committee on natural resources will come to order the committee's meeting today for the consideration of several measures among them are three wilderness meals requested barack committee colleagues jim cast of california tom udall of new mexico and mary bono mack of california additionally will consider what i view as a good government bail really sponsored by the jim mcgovern of massachusetts to ensure that fossils some of great value are not randomly taken from public lands valley we have on our this indian measure that contains provisions of importance to several tribes i now recognize the ranking member mr young for any comments he wishes make no all right committee rule three eighteen house unified federal policy exists regarding the management of fossils on federal land and that the lack of appropriate standards made lead to the loss of these fossils and the permanent loss of valuable science to a resource congress directive secretary of interior to develop a report assessing the need for such a unified federal policy in response to this directive the secretary submitted a report to congress in may of two thousand and titled fossils on federal indian lands six different federal land management agencies along with the u s g s and the smithsonian institution collaborated on the report which also includes public comment solicited notices in the federal register and public meetings h r fifty five four crust the term specifically excludes materials associated with archaeological resource resources or cultural items which are already protected under separate laws the bill prohibits the collection of fossils from federal land without a permit permits can be granted of the secretary determines the two body is undertaken for the purposes of furthering scientific knowledge or education is consistent with the area management plan and the and the proposed method of collection will not threaten significant natural or cultural resources the resources collected under the permit must remain federal property and be preserved in an approval process of tori it is important to note that the legislation would allow casual collection defined as a gathering of reasonable amount of bill in two thousand and one during the hundred seventh congress to follow up on the recommendations contained in the report he has introduced this bill to every congress since in the hundred a three hundred ninth congress is the senate companion measures were approved in the senate by unanimous congress the senate companion as the reported out of committee by it was floated the legislation has a bipartisan list of co sponsors has had multiple hearings and has been fully supported by the bush administration and the relevant professional and academic organizations throughout the time it has been pending mr chairman it is past time that thousand proves this bill and at the appropriate time i will introduce an amendment in the nature of a substitute  our public lands along with southern border become a lawless wasteland from drug running to human trafficking and our nation forced once again paste in a deadly and devastating piracies i'm glad to see we're finding the time to turn tens of thousands of americas to felons just because they want to under this bill every museum will be in jeopardy that's why they oppose this bill this bill is directly targeted at those who are making some of the greatest fossil discoveries amateur and probably fossil collections of all put were also put great burdens on  communication with those people that are involved in this so why are we passes legislation this time of late oppose it these are the people involved in it i just i can't understand when we've got all these other problems we're messing around with a bill that doesn't anything but make criminals out of amateur american citizens on public lands you back is to provide fossils on federal land the same protections provided to archaeological resources under the archaeological resources protection act and cultural resources under the native american graves protection and we should act however as introduced h fifty five four would allow for more significant criminal penalties for a violation of the law than these two other statutes the substitute i offer you would have fifty five four to make it consistent with the penalties authorized under the under these other similar statutes substitute also includes several technical changes requested by the administration the substitute provides consistency and i urge my colleagues to support it and  bill thank you very much mr chairman as you know this is a bill that's important to me and there are a number of people who work very hard who i'd like to give credit for getting the bill in the form that it is today first of all attention but i do appreciate his willingness to work on this long with staff members mr sawyer dave walk and meghan cochran and the minority staff who also have spent time and effort on this measure  also the national park service who obviously this measure would impact is to the jurisdiction and the implementation of the expansion of the wilderness area the national park service clearly has the primary responsibility for any changes that we will make sure this measure become law i also have my colleagues senator boxer and her staff director who spent time and energy co sponsor of the measure i want to thank you for agreeing to work with me on this issue his staff member david nelson when we deal with the sensitivities of impacting another members districts important that there be a collegiate fashion in which you work together and he and his staff of done so this measure on a practical level will add one hundred fifteen thousand acres of wilderness in the area of the sequoia kings canyon national park in california that in itself is significant alone but in addition to that it would designate a