Don Young: “I rise in support of S. 610, a bill to direct the conveyance of certain BLM lands to the Westside Irrigation District of…”

“I rise in support of S. 610, a bill to direct the conveyance of certain BLM lands to the Westside Irrigation District of Wyoming. Mr. Speaker, S. 610 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey roughly 37,000 acres of land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management in Washakie County and Big Horn County, Wyoming, to the Westside Irrigation District. In turn, Westside Irrigation District will irrigate these lands and sell them as farmland parcels. Proceeds raised from the land sales will be given to the Secretary of the Interior for the acquisition of the land in the Worland District of the Bureau of Land Management, for the purpose of benefiting public recreation, increasing public access, enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, and improving cultural resources. In recent years, expanded residential development in Washakie and Big Horn Counties has resulted in key loss to the economy: farmland. This legislation will afford communities an opportunity to retain their economic vitality, while protecting cultural and natural resources and the environment. I would personally like to congratulate everyone who worked so diligently on this measure. I believe it is a job well done between the Federal agencies of the State and individual landholders. I ask my colleagues to support S. 610.”