Legislative Hearing on Nine Public Lands and Historic Preservation Bills

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good morning everyone and welcome back good morning everyone and welcome back I hope our members had a productive August district work period and had the opportunity to hear directly from the people that we represent. We're gonna start here.

Yeah.

K. Subcommittee on Federal Lands will come to order. Without objection, I wanted to go right into that opening statement. I'm just ready to go. Uh, the subcommittee is meeting today to consider nine bills, HR six forty-two, Representative Stubbe, s fifty four seventy, Mister LaHood, sixty seven eighty eight, Downing, ninety two sixty nine. Clyburn, ninety six hundred, Raskin, ninety seven seventy nine, Gonzalez. Ten, one twenty eight, McClintock. Ten, one thirty six, Westerman. And Senate, six seventy five, Senator Holman. I ask unanimous consent that the following members be allowed to participate in today's hearing. From the dais, the gentle lady from Oregon, Miss Hoyle, the gentleman from Montana, Mister Downing. Gentleman from Illinois, Mister Clyburn. Gentleman from Illinois, Mister LaHood, the gentleman from Texas, Mister Gonzalez, the gentleman from Maryland, Mister Raskin, and the gentleman from Florida, Mister Stuebe. Without objection, so ordered, under committee rule four F, any oral opening statements at hearings are limited to the chairman and the ranking minority member. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all other members' opening statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted, in accordance with committee rule three, par and O. Without objection. So ordered. I'll now recognize myself for that opening statement. Today, the subcommittee gets right back to work considering nine bills focusing on improving federal land management, expanding public access and recreation, supporting local communities, and commemorating important pieces of American history. And as America celebrates its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, several several bills before us concern the people, places and events that have shaped our history, from Thomas Paine and the struggle for American independence, to the African American civil rights movement, and the legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt. First, we will consider legislation from the newest member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Representative Downing's Montana Sportsman Conservation Act. This important bill addresses a problem plaguing the western United States. Unresolved, and so-called temporary federal designations, that have lingered for decades. Representative Downing's bill would release approximately a hundred and four thousand acres in three wilderness study areas in Montana that federal land management agencies have determined are unsuitable for wilderness designation. Some of these recommendations date back more than thirty years. Yet because only Congress can resolve their status, these lands remain subject to these stringent regulations even to this day. That is exactly the kind of federal land management problem Congress should be working to fix. Representative Downing's bill would return these lands to management under the applicable Federal Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management plans, providing uh greater flexibility for sportsmen, public access, wildlife habitat work, and wildfire mitigation. Chairman Westerman's Cross-It Experimental Forest Act offers another practical solution to a long-standing management challenge. The CrossFit Experimental Forest in Arkansas has supported forestry research and education for more than ninety years. But due to an overburdened federal estate, the forest service has shuttered work on the forest dramatically over the past few years. Chairman Westerman's legislation would transfer the forest to the state of Arkansas, which is prepared to dedicate the resources necessary to continue this important research and education mission in um in partnership with the University of Arkansas, at Monticello. We will also examine legislation from Representative McClintock to strengthen coordination between the National Park Service and Gateway communities. More than one thousand communities sit within one mile of a national park. And the the decisions made by federal land managers can have very real consequences for the people who live and work there. This bill would help insure those communities have a consistent voice when federal decisions affect access, tourism, infrastructure, and local economies. As chairman of this subcommittee, I believe we have a responsibility to carefully consider proposals that expand federal designations or otherwise change how lands and resources are managed. A federal designation should not come at the expense of private property rights, existing uses, local communities, or responsible management. Several of the bills before us today give us an opportunity to examine these issues in an in-depth, nuanced manner. Representative Stubbe's Myakka, Wild and Scenic River Act would federally designate thirty-four miles of Florida's Myakka River, which has been managed under a state wild and scenic river designation since nineteen eighty-five. Importantly, the legislation seeks to maintain the existing state and local management framework, prohibits condemnation, and does not make the river a unit of the national park system. I look forward to hearing more about why a federal designation is needed and how these protections would work in practice. Similarly, representative Lahoos' legislation would designate the roughly twenty-four hundred mile route sixty-six corridor as a national historic trail as communities across the country celebrate route sixty-six centennial anniversary this year. The bill contains important protections intended to ensure the designation does not create buffer zones, interfere interfere with energy development, authorize condemnation, or impose new federal permitting requirements. Those safeguards matter and I look forward to discussing them today. There's a lot for this subcommittee to consider today, whether we are discussing a new federal designation, resolving a decades-old widdle wilderness study area, transferring land to a state, or recognizing an important part of our history, Congress should ask the same basic questions. Is federal action necessary? Does it respect private property and existing uses? And will it result in better management for the people who actually use and depend on these lands? I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and examining each of these proposals. With that, I yield back and now recognize the Chairman of the full committee, Mister Westermann.

Well, thank you, Chairman Tiffany, for holding this important hearing today, well, for the subcommittee on federal lands. We have a a full agenda, and I appreciate all the witnesses being here to talk about these important topics. And I know that as this Congress is, uh, if we can see the goal line in the side to the to the end of this Congress, I get approached almost every day by a member wanting to get an issue before this subcommittee uh because these issues are so important to both republicans and democrats all across the country and today is no exception as we have many bipartisan bicameral bills on the agenda and i hope that by working together we can advance many of them through the process and to the president's desk before the end of the year i'm going to focus most of my remarks today on the bill that i'm sponsoring but before i do i'd briefly highlight senate bill six seventy five of the theodore roosevelt presidential library act the roosevelt presidential library is a world-class facility that opened in north dakota earlier this year and i commend secretary doug bergham for his leadership in bringing the library to his home state when he was governor as we turn a bit south towards my home state of arkansas i recently introduced the This legislation will transfer the CrossFit experimental forest in southern Arkansas from the Forest Service to the state of Arkansas. Now, CrossFit may only encompass about seventeen hundred acres, but for more than ninety years the work that has been done there has an outsized contribution to American forestry. And this forest goes back to some of the original forest research done in our country. It was established in nineteen thirty four and it served as a premier location for forestry research education and demonstration. Research that was conducted there has helped foresters better understand southern palm forest and develop long-term management practices. CrossFit has also demonstrated what can be accomplished through strong partnerships. For decades, the Forest Service, the State of Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas at Monticello where our our only forestry school is housed, I've worked together to make this forest an important resource for foresters, landowners, researchers, students, and the forest products industry. Now, having strong ties to the forestry community, back home in Arkansas, I've had a chance to personally get to know many of the researchers there, and uh uh my friend Jim Goulden, who worked for the forest service, did tremendous amounts of research at the at the forest. Uh he's now retired, but for much of the past two decades, one of the people at the center of this work was Doctor Don Bragg. Doctor Bragg spent twenty-three years with the Forest Service uh Southern Research Station in Monticello and dedicated much of his career to cross it. He authored and co-authored numerous scientific and historical publications, and he played an integral role in carrying forward the forest's long-standing research mission. Sadly, Doctor Bragg, who's uh pictured here, passed away in twenty twenty three along with his wife and two of his children in a terrible and tragic house explosion as they were visiting relatives for the holidays in Michigan. The legacy of service the Bragg family had on the Monticello community will never be forgotten and we continue to hold the surviving members of his family in our prayers. Doctor Bragg's passing also highlighted a challenge that had been developing across During the final fifteen years of his career, Doctor Bragg was the only forest service scientist working in the forest. Historically, several forest service personnel supported the research conducted there. Since Doctor Bragg's passing, the forest service has not filled his role or dedicated the resources necessary to return to CrossFit uh to its or to return CrossFit to its historic level of research and demonstration activities. And part of that is the fact that we just don't have that many people going into uh uh you know getting PHDs in forest research anymore but fortunately we have partners in Arkansas who are ready to step up state and university officials including Kyle Cunningham the state forestry of Arkansas who who we will hear from later today and Doctor Michael Blaser dean of the college of forestry at the university of Arkansas at Monticello have worked with the forest service officials to determine the best path forward for Crossit. Those discussions led to a shared conclusion. Transferring the forest to the state of Arkansas offers the best opportunity to continue its historic mission. The state is prepared to dedicate resources to Crossit and work with University of Arkansas at Monticello to ensure this remains a premier location for forestry and civil culture research. The legislation we are considering today helps make that plan a reality. The bill would transfer Crossit to the state while putting safeguards in place to ensure the forest remains dedicated to the work it was created to do. The state will be required to continue managing the forest uh for forestry research, education and demonstration to coordinate with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. If this important mission ever ceases to exist for any reason, the forest service or the forest will return to federal ownership. This is a common sense solution. The federal government no longer has the resources CrossFit that it once did, Arkansas has the expertise, the partnership, and the willingness to invest in its future. Arkansas is one of the great forestry states in the country. We know how important healthy working forests are to our economy, to our communities, and responsible land management uh goes along with that. This bill gives CrossFit the opportunity to build on ninety years of forestry research and continue that work for generations to come. Again, I thank all the witnesses for being here today, in particular you, Mister Cunningham, uh who you have worked um first-hand on the future of CrossFit and put a lot of effort into this uh working with uh the University of Arkansas Monticello and the Forest Service. I look forward to hearing all of your testimonies uh on the important bills before us, and with that I yield back.

Gentleman yields back and I'll recognize the ranking member, Mister Huffman.

Thank you, Mister Chairman. Um, there is an elephant in the room and I'm gonna talk about it. This is the committee that is supposed to protect our public lands and the places that America loves. These lands and special places and the laws that protect them are under unprecedented attack by an unhinged and corrupt president. Under republican control, this congress has done nothing about it. The guardrails to protect our nation's most sacred places are getting thrown out the window. Agencies have become lapdogs thanks to Trump's purges and his appointment of political operatives into virtually every key position. He's trying to do it right now with the Inspector General at the Department of Interior. Ma- the MAGA majority on the Supreme Court has proven that it functions as little more than a rubber stamp for President Trump, the ruling this week to let him keep bulldozing the White House, to indulge his imperial delusions, his Louis the fourteenth cosplay obsession, so he can throw his billionaire donor friends more perfect parties, great gaspy parties. This is a perfect example of this disconnect. And what are you guys doing about it? What is this Republican Congress doing about it? What is this committee doing about it? Nothing. We have a Republican majority that thinks all of this is fine because this majority is either too afraid to question or criticize the President, or it believes it works for the President, and apparently hasn't read article one of the Constitution. My Republican colleagues' complete failure to defend laws and public trust resources in our jurisdiction is a shameless slap in the face to every American taxpayer who is footing the bill. for this monstrosity at the White House and for all of the other vanity projects. People right now are already struggling to afford groceries, rent, health care, and gas, thanks to Trump's disastrous war in Iran and his crazy trade wars, which none of you have the courage to question or criticize. And I want folks watching this hearing to know that this is not normal. This is not okay. The Supreme Court might be rolling over for its master, but that's not the final word on any of this. Democrats are gonna keep fighting in the courts and in Congress, now and in the future. We're gonna fight every one of these corrupt assaults on our democracy and the rule of law, and if this gutless Republican Congress won't join the fight, we'll make sure the next Congress will. So with that, let's turn to the agenda today. This hearing includes bills to designate a wild and scenic river. and a new National Historic Trail. That's good. These are encouraging signs that the majority's blockade on conservation designations may be lifting. I hope that's the case, at least for bills when there are Republican sponsors to do these things. It's certainly a step in the right direction, but there's a lot more work this committee needs to be doing. It starts with holding hearings on the long list of conservation bills that have been ignored in this Congress. Bills like my Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forests Act. And like I said, uh, we have a responsibility to hold this administration accountable for its many attacks on our national parks and public lands. President Trump is in the process of trying to eliminate national monuments, overturn the roadless rule, decimate staff at the National Park Service, even trying to sell off a piece of Yosemite National Park to a wealthy private land owner. Unfortunately, um, the administration did not bother to show up today to testify. Um, if they had, they would see an example of how you're supposed to go about the process of creating a new monument in Washington DC. Um, there is a bill before us, HR ninety six hundred, that does it right, designating a location for the Thomas Paine Memorial. That's how it's supposed to work. the administration had shown up today to testify, maybe they would learn something about the law in this space. They could also look to Representative Gonzalez's HR ninety-seven seventy-nine for a lesson on Congress's role in designating the names of popular places. There's actually a way to do that, a legal way. Instead of just throwing political tantrums and trying to rename Lake Ontario Lake America. Most Americans are appalled at that absurdity. But this Congress is either silent or all in for this farce, Lake America. Or they could learn about, had the had the administration bothered to show up, the importance of the civil rights movement. They could learn about that from Representative Clyburn's bill, instead of working to rewrite and censor history in our national parks. As we continue to celebrate and reflect on America's two hundred and fifty th anniversary we should honor and celebrate an accurate expansive version of American history. Fortunately, H R ninety-two sixty-nine to reauthorize the African American civil rights network gives us a chance to do that. I do look forward to hearing from our witnesses today on some of these potentially bipartisan bills, some good bills, but we need to do better. The American people rely on this committee to protect our shared heritage. It is my hope that moving forward, my Republican colleagues will join us to demand

Chairman Nils, I now recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee.

