T526 COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS HENRY M. JACKSON, Washington, Chairman FRANK CHURCH, Idaho LEE METCALF, Montana J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, Louisiana JAMES ABOUREZK, South Dakota JOHN GLENN, Ohio RICHARD STONE, Florida PAUL J. FANNIN, Arizona GRENVILLE GARSIDE, Special Counsel and Staff Director D. MICHAEL HARVEY, Deputy Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LAND RESOURCES HENRY M. JACKSON, Washington JAMES ABOUREZK, South Dakota JAMES A. McCLURE, Idaho DALE BUMPERS, Arkansas STEVEN P. QUARLES, Counsel THOMAS B. WILLIAMS, Professional Staff Member (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 Bettwy, Andrew L., Land Commissioner, State of Arizona.... 262, 272 297 351 Evans, James, legislative representative, National Association of Coun- 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- 242, 244 MacCleery, Doug, forester, National Forest Products Association; accom- panied by John F. Hall, vice president for forestry affairs------ McGuire, Hon. John R., Chief, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture__ Riley, Robert B., member, Regional Development and Natural Resources Committee of the American Institute of Architects; accompanied by John Silcock, Burton W., Federal co-chairman, Joint Federal-State Land Use Williams, Darrell, landowner in the State of Idaho___ Page 237 369 303 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Landstrom, Karl S., atorney, Sportsman's Paradise Homeowners Associa- 378 373 Williams, Darrell T., letter to William L. Mathews, February 24, 1975-- 372 APPENDIX STATEMENTS Cavanaugh, Thomas J., general counsel of the Public Lands Council__. COMMUNICATIONS Haskell, Hon. Floyd K., a U.S. Senator from the State of Colorado, letters received from: 393 396 405 411 Alan M. Nedry, special counsel, Southern California Edison Co., Washington, D.C., March 4, 1975-- 427 C. R. Gutermuth, president, National Rifle Association of America, 429 John C. Datt, director Congressional Relations, American Farm Bureau of Federation, March 10, 1975--- 430 James Whaley, chairman, National Resources Committee, Wyoming 433 Jackson, Hon. Henry M., a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington, letters received from: Alan M. Nedry, special counsel, Southern California Edison Co., Washington, D.C., February 5, 1975-- 422 William R. Denton, vice president, Southern Pacific Co., Washington, 425 McClure, Hon. James A., a U.S. Senator from the State of Idaho, letter received from J. Vard Chatburn, member, House of Representatives, State of Idaho, March 10, 1975---. 437 MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL RESOURCE LANDS FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1975 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LAND RESOURCES, 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. O. 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:] Mr. HASKELL (for himself, Mr. JACKSON, and Mr. METCALF) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on To provide for the management, protection, and development tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Sec. 3. Declaration of policy. Sec. 4. Rules and regulations. II |