S.Hrg. 115-504 — PENDING LEGISLATION115th Congress (2017-2018)
Senate Committee Meeting
Hide Overview| Committee: | Senate Energy and Natural Resources |
|---|---|
| Related Items: | S.400, S.966, H.R.1135, S.1160, S.1260, S.1335, H.R.1397, S.1446, S.1472, H.R.1500, S.1573, S.1602, S.1645, S.1646, S.1692, S.1956, S.2102, S.2213, S.2225, S.2238, H.R.2615, H.R.2897, H.R.4300 |
| Date: | Wednesday February 14, 2018 |
| Location: | Data will display when it becomes available. |
| Website: | https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/ |
Text: S.Hrg. 115-504 — PENDING LEGISLATION
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[Senate Hearing 115-504]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 115-504
PENDING LEGISLATION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
NATIONAL PARKS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
on
S. 400 S. 1573 S. 2102
S. 966 S. 1602 S. 2213/H.R. 4300
S. 1160 S. 1645 S. 2225
S. 1260/H.R. 2615 S. 1646 S. 2238
S. 1335 S. 1692 H.R. 1397
S. 1446/H.R. 1135 S. 1956/H.R. 2897 H.R. 1500
S. 1472
__________
FEBRUARY 14, 2018
__________
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
29-765 WASHINGTON : 2020
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho RON WYDEN, Oregon
MIKE LEE, Utah BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
STEVE DAINES, Montana JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia
CORY GARDNER, Colorado MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine
BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia TINA SMITH, Minnesota
------
Subcommittee on National Parks
STEVE DAINES, Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO ANGUS S. KING, JR.
MIKE LEE BERNARD SANDERS
CORY GARDNER DEBBIE STABENOW
LAMAR ALEXANDER MARTIN HEINRICH
JOHN HOEVEN MAZIE K. HIRONO
ROB PORTMAN TAMMY DUCKWORTH
Brian Hughes, Staff Director
Patrick J. McCormick III, Chief Counsel
Michelle Lane, Professional Staff Member
Mary Louise Wagner, Democratic Staff Director
Sam E. Fowler, Democratic Chief Counsel
David Brooks, Democratic General Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Daines, Hon. Steve, Subcommittee Chairman and a U.S. Senator from
Montana........................................................ 1
King, Jr., Hon. Angus S., Subcommittee Ranking Member and a U.S.
Senator from Maine............................................. 4
Portman, Hon. Rob, a U.S. Senator from Ohio...................... 5
WITNESS
Smith, P. Daniel, Deputy Director, National Park Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior..................................... 6
ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
Agenda........................................................... 3
American Discovery Trail Society:
Statement for the Record..................................... 49
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area:
Statement for the Record..................................... 54
Blunt, Hon. Roy:
Statement for the Record..................................... 57
Bowser, Hon. Muriel:
Letter for the Record........................................ 58
Burr, Hon. Richard:
Statement for the Record..................................... 60
Capito, Hon. Shelley Moore and Coons, Hon. Chris:
Joint Statement for the Record regarding S. 1573............. 61
Joint Statement for the Record regarding S. 1692............. 63
Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L. and Van Hollen, Hon. Chris:
Joint Statement for the Record............................... 65
Daines, Hon. Steve:
Opening Statement............................................ 1
Hirono, Hon. Mazie K.:
Statement for the Record..................................... 69
King, Jr., Hon. Angus S.:
Opening Statement............................................ 4
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa:
Statement for the Record..................................... 71
National EMS Memorial Foundation:
Letter for the Record........................................ 73
National Parks Conservation Association:
Letter for the Record........................................ 76
Portman, Hon. Rob:
Opening Statement............................................ 5
Smith, P. Daniel:
Opening Statement............................................ 6
Written Testimony............................................ 8
Responses to Questions for the Record........................ 37
(The) Wilderness Society:
Letter for the Record........................................ 79
__________
The text for each of the bills which were addressed in this hearing can
be found on the committee's website at: https://www.energy.senate.gov/
public/index.cfm/2018/2/subcommittee
021418.