Thank you, Mister Chairman.

There we go.

Uh, I appreciate uh your indulgence and I wanna thank the ranking member of the committee and and the chairman of the full committee. as well. Eighteen sixty-four is when the Yosemite Valley was first designated for protection by President Abraham Lincoln. For over a hundred and sixty years, Americans have recognized that this is a crown jewel warranting its protection. across the globe, when people think of the United States, one of the first places they think of is Yosemite. And we've learned over the course of just the last few weeks that the Trump administration is now attempting to sell off a parcel of Yosemite to a private developer. So of course it is no surprise why the administration, uh, Chairman Tiffany, refused to send a witness here today. Because they well understand the withering criticism and questioning that they would be subjected to. I think it is shameful that the first hearing of the federal land subcommittee after a thirty-eight day recess that the Republicans initiated on July twenty-third omits any real consideration of the ways in which this administration is dismantling public lands protections for a generation. So, I suspect that someone in the Department of the Interior is listening to this hearing from afar. And I would just suggest to them, they understand, as the ranking member articulated, accountability is coming. We may not have subpoena power today to bring in witnesses and hold them to account to explain whose idea it was to sell off a parcel of Yosemite to a private developer, but we will. With respect to the bills that we're considering today, I wanna say I am very grateful to many of my colleagues for taking the initiative and ultimately submitting bills that I think are certainly worth considering. Uh, w- first and foremost, uh, to Representative Clyburn, H R ninety-two sixty-nine, uh, reauthorizing the African American Civil Rights Network. A reauthorization of this impactful program could not come at a more important time, as the Trump administration is trying to censor and rewrite history in our national progr- in our parks and programs like the Civil Rights Network engage stakeholders to lift up key stories and perspectives so they are not ignored or forgotten. And of course it's not lost on me uh that we have in Representative Clyburn, someone who has uh literally bled uh in service to our country with respect to his civil rights activism and journey. So it's fitting uh that we have an opportunity to be able to hear from him today about this important bill. I also would say thank you to Representative Raskin for his leadership regarding uh the Thomas Paine Memorial as was noted by our ranking member. Uh, of course, an important bill that would ensure uh that uh this monument moves forward and, and ultimately we have a permanent location near the National Mall for that memorial. The same also can be said of my uh colleague uh in South Texas, uh Representative Vincente Gonzalez, and we're grateful to his leadership on behalf of the people that he serves. Uh, his bill to officially designate the name of Boca Chica Beach, a popular coastal area that's managed by the Fish and Wildlife service that is also adjacent uh to uh to star base i know uh that this has been an issue uh over many years and grateful uh for representative gonzalez's leadership in uh in taking the initiative in making sure that this bill gets across the finish line uh we're also of course reviewing bills to designate a new national wild and scenic river establish a new historical trail these are encouraging developments public lands and national parks are extremely uh popular and americans want to see new places protected and conserve. I have concerns uh regarding a series of bills uh that we're also considering today, and I look forward to hearing from the witnesses regarding those particular bills and will speak perhaps in a more fulsome way regarding those concerns during our uh questioning preceding of this hearing. So I yield back to balance my time.

Gentlemen yield now for the reason we're here for this subcommittee hearing. I recognize Representative McClintock for five minutes on H R one zero one two eight.

Oh thank you.

Mister Chairman, thank you, uh, uh, first to respond to, uh, the, uh, ranking member of the subcommittee on the Yosemite land transfer. You know, my office has not been contacted regarding this proposal. I inquired of the Department of Interior what was going on. They said they have not been appro approached either uh what the Democrats are reacting to is an internal memo, discussing a land swap, but there's no plan to do so. My office was approached by a previous land owner uh regarding this some fifteen years ago and we told him fat chance so this is uh much ado about nothing. During uh my time chairing the subcommittee, one of our objectives was to restore the federal government as a good neighbor to the communities impacted by the federal lands. After uh a decade of frustration and complaints from businesses and surrounding Yosemite National Park. We finally achieved that goal when Secretary Burgum issued his executive order thirty four thirty four, uh directing National Park Superintendent to consult with them regularly and meaningfully. Uh, HR ten one twenty eight codifies that order. Uh, no one has a greater stake in the success of our parks than these gateway communities. They live every day with the consequences of decisions made by federal land managers. The shopkeepers, tour guides, hoteliers, restaurateurs, service providers, and first responders in these gateway communities are often lifelong residents who grew up in and around these parks and know them and their problems intimately. Yet for far too long these communities have been ignored by park managers who transfer in and out of the park without ever understanding the problems and challenges. Before Superintendent McPadden Yosemite's superintendent lived in the Bay Area. Uh, I can testify directly to the frustrations of the Yosemite Gateway communities because I've spent years listening to their concerns while a succession of incompetent park superintendents simply blew them off. Ever since the flood of nineteen ninety seven, the number of parking places, campsites, and hotel rooms within the park were cut in half and never restored even though Congress appropriated funds to do so. Instead of listening to the gateway communities, park bureaucrats imposed increasingly severe restrictions on park visitors, including a hated reservation system that dramatically impacted visitation. They turned away an average of seven hundred cars a day, all filled with families who'd driven hours to enjoy a day at Yosemite, while parking lots sat half empty. Hotel reservations fell thousands short and many tourists who a room outside of the park or refused entry at the gates for want of a coveted re reservation. Frustrated would-be visitors reported continuing problems trying to obtain reservations on a glitchy website. Now the gateway community businesses proposed dozens of simple reforms to reduce congestion within the park and the hour-long traffic uh backups at at park entrances. Uh they proposed a digitized entry system, entry passes, and wifi to admissions, a wider promotion of park attractions beyond the valley to reduce congestion, more efficient traffic patterns and greater parking access, and real-time data to relieve overcrowding in peak periods. Yet on the rare occasion that a park manager even bothered to meet with them, they were treated as non-entities and nuisances. That all changed with Yosemite's new Park Superintendent acting under the Secretarial order issued last year. The secretary himself attended one such consultation this year, and Superintendent Ray McPadden began ably implementing these suggestions. The proof's all around us today. Visitation is up, crowding is down. And that's not just an opinion.

Mm.

Washington State University just conducted a survey of park visitors from August seventh to the sixteenth. They report that ninety-six percent of park visitors rated their recreational experiences good or excellent. no delays or delays of less than fifteen minutes uh at park entrances. Fifty-six percent, they spent less time looking for parking than expected. Traffic gridlock used to occur one hundred twenty days a year in the valley. This year has seen only two such days, both over the Memorial Day weekend. Under the Secretarial order we seek to codify every National Park System unit must conduct at least one quarterly coordination meeting with gateway community leaders. Park officials must document and consider local input when developing management plans, environmental reviews, visitor use strategies, and fee proposals. And perhaps most importantly, the Park Service must engage these communities early while developing policies that could affect local access or tourism, or regional economic activity, and allow them to shape these policies in the early stages. This territorial order also requires every national park uh system unit to designate a gateway community coordinator who serves as a direct point of contact for state, tribal and local officials. That coordinator is responsible for facilitating communication, ensuring that community concerns reach decision makers, and elevating problems requiring regional or national attention. Now executive orders and secretarial orders can be reversed as quickly as they're issued. Communities making long-term investments in planning decisions need greater certainty than that. Congress can provide it with a bill before the subcommittee today. Thank you for your indulgence.

Gentleman's time has expired and I will recognize Representative Downing for five minutes on HR six seven eight eight.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, for highlighting my Montana Sportsman's Conservation Act in today's hearing. This common sense piece of legislation resolves the status of three wilderness study areas, or WSAs, in Montana, ensuring recreational access and effective management of our public lands. The Middle Fork, Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, and Wales Creek WSAs cover over a hundred thousand acres of forest service and BLM land in central Montana. Now, originally established in the nineteen seventies, federal agencies have since carried out multiple assessment studies of these areas, ultimately recommending these WSAs not to be designated permanent wilderness. As recently as twenty twenty one, under the Biden administration, the US Forest Service and BLM called for the release of these WSAs in their land and resource management plan revisions. However, despite these recommendations, the areas have remained in limbo status as WSAs for almost fifty years. H R six seven eighty eight, the Montana Sportsman Conservation Act, resolves the long-term status of these areas by returning them to general management. This status change will provide more flexibility for land managers to mitigate wildfire risk, to restore wildlife habitat and increase access. This includes allowing hazardous fuels uh removal and motorized access for sportsmen. You know, I very much understand the importance of federal land designations in protecting our public lands. That being said, the evidence in this instance is clear. Administrations from both sides of the aisle have consistently concluded that these WSAs are ready for release. Moreover, HR sixty seven eighty eight has the support of both Judith Basin and Powell County commissions where the WSA's are actually located. Furthermore, numerous Montana outdoor recreation timber and agriculture groups have endorsed this bill. This includes the Montana Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, whose Director Jeff Derra is here today testifying on the impact of these unaddressed WSA's on wildlife and forest management. In closing, The Montana Sportsman Conservation Act will unlock public access and break down barriers preventing effective stewardship of Montana's lands. Now, I appreciate Chairman Tiffany for highlighting this legislation today. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Gentlemen yields, I now recognize Representative Clyburn for five minutes on HR nine two six nine.

Thank you very much, Chairman Tiffany, and Racket Member Nagoose. And thanks to the members of the subcommittee, full committee chair, Resterman, and ranking member, Huffman. We're here today requesting reauthorization of the National Park Service's African American Civil Rights Network. Network is the operative word here. The importance of this legislation is embodied in that one word. If I were to mention the name of Rosa Parks here today, most people would know who she was. But if I were to invoke the name of Rose or Sarah May Fleming, I doubt that more than one or two people, if any, would recognize that name. But a year and a half before Rosa Parks sat down on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Sarah May Fleming six days before her twenty-first birthday, boarded a bus in Columbia, South Carolina, and when she refused the driver's orders to give up her seat, was physically ejected from the bus. She sued the bus company and ultimately the United States Supreme Court decided that she was entitled to sit in any unoccupied seat. on that bus. As significant as the Rosa Parks case was, in the court's decision you will find a footnote which says the public accommodations issue presented in the case had already been decided in Sarah Mae Fleming versus South Carolina Electric and Gas. This is but one example of the importance of this legislation. I heard another example this past weekend, uh, doing news reports of the sixty-third commemoration of the nineteen sixty-three March on Washington. Referring to Martin Luther King Junior's " I have a dream" speech, the reporter stated that King first made that speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the culmination of that march. Not true. Kane delivered an earlier version of the " I Have a Dream" uh iteration at Cobble Hall in Detroit, Michigan earlier that year. When I joined this August body thirty four years ago, South Carolina's number one and two economic engines were textiles and tobacco. Today, Our top two economic engines are grounded in transportation and tourism. And the fastest growing category of tourism is heritage tourism. And so this legislation is very important to my state and the twenty-nine other states that make up this network, especially to our rural communities where economic engines are sorely needed. The bipartisan legislation that created the network was codified in twenty eighteen. And in June of this year, I, along with Representative Mike Carey of Ohio and seven other bipartisan cosponsors introduced this legislation seeking reauthorization of the network. We hope you will see your way clear to approve it. Miss Junelle Compton-Johnson, Executive Director of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, and the B- Banneker-Douglas Tubman Museum is here and will be discussing this legislation in more detail, more detail a little later. I thank her for being here today and look forward to her thoughtful discussion of this legislation. Thank you so much. And now to you, Beck.

