TE2 F2 COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS HENRY M. JACKSON, Washington, Chairman FRANK CHURCH, Idaho PAUL J. FANNIN, Arizona LEE METCALF, Montana CLIFFORD P. HANSEN, Wyoming J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, Louisiana MARK O. HATFIELD, Oregon JAMES ABOUREZK, South Dakota JAMES A. MCCLURE, Idaho FLOYD K. HASKELL, Colorado DEWEY F. BARTLETT, Oklahoma GRENVILLE GARSIDE, Special Counsel and Staff Director WILLIAM J. VAN NESS, Chief Counsel HARRISON LOESCH, Minority Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LAND RESOURCES FLOYD K. HASKELL, Colorado, Chairman HENRY M. JACKSON, Washington JAMES A. MCCLURE, Idaho FRANK CHURCH, Idaho MARK O. HATFIELD, Oregon LEE METCALF, Montana CLIFFORD P. HANSEN, Wyoming JAMES ABOUREZK, South Dakota DEWEY F. BARTLETT, Oklahoma STEVEN P. QUARLES, Counsel (II) Church, Hon. Frank, a U.S. Senator from the State of Idaho--- Hagenstein, W. D., executive vice president, Industrial Forestry Associa- Haskell, Hon. Floyd K., a U.S. Senator from the State of Colorado-- Horton, Hon. Jack, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Water Resources; accompanied by George Turcott, Associate Director, BLM; Eleanor Schwartz, Chief, Division of Legislation and Regulatory Man- agement; James W. Monroe, Assistant Director, Legislation and Plans, Alderson, George, Director of Federal Affairs, the Wilderness So- 289, 293 262, 272 351 242, 244 Garrett, Tom, conservation director, Friends of the Earth.-- Goodier, John, chief, Mineral Development Division, Wyoming Depart- ment of Economic Planning and Development, appearing on behalf of Hon. Ed Herschler, Governor of the State of Wyoming-- Landstrom, Karl, attorney, Sportsman's Paradise Homeowners Associa- MacCleery, Doug, forester, National Forest Products Association; accom- panied by John F. Hall, vice sident for forestry affairs--- McGuire, Hon. John R., Chief, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture_- 224 Riley, Robert B., member, Regional Development and Natural Resources Committee of the American Institute of Architects; accompanied by John Gaillard, director of housing and urban programs.. (111) 1, Silcock, Burton W., Federal co-chairman, Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission for Alaska, and David S. Jackman, State cochairman, Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission for Alaska ; accompanied by John Katz, counsel for Joint Federal-State Land Page Use Planning Commission for Alaska. 237 Williams, Darrell, landowner in the State of Idaho 369 Wilson, Cynthia E., National Audubon Society -- 303 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL 378 Landstrom, Karl S., atorney, Sportsman's Paradise Homeowners Associa tion, letter to Senator Haskell, February 5, 1975-- Idaho, February 28, 1975--- 373 372 APPENDIX STATEMENTS Cavanaugh, Thomas J., general counsel of the Public Lands Council.--- 393 396 405 411 427 429 430 COMMUNICATIONS ington, D.C., March 4, 1975_- Washington, D.O., March 6, 1975---- reau of Federation, March 10, 1975--- Farm Bureau Federation, May 9, 1975-- ington, D.C., February 5, 1975... D.C., March 19, 1975_- received from J. Vard Chatburn, member, House of Representatives, 433 422 425 437 MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL RESOURCE LANDS FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1975 U.S. SENATE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10:30 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 3110, Dirksen Office Building, Hon. Floyd K. Haskell presiding. Present: Senators Haskell, Hansen, and McClure. Also present: Steven P. Quarles, counsel; Thomas B. Williams, professional staff member; and W. 0. Craft, Jr., deputy minority counsel. Senator HASKELL. The subcommittee will come to order. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FLOYD K. HASKELL, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO The purpose of this hearing before the Subcommittee on the Environment and Land Resources is to take testimony on S. 507, the National Resource Lands Management Act. This bill, often referred to as the “BLM Organic Act”, would provide the first comprehensive statement of congressional goals, policies, and authority for the use and management of 451 million acres of federally owned lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management. As most of you know, S. 507, as introduced, is virtually identical to S. 424, which was ordered reported unanimously from the Interior Committee and passed the Senate by a 71-1 vote last Congress. I firmly believe this bill is one of the most important measures pending before the committee. Its importance is readily discernible from the fact that the national resource lands comprise two-thirds of all Federal land and one-fifth of our entire land base, and that the Bureau of Land Management is the only major Federal land agency without a modern statutory mandate. The only management tools available to the BLM remain some 3,000 public land laws which have accumulated over the last 170 years. A goodly proportion of these laws were written in the last century at a time when the policy of rapid disposal, rather than retention, of the public lands prevailed. Not unexpectedly, therefore, these laws are often conflicting, sometimes truly contradictory, certainly incomplete and inadequate, and largely lacking in enforcement authority. S. 507 will provide the vitally needed modern statutory mandate to the BLM. I plan to make this measure a priority item of business for the subcommittee and look forward to the same level of bipartisan support enjoyed by S. 424 during the last Congress. At this point I will insert in the record the text of S. 507, departmental reports, and a statement from Senator Church. [The material referred to above follows:] IN TIIE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 30, 1975 Mr. HASKELL (for himself, Jr. Jackson, and Mr. METCALF) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on |