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115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-281
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CROOKED RIVER RANCH FIRE PROTECTION ACT
_______
August 29, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 2075]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2075) to adjust the eastern boundary of the
Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area in the
State of Oregon to facilitate fire prevention and response
activities in order to protect adjacent private property, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill
as amended do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Crooked River Ranch is an unincorporated community
with a population of 5,000 residents.
(2) The current lands located adjacent to Crooked River Ranch
are managed by the Bureau of Land Management and are classified
as a Wilderness Study Area.
(3) There is currently only one entrance/exit to the Crooked
River Ranch.
(4) Jefferson County and Crooked River Ranch have determined
that the Wilderness Study Area lands are in the highest risk
category for exposure to devastating wildfire due to
overstocked juniper stands under the federally mandated and
locally promulgated Jefferson County Community Wildfire
Protection Plan (CWPP).
(5) The current Wilderness Study Area classification prevents
mechanical fire prevention activities within the overstocked
juniper stands.
(6) Advancing this proposed legislation will greatly enhance
the life and safety of people and property by reducing the
extreme fire threat to these lands.
SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT, DESCHUTES CANYON-STEELHEAD FALLS AND
DESCHUTES CANYON WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS, OREGON.
(a) Boundary Adjustment Required.--The Secretary of the Interior
shall adjust the eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead
Falls Wilderness Study Area and the Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Study
Area in the State of Oregon to exclude approximately 832 acres, as
depicted on the map entitled ``Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls
Wilderness Study Area'' and dated April 6, 2017, in order to facilitate
fire prevention and response activities on the excluded public lands
and adjacent private property.
(b) Effect of Exclusion.--Effective on the date of the enactment of
this Act, the public lands to be excluded from the Deschutes Canyon-
Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area and the Deschutes Canyon
Wilderness Study Area pursuant to subsection (a) are no longer subject
to section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)).
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to adjust the eastern boundary of the Deschutes
Canyon-Steelhead Falls and Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Study
Areas in the State of Oregon to facilitate fire prevention and
response activities to protect private property, and for other
purposes.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2075, as ordered reported, is to adjust
the eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls
and Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Areas in the State of Oregon to
facilitate fire prevention and response activities to protect
private property.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Crooked River Ranch is an unincorporated community in
central Oregon with a population of about 5,500 residents. The
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers land west of the
community and directly adjacent to hundreds of homes as the
Whychus-Deschutes Wilderness Study Area (WD WSA). WD WSA is one
of 517 wilderness study areas managed by BLM, which
collectively cover approximately 12.6 million acres across the
nation.\1\
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\1\Wilderness Study Area Information Page. Bureau of Land
Management.
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Jefferson County, Oregon, and Crooked River Ranch
determined that the WD WSA lands are in the highest risk
category for exposure to devastating wildfire due to
overstocked juniper stands under the Jefferson County Community
Wildfire Protection Plan. To make matters worse, the community
is located on a peninsula at the convergence of the Crooked
River and Deschutes River canyons and has only one entrance and
exit, drastically increasing the risk to public safety from
fire.
Despite the high fire risk, BLM is not performing
mechanical fire prevention activities within the overstocked
juniper stands in the WD WSA. In addition, firefighting tactics
are greatly hampered on the WD WSA, leaving local firefighters
with no maneuvering room to protect life and property in the
event of catastrophic wildfire. H.R. 2075 excludes roughly 830
acres of the WD WSA and adjusts its boundary back to the canyon
rim, providing a buffer between the WD WSA and the community.
While the land will remain federally owned, reducing the size
of the WD WSA allows the local community to work with BLM to
implement practical management to prevent fires and ensures
local firefighters can protect the community in the event of a
fire.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2075 was introduced on April 6, 2017, by Congressman
Greg Walden (R-OR). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Federal Lands. On July 25, 2017, the Natural Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was
discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Tom McClintock (R-
CA) offered an amendment designated #1; it was agreed to by
voice vote. Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an
amendment designated 043; it was not agreed to by a roll call
vote of 14 ayes and 19 noes, as follows:
No additional amendments were offered, and on July 26,
2017, the bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to
the House of Representatives by a bipartisan roll call vote of
20 ayes and 13 noes, as follows:
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 18, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2075, the Crooked
River Ranch Fire Protection Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall, Director.
Enclosure.
H.R. 2075--Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection Act
H.R. 2075 would modify the boundaries of two wilderness
study areas in Oregon to exclude 830 acres of federal land from
those areas. Because the bill would not significantly affect
how the Bureau of Land Management would administer the excluded
lands, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have no
significant effect on the federal budget.
Enacting H.R. 2075 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO
estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 2075 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for
Budget Analysis.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill, as ordered reported, is to adjust the
eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls and
Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Areas in the State of Oregon to
facilitate fire prevention and response activities to protect
private property.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.
DISSENTING VIEWS
We are opposed to H.R. 2075, the Crooked River Ranch Fire
Protection Act, introduced by Representative Walden of Oregon.
The bill, which has not received a hearing in the 115th
Congress, releases 832 acres of public land from two Wilderness
Study Areas (WSA) adjacent to Crooked River Ranch, a private
housing development in Central Oregon.
According to proponents of the bill, adjusting the boundary
of the WSA will allow mechanized thinning of dense juniper
stands in a fire prone area. A local collaborative group first
proposed the concept of adjusting the WSA boundary to improve
access for wildfire mitigation projects. This working group was
formed in 2015 and includes representatives from the Crooked
River Ranch Fire Department, Oregon Natural Desert Association,
Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area, the Bureau
of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
In addition to the WSA boundary adjustment, the
collaborative proposed designation of a Special Management Area
to facilitate firefighting efforts and permanent wilderness
designation for the remaining acreage in the WSA. H.R. 2075
simply removes the acreage from the wilderness study area and
ignores the other measures put forward by the collaborative.
Furthermore, Section 3(b) prohibits future consideration of
the land released from the WSA as potential wilderness. This
restriction is unnecessary and does nothing to further the
stated purpose of reducing wildfire risk.
At markup, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member
Grijalva offered an amendment to strike this section from the
bill. Striking this section from the bill would have been
enough to garner bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the
amendment was rejected by the majority. For these reasons, we
oppose H.R. 2075.
Raul M. Grijalva,
Ranking Member, House
Natural Resources
Committee.
Nanette Diaz Barragan.
Darren Soto.
Grace Napolitano.
A. Donald McEachin.
Colleen Hanabusa.
[all]
