[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20831]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               SENATE WILDERNESS AND PUBLIC LANDS CAUCUS

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I proudly join my colleagues as a 
founding member of this newly created Senate Wilderness and Public 
Lands Caucus. I congratulate my friend, Senator Feingold, for his bold 
spirit and commitment to the active protection of our public lands. I 
accepted Senator Feingold's invitation to participate in this new 
Caucus because we share a responsibility to protect the natural 
resources that sustain our world and grace the quality of our lives.
  On this day, we commemorate the success of the 1964 Wilderness Act 
with a renewed commitment to responsible preservation. More than 35 
years since the Act's passage, Americans can more readily cherish and 
enjoy pristine lands in their natural state, unencumbered by growth and 
development. An important goal of this new Caucus is the desire to 
improve our process for making important land management decisions 
impacting our public lands.
  Developing consensus policy for public lands protection is of 
particular necessity and importance for western states. In Arizona, 
more than 80 percent of lands are held in public ownership, with 4.5 
million acres designated as wilderness. Arizonans enjoy wilderness in 
such places as the Superstition Mountains, Cabeza Prieta, Baboquivari 
Peak and the Red Rock Secret Mountain.
  Many more difficult land management decisions will require our 
thoughtful consideration. For example, the state of Arizona has 
grappled for more than ten years over the question of wilderness 
suitability for the state's largest national park, the Grand Canyon 
National Park. Arizonans are still engaged in deliberations of this 
important decision, as well as determining appropriate land management 
decisions for other areas in our state.
  Each of us is well aware that public land management is divisive and, 
if not carefully developed, can usually result in unfair games of give-
and-take between land-users and conservationists. A fine balance 
between competing users has proved to be possible, and it is this 
balance toward which we must strive. I am joining with my colleagues in 
this Caucus because I believe that any decisions we make in the 
Congress for public land policy should heed the spirit of 
bipartisanship, promote the ethics of stewardship and multiple use, and 
protect individual rights. In general, we must ensure that all 
viewpoints on land-use issues are given fair opportunity to be heard.
  We should find our inspiration in the example of a hero of mine, and 
a statesman of the highest virtue, Mo Udall, whose grace and wisdom 
should inspire every American. Mo once taught a freshman Congressman 
from the other side of the aisle a valuable lesson. He reached across 
party lines to enlist me in the effort to tackle environmental problems 
in our home state.
  Mo's faith in the pursuit of cooperation and consensus enabled us to 
enact landmark legislation placing 3.5 million acres of pristine 
Arizona lands into the Wilderness Preservation System. Contrary to the 
predictions of naysayers and competing political interests, Mo Udall 
brought the Arizona congressional delegation together with broad 
support from the public. This was no simple task, but it worked, and Mo 
Udall demonstrated to his colleagues and constituents a successful 
formula for bringing together people of good faith and different 
perspectives to achieve a common purpose.
  This new Caucus gives us an opportunity to uphold our commitment to 
responsible preservation while protecting the rights of all Americans 
for public use of lands. I encourage our colleagues, of all minds on 
this issue, to join in the Caucus so that our recommendations and 
discussions can be fully representative of all interested 
parties.
 Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I rise today to express my great 
pride in becoming a founding member of the newly-formed Senate 
Wilderness and Public Lands Caucus. The protection of public lands is 
critical to the preservation of our national heritage, the protection 
of our environmental health and the endurance of the American tradition 
of respect for natural resources.
  In September of 1964, the Wilderness Protection Act was passed. It 
was a landmark in public land protection, establishing that some lands 
managed by the federal government should be preserved as wilderness for 
the benefit of all Americans. My father was among the Senators who 
worked to pass that legislation.
  Today, wilderness areas are under even greater pressure from 
increasing development and expansion. As Governor of Indiana, I worked 
to protect state lands by establishing the Indiana Heritage Trust, 
which preserved sensitive areas with the proceeds from sales of 
environmental license plates. That initiative resulted in the 
protection of more than 5000 acres of threatened lands.
  I am proud to join my colleagues in the Senate in starting the 
Wilderness and Public Lands Caucus and carrying forward the tradition 
of stewardship of federal lands reflected in the Wilderness Act of 
1964. I would like to thank Senator Feingold in particular for his 
leadership and dedication to this issue.
  We have the obligation and the opportunity to protect the natural 
heritage that belongs to all Americans. The Wilderness and Public Lands 
Caucus will be an important asset in pursuing that goal by providing 
support and education regarding federal land management and wilderness 
areas.

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