Omnibus public lands package approved in Senate
March 19, 2009
03:45 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: ROBERT DILLON (202) 224-6977
MARCH 19, 2009 or ANNE JOHNSON (202) 224-7875
OMNIBUS PUBLIC LANDS PACKAGE APPROVED IN SENATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today released the following statement on the Senate’s passage of the omnibus public lands management bill (H.R. 146) by a 77-20 vote.
“This package is hugely beneficial to individual communities, especially in Western states where the federal government owns so much of the land,” Murkowski said.
The bipartisan package contains more than 160 public lands bills, including several provisions of significance to Alaska.
“This bill is the result of hard work and compromise on both sides,” Murkowski said. “I am optimistic that it will pass the House and be signed into law. I am also optimistic that the 111th Congress can then make a fresh start with public lands legislation and find a way to find consensus on these types of bills.”
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives where it needs a simple majority for approval, before being delivered to President Obama’s desk for signing.
The latest version of the bill includes a bipartisan amendment sought by the House that guarantees access to hunting, fishing, trapping and recreational shooting on public lands. It also reiterates that states have the authority to manage fish and wildlife populations, as well as hunting, trapping and fishing activities on state lands.
The package authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether a land exchange between the state of Alaska and the King Cove Native Corp. and the U.S. Department of the Interior is in the public interest. The exchange – the state would receive about 1,800 acres for giving title of nearly 62,000 acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – has been sought by residents of King Cove for more than 20 years to provide emergency access to the all-weather airport in Cold Bay.
Other Alaska provisions included in the package:
• An amendment to the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act that would authorize the federal coordinator to establish fees that could be spent without further appropriation from Congress for activities authorized under current law.
• A provision allowing for the establishment of a Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area to promote local tourism. The provision would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide $1 million a year, for a maximum of $10 million over 15 years, to promote tourism of the Kenai Fjords National Park and Turnagain Arm.
• Land conveyance to City of Coffman Cove. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the city of Coffman Cove a 12-acre parcel of U.S. Forest Service-owned land within the city.
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