[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S1586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 2111. A bill to reauthorize the Yuma Crossing National Heritage 
Area; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am please to introduce legislation that 
would reauthorize the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area located in 
Yuma, AZ. A companion bill is being introduced in the House of 
Representatives by Congressman Raul Grijalva and Congressman Ed Pastor 
from Arizona.
  The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area is a unique success story in 
the National Heritage Areas, NHA, system. It was first authorized in 
2000 under legislation sponsored by myself and former Senator Jon Kyl, 
P.L. 106-319. Yuma Crossing NHA has proven to be a central component in 
a collaborative effort by local, tribal and federal partners to 
transform the City of Yuma downtown riverfront area and restore 
riparian habitat along the banks of the Colorado River. Like many other 
NHAs, it was established as a means of encouraging historic 
preservation at a local level without assigning large federal resources 
for the management of land as a National Park. The Yuma Crossing NHA 
model continues to involve a broad coalition of local businesses, 
farmers, and the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation 
among others.
  Yuma Crossing NHA was the first NHA to be established west of the 
Mississippi River. Its purpose is to preserve and share the history of 
the Yuma Crossing, which is a narrow granite outcropping on the 
Colorado River that for centuries served as the only transportation 
gateway for those traveling west to California, including Spanish 
missionaries, American pioneers, and gold rush prospectors. Prior to 
the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's, if you 
wanted to trade or travel to California, you had to go through Yuma 
Crossing.
  The NHA designation has enabled the City of Yuma to develop plans to 
leverage about $80 million in private investments, not Federal funding, 
for the revitalization of downtown Yuma and the historic landmark. The 
Yuma Crossing NHA also played a critical role in saving a former 
Arizona State Park unit, the historic Yuma Quartermaster Depot, which 
had closed and fallen into disrepair due to state budget cuts. 
Moreover, the Yuma Crossing NHA has led the way in a remarkable 
environmental project along the Colorado River known as the Yuma East 
Wetlands project, which aims to remove 1,400 acres of non-native, 
water-guzzling salt cedar thickets and re-vegetate the area with native 
willows, cottonwood, and mesquite trees. The 400 acres completed thus 
far has aided in the initial recovery of a number of endangered and 
migratory bird species, including the Yuma clapper rail, the yellow-
billed cuckoo, and the southwestern willow flycatcher.
  As a testament to its successes, the National Park Service has 
downgraded the Yuma Crossing historic landmark from Threatened to Watch 
status. However, more work remains to be done. For example, the Yuma 
East Wetlands project has secured a funding commitment from non-federal 
parties for the next fifty years. Because NHA's have an authorization 
period of 15 years, it's critical that Congress reauthorize the Yuma 
Crossing NHA before the end of Fiscal Year 2015 so that this effort 
continues uninterrupted. I understand there may be a need to offset the 
federal spending that's authorized by this legislation, and I hope to 
address this concern as the bill advances through the legislative 
process. I encourage my colleagues to support the passage of this bill.
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