PENDING LEGISLATION
----------
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on National Parks,
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:07 p.m. in
Room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Steve Daines,
presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DAINES,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Daines [presiding]. The Subcommittee will come to
order.
Before we begin I would like to take a moment to welcome
our new Ranking Member, Senator Angus King, who hails from the
great State of Maine. I will tell you there is some great
symmetry here with Maine and Montana here leading this
Committee. It is wonderful to have you and, truly, I look
forward to working with you.
The 23 bills we are examining this afternoon cover a wide
range of issues related to the federal land administered by the
U.S. Department of the Interior, primarily by the National Park
Service.
Some of the items we will hear today are new to the
Subcommittee and others we have heard before in previous
Congresses, but this will give us a great opportunity to update
the record as well as for members to ask questions. In
addition, a good number of the items on the agenda today have
been included in S. 1460, the Energy and Natural Resources Act
of 2017.
Because we have so many items on the agenda today, I won't
go through each one, but I would like to highlight a few before
we do get started.
For example, S. 1260, which was introduced by my colleague,
Senator Cochran, is on the list today. This bill would
authorize a land exchange between the Veterans of Foreign Wars
(VFW) Post 5699 in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and the National
Park Service. Right now, the only way to reach the VFW Post is
across a one lane, dirt access road. While the Park Service
allows the VFW to construct and maintain the access road, they
did not provide a right of way or a special use permit. This
land exchange between the VFW and the Park Service would allow
for guaranteed access to a driveway for VFW members and would
be mutually beneficial for both parties. I think this is the
least we can do for those who have served our country.
Speaking of those who have served, we have another item on
our agenda today, Senate bill 2213, which speaks to the legacy
of the veterans of our greatest generation. This bill was
introduced by Senator Hirono and would allow for the creation
of the Pacific War Memorial at Pearl Harbor to tell the story
of those U.S. Servicemembers who fought bravely alongside all
other allied servicemembers in the Pacific Theater during World
War II, many who made the ultimate sacrifice. This may come as
a surprise to many, but the current memorials at Pearl Harbor
commemorate America's entry into and the successful end to the
war but lack of space to honor individuals who served in
Theater. This legislation would allow a commemorative display
to be constructed at no cost to the Federal Government and
would be named after a hero of the greatest generation, Admiral
Lloyd R. ``Joe'' Vasey, who, it is my understanding, recently
celebrated his 101st birthday. I look forward to learning more
about how we can move this forward on a bipartisan basis.
We have a few other items on the agenda that, I believe,
are of special significance today. It is February which is
African American History Month. There are two bills on our
agenda: S. 1645, which would authorize a special resource study
for Public School 103, that is Thurgood Marshall's elementary
school, and Senate bill 1646, which would authorize a special
resource study for President Street Station in Baltimore, both
of which are significant to African American and all American
history. In addition, S. 1446, which would reauthorize
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Preservation
Program, is on the agenda. I look forward to a good discussion
on each of these items in addition to the rest of all the bills
on our long list.
Each of these agenda items are not only important to
individual members of the Subcommittee but to our nation's
parks and citizens as a whole. This Subcommittee is so
important to our members and our citizens because we often talk
about very local issues and about access to our parks.
In Montana, access to public lands and recreation is at the
forefront of our minds and our economy. It is my hope that as
Chair I can continue to further that discussion. In fact, just
today we heard from the Bureau of Economic Analysis about the
economic benefit of outdoor recreation to our economy.
I know we have quite a few items on the agenda today, but I
am hopeful we can move through the list fairly quickly. It is
Valentine's Day. I am sure somebody in this room may have other
plans this evening.
The purpose of this hearing is to consider the
Administration's views on these bills and allow Committee
members an opportunity to ask questions. We will also include
written statements that have been sent to the Subcommittee in
the official hearing record.
Because of the large number of bills on today's agenda, I
will not read through the list, but at this time I will include
the complete agenda in the hearing record. Without objection.
