文章基本信息

标题：STATE SEEKS VOICE ON FEDERAL LANDS BILL TO ALLOW JOINT MANAGEMENT
作者：Betsy Z. Russell Staff writer The Associated Press
期刊名称：Spokesman Review, The (Spokane)
出版年度：1996
卷号：Feb 22, 1996
出版社：Cowles Publishing Co.

STATE SEEKS VOICE ON FEDERAL LANDS BILL TO ALLOW JOINT MANAGEMENT

Betsy Z. Russell Staff writer The Associated Press

Controversial legislation encouraging state involvement in managing federal lands easily cleared the Senate Resources and Environment Committee on Wednesday, but not without objections.

Sen. Mary Lou Reed, D-Coeur d'Alene, led an effort to amend the bill to add guarantees that public access to the land would be maintained, along with water quality, wildlife, fish and recreational values. She also wanted the bill to note that public land shouldn't be sold.

Sen. Judi Danielson, R-Council, sponsor of the bill, added those assurances in a "statement of legislative intent" attached to the bill, but Reed said they should be included in the law. The committee disagreed, voting against amending the bill.

The bill, which directs the state Land Board to negotiate cooperative management agreements on demonstration sites in Idaho national forests, drew more than 200 people to an evening hearing Monday. Before the hearing started, press conferences and demonstrations by conservationists and loggers escalated into shouting.

Sen. Laird Noh, R-Kimberly, the committee chairman, said people may be reading too much into the bill. "This Legislature, by passing this, is not going to waive any federal laws, rules or procedures. Those people who think we're going to start logging and opening mills if this is passed are misled."

The committee also approved a resolution, authored by Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, stating that the Legislature opposes any major sell-off of public lands.

The only committee member to vote against that measure was Sen. Bob Geddes, R-Soda Springs, a mining engineer.

"These public lands don't belong to just the miners, the loggers, the cattlemen," Democratic Sen. Lin Whitworth of Inkom said. "They belong to the public."

Both measures now go to the full Senate for votes.

Sen. John Hansen, R-Idaho Falls, said they won't bring big changes unless Congress decides to change how federal lands are managed.

"We need to be careful that we don't raise expectations beyond reality," he said. "It's going to take Congress, and the likelihood is it will be years, if ever, before Congress can get it together."