50

1

REPEAL OF LAWS RELATING TO ADMINISTRATION OF

2

NATIONAL RESOURCE LANDS

3

SEC. 504. The following statutes or parts of statutes are

The following words only: "Section twenty-four hundred and fifty is amended by striking out, in the fourth line, the words 'Secretary of the Treasury' and inserting the words 'Secretary of the Interior" ".

Revised Statute 2451.

Feb. 27, 1877..

69

19: 244.

1162.

The following words only: "Section twenty-four hundred and fifty-one is amended by striking ont, in the first and second lines, the words 'Secretary of the Treasury' and inserting the words 'Secretary of the Interior'".

Revised Statute 2456.

Sept. 20, 1922....

350

48: 857

1163.

Revised Statute 2457.

561.

The words: ". .. and sections 2450, 2451, and 2456 be amended to read as follows:" and all words following in the Act.

11. Mar. 3, 1801.

12. Revised Statute 2471

REPEAL OF LAWS RELATING TO RIGHTS-OF-WAY

6 SEC. 505. (a) The following statutes or parts of stat

7 utes are repealed insofar as they apply to National Resource

The following words only: "and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes herein specified is acknowledged and confirmed; but whenever any person, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injures or damages the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage."

Revised Statutes 2340....

661.

The following words only: ", or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights,".

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The following words only: "that in the form provided by existing law the Secretary of the Interior may file and approve surveys and plats of any right-of-way for a wagon road, railroad, or other highway over and across any forest reservation or reservoir site when in his judgment the public interests will not be injuriously affected thereby."

Only the last two paragraphs under the subheading "Improvement of the National Forests" under the heading "Forest Service".

1

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of

2 this section, the following statutes are repealed in their

United States Department of the Interior

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240

March 6, 1975

Dear Mr. President and Dear Mr. Speaker.

Transmitted herewith is a draft bill "To provide for the management, protection and development of the national resource lands, and for other purposes."

We recommend that the proposed bill be referred to the appropriate committee and that it be enacted.

The national resource lands administered by the Secretary of the
Interior through the Bureau of Land Management comprise 60% of
all Federal lands. The national resource lands were for many years
used as a means of stimulating the growth and development of the
West. Consequently, little attention was given to preserving the
irreplacable values of those lands. Many of the laws pertaining
to the lands were designed primarily to facilitate disposal. Although
there has been a growing awareness that these lands are an invaluable
national asset and although our policy is now to preserve their
values in Federal ownership for the benefit of the general public,
these lands have inherited an archaic and often conflicting conglom-
eration of laws which govern their use.

Its

From 1812 to 1946, these lands were under the custodial administration
of the General Land Office in the Department of the Interior.
primary job was to survey the land and convey it to qualified apṛli-
cants. The dust storms and other distress of the 1930's focused
national attention on western lands. In 1934, the Taylor Grazing
Act brought a large measure of protection and management to the
"forgotten lands" in the West. For the purpose of managing grazing
of the western lands, the Grazing Service was created within the
Department of the Interior.

From 1934 to 1946, the Grazing Service and the General Land Office shared administration of the western range. The Bureau of Land Management was created in 1946 primarily through consolidation of the functions of these two existing agencies. The variety of responsibilities of the Bureau of Land Management is extracrdinary among the Federal resource management agencies:

In

It has exclusive jurisdiction over and responsibility for managment of 450 million acres of national resource lands. addition, BLM has some management responsibilities on millions of acres of withdrawn lands.

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In cooperation with the Geological Survey, it has responsibilities for administration of the mineral laws on more than 800 million acres of land including public domain, acquired lands and lands in which the United States has reserved mineral interests. In addition, BLM administers the mineral leasing program on the Outer Continental Shelf.

It keeps the basic public land records and does land boundary surveys for most Federal lands.

Despite the extensive responsibilities of BLM, Congress has never clearly defined BLM's mission or made a comprehensive grant of authority to BL to accomplish its mission. Unlike other Federal conservation agencies such as the National Park Service and the National Forest Service, the mission and authority of ELM must be geaned from some three thousand land laws which have accumulated over some 170 years. This piecemeal collection of laws is seriously inadequate, incomplete, and sometime conflicting.

Although the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for more Federal land than any other Federal agency, its authorization to administer the land is inadquate. For example, BLM has insufficient sale and exchange authority and has no general authority to enforce its rules and regulations. It does not have essential administrative authority enjoyed by other Federal agencies, such as really workable exchange authority, or a working capital fund and authority to contract with State and local law enforcement agencies for protection of Federal lands and their uses. The bill transmitted herewith would provide the basic mission statement, and authority for management, protection, development, sale and administration national resource lands. It would be a Congressional declaration, for the first time, of national policies governing the use and management of the national resource lands and would provide specific guidelines for the management of these vast lands.

The format of the bill is designed in view of the long-range needs for a legislative base for the management of the national resource lands, as pointed out in various analyses, including that of the Public Land Law Review Commission. Each title of the proposal is designed to permit separate consideration of its provision and to permit modifications without review of other titles. It provides for a separte repealer title, to consolidate administrative authority in one act and eliminate archaic laws.

53-644 O 75 15

Title I of the proposal, the "National Resource Lands Management Act", declares a national policy that these lands be managed under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield in a manner which will, using all practicable means and measures, protect the quality of environment, including requiring appropriate land reclamation as a condition for use.

It directs the Secretary of the Interior to inventory the national resource lands and to develop comprehensive land use plans for such lands, giving priority to areas of critical environmental concern. "Areas of critical environmental concern" are defined to include, among others, important natural systems and scenic or historic areas. The bill also directs the Secretary to identify land suitable for wilderness study, and to review and make recommendations to Congress for inclusion of eligible land within the Wilderness System. Title II, Conveyance and Acquisition Authorities, would provide modern disposal authority for the Secretary to sell by competitive bidding national resource lards at not less than fair market value, when management of those lands would be significantly improved or when such disposal would serve important public objectives which cannot be prudently and feasibly achieved on land other than the national resource lands, or when the lands are not suitable for Under certain circumstances it would authorize Federal purposes. conveyance of mineral interests in lands to the surface owner if Acquisition of lands needed for proper certain criteria are met.

management of national resource lands would be authorized.

Title III, Management Implementing Authority, would provide modern land management tools and procedures designed to facilitate achievement of the goals and objectives established for the national resource lands. Among other things, it would establish a working capital fund that would afford a more efficient method of accounting for various programs and service operations of the Bureau of Land Management.

It would significantly facilitate management of the national resource lands by making violation of laws and regulations pertaining to them a crime and by vesting enforcement authority in certain designated In addition, the Secretary would be Departmental employees. authorized to cooperate with State and local law enforcement agencies on national resource lands and to reimburse them for extraordinary services on national resource lands.

Title IV provides uniform and comprehensive authority for the Secretary to grant rights-of-way for purposes ranging from roads, trials and canals to powerlines and pipelines other than oil and gas pipelines. Presently this authority must be gleaned from numerous, often overlapping laws.