The gentlemen yields, I now recognize representative Raskin for five minutes on HR ninety six hundred.

Well, thank you very kindly, Mister Chairman, uh, Ranking Member Huffman, uh, and the distinguished members of this committee for holding the hearing and uh giving us time to speak. I'm delighted to be here to discuss HR ninety six hundred, which is the common sense two fifty act, um, which would um, complete the process of establishing a memorial on the National Mall, dedicated to Tom Paine, the author of course of the great pamphlet of our history, Common Sense, the Rights of Man, and other uh significant works, um, and uh the indispensable champion of the American Revolution, and the still unsung hero of America's founding. In twenty twenty two, uh we acted to uh rectify our failure to honor tom paine you know napoleon said that a statue of gold should be erected to tom paine in every country of the world because he was the original champion of freedom and democratic self-government so we passed bipartisan legislation in twenty twenty two to authorize the establishment of a memorial dedicated to tom paine in a place of prominence in the nation's capital in twenty twenty four the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, recognizing Tom Payne's significant and enduring contributions to America, recommended that the memorial will be placed in area one of the mall. That recommendation has not yet been transmitted to Congress, which has slowed work on the memorial. Um, so, uh, this delay threatens timely completion of the Tom Payne memorial, which is why Uh, Congresswoman Victoria Sparks of Indiana and I have worked together in a bipartisan way to introduce the legislation before you today. The Common Sense two fifty Act would codify the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission's recommendation and direct the Department of the Interior to move forward with an area one site selection for the Payne Memorial. I wanna thank uh Congresswoman Sparks for her partnership in this effort, as well as all of the advocates from the Tom Payne Historical Association, and everyone around the country, who has fought hard to secure the legacy of uh this great unsung founding father. I've got um some photographs of what the Tom Payne Memorial statue would look like, which I'm happy to pass around to them. Oh, you've got them as well, okay. Every everybody has them. So um I would just uh urge the committee to uh codify the recommendation of the commission so we can uh move this quickly. As Tom Payne said, the times have found us and so let's see if we can uh make it happen before the end of this Congress. And I I thank you, Mister Chairman, for uh your attention and uh I yield back to you.

Gentlemen yields, I now recognize representative Gonzalez for five minutes on HR ninety seven seventy nine.

Uh thank you, Chairman uh Tiffany and Ranking Member Negus and members of the subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of my bill, HR ninety seven seventy nine, uh, hands off our Boca Chica beach. Last month, both my office and residents of South Texas, uh, were blindsided by a proposed a name change of one of our historic beaches, Boca Chica beach. Um, the US Board of Geographic Names, Domestic Names Committee provided less than twenty-four hour notice to the people of Cameron County before voting on a proposal to rename the beach to Cyber Beach. The proposal was driven by an individual from Mississippi with no ties to our community, no ties to Texas, and since uh faced unanimous opposition from local officials, including SpaceX. Uh, for generations Boca Chica Beach has been part of the South Texas South Texas history and culture and identity. Families across the region have gone there to fish, camp, gather, and build memories. The beach is really part of the fabric of our community. Fortunately, on July the ninth, the domestic names committee rejected the proposal after hearing strong oppositions from our community local residents and elected officials opposed it, Cameron County opposed it, the Texas Geographic Names Committee opposed it, the city of Starbase itself opposed this change, people who may disagree about so many other things all agreed on this. Boca Chica Beach should remain Boca Chica Beach, a beach that dates back almost a century, although uh the name almost a century, although we stopped this particular proposal, the process exposed a much larger problem in the process. A federal committee uh was preparing to vote on the name change of a historic place in South Texas. They didn't inform the committee or any and the representative of the provided notice of schedule to vote. I was specially disappointed to see a federal entity fail to notify federal representatives of activity happening in their own congressional district. And to make matters worse, like many of my constituents, I found out about this through social media. You gotta be kidding me, right? This is the way things are happening. Fortunately, South Texans moved quickly, like within twenty-four hours. They flooded the committee with emails and voicemails. Over twenty-seven hundred people responded. But no community should have to depend on a last-minute scramble to make sure its voice is heard in a federal decision affects in affecting its own backyard. This is why I introduced this bill. my bill would federally protect his the historic site from unnecessary name changes. It would also require domestic name com uh committee to notify appropriate members of Congress of of a proposed name change. And now I know that they we got a a notice this morning, I believe from the um from the Department of Interior saying that that this would prohibit them from making policy updates. I can assure you it does not do that. I don't know if it's incompetence or intentional, but they need to get a smart lawyer over there to read this bill. The simple requirement would give members an opportunity to notify constituents, coordinate with local leaders, and insure the community views are represented in the federal process. Isn't that why we're all here at the end of the day? To insure our community's voices are heard. Mister Chairman, if this can happen in my district, it can happen in yours. Whether that be Wisconsin, Colorado, Arkansas, California, or anywhere in the country, Constituents deserve to have a voice in this process. Republicans or Democrats, rural or urban, the bottom line is the same. Give people proper notice. Give them time. Give them the voice they deserve as American citizens.

Yeah.

Members of this subcommittee, um, we stopped this particular proposal, but rejecting one name change does not correct the problem that we have in this process. We have an opportunity to take what happened in Texas, and use it to improve transparency for communities across the country. We must provide members of Congress with the tools to do the job our constituents sent us here to do to represent their interests. The proposal to rename Boca Chica Beach exposed a major problem. Now we have an opportunity and an obligation to fix it, and my bill does just that. I respectfully ask the subcommittee to work with me to advance HR ninety-seven seventy-nine. the hands-off or Boca Chica Beach Act, and ensure transparency and Boca Chica Beach remains the people's beach, and assure that this doesn't happen to you or anyone else in this country, and having name changes, uh, wi- by people that have no connections to the community. It's absurd that this is happening. Mister Chairman, um, I'd like to ask you for unanimous consent to insert into the following three letters of support from R from uh SpaceX

from our State Representative, Aaron Gomes, and our Cameron County Judge, Eddie Trevino. Um, and I yield back. Thank you.

Uh, so ordered on the unanimous consent uh request. And thank you for your testimony, Representative Gonzalez. We're gonna move on to our second panel first. We have a unanimous consent um request by the ranking member.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, uh, for your indulgence in having a unanimous consent request. I just wanna be crystal clear, there was a reference earlier uh with respect to Yosemite National Park. This is the project memo that the national uh the folks at the Department of Interior sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Land and Water Conservation Fund project data sheet from the National Park Service, fiscal year twenty twenty six, uh regarding the Yosemite National Park and a potential uh land deal uh with a private entity. It also includes a map. So, I'd like for these to be entered into the record.

Well, if the uh gentleman will yield,

So we can

I'd also point out that the land swap is not viable

I don't have time to yield.

because the land swap is not viable,

Or that

because there's not a comparable uh uh parcel of land held by that developer.

Yeah, and I I don't disagree with the gentleman. And I wanna support his efforts. I I know this is unanimous consent request, so I just I would say

Unanimous request um is is ordered

let's bring the department of interior here to testify under oath that they don't intend to pursue what they sent to the united states senate why they send this to the senate

you should take you you you take your debate you take your debate away from here

i'm i'm engaging with your colleague here i mean

so before we go on to the second panel uh we have one more um so panjabar's representative to be recognized representative stube you have five minutes on your bill

thank you mr. chairman and ranking member negus members of the subcommittee and thank you for the opportunity to testify here today Uh if there are two things Florida is known for, it's our sunshine and sandy beaches. Florida is a rapidly growing marketplace of tourism, business and families looking to build a better life. In my district, two point seven million people visited Sarasota County in twenty twenty five alone, spending more than two point three billion in our community to escape colder climates. Many have chosen to stay and nearly one million residents from other states have called the free state of Florida their new home since twenty twenty. The warmth is welcoming, our natural beauty will continue to be the main attraction as one of the nation's fastest growing states. My district is home to the number one ranked beach in the United States. But venture inland and you'll find that Southwest Florida's beauty extends well beyond the coastline. Perhaps no Florida treasure embodies this better than the Miocca River Drive about thirty minutes inland from our beaches. And you will encounter thirty-four miles of pristine river in Sarasota County. The Florida legislature formally designated this thirty-four mile segment in nineteen eighty-five and thanks to the commitment of state, county, and private landowners, This segment is even more pristine today than it was back then. I personally know this to be true. Long before Florida's unimaginable growth, I worked cattle on pastures adjacent to the Miaca River. As a cattleman and fifth generation Floridian, I have known Southwest Florida through each chapter of its story, a story that can't be told without the Miaca River. That is why I'm honored to testify in support of my bill, HR six four two, the Miaca, Wild and Scenic River Act of twenty twenty five. This bill would add thirty-four mile segment of the miaka river in sarasota county florida to the partnership wild and scenic rivers program Let me be clear this bill is not aimed at stopping anything it recognizes what makes florida great past and present The miaka river flows through no federally owned land my district has virtually no federal real estate Designations are not a cut and paste solution or designations may not make sense in some areas they do for the miaka river The reasons for designation here may not be the same as other designations Some wild and scenic designation bills seek to halt or modify existing land use authorities. These bills often rely on a federal nexus to do so. For instance, on federal land, a federal designation establishes a clear nexus. Similarly, on state land, without a state designation, a federal designation would likely consume and federalize management authorities. H R six four two triggers neither of these land management concerns. Instead, the Florida legislature's designation and associated local management authorities prevail. As such, addition to the partnership wild and scenic rivers program would deliver federal recognition and prestige to a natural resource that had helped that has helped shape Southwest Florida's national profile as a place to live, work, and visit. That is why my bill has cultivated a broad base of support from commerce and home building associations that may ordinarily ordinarily oppose wild and scenic designations. They too recognize that this waterway has already demonstrated a successful model of collaboration management, that respects economic growth and private property rights, making Florida a destination to do business. The dynamics that drive Florida's natural resource priorities are its unique and broad support for a wild and scenic bill. This widespread support stems from a shared belief that national recognition for the Miocca River would spotlight the beauty that has drawn people to Florida from across the country for generations. I wanna thank Senator Rick Scott and Ashley Moody for leading my effort in the Senate and eight other Florida delegation colleagues Thank you, Chairman, and I yield back.

Ye gentlemen yields. We'll now move on to our second panel. Let me remind our witnesses that under committee rules, you must limit your oral statement to five minutes, but your entire statement will appear in the hearing record. To begin your testimony, please press the on button on the microphone. We use timing lights. When you begin, the light will turn green. At the end of five minutes, the light will turn red.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, again I want to welcome uh Arkansas State Forester Cal Cunningham to the committee today. Uh Cal's played an integral role in forestry at many different levels of the state, and he now serves uh in the uh Huckabee Sanders, Administration under uh the Secretary of Agriculture, Wes Ward. Mister Cunningham, welcome to the committee. I look forward to your testimony.

