Volume 157, No. 147 covering the 1st Session of the 112th Congress (2011 - 2012) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PROTECTING AMERICA'S PUBLIC LANDS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S6062-S6065 on Oct. 4, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PROTECTING AMERICA'S PUBLIC LANDS
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam President, before the Democratic whip, the assistance majority leader, leaves the floor, I wish to acknowledge the great work he has done in standing up for consumers and protecting their interests, and it fits the purpose for which I rise today, which is to talk about protecting our public lands and the importance they hold for all of us as Americans. They are really at the heart of the way of life we hold so dear in Colorado. In addition, I would like to talk about how public lands are important to an issue that all of my colleagues care about; that is, creating jobs.
I know many of my colleagues, including the Acting President pro tempore, understand the value of public lands, but I wish to take a few minutes and list some of the reasons I think they are a vital thread in the fabric of our country.
First, we are a nation of explorers and risk-takers, constantly in search of the next challenge to overcome or the next mountain, literally, to climb. Public lands, especially in the West, are a reminder of this heritage. I wish to also acknowledge in the great Northeast of our country, where the Presiding Officer lives, that we have mountains and we have extensive public lands as well. I know that same spirit is infused in the people of New Hampshire.
But our public lands also benefit our communities across the country through the clean air and the clean water they provide. In urban and rural areas alike, open spaces filter and clean our air and water, improve the environment for surrounding communities, while lowering stormwater management and water treatment costs.
Access to the public lands and the many opportunities they provide is a key reason why many of us choose to live in the West. I know this is particularly true in Colorado, where public lands and outdoor recreation are truly in our blood. It is also one of the reasons Colorado is one of the most active and healthiest States in the country and why I have been encouraging children and families across the Nation to get outside and stay active, especially in our national parks.
The public lands are also, to coin a phrase, in our wallets. When discussing public lands, we cannot forget their importance to our economy. Our public lands have long been a source of economic value, and multiple use is a key component of the management of our public lands. An example: Extractive industries, such as oil and gas development and mining, will continue to be an important part of our economy in the West. But these uses are certainly not the only economic uses of our lands. Outdoor recreation: hunting, hiking, biking--the list goes on and on--are a major use of our lands, and outdoor recreationalists not only enjoy our land, they also support a large and growing industry of supply stores, manufacturers, guides, hotels, and other important businesses.
In fact, in this time of economic uncertainty, outdoor recreation and tourism are two of the bright spots in our economy. I wish to draw attention to the chart I brought to the floor for those viewing the floor of the Senate today. In 2006, the Outdoor Industry Foundation found that biking, hiking, and hunting and all the other outdoor recreational activities add $730 billion to our economy every single year.
Perhaps most important, this is an area of our economy that continues to grow. It has grown by more than 6 percent in 2011 alone and has outpaced U.S. economic growth more generally. These numbers tell a powerful story of the outdoor recreation industry's contribution to our economy.
We hear a lot about the problems government causes, and there are certainly areas we can reform. We can streamline government, make it more efficient. We can get government out of the way where appropriate, and we can increase oversight where necessary.
But when I was traveling my home State of Colorado over the summer, as the Presiding Officer travels her State, I heard a lot about how government is working. I heard about partnerships between national, State and local governments, private businesses and local stakeholders to preserve and protect our natural resources. These efforts are improving the lives of Coloradans. They are creating jobs. They are making communities better places to live, and they are building future economic opportunities.
I wish to share a couple examples in that vein. In July, I was in the town of Creede, which is in the historic San Luis Valley of Colorado. Among other stops, I met with the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee. This is a wonderful example--this committee--of citizens at the local level coming together to take on a problem to create solutions.
In this committee, there are retired miners, artists, local businesspeople, ranchers, vacation homesteaders and Federal and State officials who are working together to clean up pollution in their watershed.
The narrow valley that is above Creede is lined with abandoned mines. While the area boasts some of the best examples of mining structures one will find in the Western United States, pollution from these abandoned mines hurts water quality. The pollution was so bad that residents in the area feared Creede would be placed on the National Priorities List for a Superfund cleanup, a prospect that any community that has faced it understands would hurt their tourism-based economy.
So, in 1999, the residents formed this committee to do something about it themselves. They worked with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, State agencies and many others and developed a plan to clean up their watershed.
The plan they came up with is truly a comprehensive approach that recognizes the full value of their watershed to their community. What struck me most--and again I know the Presiding Officer senses and experiences the same spirit in her home State of New Hampshire--nobody was talking about whether they were a Democrat or Republican. They were not trying to wage political or partisan battles. They saw a problem affecting their livelihoods. They banded together as a community, partnered with the Federal, State and local government officials and they did something about it. Now their streams are healthier, their land is healthier, and their economy is healthier.
I would like to bring some of that Creede pragmatism to Washington, DC. Our public lands are an invaluable natural resource. I hope we can come together in the Congress with policies and solutions to wisely utilize and conserve them.