[The complete agenda referred to follows:]
UNITED STATES SENATE
COMMITTEE ON
ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Subcommittee on National Parks
February 14, 2018 Hearing regarding Pending Legislation
AGENDA
S. 400, the Susquehanna National Heritage Area Act
S. 966, the National Historic Vehicle Register Act
of 2017
S. 1160, the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area
Amendment Act
S. 1260/H.R. 2615, the Gulf Islands National
Seashore Land Exchange Act of 2017
S. 1335, the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park
Establishment Act
S. 1446/H.R. 1135, to reauthorize the Historically
Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation
program
S. 1472, a bill to reauthorize the Tennessee Civil
War Heritage Area
S. 1573, the American Discovery Trail Act of 2017
S. 1602, the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area
Study Act
S. 1645, the Thurgood Marshall's Elementary School
Study Act
S. 1646, the President Street Station Study Act
S. 1692, the National Emergency Medical Services
Commemorative Work Act
S. 1956/H.R. 2897, a bill to authorize the Mayor of
the District of Columbia and the Director of the
National Park Service to enter into cooperative
management agreements for the operation, maintenance,
and management of units of the National Park System in
the District of Columbia
S. 2102, the Acadia National Park Boundary
Clarification Act
S. 2213/H.R. 4300, the Admiral Lloyd R. ``Joe''
Vasey Pacific War Commemorative Display Establishment
Act
S. 2225, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
Reauthorization Act of 2017
S. 2238, a bill to amend the Ohio & Erie Canal
National Heritage Canalway Act of 1996 to repeal the
funding limitation
H.R. 1397, to authorize, direct, facilitate, and
expedite the transfer of administrative jurisdiction of
certain Federal land, and for other purposes
H.R. 1500, the Robert Emmet Park Act of 2017
Senator Daines. We have one witness today, Mr. P. Daniel
Smith, Deputy Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department
of the Interior. This is Mr. Smith's first time testifying for
the Subcommittee but not his first time up here in the Senate
in this capacity. I would like to thank him for being here with
us.
First, let me turn to the Ranking Member, my friend,
Senator King, for his opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF HON. ANGUS S. KING, JR.,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MAINE
Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I must say I am
delighted to be joining you as Ranking Member of this
Subcommittee.
I am just delighted to welcome Director Smith who, I just
learned, hails from Portland, Maine, which means you have a lot
of credibility coming out of the box, Mr. Director. Don't screw
it up.
[Laughter.]
We are delighted to have you here.
I am also excited you mentioned Thurgood Marshall. It was
50 years ago this spring that I was a young law student and I
heard Thurgood Marshall speak at the University of Virginia Law
School. It is one of the highlights of my life. I still
remember the speech to this day.
I am a strong supporter of the National Park System, a firm
believer in its mission to protect and preserve the natural and
cultural resources of this nation for the enjoyment of future
generations. In this role, I hope to help the Park Service
bring its operations into the 21st century, to help our
national parks connect to a new generation of visitors, and to
redouble our efforts to solve the challenges facing the Park
System from older challenges like park maintenance and funding
to the newer challenges such as record visitation at certain
parks and the long-term threats of climate change.
Director Smith, I also welcome you to the Committee today.
I appreciate your testimony on the pending legislation and
appreciate the work that you have done for many years.
I understand one of the issues that I am going to be
talking about is Acadia National Park, and you worked on that
issue in 1986. It is a delight to have you here with your
expertise and history.
The Park Service and the Department of the Interior has
been working with me for some time to address concerns about
the legislation involving Acadia. I know that both the
Administration and the Maine delegation are dedicated to
preserving and continuously improving Acadia National Park, one
of the crown jewels of the National Park System.
I think the changes we have made in this legislation
appropriately take care of a number of issues at the Park.
Importantly, the bill addresses the concern from local
neighbors about the Park and about the boundaries by protecting
traditional activities of clammers and wormers near the Park
and it also addresses an assortment of other issues that were
bound to arise between close neighbors who have been in
proximity for 100 years.
By the way, I was at a celebration two summers ago of the
100th anniversary of Acadia National Park, and at the
celebration was the only person on the island older than the
Park, David Rockefeller. He was 101 and was at that
celebration.
