[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 41 (Monday, October 13, 1997)]
[Pages 1535-1536]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act 
of 1997

October 9, 1997

    I am pleased to sign today H.R. 1420, the ``National Wildlife Refuge 
System Improvement Act of 1997.'' This Act will strengthen and improve 
our National Wildlife Refuge System as we enter the 21st century. It 
embodies the principle that whether they cast a line, pitch a decoy, or 
click a shutter, the 30 million Americans who annually visit and enjoy 
our refuges have one common and enduring interest--the conservation of 
fish, wildlife, and their habitat. That is what the National Wildlife 
Refuge System is about and that is what this Act will promote and 
ensure.
    The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's greatest system 
of lands dedicated to the conservation of fish and wildlife. It is a 
system founded in faith; a belief that in a country as bountiful and 
diverse as ours, there ought to be special places that are set aside 
exclusively for the conservation of fish and wildlife resources. These 
special places are National Wildlife Refuges where the conservation 
needs of wildlife are paramount.
    Key provisions of H.R. 1420 mirror those of Executive Order 12996, 
Management and General Public Use of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System, which I signed in March 1996. These provisions include the 
mission statement for the Refuge System, the designation of priority 
public uses, and a requirement that the environmental health of the 
Refuge System be maintained.
    The bill maintains the crucial distinction clearly set forth in my 
Executive order between wildlife conservation as the dominant

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refuge goal and compatible wildlife-dependent recreation as a priority 
public use. Wildlife conservation is the purpose of the refuges. The 
opportunity for compatible recreational uses are the important benefits 
that flow from this purpose. This bill recognizes that the use of refuge 
lands and waters, to the extent that such use can be allowed, shall be 
reserved first to those recreational activities that depend and thrive 
on abundant populations of fish and wildlife.
    The bill also maintains the strict policy, first established by the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, that all 
refuge uses must be compatible with the primary purpose or purposes for 
which the refuge was established. It sets up a sensible, consistent, and 
public process for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's managers to 
follow in making compatibility determinations, and it adopts the Fish 
and Wildlife Service's longstanding regulatory standard for 
compatibility.
    The bill reiterates the specific categories of wildlife-dependent 
recreation found in Executive Order 12996 that are to be considered as 
the ``priority public uses'' for the refuge system: hunting, fishing, 
wildlife observation and photography, and environmental education and 
interpretation. Where compatible, refuge managers are to provide 
increased opportunities for these uses and enhance the attention they 
receive in refuge management and planning.
    Finally, H.R. 1420 maintains the historic Refuge System policy that 
refuges are ``closed until open.'' That is, in order to ensure that 
wildlife needs come first, existing refuge lands and waters are closed 
to public uses until they are specifically opened for such uses. Also as 
provided in Executive Order 12996, the bill establishes a new process 
for identifying compatible wildlife-dependent recreational activities 
prior to the acquisition of new refuge areas, thereby avoiding the 
temporary closure of ongoing compatible recreational activities.
    This bill is the result of extensive negotiations by my 
Administration, the Congress, and environmental and sportmen's groups. 
Starting from widely differing positions, they worked intensively to 
reach the compromise reflected in this legislation. The bill is proof 
that when there is a shared commitment to do what is right for our 
natural resources, partisan and ideological differences can be set aside 
and compromises can be negotiated for the benefit of the common good. It 
is clearly the most significant conservation legislation to emerge from 
this Congress to date. I hope and trust the process by which this bill 
was enacted will serve as a model for future congressional action on 
other environmental measures.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 9, 1997.

Note: H.R. 1420, approved October 9, was assigned Public Law No. 105-57.