[House Report 115-281]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress   }                                     {        Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                     {       115-281

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



 
                CROOKED RIVER RANCH FIRE PROTECTION ACT

                                _______
                                

August 29, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 2075]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 2075) to adjust the eastern boundary of the 
Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area in the 
State of Oregon to facilitate fire prevention and response 
activities in order to protect adjacent private property, 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. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  Congress finds the following:
          (1) The Crooked River Ranch is an unincorporated community 
        with a population of 5,000 residents.
          (2) The current lands located adjacent to Crooked River Ranch 
        are managed by the Bureau of Land Management and are classified 
        as a Wilderness Study Area.
          (3) There is currently only one entrance/exit to the Crooked 
        River Ranch.
          (4) Jefferson County and Crooked River Ranch have determined 
        that the Wilderness Study Area lands are in the highest risk 
        category for exposure to devastating wildfire due to 
        overstocked juniper stands under the federally mandated and 
        locally promulgated Jefferson County Community Wildfire 
        Protection Plan (CWPP).
          (5) The current Wilderness Study Area classification prevents 
        mechanical fire prevention activities within the overstocked 
        juniper stands.
          (6) Advancing this proposed legislation will greatly enhance 
        the life and safety of people and property by reducing the 
        extreme fire threat to these lands.

SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT, DESCHUTES CANYON-STEELHEAD FALLS AND 
                    DESCHUTES CANYON WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS, OREGON.

  (a) Boundary Adjustment Required.--The Secretary of the Interior 
shall adjust the eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead 
Falls Wilderness Study Area and the Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Study 
Area in the State of Oregon to exclude approximately 832 acres, as 
depicted on the map entitled ``Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls 
Wilderness Study Area'' and dated April 6, 2017, in order to facilitate 
fire prevention and response activities on the excluded public lands 
and adjacent private property.
  (b) Effect of Exclusion.--Effective on the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the public lands to be excluded from the Deschutes Canyon-
Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area and the Deschutes Canyon 
Wilderness Study Area pursuant to subsection (a) are no longer subject 
to section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)).

    Amend the title so as to read:
    A bill to adjust the eastern boundary of the Deschutes 
Canyon-Steelhead Falls and Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Study 
Areas in the State of Oregon to facilitate fire prevention and 
response activities to protect private property, and for other 
purposes.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 2075, as ordered reported, is to adjust 
the eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls 
and Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Areas in the State of Oregon to 
facilitate fire prevention and response activities to protect 
private property.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Crooked River Ranch is an unincorporated community in 
central Oregon with a population of about 5,500 residents. The 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers land west of the 
community and directly adjacent to hundreds of homes as the 
Whychus-Deschutes Wilderness Study Area (WD WSA). WD WSA is one 
of 517 wilderness study areas managed by BLM, which 
collectively cover approximately 12.6 million acres across the 
nation.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Wilderness Study Area Information Page. Bureau of Land 
Management.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Jefferson County, Oregon, and Crooked River Ranch 
determined that the WD WSA lands are in the highest risk 
category for exposure to devastating wildfire due to 
overstocked juniper stands under the Jefferson County Community 
Wildfire Protection Plan. To make matters worse, the community 
is located on a peninsula at the convergence of the Crooked 
River and Deschutes River canyons and has only one entrance and 
exit, drastically increasing the risk to public safety from 
fire.
    Despite the high fire risk, BLM is not performing 
mechanical fire prevention activities within the overstocked 
juniper stands in the WD WSA. In addition, firefighting tactics 
are greatly hampered on the WD WSA, leaving local firefighters 
with no maneuvering room to protect life and property in the 
event of catastrophic wildfire. H.R. 2075 excludes roughly 830 
acres of the WD WSA and adjusts its boundary back to the canyon 
rim, providing a buffer between the WD WSA and the community. 
While the land will remain federally owned, reducing the size 
of the WD WSA allows the local community to work with BLM to 
implement practical management to prevent fires and ensures 
local firefighters can protect the community in the event of a 
fire.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2075 was introduced on April 6, 2017, by Congressman 
Greg Walden (R-OR). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 
on Federal Lands. On July 25, 2017, the Natural Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 
discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Tom McClintock (R-
CA) offered an amendment designated #1; it was agreed to by 
voice vote. Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an 
amendment designated 043; it was not agreed to by a roll call 
vote of 14 ayes and 19 noes, as follows:


    No additional amendments were offered, and on July 26, 
2017, the bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to 
the House of Representatives by a bipartisan roll call vote of 
20 ayes and 13 noes, as follows:


            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.

      COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, August 18, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2075, the Crooked 
River Ranch Fire Protection Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
            Sincerely,
                                              Keith Hall, Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2075--Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection Act

    H.R. 2075 would modify the boundaries of two wilderness 
study areas in Oregon to exclude 830 acres of federal land from 
those areas. Because the bill would not significantly affect 
how the Bureau of Land Management would administer the excluded 
lands, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have no 
significant effect on the federal budget.
    Enacting H.R. 2075 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 2075 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 CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for 
Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill, as ordered reported, is to adjust the 
eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls and 
Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Areas in the State of Oregon to 
facilitate fire prevention and response activities to protect 
private property.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

    Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                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.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    We are opposed to H.R. 2075, the Crooked River Ranch Fire 
Protection Act, introduced by Representative Walden of Oregon. 
The bill, which has not received a hearing in the 115th 
Congress, releases 832 acres of public land from two Wilderness 
Study Areas (WSA) adjacent to Crooked River Ranch, a private 
housing development in Central Oregon.
    According to proponents of the bill, adjusting the boundary 
of the WSA will allow mechanized thinning of dense juniper 
stands in a fire prone area. A local collaborative group first 
proposed the concept of adjusting the WSA boundary to improve 
access for wildfire mitigation projects. This working group was 
formed in 2015 and includes representatives from the Crooked 
River Ranch Fire Department, Oregon Natural Desert Association, 
Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area, the Bureau 
of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
    In addition to the WSA boundary adjustment, the 
collaborative proposed designation of a Special Management Area 
to facilitate firefighting efforts and permanent wilderness 
designation for the remaining acreage in the WSA. H.R. 2075 
simply removes the acreage from the wilderness study area and 
ignores the other measures put forward by the collaborative.
    Furthermore, Section 3(b) prohibits future consideration of 
the land released from the WSA as potential wilderness. This 
restriction is unnecessary and does nothing to further the 
stated purpose of reducing wildfire risk.
    At markup, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member 
Grijalva offered an amendment to strike this section from the 
bill. Striking this section from the bill would have been 
enough to garner bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the 
amendment was rejected by the majority. For these reasons, we 
oppose H.R. 2075.

                                   Raul M. Grijalva,
                                           Ranking Member, House 
                                               Natural Resources 
                                               Committee.
                                   Nanette Diaz Barragan.
                                   Darren Soto.
                                   Grace Napolitano.
                                   A. Donald McEachin.
                                   Colleen Hanabusa.

                                  [all]