million acres of federal land as wilderness in Utah's Red 
Rock Country.
  America's Red Rock Wilderness Act will protect from development one 
of this country's most spectacular landscapes.
  Deep red canyons, windswept mesas and naturally sculpted sandstone 
formations will define the Red Rock Wilderness Area.
  Places like Labyrinth and Desolation Canyons; Cedar Mesa and the San 
Rafael Swell; and of course, Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
Monument.
  All of the lands proposed for wilderness in our bill are already 
federal lands managed by the BLM.
  All of these lands would be preserved for all time and for all 
Americans--existing as they are--sculpted and defined by the forces of 
nature and the hand of God . . .
  Wilderness designations have a strong bipartisan history in Utah.
  In fact, in 2006, my friend from Utah and current Chairman of the 
House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Land and Environmental 
Regulation sponsored legislation that created the Cedar Mountains 
Wilderness Area.
  America's Red Rock Wilderness Act will preserve some of the last 
unbroken tracts of lands in Utah, all while continuing to uphold the 
land's multiple use mandate under the Federal Lands Policy and 
Management Act.
  A wilderness designation will also allow for the protection of 
natural environments and watersheds, ecological diversity, native 
habitat, and a range of recreational opportunities such as hiking, 
backpacking, hunting and fishing.
  Right now off-road vehicle use and encroaching oil and gas 
development pose major threats to an area that desperately deserves 
wilderness protection.
  A gallon of gas will in the tank of an ORV will only take you so far, 
but a vote to designate America's Red Rock Wilderness Areas would 
perpetuate for all time.
  I thank my colleagues in the House who have joined me in cosponsoring 
this legislation today, and I thank Senator Durbin and his colleagues 
for their support in the Senate.
  I urge immediate consideration of America's Red Rock Wilderness Act 
in the House.

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