Bruce Westerman: “I have had an opportunity to visit this beautiful part of the world that my colleague from Washington represents, and I…”

“I have had an opportunity to visit this beautiful part of the world that my colleague from Washington represents, and I know that he has the best interests of those beautiful forests and beautiful natural areas at heart, and it is because of this and because of this commonsense amendment that I can rise in support of it. Although I do not believe it goes far enough to address some of the legitimate concerns raised by local stakeholders, it is a great step in the right direction. Instead of simply removing proposed wild and scenic designations from State trust lands that are managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources to generate revenue for schools, counties, and other beneficiaries, the amendment directs the Secretary of Agriculture to work with the DNR to develop these cooperative management agreements to guide the management of those rivers. Now, overlaying DNR trust lands with wild and scenic designations subjects these trust lands to additional process, and I believe it will make it more difficult for DNR to propose timber harvest in these areas that could potentially cost school funding and other benefits. The savings language added in this amendment can only clarify what is required under Federal law.…”