OK. Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member Nguz, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of H R one O one three six to request the transfer of Crosshead Experimental Forest to the state of Arkansas. for continued management and thank you Chairman Westerman for submitting the proposed bill. I am Kyle Cunningham, State Forester at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture, Wes Ward, and Dean Michael Blazier of the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, joined me in this request. Arkansas asked the committee to authorize conveyance of the CrossFit experimental forest. approximately sixteen hundred and eighty acres in Ashley County to the state of Arkansas. The department will designate and manage it as Crosset State Forest under Arkansas Code section twenty-two, five five O one. The Crosset Lumber Company donated land in nineteen thirty-four, and the Forest Service established the first branch research station in the south there. The question then was whether cut-over loblolly and short-leaf pine stands could be rehabilitated and still return something to the landowner. Researchers spent ninety-two years answering the question. They published more than one thousand articles on forest management and silviculture. And more than forty-five thousand foresters, students, landowners, and university staff have toured the property. CrossFit holds some of the longest running records of naturally regenerated uneven-aged loblolly pine management in the southeast. And Arkansas private landowners managed timber today using uh the data from those plots. The scientific value of those records is a function of their length, and that is a significant component to our request. Arkansas does not need new authority to take on take this on. Uh, section two twenty-two uh five five O one authorizes the state to acquire land viable for forest crops, watershed protection, and reforestation, and requires that they administer administered as the state forest. Section twenty-two five five O two permits to acquisition from a federal agency. Section twenty two five five O eight places a duty to manage the state forest lands on the state forester. These provisions are in place today. We also have the record. Poison Spring State Forest began in nineteen fifty seven with roughly nineteen thousand four hundred acres purchased from the United States Department of Agriculture and now covers twenty four thousand acres. Managed for demonstration, recreation, uh research and wildlife habitat. We also have Hot Springs State Forest, covering thirty-three hundred acres in Garland County. We recently opened this area as a wildlife management area last fall, and it serves to protect the thermal recharge for Hot Springs uh National Park in central Arkansas. A federal s- state conveyance managed for research and hunted under a Game and Fish Commission agreement, is a model that the department already operates. Arkansas makes three commitments with this request. First, the department will manage the property as a working demonstration forest and continue the field days tours and professional training held there since the nineteen fifties. Second, the department and the university at Arkansas at Monticello will develop and maintain a memorandum of understanding for continued research. Dean Blaser and I sent Chairman Westerman uh research priorities for the property on May sixth of this year that will guide research activities. The university sits thirty miles away. Third, the property remains a wildlife management area under agreement with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Cross it as a wildlife management area today, and hunters use it under a free permit from from the forest headquarters. Under state ownership, one agency holds both the research agreement and the wildlife management area agreement. So a conflict between research, treatment, and hunting seasons is facilitated through one agency. We asked that the legislation address three points. convey the sixteen hundred and eighty acres and the improvements, including the three civilian conservation courts buildings, transfer the study plans, plot data, me- measurement histories, and the study archive with the land, and retain forest service and southern research station access to existing studies uh for data collection. Arkansas has statutory authority, a sixty-nine year record at Poison Springs, a research partner thirty miles away, and a wildlife agency already administering the property. The department is prepared to accept this responsibility on the terms I have described. Thank you and I look forward to answering uh any questions you have at the proper time. I yield back.

Thank you, Doctor Cunningham, I'll now go to uh Representative McClintock to introduce our next witness.

Uh, thank you, Mister Chairman, uh, Supervisor Bobby McCauley is Chairman of the Madera County Board of Supervisors. He was born and raised in Madera County. He's not only uh my office's go-to guy for all things Madera. Uh, he's also a leading voice for assuring the public use, resort and recreation in Yosemite National Park. I'm very pleased to have him here today to testify.

Thank you, uh, Congressman. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, uh, ranking member for the opportunity to, uh, testify in support of H R one zero one two eight legislation to codify secretary's order three four three four. Uh, as the Congressman mentioned, my name is Bobby McCauley, I serve on the Madera County Board of Supervisors, representing the Gateway Communities, uh, and the South Gate to Yosemite National Park. Uh, Gateway Communities have a unique relationship with with our public lands. We provide the lodging, transportation, often emergency response, workforce, infrastructure, and visitor services that make places like Yosemite accessible to millions of Americans. But our relationship goes much deeper than tourism. These are our forests, watersheds, wildlife habitats, and cultural landscapes. We live with the consequences of wildfire, forest health, overcrowding, infrastructure challenges, and land m- land management decisions. We also have an enormous stake in preserving these places for future generations. For years, Yosemite's gateway communities brought forward concerns and ideas about some of the park's most pressing challenges. And too often, we have felt those voices went unheard. Secretary's order three four three four changed that. Over the past years, gateway communities have gained a meaningful seat at the table. Instead of decisions being made in isolation, we're working directly with park leadership on visitor access, transportation, preservation, public safety, and practical challenges of managing one of America's most treasured landscapes. And that partnership is producing results. Yosemite has introduced digital passes, expanded parking, improved technology at entrance gates, optimized traffic flow, increased shuttle capacity, provided online wait time information, and has authorized year-round fishing. The park is on pace to welcome its most, the most visitors in over a decade, without returning to the one size fits all reservation system. In previous years, Yosemite experienced as many as a hundred, and twenty days of significant traffic gridlock. This year we've experienced just two with the same measurements.

Mm.

And preliminary Washington State University survey results show ninety six percent of Yosemite's summer visitors rated their experience as good or excellent, while ninety one percent waited fewer than fifteen minutes to enter the park. But this is about more than traffic. Good land management requires balancing access with preservation. It requires healthy forest and watersheds, protection of natural and cultural resources, responsible recreation, and communities that can support visitors while maintaining their own quality of life. And those goals are not in conflict. When federal land managers, tribes, local governments, conservation partners, businesses, and residents work together, we can identify problems earlier, bring local knowledge into the decision-making process, and find solutions that both protect these extraordinary landscapes, and allow Americans to visit them. That is the promise of Secretary's Order three four three four. Yosemite and Gateway communities helped demonstrate what this partnership can look like. HR one zero one two eight gives Congress an opportunity to build upon that success nationwide and ensure it doesn't disappear in the years to come. Our experience has reinforced a very simple principle. The best way to preserve our public lands is not to manage them in isolation, but in partnership with the people, the communities who know them, support them, and depend upon them. These reforms are working, and the partnership is working. I respectfully urge the committee to advance H R one zero one two eight, and make that part, and make that partnership a lasting part of how we manage and preserve America's public lands. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor McCauley. I'll now recognize Doctor Amiri Hardy, Founding, Founder and Acting Executive Director at the Myakka River Partnership. Doctor Hardy, you are recognized for five minutes.

Chairman Tiffany, ranking members, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify in support of Congressman Stubbe's HR six forty two. I'm Miri Hardy from Sarasota County, Florida, founder and now executive director of Mayaca River Partnership, an organization that provides an independent voice for the Mayaca River watershed. For the past three and a half years, I've spearheaded Sarasota County's collaborative community effort to designate the Mayaca River in Sarasota County as a partnership wild and scenic river. The Mayaca River, one of Florida's most treasured natural resources, is located in Southwest Florida. Thirty-four miles of this rain-fed Blackwater River meander through Sarasota County, a rapidly growing area and a prime tourism spot. The Myakka River in Sarasota County has remained an exceptional river, thanks to the foresight of legislators past and present, who appreciated the river's unique natural features, as well as its importance for our community's safety, quality of life, and economy. Indeed, recently, with the proclamation from our commissioners, we celebrated fifty years of Sarasota County's commitment to the river, and the fiftieth anniversary of its first attempt to seek national wild and scenic designation. As a result of those early efforts, in nineteen eighty-five, the Myakka River was subject to a congressionally authorized National Park Service Wild and Scenic River study. It was found eligible for designation but not suitable because at the time, the service did not have a model of designation and management for rivers, such as the Myakka, that did not flow through federal lands. Undeterred, Sarasota County pursued and received designation as Florida's first state-designated wild and scenic river. This designation resulted in a state rule and local regulations to protect the river and its shorelines. Additionally, the Florida Legislature established the Mayaca River Management Coordinating Council, to manage the river. The council includes diverse river stakeholders from private land owners to local and state government bodies. Finally, to further ensure the preservation of this vital natural resource, thousands of acres in the watershed have since been conserved by the state county and private land owners. In the nineteen nineties, a new model of federal designation called partnership wild and scenic rivers was introduced to meet the needs of rivers like the Mayaca that flow through non-federal lands. Partnership rivers are jointly managed by the National Park Service and a local river management council based on local needs and local values. The National Park Service provides technical and financial support as appropriated by congress, without federal ownership or development of facilities. Importantly, the partnership model relies on existing local zoning ordinances, such as were put in place in Sarasota County as a result of the state designation in nineteen eighty five. It also requires a local management council and a river management plan which the Myakka River in Sarasota County has. Based on this existing infrastructure, an update study, recently conducted by the National Park Service, confirmed present day eligibility and suitability of the thirty-four miles of the Myakka River in Sarasota County as a partnership wild and scenic river. In the best interest of our community and river, in December, twenty twenty three, the Myakka River Management Coordinating Council approached Congressman Stubbe to seek congressional support for designation. Congressman Stubbe's resulting H R six forty-two has a broad base of support, ranging from local and state government agencies to Sarasota County, building, tourism, and commerce associations. This wide-spread support stems from a consensus that partnership designation reflects a balanced approach that celebrates and protects, a treasured natural resource while respecting economic growth and private property rights. It will help us enhance the river's outstanding recreational values, which are key economic drivers, while improving existing habitats for our native wildlife. It will also support work needed to enhance the Mayaca River watershed's ability to provide ecological services such as air quality regulation, water filtering, flow regulation, and flood mitigation. I thank you very much for your consideration of this impactful bill.

Thank you, Doctor Hardy, I'll now recognize Mister William Thomas, Chairman at the Route sixty-six Road Ahead Partnership. Mister Thomas, you are recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, uh, ranking member Nguz. Thank you, committee members, for the opportunity to speak on behalf of HR fifty four seventy, a bill to designate Route sixty-six a national historic trail. I want you to join me in understanding that Route sixty-six is more than just a road. There are actually some people who say it's the most famous road in the nation, if not on the planet. But, that was not its intent when it was commissioned on November eleventh, nineteen twenty six. It had a single purpose then, to help improve the quality of life of the thousands of people living in small towns and rural areas across the country, from Chicago to Los Angeles, by connecting them to larger economic markets. And it was extremely successful at that purpose. In the nineteen thirties, it became a road of hope for all of those people from the Midwest, fleeing the despair of the Dust Bowl during the height of the Great Depression, for a hopeful a better life in California. In the forties, it actually helped us win World War Two, because it was the safe, reliable means of transporting troops, men, and material out to California in order to fight and win the battle of the Pacific. And what I've always found interesting and what touched me actually personally was all of those soldiers sailors and marines who took route sixty six out to california took the same road back at the end of the war started their families and decided they wanted to go on because they remembered the road so well what we now all know as the great american two week vacation trip over its first fifty years route sixty six had a dramatic impact on american history, especially transportation history But it did more. It actually crept into the culture of this country. It earned distinction in a literary fashion as the Mother Road in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. In the nineteen forties, it became a signature pop culture tune, thanks to Nat King Cole and the song Get Your Kicks on Route sixty six. On Friday nights on CBS, from nineteen sixty to nineteen sixty four you could turn your dial and watch a television show called route sixty six the story of two young men who took a red corvette and across the road in seek of adventure spoiler alert of the hundred sixteen episodes of that show less than a handful actually took place on route sixty six so then things changed in the nineteen seventies and eighties the road suffered a severe decline because all of those thousands of cars that used to travel through the main street of america did not did not do that anymore because now they were travelling the interstate highway system thanks to hundreds of thousands of volunteers across this country though the road didn't die because they wouldn't let it die they set out to deliberately revert back to its original purpose an economic engine for this country. They helped preserve the landscape, the historic buildings along it. They promoted it, especially through heritage tourism, and they helped sustain existing and create new businesses, to the point today where as we celebrate the road's hundredth anniversary it is once again thriving. So, as chairman of the Route sixty-six Road Ahead Partnership and a proud member of the US Route sixty-six

Thank you, Mister Thomas. I will now recognize Mister Robby Lauf, Executive Director at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Mister Lauf, you are recognized for five minutes.

