I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5493

To improve the ability of local communities to participate in Federal land

management planning conducted by the Forest Service and agencies

of the Department of the Interior and to respond to the local impacts

of the heavy public use of the Federal lands administered by these

agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 18, 2000

Mr. RADANOVICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To improve the ability of local communities to participate

in Federal land management planning conducted by the

Forest Service and agencies of the Department of the

Interior and to respond to the local impacts of the heavy

public use of the Federal lands administered by these

agencies.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gateway Communities

3 Cooperation Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. IMPROVED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEDERAL

5 LAND MANAGERS AND GATEWAY COMMU6 NITIES TO SUPPORT COMPATIBLE LAND

7 MANAGEMENT OF BOTH FEDERAL AND ADJA8 CENT LANDS.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

10 (1) Communities that are adjacent to or near

11 significant parcels of the Federal lands, such as

12 units of the National Park System, units of the Na13 tional Wildlife Refuge System, units of the National

14 Forest System, and lands administered by the Bu15 reau of Land Management, are often affected by the

16 management and public use of these Federal lands.

17 (2) These nearby communities, commonly

18 known as gateway communities, have social and eco19 nomic links to these Federal lands and can also af20 fect the activities occurring on these Federal lands.

21 (3) Gateway communities often serve as a start22 ing point for persons who visit these Federal lands

23 and are an ideal place for establishment of visitor

24 services, including lodging, food service, fuel, and

25 auto repairs.
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1 (4) Development in these gateway communities

2 can benefit or adversely affect the management and

3 protection of these Federal lands, depending on the

4 extent to which advance planning for the local devel5 opment is coordinated between the communities and

6 Federal land managers.

7 (5) The management decisions of Federal land

8 managers can have unintended consequences for

9 gateway communities, when the decisions are not

10 adequately communicated to, or coordinated with,

11 the elected officials and residents of gateway com12 munities.

13 (6) Experts in land management planning are

14 available to Federal land managers, but persons with

15 technical planning skills are often not readily avail16 able to gateway communities, particularly small

17 gateway communities.

18 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the Federal Govern19 ment that Federal land managers should make every ef20 fort to support, and communicate, coordinate, and cooper21 ate with, gateway communities in order to—

22 (1) improve the relationship between Federal

23 land managers and elected officials and residents of

24 gateway communities;
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1 (2) enhance the facilities and services in gate2 way communities that, while compatible with the

3 management of Federal lands, are available to visi4 tors to Federal lands; and

5 (3) result in better land use decisions.

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act:

7 (1) FEDERAL LAND MANAGER.—The term

8 ‘‘Federal land manager’’ means the superintendent

9 of a unit of the National Park System, the manager

10 of a national wildlife refuge, the resource area man11 ager of a Bureau of Land Management area, or the

12 supervisor of a unit of the National Forest System.

13 (2) GATEWAY COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘gate14 way community’’ means a community that—

15 (A) is located adjacent to or near Federal

16 lands administered by a Federal land manager;

17 (B) provides identifiable visitor services to

18 persons using these Federal lands;

19 (C) has identifiable social and economic

20 links to these Federal lands; and

21 (D) contains lands, the use of which could

22 either benefit or adversely affect lands, waters,

23 or other resources of these Federal lands.

24 (3) CERTIFIED GATEWAY COMMUNITY.—The

25 term ‘‘certified gateway community’’ means a gate-
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1 way community that voluntarily requests the tech2 nical assistance of a Federal land manager on mat3 ters of land use coordination and planning for, and

4 the appropriate siting of development in, the gate5 way community.

6 (d) PARTICIPATE IN FEDERAL PLANNING.—When7 ever a Federal land manager undertakes land manage8 ment planning regarding Federal lands administered by

9 the Federal land manager, the Federal land manager

10 shall—

11 (1) seek the active involvement of elected offi12 cials, businesses, civic organizations, and other inter13 ested persons in neighboring gateway communities

14 in the planning process; and

15 (2) provide these persons with a meaningful op16 portunity to participate in the development and im17 plementation of the resulting land management deci18 sions.

19 (e) COORDINATION OF LAND USE.—A Federal land

20 manager may enter into a cooperative agreement with the

21 local government of a certified gateway community for the

22 purpose of mutual coordination of land management and

23 development plans. At a minimum, such an agreement

24 shall provide for the involvement of persons referred to

25 in subsection (d)(1) in the Federal planning process and
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1 for the Federal land manager to be involved in land man2 agement planning conducted by the certified gateway com3 munity.

4 (f) GRANTS TO ASSIST CERTIFIED GATEWAY COM5 MUNITIES.—Using funds appropriated or otherwise made

6 available to a Federal land manager to carry out this sec7 tion, the Federal land manager may make grants to a cer8 tified gateway community—

9 (1) to enable persons referred to in subsection

10 (d)(1) to participate in the Federal land use plan11 ning process;

12 (2) to enable the local government of a certified

13 gateway community to obtain professional land use

14 planning assistance;

15 (3) to address public infrastructure impacts

16 that are identified through this process as a likely

17 result of the Federal land management decisions and

18 for which sufficient funds are not otherwise avail19 able; and

20 (4) to address other aspects of local economic

21 development that may affect land use decisions, in22 cluding programs to educate visitors to the Federal

23 lands about these lands or about the gateway com24 munity.

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