[House Report 111-293]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 111-293
======================================================================
AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ADJUST THE BOUNDARY OF THE
STEPHEN MATHER WILDERNESS AND THE NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK IN ORDER
TO ALLOW THE REBUILDING OF A ROAD OUTSIDE OF THE FLOODPLAIN WHILE
ENSURING THAT THERE IS NO NET LOSS OF ACREAGE TO THE PARK OR THE
WILDERNESS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
October 8, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL AND DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 2806]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2806) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
adjust the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the
North Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding
of a road outside of the floodplain while ensuring that there
is no net loss of acreage to the Park or the Wilderness, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill
do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 2806 is to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to adjust the boundary of the Stephen Mather
Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park in order to
allow the rebuilding of a road outside the flood plain while
ensuring that there is no net loss of acreage to the Park or
the Wilderness.
Background and Need for Legislation
The Stephen Mather Wilderness was designated in 1988 as
part of the Washington Park Wilderness Act (Public Law 100-
668). Excluded from the wilderness area was a 100-foot corridor
for an existing dirt road that followed the Stehekin River for
23 miles from Lake Chelan into the wilderness, providing
limited vehicle access to trails and campgrounds in that
portion of the wilderness. The road dead-ended at a campground
and trailhead to a scenic basin and pass.
Until 2003, the park provided shuttle bus service along the
road for hikers and campers, who could only reach the road by
passenger ferry or floatplane. Local residents, who retained
property and small businesses inside the park and the adjoining
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, also used the road for
recreation.
Damage to the road from a 1995 flood was repaired, except
for a 2.5 mile section at the very end of the road, but in 2003
and again in 2006 major flooding along the river washed out
significant portions of the road in the upper valley. Today,
the road is impassible for vehicles above what used to be the
halfway point.
A 2004 Federal Highway Administration survey estimated that
moving the most threatened three miles of the route out of the
flood plain would cost $1.6 million; that estimate does not
include the cost of the necessary environmental studies,
repairing the remainder of the upper road for vehicle traffic,
or maintenance and future repairs from flooding.
In 2006, the park conducted an environmental assessment to
determine whether to rebuild the upper half of the road; the
assessment concluded that the road would be too difficult and
costly to construct and maintain, and too environmentally
damaging.
That upper portion of the road has been maintained as a
trail since 2004 and remains open to foot and horse traffic.
The upper valley continues to be very popular with hikers and
campers; the park estimates that some 1,300 people use the
campgrounds each summer, reaching their campsites on foot.
Committee Action
H.R. 2806 was introduced June 10, 2009, by Natural
Resources Committee Ranking Member Hastings (R-WA). The bill
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within
the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands. The Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill
on July 30, 2009. A representative of the Department of the
Interior testified in opposition to the legislation.
On September 10, 2009, the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests and Public Lands was discharged from further
consideration of H.R. 2806 and the full Natural Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. The bill was ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Findings
Section 1 provides the history of the upper Stehekin Valley
Road.
Section 2. Authorization for boundary adjustments
Section 2(a) authorizes, but does not require, the
Secretary of the Interior to change the boundaries of the
Stephen Mather Wilderness to create a new 100-foot road
corridor outside the wilderness so that the upper portion of
the Stehekin Valley Road may be rebuilt above the flood plain.
In their testimony the National Park Service (NPS) noted that
if such authority were to be used, the NPS would be required to
complete an environmental impact statement for the wilderness
boundary change and the road reconstruction.
Section 2(b) directs that any boundary adjustments made
pursuant to this legislation must ensure that the wilderness
acreage deleted by creating the new road corridor will be equal
to the acreage added to the Stephen Mather Wilderness by the
Secretary, so that there is no net loss of acreage to the
wilderness area.
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 Natural 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 grants 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. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to adjust the boundary of the Stephen Mather
Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park in order to
allow the rebuilding of a road outside of the flood plain while
ensuring that there is no net loss of acreage to the Park or
the Wilderness.
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:
H.R. 2806--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust
the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North
Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding of a
road outside of the floodplain while ensuring that there is no
net loss of acreage to the Park or the Wilderness, and for
other purposes
H.R. 2806 would allow the Secretary of the Interior to
redraw the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness (which
makes up more than 90 percent of the North Cascades National
Park in Washington) to exclude a 100-foot wide corridor. The
National Park Service (NPS) would use the corridor (which would
remain in the park) to reroute a flood-damaged portion of the
Stehekin Valley Road.
Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that
completing the rerouting project would cost $2.5 million over
the next five years. Of this amount, about $500,000 would be
spent to conduct an environmental impact study of the boundary
change and the construction project. About $2 million would be
spent to build the new road segment and restore the remaining
portion of the existing road.
Enacting the bill would have no effect on revenues or
direct spending.