part of the wilderness area that has been created nearly seventy thousand acres and the name of the gentleman who i first came to congress with as went  of our former colleagues congressman john krebs congressman john crabbe served in the one nine hundred seventy s he was a champion in the inclusion of the mineral king valley within the sequoia kings canyon national parks during that time was in congress therefore i believe it's appropriate and fitting that we honor congressman john krebs by naming this wilderness area on his behalf as the service in the united states congress and to his service to the people of our valley at the appropriate time i will offer an amendment in the nature of substituted this bill but that's what it does and i want to thank again all the staff majority minorit staff for their efforts and my colleagues for your efforts on moving this measure through the natural resources committee colleagues congressional district and i first approached him before we introduced the legislation asked if we would work together on this measure and he indicated well enough to do so and that's why i wanted to publicly publicly acknowledge his desire to do so any other member which is speak if not already for the amendment process and john from california is recognized mr costin's recognizer five minutes to explain his amendment in nature steps to with abjection be considered a threat modifications to the building accommodate some of the suggestions and concerns that the national park service and local interests indicated that they were desirous of as it related to ensuring that existing use in the land could continue and that's something that i felt strongly about as to congressman newness and these amendments and in fact ensure that that will take place any discussion as  would designate designate land managed by the bureau of land management of sunyata county in northwestern new mexico as wilderness the land has been managed as a wilderness study area for more than twenty years the area includes the mix of ponderosa pine and riparian vegetation and provides habitat for an array of species including red tailed hawk bobcat and fox the area features opportunities for hunting hiking and horseback riding among other activities the subcommittee on national parks for some public lands held a legislative hearing on h r twenty six thirty two on november thirteenth two thousand and seven during which the administration testified in support of the bill representative tom you law has worked tirelessly for months with the b l m committee staff and private landowners to address concerns related to access to the proposed something also wilderness we should be commended for these efforts at the appropriate time i will be offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute h r twenty six thirty two that is private landowners on the issue of access to the propose wilderness the amendment in the nature of the substitute makes several changes to h r twenty six thirty two first the substitute decreases the acreage of the the wilderness to fifteen thousand nine hundred ninety five acres to alleviate access concerns from private landowners near the wilderness boundary second the substitute new language to require the b l m to continue to allow private landowners adequate access to in holdings in the sub you know so wilderness consistent with section five the wilderness act in terms of public access to be a lamb is currently working with private with a private lender to provide public access from the eastern boundary of the proposed wilderness area mr chairman to substitute libby any lingering concerns with h r twenty six thirty two i urge my colleagues to support the amendment and as the legislation moves continue to work on concerns that might arise thank you and i yield back is your further discussion if not to questions on the amendment nature substitute offered by the thirty six eighty two the california desert and mountain heritage act introduced by the gentle lady from california mary bono mack and asked santa separately on national parks for some public lands be discharging for the consideration of h r thirty six a two without objection representative mary bono the bill would designate more than one hundred eighty thousand acres of new and potential wilderness in the riverside county in riverside county california h r thirty six eighty two will add thirty one miles of new river  scrub and chaparral an ancient joshua trees the area covered by the building coups the largest ironwood ecosystem in the california desert and one of the most pristine watersheds in southwestern california riverside county to some to many rare species including the royal toads san bernardino can go to rats southwestern will fly catchers red rattlesnakes desert tortoises and mojave fringe told lizards they are also also b winds and other traces of thousands of years of residence by native americans all of these resources will be safer when we pass a chart thirty eight sixty two like many places in the west riverside county is prone to dangerous and sometimes deadly fire r thirty six eighty two reiterates longstanding wilderness management law and practice making it clear that federal agents do what they need to do to prevent and control fires disease and insects including prescribed burning and where necessary the use of mechanized equipment mr chairman of the national parks forest and public lands some committee held a hearing on this bill in the of ember since that time congress women's bone of staff and the committee staff have been working to address concerns raised by the administration and others and at the appropriate time will offer an amendment in the nature of substitute that reflects those negotiations thirty six eighty two is an excellent bill that has broad support from over four hundred organizations businesses