Rob Bishop: “We have concerns with H.R. 3726. As of today, the National Park Service has yet to complete the congressionally…”

“We have concerns with H.R. 3726. As of today, the National Park Service has yet to complete the congressionally authorized study of this proposal. In fact, the agency has asked that we defer consideration until the study is completed. These studies are not without cost in both personnel and funds, and they take several years to complete and can drain as much as $500,000 from the Park Service budget. What use are these feasibility studies if we simply choose to ignore them, or, in this case, rush to pass legislation before the study can be finalized? Typically, these studies contain information that could be useful in crafting better legislation. For example, it would be nice to know what process the National Park Service went through to consult with all private property owners who may be harmed or impacted by this designation. The National Park Service testified that the cost to acquire the private property to establish this park could be as much as $50 million, in addition to nearly $1 million a year to operate the park. Most of us are aware of the estimated $9 billion in maintenance backlog created currently with the National Park Service. Consequently, it becomes very difficult to justify why additional land acquisition is advisable at this particular time. How do we explain to taxpayers that, while unemployment soars, their government is conspiring to buy beach-front property in the Caribbean?”