The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Earmark Statement
H.R. 2806 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
WASHINGTON PARK WILDERNESS ACT OF 1988
* * * * * * *
TITLE II--NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK SERVICE COMPLEX WILDERNESS
* * * * * * *
SEC. 207. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS FOR ROAD.
(a) In General.--The Secretary may adjust the boundaries of
the North Cascades National Park and the Stephen Mather
Wilderness in order to provide a 100-foot wide corridor along
which the Stehekin Valley Road may be rebuilt--
(1) outside of the floodplain between milepost 12.9
and milepost 22.8;
(2) within the boundaries of the North Cascades
National Park; and
(3) outside of the boundaries of the Stephen Mather
Wilderness.
(b) No Net Loss of Lands.--The boundary adjustments made
under this section shall be such that equal acreage amounts are
exchanged between the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North
Cascades National Park, resulting in no net loss of acreage to
either the Stephen Mather Wilderness or the North Cascades
National Park.
* * * * * * *
DISSENTING VIEWS
H.R. 2806 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
change the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the
North Cascades National Park in order to rebuild the upper
Stehekin Road in a new location, presumably within the
Wilderness boundary, after several floods have damaged the
current road. This legislation raises a number of serious
concerns regarding the use of limited National Park Service
(NPS) dollars and the process of designating wilderness.
In 2006, the NPS completed an environmental assessment of
the upper Stehekin road and after analyzing potential options,
decided to retire the upper section of the road. The decision
was based on topography of the area, access, expected floods,
and cost.
We strongly support protecting and maximizing access of
national parks and publicly protected land. When access points
are damaged, NPS uses criteria based on usage, topography, and
cost to decide how to proceed with maintenance needs. While we
wholeheartedly believe we should try and preserve past points
of access, we must also recognize changes to the terrain and
look at the use of a park system as a whole when determining
how to spend limited NPS funds.
The passage of H.R. 2806 should not change the priority
list for the National Park Service, putting a road used by less
than 3,000 visitors annually above other projects in the North
Cascades National Park and neighboring parks that may have
maintenance needs for roads used by more than 150,000 visitors
each year. NPS has a limited budget and must prioritize
projects based on a variety of factors. At an estimated cost of
$1.5 million, rebuilding the upper Stehekin could pull funds
away from projects that provide access points for tens of
thousands. Public access to our wild lands is a cornerstone of
conservation efforts so it is vitally important that available
NPS dollars go towards high priority projects, including those
that provide access to the highest number of people. We
strongly believe that NPS should not adjust their priority list
of the road maintenance as a result of the passage of this
legislation.
Since the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, Congress has
had the sole authority to designate wilderness. H.R. 2806
departs from that historic, democratic process, by handing
unprecedented authority to the Secretary of the Interior.
Giving authority to the Secretary is major change from over 45
years of wilderness policy. It is a precedent that we believe
requires much more input and discussion.
H.R 2806 gives the Secretary authority to relocate the road
between milepost 12.9 and milepost 22.8, as far up the Stehekin
road as Cottonwood Camp. The last 2.5 miles are rough terrain,
difficult to access and maintain, where the road has not been
in place as far back as 1995. If we end up building a road, it
should not go as far as Cottonwood Camp, but instead should
stop 2.5 miles earlier at Glory Mountain. This decision would
save important NPS dollars and still allow day hikers access to
Cottonwood Camp.
As we are already beginning to see, climate change is
increasing the frequency and impact of floods in Washington
State and throughout the country. Upper Stehekin is the first
of a forthcoming issue on how to manage damaged cherry-stemmed
roads throughout our National Park system and Wilderness areas.
Washington State and the rest of the nation will face more
decisions like this and we need to make sure our process for
fixing roads is sound.
The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as ``land retaining
its primeval character and influence, without permanent
improvements or human habitation, . . . which generally appears
to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with
the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable. . . .''
Clearly, changing wilderness area boundaries should not be
taken lightly.
Giving authority to the Secretary seemingly streamlines the
process for one community but H.R. 2806 has serious
implications that will influence park policy for years to come.
Congress should revise the approach to ensure that in future
instances a thoughtful process is in place that might protect
wilderness and maximize access.
Sincerely,
Jay Inslee.
Martin Heinrich.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
H.R. 2806 is a limited bill that allows for continued
public access to the North Cascades National Park from the
community of Stehekin, Washington.
Stehekin, located at the western end of Lake Chelan, is the
gateway to the North Cascades National Park and is accessible
only by boat, floatplane, or a multi-day hike. From the town of
Stehekin, the Stehekin Valley Road has long allowed residents
and visitors to access some of the most beautiful scenery in
the North Cascades in what is now the Park's Stephen Mather
Wilderness.
At the July 30, 2009 hearing before the Subcommitee on
National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, the Subcommittee
heard testimony from local officials on how flood damage to the
upper Stehekin Road has limited public recreational access to
the North Cascades National Park Complex. This reduced access
has been particularly painful for the small, tourist-dependent
community of Stehekin which serves as the gateway to the Park.
