Sill, Marjorie, Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club, Reno, NV Swallow, George Ñ., Blue Energy Resources, Inc., and Intermountain Ranges, Thurmond, Hon. Strom, a U.S. Senator from the State of South Carolina. Vucanovich, Hon. Barbara F., a U.S. Representative from the State of Nevada Waite, Dr. Robert Starr, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. White, Hon. Barlow N., mayor, city of Ely, NV .... 76 ESTABLISHING THE GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK AND MISCELLANEOUS BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1986 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, RESERVED Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:35 a.m., in room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Chic Hecht, presiding. Present: Senators Hecht and Rockefeller Also present: Tony Bevinetto, professional staff member; and Thomas B. Williams, professional staff member for minority OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHIC HECHT, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEVADA Senator HECHT. Will everyone please take a seat. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This morning the Subcommittee on Public Lands, Reserved Water and Resource Conservation will hear testimony on the following bills: S. 2384, to amend Public Law 95-625 to permit acquisition of certain lands for an administrative site for the New River Gorge National River, WV; S. 2506, to establish a Great Basin National Park in the State of Nevada, and for other purposes; and S. 2534, to authorize the acquisition and development of a mainland tour boat facility for the Fort Sumter National Monument, SC, and for other purposes. I will place a copy of each of these bills in the hearing record. The hearing record will remain open for 2 weeks after today during which time written testimony on any of these measures can be submitted to the subcommittee. In the interest of time, I would ask the witnesses to limit their oral statements to 5 minutes. Please keep an eye on the lighted timer we have displayed. When you see the yellow light come on you will know that you have 1 minute remaining to speak. Please begin to make your concluding remarks at that time, and when the red light comes on finish your sentence and then stop. Additional written comments may be provided and the entire testimony, oral and written, will be included in the record. Before we begin with the witnesses I'd like to turn for a moment to S. 2506. The Great Basin is one of the few major geographic and geologic regions in our country that is not yet represented in the National Park System. Lawmakers and the conservation community have been aware of this oversight since 1924, when Senator Key Pittman of Nevada introduced the first national park bill for the area. The area to become a national park through S. 2506 has already been recognized by the Federal Government as having much to commend it for preservation in the national interest. The Lehman Caves National Monument to be included in the park contains remarkable mineral formations. Wheeler Peak, one of the main park attractions, includes what many consider to be a glacial remnant from the Ice Age. Several groves of bristlecone pine trees, the oldest living things on our planet, are also found within the borders of the proposed Great Basin National Park. Past park proposals have ranged in size from the 20,000-acre Pittman proposal to the much larger 174,000-acre proposal that passed the House earlier this year. I know the administration has concerns over the budgetary impact and multiple use conflicts that are posed by the House bill. I believe the 44,000-acre Senate bill minimizes these problems and is a more acceptable approach. The bill which Senator Laxalt and I introduced contains all the key natural features which should be included in a Great Basin National Park. It also reduces potential conflicts with the traditional industries of White Pine County, ranching and mining. For instance, while the House bill contains 828 valid unpatented mining claims, the Senate bill only contains an estimated 200 such claims. The House bill says grazing may continue in the park. The Senate bill says it shall continue as before, and allows a rancher to try to exchange grazing allotments inside the park for any that might become available outside the park. To minimize the costs to the taxpayer of creating a new park, I have deliberately excluded all private inholdings from the park boundaries. The Senate park proposal would therefore require little or no money for land acquisition. In contrast, the House bill puts valuable private land into that park. Some of the visitor facilities needed for a park already exist. There is therefore little need to spend a lot of money on park development. I believe this area of Nevada is a truly beautiful example of the mountain ranges which typify the Great Basin, and will make a great contribution to our country's National Park System. We have a statement from Senator Laxalt, which will be included in the record today. [The texts of the bills and the prepared statement of Senator Laxalt follow:] To amend Public Law 95-625 to permit the acquisition of certain lands for an administrative site for the New River Gorge National River, West Virginia. II IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29 (legislative day, APRIL 28), 1986 Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. BYRD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend Public Law 95-625 to permit the acquisition of certain lands for an administrative site for the New River Gorge National River, West Virginia. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That section 1102(a) of the National Parks and Recreation 4 Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-625) is amended by inserting 5 the following after the second sentence: "In addition, the 6 Secretary may acquire by any of the foregoing methods not 7 to exceed ten acres outside the boundaries of the national 8 river for an administrative headquarters site, and funds ap |