The legislation that we are bringing forward also codifies
important work and a welcome gift to Acadia, 1,400 acres on the
Schoodic Peninsula and addresses some long-term concerns about
the size and scale of the Park by ending a lack of clarity on
the Park Service's authority and the role of Congress regarding
future acquisitions and boundary changes.
Thank you again, Director Smith, for being here, and thank
you, Chairman Daines. I look forward to our hearing.
Senator Daines. Thank you, Ranking Member King.
Are there any Senators who would like to make a short
statement on their legislation today?
STATEMENT OF HON. ROB PORTMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OHIO
Senator Portman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am delighted
that you are chairing this Subcommittee and that you have an
able Ranking Member, both of whom have great passion for the
parks. I am proud to be on this Subcommittee.
I know that both of you have some great parks in your
states. We do too, in Ohio, as Mr. Smith knows. We are proud of
our Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
We worked last year with this Subcommittee, the full
Committee and the Park Service on the National Park Service
Centennial Act. I just had the National Park Foundation folks
in recently and they reported that they have well exceeded
their expectations on raising private money to match the
federal money which is going to go into this issue of the
maintenance backlog, among other things, which is so critical.
And then, of course, we have this new legislation, the
National Park Service Legacy Act with Senator Warner to
dedicate some of these on and off shore resources to address
that backlog that, I know, the Chair and Ranking Member feel
strongly about also because they see it in their own parks. My
hope is that we can move forward with legislation that
continues to expand these public-private partnerships and get
more money to the backlogs.
We have a bill, also, that is going to be discussed today,
the National Historic Vehicle Register Act, with Senator
Peters, and then we have a reauthorization we need for the Ohio
and Erie Canal which is a National Heritage Area. I will say on
that one, Mr. Chairman, the leverage has been one to three. So
$1.00 of federal funding, about $600,000 a year has been
leveraged with another $3.00 of mostly private funding. It is a
good example of leveraging some money from the Park Service to
create additional funds that can help to protect some critical
areas and, in this case as well as Cuyahoga Valley, areas that
have high population and a lot of usage.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is one of the top ten parks
in the country in terms of attendance, even though it is not as
large and does not have the reputation, perhaps, of some other
parks in your respective states.
So thank you for being here, Mr. Smith. And again, to the
Chair and Ranking Member, I am really excited to be on the
Subcommittee with them and continue to take whatever efforts,
steps, we can to help the National Parks be successful.
Senator Daines. Thank you, Senator Portman.
All member statements will be added to the hearing record.
It is now time to hear from our witness, Mr. P. Daniel
Smith, Deputy Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department
of the Interior. At the end of your testimony, we will begin
questions. Your full written testimony will be made part of the
official hearing record.
Mr. Smith, you may proceed.
STATEMENT OF P. DANIEL SMITH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL PARK
SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman and Senators, I appear before you
as the Deputy Director, executing the authority of the Director
of the National Park Service.
It's a pleasure to be here with you today, opportunity to
present the Department of the Interior's views on the 23 bills
on today's agenda.
I would like to submit our full statements on each of these
bills for the record and summarize our views. The Department
supports the following bills:
S. 2102 which would confirm in statute that the boundary of
Acadia National Park includes Schoodic Woods property that was
donated in 2015. The bill would strictly limit future
administrative boundary adjustments and it would allow
traditional harvesting of marine species in the Park.
S. 1692 which would authorize the National Emergency
Medical Services Memorial Foundation to establish a
commemorative work in the District to honor the commitment and
service of the emergency medical services profession.
H.R. 1397 which would resolve a longstanding access issue
on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
S. 1260 and H.R. 2615 which would resolve an access issue
at Gulf Islands National Seashore.
S. 1446 and H.R. 1135 which would reauthorize funding for
the preservation and restoration of historic structures on the
campuses of historically black colleges and universities.
And finally, S. 2213 and H.R. 43 which would authorize the
organization named Pacific Historic Parks to establish a
commemorative display at Pearl Harbor.
The Department supports the goals of the following bills:
S. 1956 and H.R. 2897 which would clarify the National Park
Service and District of Columbia may enter into cooperative
management agreements. However, we would like to work with the
sponsors and the Committee to ensure that these bills would not
affect other existing authorities.