Recognizing its value to local residents and tourists, the
Road was specifically protected when the Park and Wilderness
areas were created. Stehekin Road has for many years been
maintained and run by Park officials, but following extreme
flooding and subsequent changes in the course of the river,
much of the Road bed is now under water. Because the Road
occupies a narrow corridor within the borders of the Wilderness
Area, congressional approval is required to modify the corridor
prior to the Park Service rebuilding the road.
During legislative consideration of the Park's creation in
1988, Congress determined that Stehekin Road would remain
exempt from the restrictions of other wilderness areas.
Otherwise, no cars, mountain bikes or other mechanized vehicles
would have been allowed to transport area residents or Park
visitors to the wilderness areas north of the Stehekin
community. Former U.S. Senator and Washington Governor Dan
Evans, the author of the 1988 Act creating the Park, submitted
written testimony that it was Congress' intent to allow for
continued road access into the Park.
As the Stehekin River has shifted and damaged the road, the
Park Service has been unable to rebuild the road out of the
path of the river because of the narrow road corridor in the
original Park designation. H.R. 2806 would simply allow the
Secretary limited authority to adjust the road corridor out of
the path of the Stehekin River, with no net loss of land to
either the Park or the Stephen Mather Wilderness. These changes
and road rebuilding would still be subject to review and
comment under the National Environmental Policy Act.
In addition to the merits of adjusting the road corridor
boundary to enable maintenance of this grandfathered access
road, the Subcommittee hearing also revealed troubling
inconsistencies in the Park Service's position on road
maintenance. This Committee recently approved a bill, H.R. 1061
authored by Mr. Dicks of Washington, which gives away 36 acres
of the Olympic National Park without compensation and for the
purpose of ensuring road access. In a July 9, 2009 letter to
Mr. Bishop, Acting Director Wenk of the Park Service endorsed
the road and land giveaway in H.R. 1061. However, Mr. Wenk
testified against H.R. 2806, which will result in no net loss
of park or wilderness area, citing ``higher priorities.''
Approval of H.R. 2806 will serve as a reminder to the Park
Service that ensuring public access to the National Park System
remains a high priority and it will ensure that we keep our
nation's commitment to the residents of Stehekin. Moreover,
H.R. 2806 accomplishes these goals without any net loss to the
Park or the Wilderness, and ensures adequate public and
environmental review before any changes take place.
Doc Hastings.
----------
Daniel J. Evans,
5215 North East 45th,
Seattle, WA, July 7, 2009.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Land,
Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I am pleased to write in favor of H.R.
2806 sponsored by Representative Doc Hastings of the state of
Washington. I believe his proposal for reconstruction of the
Upper Stehekin road is both desirable and vital for appropriate
access to portions of the North Cascade National Park.
Before speaking on the particulars of the road
reconstruction let me establish my credentials for testifying
on this measure. I served as United States Senator for the
state of Washington from 1983 to 1989. During that time I
served as a member of the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee of the Senate, which has jurisdiction over our
National Park system. While on the committee I initiated and
became prime sponsor of a bill to create wilderness areas
within the three national parks of Washington state, Olympic,
Rainier, and North Cascades. It was my intent to ensure that
undue development would not occur within those national parks.
I also recognized that access to trails and vistas within those
parks was vital and carefully excluded those road rights-of-way
from wilderness boundaries. Normally, road reconstruction and
minor relocation would be accommodated within these 100 foot
right of ways but on rare occasions natural catastrophes could
require modification of wilderness boundaries to allow road
relocations.
For almost 70 years I have hiked and climbed in the
National Parks of Washington state and have a strong and
continuing desire to maintain their integrity. I am very
familiar with the area in question and have ridden the road
from Stehekin to trailheads where I have embarked on extensive
hiking and climbing trips. If this road is not rebuilt, access
to extraordinary wilderness experiences will be substantially
more difficult. Almost a full days' hike will be necessary to
reach what once were trailheads giving mountain access.
I believe very strongly that continued protection of our
wilderness National Parks depends on the active support of
visitors, hikers, and climbers who act as champions for our
National Parks. If we make access substantially more difficult
we reduce the number of visitors and ultimately the numbers of
citizens and taxpayers who know enough about these parks to
want to protect them.
It was my intent when I sponsored the Park Wilderness Bill
of 1988 to protect the unique features of these splendid Parks
but not to make access more difficult for those seeking the
unusual experience of a wilderness Park. I believe that in this
instance an alternative route along the Old Wagon Road would
maintain the appropriate access and that portions of the
current road could revert to wilderness category with no net
loss of wilderness area. I strongly urge the passage of HR 2806
and believe it is compatible with the original bill I sponsored
in 1988.
I thank you for your attention to this matter and hope that
it can be resolved promptly and successfully.
Sincerely
Daniel J. Evans,
U.S. Senator 1983-1989.