Mark Hatfield: “I support Senator Domenici's Public Rangelands Management Act. I had hoped to support a substitute or a series of…”

“I support Senator Domenici's Public Rangelands Management Act. I had hoped to support a substitute or a series of amendments to address the concerns I expressed in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee meetings. However, we are faced with an amendment that fails to address my concerns and a substitute that goes beyond the changes that I believe we called for in the Domenici bill. I am concerned with two aspects of S. 1459--public participation and flexible management. We could have done a better job in these two areas. Affected interests should be consulted and allowed to protest and appeal decisions; Site-specific NEPA analysis should be allowed when it is determined to be useful; and A permittee or lessee should not have to be engaged in the livestock business and own base property in order to practice conservation use. The substitute makes an attempt to address these two areas, but fails in other respects: It continues to advocate two distinct range management programs, one for the Forest Service and one for the Bureau of Land Management; It fails to adequately address the water rights issue; and It does not adequately credit permittees for their rangeland investments.”