Norvell Emerson: “Mr. Chairman, I am sorry I missed part of this debate, but let me talk about a specific example of a Man and the…”

“Mr. Chairman, I am sorry I missed part of this debate, but let me talk about a specific example of a Man and the Biosphere reserve program that had been set up in my district in Missouri. It was called the Ozark Highlands Man in the Biosphere Preserve. Mr. Chairman, we would have had two-thirds of my district and probably the northern third of the Arkansas district that borders mine, a little bit of the district of the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Marion Berry, and a little bit of the district of the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Asa Hutchinson, tied up as a Man and the Biosphere Reserve Program. Let me just talk to the gentleman about how this came about. First of all, if you do designate a Man and the Biosphere preserve area, local citizens and local presiding commissioners and county officials need to be involved in the process. This did not happen in my district. All of a sudden the Park Service and all of the other land management departments decided that this would be created. There was no local input whatsoever. We were not told about it. We were not told about it. Then finally our folks heard about it through the grapevine, if you will, and, consequently, with the outrage and an outcry from thousands of residents within our district.”