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Opening Remarks of U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva
Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Legislative Hearing on H.R. 2016:
National Landscape Conservation System Act
June 7, 2007
I would like to welcome everyone to today's hearing on legislation I have introduced - H.R. 2016: The National Landscape Conservation System Act. I would like to thank the witnesses joining us today for their time and effort to be here. Their insights will be very helpful as the subcommittee considers this legislation.
The National Landscape Conservation System exists on 26 million acres across the western United States and it exists in Bureau of Land Management regulations. The NLCS does not exist, however, in statute. H.R. 2016 will remedy that by providing simple, permanent, congressional authorization for this conservation system within the BLM.
H.R. 2016 is straight-forward legislation - only three pages long. The bill does not alter the management of any existing NLCS units nor change the overall management of the system. The monuments, NCAs, wild and scenic rivers and other NLCS units will continue to be managed according to their enabling authority and other applicable laws.
What this legislation does do is provide the system with a congressional stamp of approval - giving the NLCS the direction and backing it needs to flourish in years to come.
We are well aware that the history of some of the units within the NLCS includes periods of controversy - though many of the fears expressed at the time some of these units were designated have never materialized.
To reassure anyone who remains concerned, however, let me be clear -- nothing in this legislation increases federal land ownership or regulation or impacts private land in any way. While we might support new designations in the future, this bill does not include any new additions to the system.
H.R. 2016 is less about acreage or management and more about the BLM and its mission. In the not too distant past, the first step in any effort to conserve BLM land was to transfer the land to the National Park Service. The purpose of H.R. 2016 is to provide Congressional recognition of BLM's efforts to fulfill the conservation aspect of its multiple use mandate by retaining and conserving these areas.
The units of the NLCS are indeed special places. We welcome BLM's effort to conserve them for present and future generations and are eager to support the agency in that effort through H.R. 2016.
With that, I will turn to the Ranking Member, Mr. Bishop, for any opening comments he may have. Mr. Bishop?
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