In that spirit, let me provide some additional examples of what we could do in the spirit of the people in Creede, CO. One incredibly successful government program that has been instrumental to the growth of outdoor recreation across the country is the Land and Water Conservation Fund or the LWCF. In fact, it has been proven over and over that every $1 of LWCF funding creates an additional $4 in economic value.
LWCF was developed on the belief that as we develop and exploit our oil and gas resources, we should set aside also some land for hunting, fishing, and recreation for the enjoyment of future generations. So we as a country set up a mechanism whereby royalties from oil and gas leases were to fully fund LWCF projects.
I have to say, instead of that mission being fully fulfilled, every year those dollars are taken out of LWCF for other unrelated government expenditures, leaving in its wake a huge unmet need in each State across the country. While royalties flow into the government coffers, LWCF has continually been raided, and its authorized $900 million of funding every year has been fulfilled only twice since 1964. Only twice since 1964 has that full $900 million been appropriated.
Not only are we robbing future generations of critical open spaces and outdoor recreation, we are underinvesting in our assets, our public lands, that would drive job creation.
I serve as the chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee. I have seen how these funds have been particularly useful to our parks, and there is no better example in my State than the creation of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. This magnificent park and preserve was made possible by LWCF appropriations that were obtained with very strong local support.
Great Sand Dunes protects one of our Nation's great landmarks. It is also a source of tourist dollars for the surrounding rural communities. That is why I have joined with several of my colleagues, including Senator Bingaman, Senator Burr, Senator Baucus, the Presiding Officer, and others, to fight for full funding of LWCF.
The point I wish to emphasize to my colleagues is that when we talk about natural resources, we are not just talking about beautiful landscapes and future generations. There are incredibly important economic benefits to preserving and protecting these lands.
In that spirit, I wish to briefly discuss another key component of our public lands system--wilderness. Lands classified as ``wilderness'' are critical to our multiple-use management strategy. Some areas should be preserved as wilderness, just as some areas are better suited to mining, oil and gas development or off-road vehicle use.
Wilderness provides opportunities for backpacking, fishing, hiking, grazing, and hunting, as well as protecting these precious landscapes for future generations. Wilderness also provides opportunities for our veterans to reenter and reconnect and heal. I have a column from the Denver Post yesterday that speaks to the ways in which veterans can reconnect to their purpose in life and to reenter society. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Guest Commentary: Vets Find Solace in Mountain Fishing
(By Shawna Bethell)
You know immediately when you are in the presence of grace. Perhaps in a cathedral of limestone and jeweled glass where centuries of ritual have left the scent of myrrh. Or, equally so, perhaps in the cleft of a canyon surrounded by high-country mountains where waterfalls arc from cut stone.
Perhaps it's where--against the roar of fast-moving water--you hear the quiet voices of two men: one of wisdom and one of youth, speaking quietly of water and fish, war and healing, the conversation flowing easily between the two--a common experience binding them.
There is with fly-fishing a serenity that comes, when the mechanics of the process no longer take thought or effort, and the mesmerizing rhythm of a cast settles into mind and memory. When all else slips away, and the fishing becomes the mission in front of you, then comes peace. Or at least, this is what I'm learning.
In late June, Project Healing Waters--a nationwide fly-fishing program for wounded soldiers and veterans--brought 15 participants from Colorado's Fort Carson and Fort Huachuca in Arizona to fish in the cold spring-melt waters around Silverton. The program is based on the principle of shared time and skill between experienced fly-fishermen and our recently returned soldiers.
Programs vary from region to region, but the basic premise is that during winter months, soldiers are taught to tie flies and build fishing rods, then in the spring and summer months, they are taken out to learn the art of fly-fishing--each component lending itself to a specific method of healing, whether it is learning physical dexterity with damaged limbs or prostheses, or giving soldiers a focus outside their memories or mental trauma.
On the day I was invited to join them, I had the opportunity to witness one of those moments of grace, when a local fisherman and a young soldier shared a conversation. It was not a monumental event, nor was the speech eloquent and tried. Instead, it was simply quiet. And the young man who had been solemn and withdrawn, moving along the stream bank with his head lowered, opened to a man who had seen his own war 40 years before.
I had been told in my initial interview with Gary Spuhler of Colorado Springs, coordinator of the Rocky Mountain Region's chapter of PHW, that he got involved because he wanted to make things better for our returning soldiers, better than the way his generation had returned from Vietnam.
And I think the country as a whole, carrying the regret of that treatment, is reaching out more readily to today's veterans, but listening to the gentle ebb and flow between the two men--the seasoned, high-country fisherman and the young soldier, moving easily from fishing to military life to hope for the future and healing, against the backdrop of broad, sheltering landscapes--I recognized something rare.
We are in a time when Congress is ever trying to decimate protections for our wildlands while at the same time these lands are lending solace to those who have been sent to war in the name of our country. It is not a stretch to say that these rivers and streams are part of what is giving back to the veterans who are coming home.
Each fisherman I spoke with, experienced or beginner, spoke of the sound of the water, the scent of the air, and how the rest of the world falls away when they are out there, taking with it the trauma they carry with them.