And S. 1335 which would authorize the establishment of the
Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park. However, the
Administration's focus is to reduce the National Park Service's
$11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog and to address
critical National Park issues. Funding for new units in the
National Park System is not a priority in the Administration's
Fiscal '19 budget.
The Department does not object to H.R. 1500 which would
rename Reservation 302 in the District of Columbia as the
Robert Emmet Park.
Mr. Chairman, there were also eight bills related to
National Heritage Areas and special resource studies that the
Administration cannot support at this time. They are:
S. 1645 which would authorize a special resource study of
P.S. 103, Thurgood Marshall School in West Baltimore.
S. 1646 which would authorize a special resource study of
President Street Station in Baltimore.
S. 1602 which would authorize a study of the suitability
and feasibility of designating an area in New York as the
Finger Lakes National Heritage Area.
S. 400 which would establish the Susquehanna National
Heritage Area in Pennsylvania.
S. 1160 which would expand the boundaries of Lincoln
National Heritage Area.
S. 1472 which would extend the funding authorization for
the Tennessee Civil War Heritage Area for Fiscal Years 2018 to
2021.
S. 2225 which would extend the funding authorization for
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area for Fiscal Years 2019 to
2022.
And finally, S. 2238 which would eliminate the funding
ceiling for the Ohio and Erie National Historic Heritage
Canalway.
The Department recognizes that National Heritage Areas play
an important role in preserving and interpreting unique aspects
of our nation's history and that special resource studies help
inform decisions about the future care of the places that are
part of the American story; however, National Heritage Areas
and special resource studies are not funding priorities in the
Administration's budget. Under these circumstances, we believe
it would be unwise to authorize new studies, designate new
national heritage areas or extend the funding authority or
boundaries of any national historic areas at this time.
However, the Department looks forward to working with
Congress, particularly the members of this Subcommittee, to
craft long-term solutions that will fund our National Park
System.
The Department does not support S. 1573. This bill would
mandate the placement of signage for the unauthorized American
Discovery Trail on federal land.
Finally, the Department opposes S. 966 which would require
the National Park Service to establish and maintain a register
of historic vehicles because it would create an unnecessary new
program.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement and I would be
pleased to answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statements of Mr. Smith follow:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Daines. Thank you for your testimony.
I know that Chairman Murkowski had some other commitments
and did not have the opportunity to ask questions today.
Mr. Smith, on Senate bill 1956 which would authorize the
Mayor of the District of Columbia and the Director of the
National Park Service to enter into a cooperative management
agreement for the operation and maintenance and management of
units of the National Park System in the District of Columbia.
First, I want to thank you for the testimony on that, but I
think all of us in this room can agree that this bill is about
good government. Any time we have the opportunity to streamline
efficiencies, improve visitor services and allow public-private
partnerships to provide investments in our parks, it is a win-
win. This bill will allow DC to invest, starting with Franklin
Park, in the modernization of Franklin Park.
Mr. Smith, your testimony mentioned that the National Park
Service felt the city already had this authority to sign these
agreements, but the city solicitors felt they lacked such
authority. Could you explain how this discussion came about?
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, I don't have the actual details on
that but I do know that as so many things with the District of
Columbia, it's sometimes not aligned in law like the state,
like our relationships with states are, as far as these types
of agreements. So, in this regard, if we have legal opinions
from two different sources, this bill addresses that and so,
the Park Service is supporting the bill that would make this
not an issue anymore.
Senator Daines. That is the Park Service recommendation
then, to clarify this discrepancy?
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir.
Senator Daines. Okay, thank you.
I want to shift gears to S. 1573. As written, S. 1573 would
authorize the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to place
signage on federal land marking the American Discovery Trail.
As noted in the Department's testimony, the American Discovery
Trail is not a federally designated trail but rather a trail
coordinated and promoted by a non-profit. The trail was subject
to a Congressionally-mandated study which was ultimately
recommended for inclusion as a new category of trail systems,
separate from scenic or historic trails. No action has occurred
on this recommendation.
