[House Report 107-34]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                     107-34

======================================================================



 
   TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED ACCESS OF HUNTERS TO THOSE FEDERAL LANDS 
  INCLUDED WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE CRATERS OF THE MOON NATIONAL 
 MONUMENT IN THE STATE OF IDAHO PURSUANT TO PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION 
  7373 OF NOVEMBER 9, 2000, AND TO CONTINUE THE APPLICABILITY OF THE 
TAYLOR GRAZING ACT TO THE DISPOSITION OF GRAZING FEES ARISING FROM THE 
               USE OF SUCH LANDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 April 3, 2001.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                           SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 601]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 601) to ensure the continued access of hunters to those 
Federal lands included within the boundaries of the Craters of 
the Moon National Monument in the State of Idaho pursuant to 
Presidential Proclamation 7373 of November 9, 2000, and to 
continue the applicability of the Taylor Grazing Act to the 
disposition of grazing fees arising from the use of such lands, 
and for other purposes, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill 
as amended do pass.
  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION. 1. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL LANDS RECENTLY 
                    ADDED TO CRATERS OF THE MOON NATIONAL MONUMENT, 
                    IDAHO.

  (a) Redesignation.--The approximately 410,000 acres of land added to 
the Craters of the Moon National Monument by Presidential Proclamation 
7373 of November 9, 2000, and identified on the map accompanying the 
Proclamation for administration by the National Park Service, shall, on 
and after the date of enactment of this Act, be known as the ``Craters 
of the Moon National Preserve''.
  (b) Administration.--
          (1) In general.--Except as provided by paragraph (2), the 
        Craters of the Moon National Preserve shall be administered in 
        accordance with--
                  (A) Presidential Proclamation 7373 of November 9, 
                2000;
                  (B) the Act of June 8, 1906, (commonly referred to as 
                the ``Antiquities Act''; 34 Stat. 225; 16 U.S.C. 431); 
                and
                  (C) the laws generally applicable to units of the 
                National Park System, including the Act entitled ``An 
                Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other 
                purposes'', approved August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1 et 
                seq.).
          (2) Hunting.--The Secretary of the Interior shall permit 
        hunting on lands within the Craters of the Moon National 
        Preserve in accordance with the applicable laws of the United 
        States and the State of Idaho. The Secretary, in consultation 
        with the State of Idaho, may designate zones where, and 
        establish periods when, no hunting may be permitted for reasons 
        of public safety, protection of the area's resources, 
        administration, or public use and enjoyment. Except in 
        emergencies, any regulations prescribing such restrictions 
        relating to hunting shall be put into effect only after 
        consultation with the State of Idaho.

  Amend the title so as to read:

      A bill to redesignate certain lands within the Craters of 
the Moon National Monument, and for other purposes.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 601, as ordered reported, is to 
redesignate certain lands within the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Craters of the Moon National Monument, located in 
Idaho, was established in 1924 by Presidential Proclamation for 
the purpose of protecting the unusual landscape of the Craters 
of the Moon lava field. This ``lunar'' landscape resembles that 
of the Moon and was described in the Presidential Proclamation 
that established it as ``weird and scenic landscape peculiar to 
itself.'' After 1924, the monument was expanded four times by 
Presidential Proclamation to include 53,440 acres.
    On November 9, 2000, former President Clinton executed 
Presidential Proclamation 7373 to expand the boundaries of the 
monument to include an additional 661,287 acres. The 
Proclamation assigned approximately 410,000 acres of land 
previously managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to 
the administrative jurisdiction of the National Park Service. 
Before the inclusion of the expansion area in the national 
monument, these federal lands were open to hunting and grazing. 
The National Park Service historically disallows hunting and 
livestock grazing on lands under its jurisdiction unless 
specifically mandated by Congress. This bill seeks to obtain 
that mandate of approval from Congress.
    The Proclamation contained the expressed intent to neither 
enlarge nor diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Idaho 
with respect to fish and wildlife management in the expansion 
area and stated that the laws, regulations and policies 
followed by the BLM in issuing and administering grazing 
permits or leases on lands under its jurisdiction would 
continue to apply. All fees collected on lands managed by BLM 
are distributed as defined by the Taylor Grazing Act: 50 
percent to the U.S. Treasury, 37.5 percent to the district BLM 
office from which the fees originated, and 12.5 percent to the 
local District Grazing Boards for range improvements. In 
contrast, the National Park Service retains all grazing fees 
generated from grazing activity on lands under its management. 
The loss of revenue has an adverse impact on the work of the 
local Grazing Districts. As introduced, H.R. 601 mandates that 
all grazing fees collected within the boundaries of the 
monument on both BLM and Park Service land would still be 
distributed as defined by the Taylor Grazing Act.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 601 was introduced on February 13, 2001, by 
Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. On 
March 13, 2001, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On 
March 22, 2001, the Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. 
Congressman Simpson offered an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute to address three concerns. First, the amendment 
struck all references to the disposition of grazing fees and 
the Taylor Grazing Act. Second, the amendment inserted language 
to ensure that the Secretary of the Interior has appropriate 
oversight, in cooperation and consultation with the State of 
Idaho, over hunting activity within the expanded area managed 
by the National Park Service. Finally, the amendment designated 
the expanded area under the jurisdiction of the National Park 
Service as a ``national preserve'' rather than a ``national 
monument.'' This change in designation will not affect the 
current management of the monument. The amendment in the nature 
of a substitute was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as 
amended. was then ordered forwarded to the Full Committee. On 
March 28, 2001, the Full Resources Committee met to consider 
the bill. No further amendments were offered and the bill, as 
amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by voice vote.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant Congress the authority 
to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation.--Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act.--As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives.-- This bill 
does not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.--Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, March 29, 2001.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 601, a bill to 
redesignate certain lands within the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument, and for other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megal 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                            (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 601--A bill to redesignate certain lands within the Craters of the 
        Moon National Monument, and for other purposes

    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 601 would not 
significantly affect the federal budget. The bill would not 
affect direct spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would not apply. H.R. 601 contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments.
    The Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho 
comprises more than 700,000 acres of land and is jointly 
administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM). The bill would redesignate about 
410,000 acres of land within that monument as a national 
preserve. Based on information from the NPS and BLM, we 
estimate that redesignating those lands would not significantly 
affect the agencies' costs. The bill also would direct the 
Secretary of the Interior to allow hunting within the proposed 
preserve. According to the agencies, that change would not 
affect federal spending or receipts.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                           SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS

    Resource Committee Democrats did not object to, and in 
fact, supported consideration of H.R. 601 because it represents 
a technical amendment to the recently expanded Craters of the 
Moon National Monument. The legislation in no way seeks to 
repudiate the November 9, 2000 action taken by President 
Clinton to expand the national monument.
    In this regard, H.R. 601 simply allows hunting, a 
traditional use of the expanded area, to continue. Except for 
hunting, no other change is made or contemplated to the 
management of the significant natural resources of the Craters 
of the Moon area.
    Craters of the Moon National Monument was initially 
established by Proclamation of President Coolidge in 1924 and 
is administered by the National Park Service (NPS). The 661,287 
acres of additional Federal lands added to the monument by 
President Clinton had been managed by the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) and hunting was permitted on these lands. 
Under the November 9, 2000 Proclamation, the NPS now manages 
approximately 410,000 acres of the expansion area which contain 
nationally significant exposed lava flows while the BLM 
continues to administer the remaining 251,287 acre portion of 
the expanded monument.
    While hunting can continue on the BLM-managed portion of 
the expanded area, this activity is normally not allowed in 
national monuments administered by the NPS. As such, it is not 
allowed on the NPS-managed portion of the expanded area.
    H.R. 601 addresses this minor discrepancy by redesignating 
the approximately 410,000 acre expansion area that the NPS 
manages as the ``Craters of the Moon National Preserve.'' This 
change is consistent with previous Acts that permitted hunting 
in national park system units. Except for hunting, the preserve 
will be managed exactly the same as the original Craters of the 
Moon National Monument.
    This bill in no way reflects a rollback of the national 
monument designations or expansions made by President Clinton 
nor does it signal the acquiescence of Committee Democrats to 
any such move.

                                                       Nick Rahall.

                                
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