Good morning, Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member DeGouze, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for having us. As you said, my name is Robby Lauf. and I'm Executive Dir Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Uh, thank you to Senators, Senator Hovind who carried this legislation legislation across two Congresses and to Senators Kramer and Blumenthal for joining him, and of course to Congressman Julie Fedorchak for her leadership and support on this issue. The Senate passed this bill in UNATO's consent this past uh summer. Um, in the United States Capitol there's a sentence from Theodore Roosevelt inscribed on the wall, " The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets, which it must turn over to the next generation, increased and not impaired in value. Thierry was talking about natural resources, but he chose the word assets, things a nation receives, cares for, passes on, very strategically. That is what this bill is about today. The Peter Roosevelt Presidential Library is not a federal presidential library. Roosevelt died decades before the system existed. His papers and possessions were scattered across the country. So private citizens built a place where Americans can encourage that and counter that history together, in Medora, North Dakota, in the badlands that changed TR's life, and that ultimately became home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the only national park in our entire system named after a person. We opened on the fourth of July of this year, America's semi-quincentennial, its two hundred and fiftieth birthday. And in the sixty-one since days, more than one hundred thousand people have visited our presidential library. And they are coming to stand before the real thing. The diary Roosevelt opened the night his wife and mother died, marked with a black X and written, this light has gone out of my life. Specimens from his Africa expedition and his post-presidency. Some of which are on public uh view for decades, still carrying the field tags with Ro- Roosevelt's own writing on them. A century later, you can still see the ink on those tags. These objects bring us face to face, the human being behind the story. The Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Park Service, um, and the Smithsonian have worked alongside us at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and entrusted us with these objects for our collection. This bill would build on that work. It allows the Interior Department and agencies to loan to the library artifacts related to Roosevelt particularly those not currently on public display, so they can be preserved and exhibited for the American public. The point is moving more of America's story out of storage and into the public view. Preservation goes beyond keeping objects safe. It means caring for it so people can encounter it, this year and two hundred fifty years from now. That stewardship has a cost, conservation grade cases, climate control, security, transport, professional care, insurance. When the federal government entrusts us with an inappreciable object, That responsibility comes with a very high standard. We are proud to have met those standards, and four hundred million dollars in private gifts made to the library possible alongside a fifty million dollar state endowment from the state of North Dakota. We borrow, in addition to borrowing seventy million dollars to finish the work, now with the doors open we still have more than fifty million dollars in construction bills. We did not wait for Washington. North Dakota and private citizens built this library, opened it, and remained financially committed to it. This bill authorizes limited financial support after at least one hundred million dollars in private capitals come from the state or a non-federal sources. It cannot fund maintenance or operations. It can help preserve Roosevelt's materials, put them in front of the public, and support the interpretation and education that give it so much meaning. A child should be able to stand before something Roosevelt held and feel the distance between themselves and history narrow. To understand that history was made by people like them, and that they have a part to play in what comes next. Teachers anywhere in America should be able to bring that same connection into the classroom. And artifacts held in public trust, whenever possible, um, should be there to connect with the people who it represents. In that spirit we ask, in that, uh, spirit, we ask you to help care for these objects and make them accessible to the public for generations to come. Roosevelt's standard was clear. Turn over the nation's assets for the next generation increased. not impaired in value. Congress has now an opportunity to do exactly that and to keep more of America's history on view for the American people. Thank you, Mister Chairman, and I look forward to any questions.

Thank you, Mister Lauf. Now, I'd like to recognize a fellow Wisconsinite, Miss Annie Gaylor, Secretary at the Thomas Paine Memorial Association. Miss Gaylor, you are recognized for five minutes.

Thank you. Thank you to all the members of this SIP committee for holding this hearing on HR nine six hundred, the common sense two hundred and fifty act of twenty twenty six, whose purpose is to approve the location of a commemorative work for Thomas Paine, America's indispensable and unsung founding father. We're grateful for the bipartisan support for this bill, shown by representatives Jamie Raskin and Victoria Spartz. I represent the Thomas Paine Memorial Association as its secretary, And that that association is a five O one C three educational non-profit committed to uh educating the public about the legacy of Thomas Paine and specifically to erect a memorial to him finally in Washington DC. I'm pleased to introduce the world renowned sculptor of this memorial who is in the audience, Zanis Rudakis, do you wanna stand? And the National Capital Memorial Advisory Committee voted unanimously to endorse the plan for a Paine memorial. with a member confiding great surprise to realize there wasn't one already. Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill in December, twenty twenty two, authorizing the Thomas Paine Memorial Association to erect the memorial. No federal funds will be used in the construction or maintenance of the memorial. We commissioned a site study as required and discovered a wonderful spot, just blocks from the US Capitol, where Americans and the capitals twenty seven million annual visitors can go to be inspired and understand the American Revolution and the man who sparked it. In August twenty twenty four, Nick Mack agreed, once again, and unanimously, that the Payne Memorial belongs in area one. As you know, area one is reserved for commemorative works of preeminent historical and lasting significance. to the United States, and is there anyone who better meets the definition of having preeminent, historic, and lasting significance to the United States than Thomas Paine. Without Paine, there would not be a United States of America, he named our very nation. Arriving from England at the invitation of Benjamin Franklin in December, seventeen seventy-four, he became the voice of the American Revolution. His common sense pamphlet, published two hundred and fifty years ago in January, fomented the rebellion as he urged, " We have it in our power to begin the world over again." His pamphlet paved the way for the declaration of independence. The importance of common sense cannot be overstated. It sold over half a million at a time when there were only two hundred and half, two point five million people in the thirteen colonies. Payne relinquished the copyright and gave the proceeds to the Continental Army, to buy mittens for frozen soldiers. Not content with that support, he enlisted as a private, served as an aide to camp, and marched with General George Washington during that first harsh winter campaign. In December seventeen seventy-six, Payne penned the first of his famous American crisis papers, with its opening line, known to every school child, These are the times that try men's souls. George Washington ordered it read aloud to keep soldiers' morale up. His series of crisis papers assured that colonists stayed dedicated to the cause of freedom. In seventeen seventy-seven, Payne even served as secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs, which I believe means he served as a committee staffer. Without the pen of the author of common sense, The sword of Washington would have been raised in vain, wrote John Adams. Paying was hero to Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Ronald Reagan. Is there a more meaningful way for Congress to commemorate the nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary than by ensuring this long overdue acknowledgement of the revolution's principal champion for independence, this American hero, patriot, icon and unifier. Moving this if in moving this bill forward, if I may paraphrase the crisis papers, you will have the love and thanks of man and woman.

Thank you, Miss Gaylor, and now I'll uh recognize representative Downing for an introduction.

Uh, thank you, Mister Chairman. I'm honored to introduce Jeff Derra as one of our witnesses for today's hearing. Mister Derra is an avid outdoorsman, who currently serves as the executive director of Montana Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife. This is a grassroots organization committed to protecting hunting trapping and fishing rights in our state. Prior to his uh current position, Mister Darrah served twenty-six years as a Montana State Game Warden. He brings significant experience to this hearing in managing public lands and protecting the sustainability of forests and wildlife habitats. Mister Darrah, thank you for being here today, and I look forward to your testimony.

Uh, thank you Representative Downey. Um, thank you, ranking uh, or Chairman and ranking member and the committee. Um, had a long flight last night, I got to my motel at three AM, so I'm a little tired. Uh, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Montana Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife is a non-profit grassroots, uh, sportsman's organization made up of Montanans. And uh, we support H R six seven eight eight. Um, Montana currently has three point five million acres of wilderness area currently. I've patrolled a lot of that over my lifetime. Um, but we also have one million acres of wilderness study areas that are being treated as de facto wilderness areas. Uh, and what I mean by that is put on these wilderness areas such as closing roads, stopping habitat improvement, stopping logging and stopping grazing are occurring. And it's sad in the fact that half, more than half of those one million acres don't qualify to be wilderness, and they never will qualify to be wilderness. So, our plea today is for support of HR six seven eight eight. Um, recently in Montana, Our wildlife agency, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, had a a a citizen elk management committee to talk about how to manage elk in Montana. And believe it or not, we don't have a shortage of elk, but what we have is a problem with distribution of elk and where they're at. And a lot of the elk that we have are down on agricultural grounds, causing depredation problems. And you can imagine how landowners who uh make their living off the land uh react to that. And part of the problem is is the sad shape that our US Forest Service and BLM grounds are in. Because NGOs from the other side of the aisle constantly litigate every logging project. Every every thing that happens on the landscape that would improve the landscape for wildlife to keep wildlife on that public ground gets litigated. And um, so it's a constant battle. I feel bad for the the uh the managers of the Forest Service and the BLM because it seems like they have more lawyers than they do biologists. And um But back to this bill, back to this bill, if this is um allowed to happen um What will it do? It will create more access for hunters. Um, it will open up some roads. Um, it will allow the land managers to work with the public in the communities that know the most about the resource. And they'll be able to actually get something done and done and not be covered by a blanket rule. This says they can't do certain things. The people that live on the ground, know what they need to do to take care of the ground. And uh, I will I will say that one of these WSA's last year, the Hoodoo, which is a little over eleven thousand acres in size, was the starting point of a wildfire called the Windy Rock Fire. Over six thousand acres of that wilderness study area burnt to a crisp. Another thing is mentioned about all the wildlife that perished and died in that fire, from squirrels, chipmunks, birds, grouse, bear cubs, what have you. And that's what's happening i in in our forests in many many occasions, not just in WSA's. Um Wind events, drought, fire, um our forests are in bad shape. So anyway, we we strongly support the release of these WSAs. Um i- i- is this is just really the start because in Beaverhead County, which is the county neighboring my county, we have three hundred and sixty thousand acres of WSAs. And most of those don't requi- don't meet the requirements in the wilderness um ranking scale to be designated wilderness. But they're being treated as wilderness. And the people that live there on that ground want them released. Um I've lived in the same house for twenty eight years. And there hasn't been a year and twenty eight years I haven't been able to see a fire either from my front porch or my back porch. We need help at the congressional level managing our forest in Montana. Thank you.

