Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I am proud to offer this amendment to make two key improvements to title VI of this bill, which designates 19 Wild and Scenic Rivers on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. First, this amendment will further protect the interests of Washington State's Department of Natural Resources to manage State- owned lands adjacent to new Wild and Scenic River designations. Building on the savings clause already included in the base text, which explicitly protects DNR's management authority, this amendment would further require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with DNR to manage the four new Wild and Scenic Rivers that abut DNR lands. This important change will ensure that DNR not only retains the authority to manage State-owned lands, but also has a clear voice in how the Forest Service manages their surrounding Federal lands that fall within the adjacent Wild and Scenic River corridor. This small but important change has led our State Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, to give her strong support to this bill. Second, this amendment directs the Secretary of Agriculture to complete the 19 comprehensive river management plans through the long- overdue process of updating the forest management plan for the Olympic National Forest, sets a maximum 5-year timeline for updating the forest plan, and allows the Secretary to request additional funds to complete the forest plan update if needed.…”