Jon L. Christensen: “As stated by the previous speakers, the overall purpose of this legislation is to resolve a long-standing error that…”

“As stated by the previous speakers, the overall purpose of this legislation is to resolve a long-standing error that included a preexisting concession known as Walters Camp within the original 1964 public land withdrawal that created the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. In the 107th Congress, the Committee on Resources determined after a lengthy investigation that the inclusion of this concession was a genuine error in the original withdrawal and agreed that this error should be corrected. H.R. 417 would make that legal adjustment. But just as important, this legislation will also ensure that all title interests to the 140 acres of land revoked from the Cibola Refuge remain public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Allow me to be clear: nothing is being conveyed to the concession operator as part of this legislation. It is simply a transfer of lands from one Federal agency to another. This legislation has also retained amendments adopted last year by the Committee on Resources to require the Secretary of the Interior to resurvey and conspicuously mark the new adjusted boundaries.”