[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 27676-27677]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 DUGGER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS ACT OF 1999

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2632) to designate certain Federal lands in the Talladega 
National Forest in the State of Alabama as the Dugger Mountain 
Wilderness.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2632

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Dugger Mountain Wilderness 
     Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF DUGGER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS, ALABAMA.

       (a) Designation.--In furtherance of the purposes of the 
     Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain Federal 
     lands in the Talladega National Forest in the State of 
     Alabama, which comprise approximately 9,200 acres, as 
     generally depicted on a map entitled ``Proposed Dugger 
     Mountain Wilderness'' and dated July 2, 1999, are hereby 
     designated as wilderness and, therefore, as a component of 
     the National Wilderness Preservation System, and shall be 
     known as the Dugger Mountain Wilderness.
       (b) Map and Description.--As soon as practicable after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
     Agriculture shall submit to Congress a map and a boundary 
     description of the area designated as wilderness by this 
     section. The map and description shall have the same force 
     and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 
     Secretary may correct clerical and typographical errors in 
     the map and description. A copy of the map and description 
     shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
     Office of the Chief of the Forest Service and in the office 
     of the Supervisor of National Forest System lands in Alabama.

[[Page 27677]]

       (c) Management.--Subject to valid existing rights, lands 
     designated as wilderness by this section shall be managed by 
     the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the 
     provisions of the Wilderness Act governing areas designated 
     by that Act as wilderness, except that, with respect to the 
     wilderness area designated by this section, any reference in 
     the Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness 
     Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (d) Treatment of Dugger Mountain Fire Tower.--The Forest 
     Service shall have two years, beginning on the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, in which to use ground-based 
     mechanical and motorized equipment to disassemble and remove 
     from the wilderness area designated by this section the 
     Dugger Mountain fire tower, which has been scheduled for 
     removal by the Forest Service, and any supporting structures. 
     The road to the fire tower shall be open to motorized 
     vehicles during this period only for the purpose of removing 
     the tower and supporting structures, after which time the 
     road shall be permanently closed to motorized use. The Forest 
     Service shall follow the provisions of the National Historic 
     Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) in the determination 
     and execution of the removal of the tower and supporting 
     structures.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2623 was introduced on July 29, 1999, by the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Riley). This legislation would designate 
certain Federal lands in the Talladega National Forest in the State of 
Alabama as the Dugger Mountain Wilderness.
  On August 3, 1999, the Forest Service testified in support of H.R. 
2632 during a subcommittee hearing. On October 20, 1999, Mr. Speaker, 
the full Committee on Resources ordered the bill favorably reported by 
a voice vote.
  This is a good piece of legislation. The gentleman from Alabama has 
worked diligently on this, and I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2632 would designate approximately 9,200 acres of 
land in Alabama's Talladega National Forest. Dugger Mountain, with an 
elevation of 2,140 feet, is the second highest peak in Alabama and 
includes the popular Pinhoti National Recreation Trail. It has been 
recommended for wilderness studies since 1986.
  This year marks the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Wilderness 
Act. Congress is adding more acres to the national wilderness 
preservation system. Even relatively small amounts of acreage has 
become an all too infrequent event in recent years. Wilderness bills 
like H.R. 2632, introduced by our friend and colleague, the gentleman 
from Alabama (Mr. Riley), deserve our support, and I urge my colleagues 
to pass it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Riley), the author of this legislation.
  Mr. RILEY. Mr. Speaker, we do have a unique opportunity today to 
designate the Dugger Mountain Wilderness Area as a wilderness area that 
we can keep in perpetuity for our children and our grandchildren to 
enjoy.
  Mr. Speaker, this last weekend I had a unique opportunity to take my 
grandchildren out and go on a hike in the woods and do some things that 
I do not get to spend as much time with them as I wished I could, but 
one of the things that I noticed, especially coming from this area, is 
how unique Dugger Mountain is. It is not only the second highest peak 
in Alabama, but it is a section of land, 9,200 acres, that we have 
tried to make a wilderness area since 1986.
  Two of my predecessors, Congressman Bill Nickles, who served here for 
over 20 years, first introduced this piece of legislation, and later 
Congressman Glen Browder introduced the legislation. It is not very 
often that we have a piece of legislation that comes that we have 
unanimous support for. In Alabama all of the local communities have 
signed proclamations endorsing this. We have over 300 landowners 
throughout the area that have supported this. Even the Alabama Forestry 
Association has not opposed designating this wilderness area.
  I know there is a lot of talk today about wilderness areas and how 
they are becoming more prevalent, but this is a unique piece of 
property. Because of its mountainous terrain, the ability to harvest 
logs off of it or harvest timber off of this piece of property is 
nonexistent, so the Alabama Forestry Service for the last 25 or 30 
years have already managed this as a wilderness area.
  It is also unique in that it lies halfway between Birmingham and 
Atlanta, and one of the things that we are trying to do in Alabama is 
to promote eco-tourism. When one has a million and a half to 2 million 
people in Atlanta, approximately a million people in Birmingham, this 
lies halfway between the two, it is an opportunity for our area to 
showcase the real beauty of Alabama. We think that it is going to be an 
extra special benefit to our tourism in Alabama, and again, when one 
has the opportunity to do something that not only is going to bolster 
the economy of the State and of this local area and at the same time 
allow us to preserve something that is very, very unique in Alabama, we 
think that this is a win, win, win situation not only for the Federal 
Government, not only for this country, not only for Alabama, not only 
for the people of Calhoun County, but we think that it is something 
that will benefit our children for generations to come.
  So I would like to thank the gentleman from Utah. I thank the 
committee for the way that they have moved this process through, and I 
would ask all of the Members to kindly support this bill.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2632.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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