[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 153 (Wednesday, October 30, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1609-E1610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE EXPANSION LIMITATION ACT 
                                OF 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. STEPHEN LEE FINCHER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 30, 2013

  Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss my bill, the 
National Wildlife Refuge Expansion Limitation Act of 2013, which 
requires that any expansion of a national wildlife refuge be approved 
by Congress. Currently, there is little Congressional oversight of the 
Federal Government's ability to arbitrarily designate land as 
biologically necessary for increasing a public land management unit. 
While I'm a firm believer in ensuring our environment is flourishing 
with wildlife, this is not the path to follow. Washington purchasing up 
private lands will have long term consequences.
  Mr. Speaker, by introducing this bill, I hope to prevent the Federal 
Government from creating instability in economically depressed rural 
regions by drawing arbitrary acquisition boundaries around private land 
and creating hundreds of disconnected, protected refuge areas. 
Aggressively creating islands of ``holdout parcel'' farmland surrounded 
by environmentally protected refuge lands has shown to be disruptive to 
economically important rural industries. Whether by regulation or the 
Federal Government passively forcing out landowners by excessive 
regulation and poor refuge maintenance, the private landowners lose.
  My district is a prime example of the Federal Government's unwanted 
advances. In the Eighth District of Tennessee, the Fish & Wildlife 
Service is attempting to purchase 120,000 additional acres of land, 
which equates to over 1,000 privately owned parcels along 49 miles of 
the Mississippi River and 106 miles of the Hatchie River. This land 
grab is on top of the existing 27,947 acres already purchased and 
protected by the federal government. Even more alarming, the Fish & 
Wildlife Service has not even completed purchasing lands within the 
existing refuge designation.
  This expansion equates to the largest refuge east of the Mississippi, 
impacting our crop production, tax base, freedom of land use, and 
people's way of life. At a time of government shut downs, 
sequestration, fiscal cliffs, debt debates, and legislative stalemates, 
rapid expansion projects seem extremely short sighted. Under-funded, 
under-maintained refuges lead to a loss of realistic recreational use, 
productive farm land, and tax revenue for county rolls across the 
country.

[[Page E1610]]

  Under current law, it does not require an Act of Congress to spend 
the $22 million collected each year from waterfowl hunters who must buy 
an annual federal duck stamp. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the 
House to support me in passing the National Wildlife Refuge Expansion 
Limitation Act of 2013, in order to ensure that Americans who do not 
want the Federal Government next door have a voice in Congress for 
wildlife refuge expansion oversight.

                          ____________________