Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011

[Grumpy]

Hearing on Tuesday, July 26th:

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands Legislative Hearing on H.R. 2578 and H.R. 1581
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:00 AM

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, FOREST AND PUBLIC LANDS
1334 Longworth House Office Building
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
10:00 a.m.

LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON:

•H.R. 2578 (Denham) To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act related to a segment of the Lower Merced River in California, and for other purposes.
•H.R. 1581 (McCarthy) To release wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not suitable for wilderness designation from continued management as defacto wilderness areas and to release inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System that are not recommended for wilderness designation from the land use restrictions of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule and the 2005 State Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management Final Rule, and for other purposes “Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011
WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Senator John Barrasso, R-WY

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA

Rep. Steve Pearce, R-NM

Robert V. Abbey
Director
Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Department of the Interior

Harris Sherman
Under Secretary
Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Panel II

Melissa Simpson
Safari Club International

Chris Horgan
Executive Director
Stewards of the Sequoia

Dave Freeland
Retired Forest Ranger
Sequoia National Forest

Frank Hugelmeyer
President and CEO
Outdoor Industry Association

Panel III

Dan Kleen
President
National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council

Bruce Babbitt
Former Secretary of the Interior

The Honorable Mike Noel
Utah House of Representatives
District 73

The Honorable Kent Connelly
County Commissioner
Lincoln County, Wyoming

[Grumpy]

Republican Majority


Rob Bishop, UT-01
Chairman

◦Don Young, AK-at large
◦John Duncan, TN-02
◦Doug Lamborn, CO-05
◦Paul Broun, GA-10
◦Mike Coffman, CO-06
◦Tom McClintock, CA-04
◦David Rivera, FL-25
◦Scott Tipton, CO-03
◦Raúl Labrador, ID-01
◦Kristi Noem, SD-at large
◦Bill Johnson, OH-06
◦Doc Hastings, WA-04 (ex-officio)




Democratic Minority


Raúl Grijalva, AZ-07
Ranking Minority Member

◦Dale Kildee, MI-05
◦Peter DeFazio, OR-04
◦Rush Holt, NJ-12
◦Martin Heinrich, NM-01
◦John Sarbanes, MD-03
◦Betty Sutton, OH-13
◦Niki Tsongas, MA-05
◦John Garamendi, CA-10
◦Edward Markey, MA-07 (ex-officio

[Grumpy]

I know that Hastings and McClintock are on our side, and that DeFazio very much is not...

[Grumpy]

Note to Hastings. Kind of off the wall, but no time to confer...

H.R. 1581

This needs to happen! We have more than enough land tied up now, and to include more is not fair to the recreating public as a whole. The draconian rules that keep being foisted on the public have gone far enough. I very much resent a small minority being able to tell me how i should spend my recreation dollars, and that because I participate in motorized recreation, I am the bad guy. Please see to it that BLM and USFS get the message that they are here to work with the public for the enjoyment of our lands, not to lock us out. Too many enviro leaning people have taken control, and need to be purged, and a more balanced plan formulated, with all stake holders having an equal say in how our lands are used.

Respectfully,

Dave Walters
Tri Cities Peak Putters 4x4 Club
Land Use Coordinator
Kennewick, WA