Thank you, Mister Darrell, and I'll recognize Miss Shanelle Compton-Johnson, Executive Director at the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Banneker Douglas Tubman Museum. Miss Johnson, you're recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Tiffany, and Ranking Member Naguse and members of the subcommittee. My name is Shanelle Compton-Johnson, and I serve as the Executive Director of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. and the Banneker Douglas Tubman Museum. I am honored to testify in support of H R nine two six nine, renewing the African American Civil Rights Network Act, which would reauthorize this critically important national park service program, the African American Civil Rights Network, for another ten years. I applaud Congressman James Clyburn and Congressman Mike Carey for their leadership in introducing this legislation, which is strongly bipartisan and which has also been introduced in the Senate with bipartisan support. The African American Civil Rights Network Act was passed into law, again in bipartisan fashion, at the end of twenty seventeen and signed into law by President Trump in January, twenty eighteen. As you know, The African American civil rights movement was a national movement that spanned across this country and across the twentieth century. And as we reflect on America two fifty, it is unquestion unquestionably one of the most pivotal and defining parts of our shared history in America. The African American civil rights movement expanded civil liberties for all in this country and in all fronts. Let's just pause for a moment to consider just what this movement accomplished, ending legalized segregation, outlawing Jim Crow, integrating our schools and university, and expanding voting rights and fair housing. It is just remarkable to think about the transformational changes in our nation that inspired the world and has led to the advancement of civil rights, for so many other important causes, such as women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and disability rights. Congress's purpose in creating the network was to connect together the countless places, stories, and events that represent the African American civil rights movement. Each place, whether it is a historical site or m- museum or research center, is an opportunity to preserve and celebrate civil rights history an opportunity to educate and engage the public, and an opportunity to boost local tourism, which is the real highlight of this program. A small number of these networks are members are formally included as units of the National Park Service. Places like the Medgar and Murley Evers Home National Monument in Mississippi, and Brown versus Board of Education National Historical Park in Kansas. But the most important part of this program is the vast majority of sites across the country that are not managed by the National Park Service. Instead, they are local sites and museums that share local history, places like Lincolnville, South Carolina, Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, Texas, and my personal favorite of course, the Banneker Douglas Tubman Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. The beauty of this program is is that through membership, the African American Civil Rights Network helps to elevate these local sites and museums to the national level while maintaining local management and ownership. Today, there are more than two hundred members of the network with so much more potential to grow. I wanna share a little bit about the Banneker Douglas Tubman Museum and why I value our membership in this network. We are a state of Maryland official museum of African American heritage, located in Annapolis, once a major slave port and later the center of abolitionism and civil rights activity in our state's capital. Our home is the former Mount Moriah AME church, built nearly a decade after emancipation proclamation was signed. The NAACP convened there. Everyday citizens organized for equal rights and later thought to preserve this building as a museum and public library. Today we document, interpret, and and promote African American history and culture for the next generation. We tell the state stories of those such as Marylanders, such as Thurgood Marshall, Pauline Murray, Perrin Mitchell, Lily Carroll Jackson, Verda Freeman-Welcome, and Gloria Richardson. That is why reauthoring this program is so important. There are so many additional places that are eager to join this network, so many opportunities to build on this legacy. At this year, as we celebrate the two hundredth and fiftieth anniversary, what better way to honor those self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence, that we are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights of libera, live life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is why we must continue the African American Civil Rights Network by passing this legislation. Thank you for your, for considering my testimony.

Thank you, Miss Johnson. Said beautifully.

Thank you.

Uh, I'd al like to recognize member for members for questions, Mr. McClintock. You are recognized first for five minutes.

Thank you. Uh, Supervisor McCauley, could you uh tell us the differences that you noted before and after the secretarial order that requires the uh park superintendent to regularly consult with the gateway communities and management decisions that affect those communities?

Yes, thank you for the question. Um so through three four three four, uh Park Service staff is collaborating very closely with uh gateway communities around issues of traffic management, as well as um preservation uh of of the park. So um each county which is participating in three four three four has designated uh three representatives from their county to participate and collaborate Um, we are not a decision making body, we are uh uh information only.

But you're now being consulted rather than simply informed, is that accurate?

This is correct, yes, not only are we being consulted, um our ideas are are being welcomed um and at times even implemented.

Well Well in fact you mentioned uh a lot of the reforms that have been implemented this

Uh

year to to alleviate congestion and dramatically reduce wait times to park entrances. Uh weren't all those reforms proposed for many years by the gateway communities?

Yes sir, um you know ideas around managing traffic within Yosemite Valley uh is not a new concept. Overcrowding in the valley is a real concern. Um but we believe there are ways to manage that overcrowding without restricting access um to the entire park.

And and and and these gateway communities, I sat in on a lot of these meetings that you attended as well, But uh uh you know where these proposals were made in vain to the park management, I remember Cecily Muldoon, a previous superintendent, basically blowing off everybody until essentially they're gonna do it their way.

Yeah, it's uh unfortunate when we don't get the level of collaboration with uh federal employees that you know translates to meaningful um implementation you know. When we look at the visitor access management plan, while well intended, I think the rollout was extremely problematic. You mentioned, you know, over seven hundred cars a day being turned away at the park. Um, you know, a lot of that has to do with communication issues, decisions being made um in a silo.

Well, and and in fact there was a concerted attempt to portray Yosemite Valley as hopelessly overcrowded during the Memorial Day weekend. And indeed, uh, two days of gridlock were recorded at the park on that weekend. Have there been any other days of gridlock recorded this year?

Not to my knowledge, no.

And why not?

i think it's largely due to improvements in uh gate operations as well as utilizing tools like the shunt in the valley which um when traffic gets to a point where a gridlock could occur um park service staff has an ability to um direct traffic outside of the valley where it tends to be more impacted

and in fact the gateway businesses and and elected representatives such as yourself were advocating these reforms for many many years Eh but uh they weren't implemented until the secretarial order. Is that accurate?

Correct.

Um What was the position of the Gateway businesses regarding the reservation system that was imposed uh during the Biden administration? Um

I I I would say very simply that, you know, businesses uh did not like the reservation system. Um they found it to be very clunky, they found it to be very problematic. Um and there were lots of concerns um that you know the overall product there um encouraged people not to come back. Um obviously we want people to come back to our communities, we want people to come back to the park, we want them to enjoy those spaces responsibly.

In fact that was uh John Muir's point uh many years ago when he said the uh valley is filled with people, but they do not annoy me. And the reason he took that position was they might arrive as tourists, they leave as evangelists but when you've got seven hundred people on average a day being turned away uh uh at the gates while the parking lots are sitting just you know half empty um uh i doubt those people are gonna come back uh and i know that because a lot of them call to our office to complain did you get complaints as well

yes sir lots of complaints uh from folks visiting as well as you know residents in the area business owners folks at our visitors bureau Uh I think I was told one story of a gal in the visitor's bureau who was spit at, um by a visitor who was turned away at the gate.

Yeah. Uh and what's the community's view of park management today?

Um excuse me.

Uh what's the community's view of the park management today under under William McPatteren?

I think um the community is very happy with the level of collaboration that's been going on. Um there's always room for improvement and we hope to continue to um, you know, take advantage of three four three four and and hopefully if this bill moves forward, um, we can continue with that collaboration.

Great. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Gentleman's time has expired. Now I'll recognize the ranking member of the committee, Mister Huffman, for your questions.

Thank you, Mister Chairman. I'd like to uh start with our witness from the Thomas Payne Memorial Foundation. Miss Gaylord, you did a great job of reminding us just what a towering figure Thomas Paine was to the American Revolution and to the founding of our country. Uh, I'm proud that uh this memorial was authorized uh through an act of Congress in twenty twenty two with bipartisan sponsorship and support. And there's been a lot of review um since then. So could you just describe the review that this project has already been through?

Yes, it Thank you. Thank you, uh Representative Huffman. Yes, uh it's been reviewed by Nick Mack, um, originally uh the National Capital Memorial Advisory Committee. And I have to check my notes to not leave anybody out, but just a reminder that that's representatives from the Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, the Pentagon, the National Capital Planning Commission, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the General Services Administration, and the District of Columbia. And then they once again in twenty twenty four agreed that the Thomas Paine Memorial deserves area one.

Yeah.

So it's h and had quite a bit of oversight.

Yeah, that that's helpful. Thank you. Can you uh remind the subcommittee how this memorial would be paid for, and whether any federal funds are involved in construction?

It's it's all entirely private from Americans across the country, from all spectrums.

All right. Thank you very much uh for the update. Uh this process for actually lawfully establishing memorials uh is important. I it should be something we all take seriously. Um it is a stark contrast to how the president is going about trying to remake Washington DC these days in his own image including the proposed uh arc to Trump. I hope that seeing an example of how to do this right uh serves as a reminder to all of my colleagues uh that that is our job, to make sure projects like this proceed through a proper process, that they're thoughtful, deliberative, and in compliance with the law. Um finally what uh I wonder if you could speak to the significance of passing H R ninety six hundred this year and how that relates to America's uh two hundred and fiftieth celebration.

Yeah, it's such a wonderful opportunity. to move this bill forward which has been um the process has been slowed down since NCMAC approved area one in twenty twenty four because of course Payne wrote common sense in January of seventeen seventy six and inspired the declaration of independence and the portion of it that was against slavery that was taken out was uh everyone felt that was due to Payne who was a very outspoken abolitionist And then of course, the crisis paper papers started in December of seventeen seventy six. So it's just so fitting and appropriate that area one should be approved by Congress this year, in this semi-quincentennial year.

Very good. Thanks so much. I yield the balance of my time.

Gentleman Nils, I now recognize the Chairman, Mister Westerman, for your questioning.

Thank you, Chairman Tiffin, and again, thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. uh some very good testimony and important issues i wish i had time to ask all of you uh questions but uh mr cunningham i wanna start with you uh you know we're in a we're in a time where our forest products community is facing a lot of turmoil with markets and why is it important um now maybe more than ever to invest in forestry research and demonstration

Thank you, Chairman, and um that's a really good point. Um, particularly in the southeast and really all across the country, you know, we're seeing uh a market decline in many sectors. In Arkansas and across the south, we're really seeing decline in the small diameter markets uh for pulpwood and and, and those types of products. Um, but it's not the end of the day for the forest industry. Um, it's, it's a turning point, and so there's new technologies coming out, there's wood being used. energy in certain situations. Um, there's new uh methodologies for uh using wood for construction lumber. We have a new plant going in the Monticello area right now, uh that's going to be doing uh laminated uh strand lumber. So that's a new product that's coming out. And so we do have new technologies and and we do have new needs. We have a tremendous forest health forest health concern uh all across the south and really all across the country. Uh, the University of Arkansas at Monticello just opened a forest health center there recently, and we want to work really closely with them uh to make sure we're doing forest health research to make sure we have healthy and productive forest across the state.

So you you mentioned in your testimony and a- acknowledged um the important work done by the late Doctor Bragg. But even before his tragic passing, the Cross-Experimental Forest had been with, had been understaffed for roughly fifteen years. Um, can you discuss how this lack of affected the forest service's ability uh to maintain uh the the forest and how the state and you know through uam this could be addressed and and what what position is the state in to designate resources uh to bring the forest back

yes sir yes sir

um that's a great question and and i think we're really positioned well the department of agriculture and uh the University of Arkansas at Monticello. You know, Arkansas is a state, we have a a real mix of private and national forest land in the state. We have two point six million acres of national forest in Arkansas. And so our partnership with the forest service is is fairly deep, and and really a good partnership. We have a really good partnership with them. Um you know working with um UAM is going to be you know a tremendous asset there. Um, and, and taking all of the history. You know, there, there's, there are research projects there that are decades old. And taking that data, uh, and continuing to measure it, and then applying the new, um, technologies and, and what not that are coming out in the realm of remote sensing. That's a whole new realm in forest management these days, looking at satellite imagery, drone imagery, uh, artificial intelligence, machine learning, all of these things we can do. uh to monitor forest health and and many other aspects of it. So.

Thank you. I look forward to seeing this this move forward. Mister Loft, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library was built without federal funding. And your testimony notes that private donors in s- the state of North Dakota have already invested approximately four hundred and fifty million dollars in the library S six seventy-five would authorize up to fifty million dollars in grant funding from the Department of the Interior to the library. Can you explain why you're seeking this federal investment and what specifically you would like to achieve with these federal dollars?

Mister Chairman and ranking members of the committee, thank you for that question. Um, so the Theater Result Presidential Library um, Act follows two simple premises. One, it models off of legislation from um, the Abraham uh, Li- Li- Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Act, which happened in the early twen- two thousands, which helped take care of basically the exhibits. um with federal funding that house a lot of the artifacts that are on public display. So while this project is over ninety percent funded um by the um non-profit uh philanthropic sector, uh we do still have areas of um special interest we think for the federal government to take care of artifacts in their display uh display in um um for the public. We have over five hundred plus artifacts on display uh because our presidential library was created before or after excuse me the establishment of the um current archive system. The Roosevelt artifacts have been sent about the country for over a hundred and twenty-five years this is the first time they've ever been centrally located with a place for public distinction so um the federal funding that we have um only takes care of those assets and um we would be presen for a presidential library of this size and stature the largest percentage funded by um philanthropic gifts versus federal government of any um comparable institution.