There is a healing power that comes from the mountains and streams, and there is healing in taking the time to listen to our military men and women.
Project Healing Waters, combining the two, gives us all a lesson worth learning.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. It is an inspiring column. It speaks to the power of wilderness and wilderness activities in the context of our veterans returning home from standing for us in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
Speaking of wilderness opportunities, just this last week I introduced the San Juan Mountain Wilderness Act, along with Senator Bennet. It is similar to a bill I introduced in the last Congress. My bill would designate--we have a photograph of this wonderfully inspiring area. This bill would designate 33,000 acres in southwestern Colorado as wilderness. It would also designate about 2,000 acres as a special management area and withdraw over 6,000 acres from mineral entry lands within the Naturita Canyon area.
This bill is the work of extensive input and collaboration among and across every imaginable stakeholder group. I wish to particularly note the efforts of former Congressman John Salazar and his staff, who worked with the affected Colorado county commissioners, interested citizens, and my staff in developing this legislation over the last 4 years.
It is crafted to take into account the various ongoing uses of these lands, such as for water supplies and recreation, while also providing strong managerial protection for these sensitive lands. I do not have to tell you, when we see this photograph, among many, that this region of Colorado is blessed with stunning beauty.
Much of the land proposed for wilderness and other protections in our legislation are additions to existing wildernesses such as the Mount Sneffels Wilderness Area and the Lizard Head Wilderness Area. The bill also establishes a new area called McKenna Peak. This peak presides over imposing sandstone cliffs which rise 2,000 feet above the surrounding area. It also provides important winter wildlife habitat for large numbers of deer and elk, which then draw many hunters from all over the country every year. Over 30,000 recreational user days are recorded annually during hunting season in this one game management unit. That is a significant number of recreational user days.
The bill would also establish the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area. Since helicopter skiing currently exists in this area, the legislation designates the area in a way that protects its wilderness character but still allows this use to continue. This is, in my opinion, the type of flexibility that is a key for sound wilderness protection proposals and is a shining example of how protection can coexist with responsible use.
What I am saying is, the bill has been carefully tailored and crafted to apply deserving protections to these lands. This is how wilderness should and can be done. Between all the benefits--clean air and water, recreation and economic growth--one would think Congress could work together and enact commonsense public lands legislation such as my San Juan Wilderness bill.
But I am frustrated. I know the Presiding Officer is frustrated this Congress has not recognized the opportunities that are before us. Instead of what I saw happening on the ground in Creede, CO, it seems as if our politics inside the beltway are getting in the way of moving our country forward. A prime example of politics getting in the way, at least in the Senate--I will come back to why I say just in the Senate--
is a bipartisan bill I have introduced called the Ski Area Recreation Opportunity Enhancement Act. I worked closely with Senator Barrasso on it. We have an additional 10 cosponsors across the country. In the House of Representatives, Representative Bishop and Representative DeGette have championed this bill.
Our bill would simply clarify that the Forest Service may permit year-round recreational activities, where appropriate, on ski areas on public lands.
It includes no new Federal spending. I think that is an attractive element of the legislation. It would increase the money coming into the Federal Treasury because it would likely increase permit fees.
The bill would boost year-round activity in ski resorts on public lands, providing more opportunities for outdoor recreation, creating jobs in the process and aiding the rural economies that surround ski areas.
The bill is so bipartisan and strongly supported that it passed the House last night by 394 to 0. No House Members voted against the bill.
Despite bipartisan and bicameral support for the bill, and the fact that it would create jobs, I have not been able to get this bill to a vote on the floor of the Senate. I am tempted to ask unanimous consent that the bill pass, but I will continue to work in the regular order to move the bill to the floor of the Senate and on to passage.
I had a long career--if you want to call it that--as a high-altitude mountain climber before I came to the Congress. That experience prepared me to serve in the House and in the Senate in unexpected ways.
In 1992 I was on the south face of Mount McKinley, known to the people of Alaska as Denali, as well. We were 10 days into what was supposed to be a 7-day climb. We were out of food. The only way to get down was literally to go up and over the top of Mount McKinley.
The lesson I learned in that successful climb was, when you are faced with 20-below temperatures and high winds, the only way home is over the top. You have to work together to accomplish the impossible. When you do work together to accomplish the impossible, you find a way to make it happen.
In some ways I believe that is the choice Congress has to make as we face these challenging times. We can either work together and find a way up and over the summit--passing legislation that will create jobs, fix our budget problems, and start working on the problems Americans face every day--or we can keep fighting with each other, in effect, starving the country of the leadership I know Congress can provide and that we must provide in these challenging times.
Madam President, I close my remarks today by asking my colleagues to join me in passing this straightforward, bipartisan, and commonsense ski areas bill and to support full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I also ask my colleagues to work with me to enact locally developed wilderness proposals, such as the San Juan Wilderness Act.
As we tackle unemployment and how to grow the economy, let's not forget the important role our public lands can and will play in the future.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHANNS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
Alerts Sign-up