Bush, congress ok wilderness reduction and new roads through national parks

: National Desk, Environment Reporter


http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRe...d=140-10282003


Contact: Bonnie Galvin, 202-429-2681, Kristen Brengel, 202-429-2694,
Dave Slater, 202-429-8441, Pete Rafle, 202-429-2642, all of The
Wilderness Society

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement of The
Wilderness Society:

Not only will fewer wild and scenic places gain protection next year
under a $19.66 billion Interior Department spending bill agreed to
last night, but existing environmental protections for wild landscapes
in Alaska and the Rocky Mountain West were stripped away during final
negotiations.

Perhaps the most egregious development was the elimination of a
provision passed by the House of Representatives that would have
protected National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National
Monuments, and Wilderness Areas from road-building under a
19th-century mining law known as RS 2477. The House had voted to add
the Republican-sponsored compromise language during floor debate, but
conferees stripped it out of the final bill, despite support for the
clause from conservation groups and members of Congress from both
parties. (See attached backgrounder below for more information.)

"This was a truly radical move," said Kristen Brengel of The
Wilderness Society. "By removing their own compromise language, the
House leadership has signaled that parks, refuges, and wilderness are
on the chopping block and ready to be carved up by roads. Back in
July, the American public was left with the impression that Congress
would protect the country's most sensitive land from the Bush
Administration's overreaching regulation. Now we know that nothing is
sacred, even America's National Parks could be in danger."

The bill also abandons the Conservation Trust Fund, and underfunds its
programs by hundreds of millions of dollars. Congress established the
Conservation Trust Fund in 2000 to provide a special pot of money for,
and only for, priority conservation, recreation and wildlife programs,
including effective and popular programs like the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF), Forest Legacy, and State Wildlife Grants. A
bipartisan coalition of 56 senators had sent a strongly worded letter
to conferees asking them to maintain the Conservation Trust Fund
commitment. However, the conference Interior Appropriations bill does
not include the Conservation Trust Fund mechanism. Cuts in
Conservation Trust Fund programs include a 44 percent reduction in
LWCF federal land acquisition, from $313 million in Fiscal Year 2003,
to $177 million.

"This significantly undermines our nation's ability to protect its
remaining wild and natural places, and the wildlife, recreation, and
cultural resources that make them special," said Bonnie Galvin,
Director of Appropriations and Budget for The Wilderness Society. "The
Conservation Trust Fund promised critically-needed funding that would
have, after decades of struggle, ensured adequate resources to protect
and enhance our nation's parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other
public lands. This bill, in contrast, cuts hundreds of millions of
dollars from federal land acquisition and other priority conservation
activities."

"There are people across the country willing to sell their land to
strengthen and expand National Parks and Refuges, but they can't wait
forever," said Galvin. "These are more than just numbers. Wild places
will be developed and paved over because of the cuts in conservation
spending."

Among the other environmentally damaging provisions of the bill
approved last night by a House-Senate conference committee was a
provision sponsored by Senator Ted Stevens (R, AK) that would
hamstring citizens' ability to challenge certain timber sales in the
Tongass National Forest in south-east Alaska. At press time, it was
not yet clear whether a provision allowing drilling in the waters of
Alaska's Bristol Bay was included.

-- RS 2477 Background

o Last-minute Removal of "RS 2477" Provision Opens Sensitive Public
Lands to Damaging Road Claims

Last night, while finalizing the Interior appropriations bill for
2004, Congress removed an important provision to the House bill that
would have protected some of America's most sensitive and beloved
public lands from damaging road claims made under an arcane law known
as Revised Statute 2477. The provision, section 337, would have barred
implementation of a recent Department of the Interior regulation
establishing procedures for issuing "recordable disclaimers of
interest" with regard to any lands within a designated National Park,
National Wildlife Refuge, National Monument, and Wilderness and
Wilderness Study area.

The circumstances under which this provision was stripped from the
bill are troubling. In July, the House majority passed a measure that
limited an amendment by Rep. Mark Udall that would have prohibited use
of federal funds to process road claims made under RS 2477. In doing
so, the majority stated a commitment to prohibiting BLM from
processing disclaimers on roads crossing National Parks, National
Monuments, Wilderness Study Areas, National Wildlife Refuges, or
federal Wilderness areas.

Just last week, 104 House members sent a letter to House and Senate
members of the Interior Appropriations conference committee to urge
them to leave intact the House-passed amendment. But last night's
ill-conceived elimination of the provision means that counties could
be allowed to develop roads across these precious lands that are owned
by all Americans.

"The conservation community is often condemned for asking for too
much, but in this case we supported a compromise agreement and had the
rug pulled out from under us," said The Wilderness Society's Kristen
Brengel. "Congress passed an amendment in July saying that they wanted
to limit use of this extreme and harmful rule. Now, they have used a
closed conference to pull a bait and switch that clearly establishes
that they are not even going to put National Parks and National
Wildlife Refuges off limits to these damaging road claims."



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