Thank you, I'm out of time, Mister Chair.

Gentlemen, yield s now recognize Miss Randall for your questioning. You have five minutes.

Thank you so much, Chair Tiffany. Um, I'd like to offer comments on HR ten one twenty eight and then have some questions for the witnesses if there's time remaining. I truly appreciate the work of my colleague, Representative McClintock, um with this bill to codify secretary's order three four three four, the Department of Interior. which would strengthen coordination with gateway communities and establish a formal policy to enhance coordination and partnership with gateway communities, essential to the national park system. And the ideas are great. Gateway communities have often felt frustrated at bearing the cost of increased visitation and tourism while being excluded from decision making. However, my concern is that we are adding uh requirements of a national park service that is also getting resources stripped and staffing cut such that we it may be very difficult to implement new requirements washington sixth my district is home to the beautiful olympic national park as well as many gateway communities that support tourism in the area towns like forks washington home of the twilight saga um and a pla a place where we will see thousands and thousands of tourists come just for a twilight festival in the next um few weeks along with tourists who come from around the world to visit the whole rainforest The Quileute tribe located in La Poche, Washington share with the Olympic National Park the visitors

Oh

that come from all over to enjoy the beauty of our area. I strongly support meaningful engagement with our gateway communities, including tribes, cities, towns and other partners. But we have to adequately fund the staff at the National Park Service, who we are asking to do this work, so that they can be successful in carrying out these increased responsibilities. Since January twenty twenty five, MPS has lost nearly twenty five percent of its workforce and new rules have slowed down hiring process, leaving many of our national parks short-staffed. Staff are doing double duty to maintain visitor services and protect park resources. National Park Service staff do important data collection, work that allows tribal nations to make important decisions in Washington six, a treaty and trust responsibility of co-management of our natural resources, collecting information about the health of fish runs, whether to open rivers for subsistence or recreation fishing the effectiveness of restoration work and the impact of spills the loss of staff at Olympic National Park puts the monitoring of this important data at risk and staff loss also makes it harder to keep up with regulation enforcement especially near the Quileute tribe rather than continue to overstretch the park staff I want to be sure that we are adequately funding and staffing the national parks, and then talk about additional duties and mandates. Additionally, as uh our Ranking Member, Mister Hoffman, said at the beginning, there, House Republicans are sitting on a backlog of bills that grow outdoor recreation economy, designate parks that reflect all American stories, and support the rangers and staff that keep land safe, open, and ready for everyone to enjoy. I'd love to see this committee prioritize consideration of legislation supports public lands. Bills like my Wild Olympics, Wilderness and Wild and Scenic River Act should be at the forefront and center of this committee's agenda. And again, I am grateful for Mister McClintock's leadership on working alongside gateway communities to make sure that decisions are made with local influence, but we have to match the staffing and the resources to our national park service. So they can do this job well. With my remaining time, I'd love to ask um Miss Gaylor about the Thomas Payne Common Sense Act. Um, I understand that even though Thomas Payne died in New York City, he has no grave site anywhere? Would this memorial help fill a gap for people who want to observe his contributions to the nation's founding?

Yes, he has no grave site. Um, his grave was actually plundered by an admirer in England who took the casket back to England and intended to put up a large obelisk and never did, and the bones are missing. It's, there's a lot of literature and songs about the bones of Thomas Pink. So we would love to have a site for him where people could really honor him.

Fascinating. I'm sure that would draw extra tourism when his uh statue is placed. Thank you so much. I yield back.

General lady's time has expired and now I'll recognize Representative Stauber for five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Mr. Darrah, thank you for your testimony today. By changing the status of these three wilderness study areas that are addressed in Representative Downing's legislation, access and use of these large swaths of land will increase, allowing them to be enjoyed by many more Montanans and Americans. Can you expand upon the how increasing access to hunters, anglers, and other sportsmen

Uh, I forgot to shut it off. Um, yes, access is definitely a a a component of this bill for sure. Um, a a and the reason it is these wilderness study areas, the the roads get gated off, and it denies access to to uh guys like myself that are sixty eight years old uh i can't walk fifteen miles a day anymore but um these these uh roads will some of them will open up it'll allow people to drive in it will allow uh different pressures put on elk populations that uh maybe aren't getting pressure because people aren't back in there and allow for an increased harvest on some elk Um, but the real component that goes with that, that is so important is the manipulation of vegetation to increase uh browse for elk.

Mm-hmm.

Um, it's, you just almost have to see it to believe it.

Thank you. You know, uh, uh, I recognize in your testimony there are some that are opposed to changing the status of these wilderness study areas. Where would you say most of these individuals are from?

You know, they belong to um NGOs uh that that we face in litigation on.

Not Montanans mostly?

Yeah, most of them aren't. No, no. Yeah, yeah.

Thank thank you. Uh, Mister Loft, thank you for being here today and thank you for your work on behalf of the Theodore Roosevelt Library. Uh, given the partnership, what do you estimate would be the force multiplier of this federal funding? In other words, for every dollar Congress may appropriate to the li- library, how much outside funding uh is would come in?

Thank you for that question, Congressman. I currently we're required to do a two to one match, uh which for us we think is an incredible model model to incentivize philanthropic giving to institutions celebrating American history. So we anticipate this will have a three to one effect, um for the local community and for um the Badlands of North Dakota.

Uh, thank you very much. Mister Chair, I'm gonna yield the balance of my time to Mister McClintock.

I I appreciate the appreciate the gentleman for yielding, I just wanna do uh follow-up on something this randall said the issue of staff cuts came up when the secretary of the interior uh attended a consultation meeting uh at yosemite again i can't speak for washington but uh well we learned at that meeting that staff productions were not reducing services they were transferring services that had been expensively uh uh performed by park employees to services contracted with local providers that that's a win-win it saves money for the park And it means additional work goes out to the gateway communities. Uh, instead of employing a full-time locksmith, for example, the park calls local providers when that service is needed. Restroom janitorial services are could be another example. And I uh know many of the reforms that are advocated by the gateway uh communities, uh, increase efficiencies. Uh, and uh, ultimately the final decisions are still exercised by the park management. So I just wanted to make that clear and appreciate the gentleman yielding.

Uh, Mr. Chair, yield back.

Gentlemen yields. I now recognize Miss Stansbury for her questioning.

All right. Well, good morning everyone. I wanna say welcome and thank you to all of our guests for traveling across the country and for being here with us today to testify. We have a lot of ground to cover today, and I wanna start with Chaco Canyon, Oak Flat, forty four million acres under the roadless rule in our national forest.

Mm.

And yes, now Yosemite National Park. This administration is attempting an unprecedented land grab of our public lands. And while I respect my colleague across the aisles' arguments about Yosemite National Park, the Trump administration put it in their own budget. In fact, what was entered into the record just a little while ago is the actual description of the land swap to give part of Yosemite's public park lands, to a private developer for a ranch and it is in the trump administration's budget in cold hard writing with a map so don't jerk us around here today it's very clear that this administration appears to be moving forward with this proposal now let me just say this to the american public i think the people of this country have been clear that they are a hell no on the sale of public lands that they wanna keep our public lands in public hands to protect our tribal sacred sites. And we have to continue to raise our voices in Congress, in the courts, and in our communities to stop these land grabs. And I know myself, I know my colleague here sitting next to me, Congresswoman Leger Fernandez, are going to continue this fight in every single battlefield we can. Now, there are a number of good bills before us today, and I support a number of them, including Representative Raskin's built on near Thomas Paine, Rep Gonzalez's bill to protect Boca Chica Beach, but particularly I wanna focus today on two bills that are bipartisan that I am a co-sponsor of. And that includes Rep Llohoud's uh bill to designate the route sixty-six as a national historic trail as well as Representative Clyburn's bill to the African American Civil Rights Network. Now, we all know that route sixty six is the mother road, and it goes right through the heart of New Mexico's first congressional district, as well as our third congressional district, that Congresswoman Leger Fernandez represents. And it goes right through the heart of Albuquerque, from Santa Rosa on the east side, all the way through our east mountain communities, Moriarty, Tijeras, and Carnaval, right through central and downtown Albuquerque. And this year it is celebrating its hundredth birthday, extending from Chicago to the West Coast. It is a road to freedom, a road to opportunity, a road of history, and connects our communities across every generation that it has passed. I also wanna focus on Rep. Clyburn's African American Civil Rights Network Act. This bill, when it was first authorized, helped to highlight the tremendously important national that are critical to our nation's history in the civil rights movement. This bill is more important than ever as our history is under attack by this administration, and indeed the very civil rights gains that were achieved in those places. We're talking about places like Doctor King's National Park, where he was born and laid to rest, Brown versus Board of Education National Park, where Monroe Elementary was first integrated. The Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. And Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail, which is the fifty-four miles between the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the Alabama State Capitol. Marched, which led to the passage of the nineteen sixty-five Voting Rights Act that is currently under attack by this administration and by this Supreme Court. And so, Miss Johnson, with my remaining time, I would love to ask you to tell us why is it so important that we preserve this history and that we continue to fight to preserve this trail.

Thank you. You know, as a as a historian, as someone that's a steward of history and culture, uh it is paramount that we tell the full American story, that it was the groundswell of black activism, of the abolitionist movement, of the civil rights movement, of everyday people that decided that the true meaning of American democracy, the true meaning of our constitution, uh that all men and women are created equal. Uh so these stories um these sites of memory, of community empowerment is important, is a public resource, a public educational resource, and on a personal level, and I don't wanna get emotional, but I think about my grandmother. I think about my great grandmother. I think about my family that fought during this movement so that I can be here, that I can have the civil liberties. i stand on their shoulders. So that i don't take that for granted. Uh, and it's important that as a nation that we stand up and tell the truth for today and future generations. Because these stories matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Johnson. I don't think anyone could have said it better in this room. We appreciate you being here today.

Thank you.

General Lady's time has expired and I'll recognize represent Maloy for your questioning.

Thank you, Mister Chairman. Uh, Mister McCauley, I appreciate your testimony about gateway communities. I represent several gateway communities in Utah. And next year I'll represent even more of them. And we have similar struggles with um tourism is a mixed blessing for these communities. It it brings in a lot of of money and recognition. It also causes problems and and we have the same struggles with the Park Service of do we want a reservation system, will it harm the gateway communities? Um, and you've done a good job of explaining what you've been working on, but would you just talk a little bit about what the difference is in a community like yours between when Park Service listens and takes input from the communities, and when they make decisions without community input?

Sure. Thank you for that question. And, and I will say I was in Moab, uh, playing golf, And sure enough, you have the same concerns in Moab that we have uh in in Madera. So, um, yeah, you know, I I think you know, when when we look at three four three four and what it's been able to accomplish for the gateway communities around Yosemite, um, a voice at the table, you know, it it's it's more than just placating obviously, you know, w we're not so stubborn, so arrogant that, you know, all of our ideas have to be accepted. Right? But we wanna know that when we come to the table, um, that there is a ear on the other side listening, um, you know, to those concerns and that, you know, understands that there is a perspective that is valuable to the decision-making process. You know, when we talk about, um, park service being stretched thin, I, I would say that, you know, we, we can't not do this because, you know, we must work more efficiently, um, in, in these times. And so, Uh it's a a great example of why we should move forward.

