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:] (1) 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 of the national resource lands, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Sec. 3. Declaration of policy. Sec. 4. Rules and regulations. II Sec. 210. Conforming conveyances to State and local planning. Sec. 211. Authority to issue and correct documents of conveyance. TITLE III-MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTING AUTHORITY Sec. 301. Studies, cooperative agreements, and contributions. Sec. 302. Service charges, reimbursement payments, and excess payments. TITLE IV-AUTHORITY TO GRANT RIGHTS-OF-WAY Sec. 401. Authorization to grant rights-of-way. Sec. 402. Right-of-way corridors. Sec. 404. Terms and conditions. Sec. 405. Suspension or termination of right-of-way. Sec. 406. Rights-of-way for Federal agencies. Sec. 407. Conveyance of lands. 3 1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.-As used in this Act: 2 3 terior. (a) "The Secretary" means the Secretary of the In 4 (b) "National resource lands" means all lands and in5 terests in lands (including the renewable and nonrenewable 6 resources thereof) now or hereafter administered by the 7 Secretary through the Bureau of Land Management, except 8 the Outer Continental Shelf. 9 (c) "Multiple use" means the management of the na10 tional resource lands and their various resource values so 11 that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet 12 the present and future needs of the American people; making 13 the most judicious use of the land for some or all of these 14 resources or related services over areas large enough to pro15 vide sufficient latitude for periodic adjustments in use to 16 conform to changing needs and conditions; the use of some 17 land for less than all of the resources; a combination of bal18 anced and diverse resource uses that takes into account the 19 long-term needs of future generations for renewable and non20 renewable resources, including recreation and scenic values; 21 and harmonious and coordinated management of the various 22 resources without permanent impairment of the productivity 23 of the land and the quality of the environment, with consider24 ation being given to the relative values of the resources and |