Your testimony notes that federal land managers should
retain the authority to decline the request to allow signage
for non-federal trails in instances where they believe the
signage could have detrimental impacts. Could you describe how
this type of signage, whether specific to the American
Discovery Trail or using a similar example, could have some
type of detrimental impact?
Mr. Smith. Detrimental is a strong word.
It's basically, especially in the case of a trail that's
not been authorized by the Congress and to have to place, they
have to take on the responsibility of placing that, from a
program area point of view, once we would do it for the
American Discovery Trail, would there be other instances where
putting up signs on federal property would become an issue? And
I don't know if detriment is the correct word, but it is a
policy that if it begins in one place, you set a precedent for
it to happen in others.
And right now, I can't think of a good example of where
there might be another instance of this, but I'd be glad to
provide that for the record. I'm sure that my memory will be
better when I'm not sitting here today.
Senator Daines. Okay, that would be helpful and if there is
a better word than detrimental, we are open to that as well, if
you think about it, if it comes to mind.
My last question, Mr. Smith, is about your testimony
regarding H.R. 1500 which would rename Reservation 302 in the
District of Columbia as Robert Emmet Park. I noted something
interesting. While the Park Service did not object to this
legislation, the Department did point out that the statue in
this small park we would be renaming, is owned by the
Smithsonian and could technically be moved at any point in
time. Has the Department been in contact with the Smithsonian
regarding their long-term plans for the statue?
Mr. Smith. I mean, understand Mr. Chairman, that we're in
negotiations to extend it for another two years and I don't
know why it wouldn't be extended beyond that, but I don't have
more details. For right now, we are in discussions with
Smithsonian to leave it there, at least for several more years.
Senator Daines. In 2016, when the Department rehabilitated
the landscaping at Reservation 302, were the future needs of
the statue coordinated with the Smithsonian?
Mr. Smith. One more time, Mr. Chairman?
Senator Daines. In 2016, when the Department rehabilitated
the landscaping at Reservation 302, were the future needs of
the statue the Smithsonian owns, was it coordinated with the
Smithsonian?
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, I imagine that it was, but I will
also provide that for the record.
Senator Daines. Okay.
Mr. Smith. I'm just not aware.
Senator Daines. Alright. Thank you.
Ranking Member King.
Senator King. Thank you.
Acting Director Smith, thank you again for your support of
S. 2001 and S. 2102 on Acadia, and I really want to express the
appreciation of the entire Maine delegation for the work that
the Department has done to get that bill to a place where we
could have your support and we think solves some nagging
problems at the Park. I think everyone in the region will
appreciate that.
I also wanted to mention that I appreciate the fact that in
the President's budget request, the new budget request, it
includes funding for our new Katahdin Woods and Waters National
Monument. The monument has already begun to generate a lot of
interest, excitement, and economic activity in the region, and
we're very optimistic about the opportunity that it presents to
that region. Infrastructure is very limited there because it is
brand new, but I would love to have you come and visit. I would
suggest, perhaps, a little later in the year, but we would love
to have you come and visit the monument. I think you will be
impressed by this really, very special, place.
This monument came with substantial private support, but it
needs support from the Park Service as well. I know that they
are working on their management plan now, and we are going to
continue to work with that process.
But again, I want to thank the Administration for funding
the beginnings of the infrastructure program at the new
monument and hope that you may be able to see your way clear to
come to Maine and see this special place.
Mr. Smith. I understand that you and Secretary Zinke had a
very interesting discussion on his visit. I'm glad to tell you
that leading trip and trail programs in Maine, years ago, I've
been stared down by a very big bull moose on one of those
timber roads as I was hauling six canoes. And so, I know the
area very well, Senator.
But I will use your statement to convince the Department
that I need to be in Maine sometime this summer. Thank you very
much.
Senator King. Yes, sir, anytime.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Daines. Sounds like a pretty good deal there,
Senator King.
If there are no more questions for today, members may also
submit follow-up questions for the record. The hearing record
will be open for two weeks.
Unless you have more questions, Ranking Member King?
Okay, I want to thank Mr. Smith for his time and testimony
today.
This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:30 p.m. the hearing was adjourned.]
APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
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