Yeah, and it's been my experience that when local communities are involved in those decisions they uh are really good at coming up with resources that help the park service go farther and do a better job so thank you for your testimony. Um, Mister Dara, again we have similar concerns in my state, in Utah we have WSAs, uh we have the constant struggle of how long will they continue to be studied? Uh the first inventory of WSAs Ended in nineteen eighty. I wasn't even born in nineteen eighty, and I'm sitting here with wrinkles, looking a little old and haggard today. And that's how long we've been managing these areas for non- impairment. And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy at some point, if you treat an area like wilderness long enough, it will start to revert to one. Um, and I don't even have a question for you, just a really quick cautionary tale. I testified in front of this committee once,

Hmm.

when I was a deputy county attorney, way before I ever had any dreams of running for Congress. And what I testified about were wilderness study areas in Utah that Congress released in a two thousand nine

Uh-huh.

omnibus lands bill that were still being managed for non-impairment uh because the BLM's manual said when Congress releases a WSA they will take that under serious consideration so keep an eye on this even when it passes and becomes law, the the struggle just never seems to end uh and I will state again what I said that day, when Congress tells an agency to do something they don't seriously consider they should just do it and do it quickly. Um, and with that, Mister Chairman, I'm going to yield the remainder of my time to my colleague, Mister McClintock.

I appreciate that.

That's very good.

I just feel the need to to calm down Miss Stansbury a little. Um, first of all, the parcel in question is not inside Yosemite Park, it is outside the park. The question is giving it a private right of access into the park, which is a terrible idea. Nearly fifteen years ago, the previous land owner of this parcel approached my office uh with that proposal and we told them no. And that is the last that I heard of it, until this hysterical article uh appeared in a leftist news platform a few days ago. We immediately contacted the Department of Interior, and their legislative unit was unaware of it. Uh apparently a new land owner was floating this idea as a right of way swap, but they've got no comparable property to swap. So I said granting private access to the park would be a terrible precedent, it's not going to happen. So the general lady needs to put out her hair on fire, take a deep breath and calm down. And and by the way, I think this is another reason to assure consultation with gateway communities that would never support such a proposal. I thank the general lady for yielding.

Uh, does the general lady yield

Does the general lady yield the balance of her time? Do you yield

Yeah.

Will you yield your time to me?

The

Will the general lady yield your time?

general lady yield

So that I may respond to the very disrespectful remarks

I will

Do you yield the balance of her time?

I will I will not, it's still my time, I'm reclaiming my time. In my last twenty seconds i just wanna say i have a thomas pain quote hanging on my wall and i really appreciate the appreciate the work you're doing to memorialize someone who was so important to our founding on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our founding and with that mister chairman i yield

thank you

the gentlelady yields i now recognize the gentlelady from new mexico miss ledger fernandez for five minutes of questioning

um i am uh so thankful to be here to focus on sort of some of what our history is and why it should be recognized. Uh, I am a co-lead of the Route sixty-six bill. And I wanna both thank uh Representative Loughood, but I also wanna thank Representative Napolitano. This was a bill that she worked on uh for such a long time, and she retired before we could get it done. She wanted to have it done before the hundredth anniversary, and I'm thankful to her for asking me to be the co-lead as as she went into it. because route sixty-six has connected our communities from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean for nearly sixty years uh and the cultural and historic significance of this road cannot be overstated. It's the mother load. It carried the sorrows and dreams of families fleeing the Dust Bowl, searching for new life. It moved troops. It moved troops. the nation mobilized for World War Two. And it helped form all of those memories as people thought of going west, and then going back east again. Right? And I think we need to remember that it introduced many people for the first time to desert landscapes, but also to Native American communities, to Hispano and Latino communities. It introduced America to America. And two, the diversity of Americans. What are the what are the road has a song about, and you all know the lyrics. The minute I said song you all went, yeah, yeah, St. Louis, Joplin, Missouri, Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty, Amarillo, and one of my favorites, Gallup, New Mexico, right? And we all know that, but the next generation knows it. It was in Cards in two thousand six, so it is generational, it is not a dead road, it is a living road. And because it plays such an important role in econo as an economic driver, we need to recognize that and recognize that uh our parks, our trails, our monuments are not dead history, they are living history. We still cry thinking about what they mean as Miss Johnson did today. We still go and spend money in the businesses. that are lined along the road. So, Mister Thompson, um, and Mister Thomas, I would ask you, why is it important to recognize this as a trail? And then what does it mean in terms of economic opportunity for the businesses and and communities that are along the road?

Thank you for that question. I'll start with the last part first. I live in a town of sixteen hundred forty nine people that sits on Route sixty six, halfway between Chicago and St. Louis. That road has literally transformed our community, allow for one data point. Since we started leveraging route sixty six to build heritage tourism, our annual sales tax revenue has gone up forty three percent, and we annually receive at just one of our several museums over eight thousand visitors in a town of sixteen hundred forty nine, ok. It is a fantastic economic engine and we are here to help everybody else along the road recognize its potential in that regard. From a historic point, the bill is so important to achieve designation, not just because of the road's history, but because of the fact that since it was commissioned in nineteen twenty six, it has constantly been changing and forward-looking. So this bill will help position it for what I know is going to be its next successful one hundred years.

Right, and let's hope we can get it done, right, because we had made a commitment to a wonderful representative of Napolitana, let's get this done. You know, I have my, you know, cruis cruising cruising on route sixty six, cuz that's what we like to do, uh, and it goes through our communities. You know, I do think it is important to recognize switching the importance of our public lands, our national parks, and preserving them, and keeping our public lands in public hands, uh, and not engaging in activity that would deprive all Americans of this important cultural resource. And it is a fight that we are dedicated to. I would like to um uh yield uh my uh some uh some time to my colleague from New Mexico, Representative Stansberry.

Uh, thank you, Congresswoman. I don't need to engage in insults because I show up with receipts. What I have is President Trump's budget request to Congress to which is literally describing this transfer of lands using an authority that does not require congressional authorization, that would be a land swap of lands within the park, and is asking for money from LWCF to do it. And so, uh, Mister Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to enter Donald Trump's budget into the record where he describes this land swap within Yosemite National Park.

It it's it's already in the record.

Well, I I asked uh offer it again since my colleague still hasn't read it.

So The Gen The General Lady's time has has expired. Uh, I now recognize uh, Representative Downing for your questioning.

Thank you, uh, Mister Chairman. Uh, I'm gonna start, Mister Dara. I appreciate you testifying here today on the importance of returning the Middle Fork, Judith, uh, Hoodoo Mountain in Wales.

Uh, yes. Um, you know, they're, they're being treated as de facto wildernesses, is is what what's going on. So what that means is there's, there's no uh, thinning projects, there's no fire mitigation. you can't go in on a road to do anything. And uh because there's no uh vegetation manipulation or uh forest thinning uh it's either too much canopy and nothing grows to feed wildlife so they run down to the valley to eat alfalfa hay. And so what needs to happen if we're gonna have wildlife on our federal grounds is we have to take care of our forests and we have to manipulate the vegetation That makes them wanna stay there.

Right.

And uh, so it's not going on right now.

So, speaking of the wildlife, um, how would the state of Montana's elk population management in particular, be supported by the release of these lands from a WSA designation?

Yeah, it would allow, um, you know, that same manipulation that I'm talking about, increased browse and and make elk wanna stay there, you know, uh, Because what's going on in Montana is they they don't stay there, and they raise generations of calf elk in the lowlands, and they don't ever go back. And so, we need to make it so it's appealing to wildlife to stay on that public ground.

Right. Obviously, we've seen a lot of uh smoke this summer in Montana, so this is germane to that. What's the current condition of forests in the HWSA's with respect to dead timber, fuel and wildfire risk?

Yeah, it it it's really tragic if you get an opportunity to see some of this. It's like uh pick up sticks game we used to play when we were kids. That's what the woods look like. You can't even walk through them. Um, you know, if I can't walk through them, there's elk and deer and wildlife. We're gonna avoid those areas as well.

So can you elaborate a little bit more on how these current uh WSA designations impair that forest management and wildfire mitigation efforts.

Uh, yeah. Um, because they have this WSA designation, um, i- if there's any proposed project, it, it, it, um, puts an onerous layer of red tape the antis or the NGOs use in their litigation to stop any manipulation or projects that would benefit the habitat.

Thanks. So, how have the communities surrounding these WSA has been impacted by the continued unresolved management status of uh of these lands?

You know, it's it's um We used to have lumber mills in Montana. We don't have lumber mills anymore. Uh, many jobs have left many communities and uh we used to see logging trucks. We don't see logging trucks anymore. Uh, I know we didn't stop building houses, so I'm not sure where the wood the wood's coming from. But uh, you know, economy-wise, um, that hurt Montana severely. Uh, ranchers can't graze their livestock on a lot of these WSAs. Uh, and they rely on that, um, you know, animal unit to, to uh, raise beef for our country. And uh, they're not being able to do that too.

Well, I appreciate you being here today. I appreciate your testimony and your answers to these questions. And on that, Mister Chair, I yield the remainder of my time.

Gentlemen, yields. And I'm gonna close out questioning here. And um, I don't have much for questions, but I wanted to share a couple comments. Uh, Mister Dara, you just said that you're not sure where that wood is coming from, that we used to get from the Western States. I can tell you where it's coming from. It's coming from places like Canada. And it's as a result of shutting down, uh, our force, including our national force here in America. And it's really sad that it's happened. And, uh, hopefully we're going to be able to rejuvenate that timber industry once, uh, uh, sometime in the near future. Uh, Miss Johnson, I just wanna comment in regards to, um, some of the testimony you gave in your comments. Um, I'm so proud to be from the state of Wisconsin, where the original single issue party was started in eighteen fifty four. And the single issue was to stop the spread of slavery. It happened in Ripon, Wisconsin, in eighteen fifty four, that that party was started, and I belonged to that party. And I'm so proud that, um, the people, our forebears, had the foresight to do that. And they cited one very simple thing that you also cited. All men are created equal. And I'm so glad that we can uphold that, and I'm glad that you're continuing to tell that story. And, um. um, sharing that with Americans because it is, it will always be an important story here in America. Um, I would just conclude with this. We hear some of the full outrage that, uh, has been going on in the committee today. And I just want to address something in regards to what Mister McCauley and, uh, Representative McClintock talked about, and that is coordination. There is a few of us that have been emphasizing this issue for years. I've been here for six years. And there's a few of us that have been talking about it consistently. Coordination is contained in federal law. And when it's cited that there's going to be an unnecessary burden that's going to be put on federal employees in implementing coordination, that is inaccurate. Because the founding documents of like FLIPMA, NEPA, and others contain language in regards to coordination. And it's a very simple meaning. And that is that the federal government shall work as equals with local governments. Those people that created those original documents, like the Federal Land Policy Management Act, they understood that the federal government could be a big brute sometimes. And it has become that at times. And I would cite to uh members here that we saw this happen Um, with the last administration, right here in this committee, when Alaska Native tribes were denied coordination, when they were wanting to um, be able to utilize their natural resources more effectively. The previous administration refused to coordinate with them. This is a great success story here that's going on um, at Yosemite, is where the federal government is actually going to local people. I think that's what I'm hearing, Mister McCauley. is that they're going to local people and saying, we are genuinely going to listen to you and actually coordinate. And that is just a breath of fresh air for America. And kudos to the Department of Interior for following through on that. And um, I wanna thank Representative McClintock for bringing this forward because it is crucial if we're going to have proper management of our federal lands, that we must have coordination undertaken at every step with local communities. So with that, I want to thank all the witnesses for their valuable testimony and the members, for your questions. Members of the subcommittee may have some additional questions for our witnesses today. And we will ask that they, that you respond to those in writing. Under committee rule three, members of the subcommittee must submit questions to the subcommittee clerk by five PM, on Tuesday, September eighth, twenty twenty six. The hearing record will be held open for ten business days for those responses. If there is no further business, without objection, the subcommittee on federal lands stands adjourned.