Administration of William J. Clinton, 1997 /Oct. 9 [Page 1535] -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 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 1536 Oct. 9 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1997 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 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 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. |
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William J. Clinton The White House, |
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