• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

S. HRG. 112–131 MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS BILLS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON S. 233 S. 268 S. 375 S. 714 S. 730 MAY 25, 2011 ( Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 70–975 PDF WASHINGTON : 2011 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico, Chairman RON WYDEN, Oregon LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MIKE LEE, Utah BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont RAND PAUL, Kentucky DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan DANIEL COATS, Indiana MARK UDALL, Colorado ROB PORTMAN, Ohio JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota AL FRANKEN, Minnesota BOB CORKER, Tennessee JOE MANCHIN, III, West Virginia CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware ROBERT M. SIMON, Staff Director SAM E. FOWLER, Chief Counsel MCKIE CAMPBELL, Republican Staff Director KAREN K. BILLUPS, Republican Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS RON WYDEN, Oregon, Chairman TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MIKE LEE, Utah MARK UDALL, Colorado RAND PAUL, Kentucky JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire ROB PORTMAN, Ohio AL FRANKEN, Minnesota JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware JEFF BINGAMAN and LISA MURKOWSKI are Ex Officio Members of the Subcommittee (II) C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS Page Anderson, Sherman, President and Owner, Sun Mountain Lumber, Inc. & Sun Mountain Logging LLC, Deer Lodge, MT .................................................. 73 Barrasso, Hon. John, U.S. Senator From Wyoming ............................................. 12 Baucus, Hon. Max, U.S. Senator From Montana .................................................. 15 Begich, Hon. Mark, U.S. Senator From Alaska .................................................... 14 Burke, Marcilynn, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, Depart- ment of the Interior ............................................................................................. 35 Congdon, Walter E., Montana Cattlemen’s Association, Dell, MT ...................... 76 Mallott, Byron, Board Member, Sealaska Corporation, Juneau, AK .................. 52 Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, U.S. Senator From Alaska ............................................... 2 Poelstra, Myla, Representing Nine Alaska Towns, Edna Bay, AK ..................... 65 Sherman, Harris, Under Secretary, Natural Resources and Environment, De- partment of Agriculture ....................................................................................... 25 Tester, Hon. Jon, U.S. Senator From Montana ..................................................... 20 Wyden, Hon. Ron, U.S. Senator From Oregon ...................................................... 1 APPENDIXES APPENDIX I Responses to additional questions .......................................................................... 89 APPENDIX II Additional material submitted for the record ........................................................ 91 (III) MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS BILLS Wednesday, May 25, 2011 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:33 p.m. in room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Ron Wyden pre- siding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RON WYDEN, U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON Senator WYDEN. The subcommittee will come to order. This after- noon the subcommittee is going to receive testimony on the remain- ing bills that have been reintroduced from the last Congress. As was the case for the bills on last week’s hearing schedule, all the bills were considered by the subcommittee last Congress. The pur- pose of today’s hearing is to update the record and to allow com- mittee members an opportunity to ask any questions they may have. The bills on today’s agenda include: S. 233, the North Fork Watershed Protection Act S. 268, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act S. 375, the Good Neighbor Forestry Act S. 714, the Reauthorization of the Federal Land Transaction Fa- cilitation Act and S. 730, the Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finaliza- tion and Jobs Protection Act. Obviously the subcommittee’s got a lot to cover this afternoon. In addition to statements from committee members, three of our colleagues have asked to speak in support of their bills. We’ll have several witnesses testifying on behalf of the Obama Administra- tion. Finally we’ll wrap up with a panel of witnesses from Montana and Alaska, who have certainly traveled far to speak on the bills that are of interest to them. I know that these bills are important to my colleagues who have undertaken a great deal of work on these issues. A few of the bills are a little bit more complicated and a little bit more controversial than the bills that the subcommittee considered last week. But I want to re-emphasize my commitment to continue to work with all of the bill’s sponsors to find a way to move these bills through the Senate and get them enacted into law this Congress. (1) 2 I know there are a lot of issues of concern on both sides. But I think the fact there has been so much hard work put in. Not just from the bill’s sponsors but from many of the other interested par- ties that we have an opportunity to address these issues and to move forward. I’m pleased that among today’s bills is S. 714, to reauthorize Fed- eral Land Transaction Facilitation Act. I’m a co-sponsor of this leg- islation that’s been introduced by the chairman of the committee, Senator Bingaman. This authority is set to expire this summer, provides the Bureau of Land Management the ability to dispose of properties that simply don’t any longer make sense for them to own. The funds then can be used to acquire critical properties such as in holdings that are surrounded by other Federal lands. In my home State this fiscally responsible program has been used to sell lands to ranchers, who are able to expand their ranches with lands the BLM does not need. The funds from those sales have then been used to acquire some truly magnificent properties such as lands along the Rogue National Wild and Scenic River and in our National Wildlife Refuges. So I’m very much hoping that this legislation will be reauthorized. At this time I want to recognize my colleagues, the Ranking Member of the full committee is here today, Senator Murkowski and then Senator Barrasso. I want to welcome my friends and col- leagues beginning with Senator Murkowski. STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do thank you for holding this hearing on all of these bills. I will be confining my remarks here to S. 730 which is what most Alaskans refer to as the Sealaska Lands Bill. First of all I’d like to welcome the two witnesses who have come from Alaska to testify today. Byron Mallott, who is a Board Member and former President and CEO of Sealaska. And also Myla Poelstra, of Edna Bay, who I know has concerns about the bill and its impact to her community. I welcome the proposals, what I know to be constructive changes in the bill from Myla. To you, Byron, I certainly understand the de- sire of Alaska natives to finally, after some 40 years, get their long promised land. So I thank you for coming today. Myla, I thank you as well. I ask, Mr. Chairman, that I submit for the record a rather lengthy statement and several of these documents that I have that pertain to S. 730, if I can make them part of the record as well. Senator WYDEN. Without objection, so ordered. Senator MURKOWSKI. I would like to just briefly summarize why I continue to strongly support this bill. I appreciate the support of my colleague, Senator Begich. I’m pleased that he’s here this after- noon to lend his comments as well. Back in 1971 Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act which gave Sealaska, the corporation that represents the region’s nearly 20,000 native shareholders, the right to select only about 375,000 acres in return for giving up native Aboriginal 3 claims to most of the 23 million acres that make up Southeast Alaska. As I mentioned it’s been 40 years. ANCSA will have its 40th anniversary coming up on December 18 of this year. Forty years is a long time to be waiting for these land issues to be re- solved. This bill allows Sealaska to select other lands to complete its en- titlement. These lands are not part of parks or wilderness. The bill attempts to encourage Sealaska to diversify, to reduce timber har- vesting by giving the corporation access to some sites where they can develop their businesses whether it’s in renewable energy, whether it’s tourism. In return the corporation has to give unprece- dented public access to their private property allowing hunters and recreationalists to utilize their timber lands and cross their devel- opment and sacred sites honoring all existing easements. Now from an environmental standpoint, this bill is clearly bene- ficial. It will likely result in Sealaska logging about 38,000 fewer acres of old growth timber than it could have done initially if forced to stay within its original selection boxes. It pushes Sealaska to focus on second growth, smaller diameter timber, exactly what the Obama administration says it wants to see happen in Alaska. But without passage of this bill, Sealaska will likely be forced out of the timber business. Frankly, that is why, I believe, some groups may well oppose this bill. Because if Sealaska totally leaves the timber business, then the rest of the wood products industry in Southeast Alaska which is already hanging by a thread will almost certainly collapse.

Load more

  175

Copy Link