[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16561-16562]
[From the U.S. 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

[[Page 16562]]

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.
  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.

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