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24–053 PDF 2005

S. HRG. 109–157

CONVEYANCE OF LAND IN NEVADA; CONVEY LAND IN

THE BEAVERHEAD-DEERLODGE FOREST, MT; EXCHANGE

LAND IN IDAHO; FORT STANTON-SNOWY RIVER NATIONAL

CAVE CONSERVATION AREA; AMEND THE PUBLIC LANDS

CORPS ACT OF 1993; AND REVOKE LANDS IN CIBOLA

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, CA

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

S. 703 S. 997

S. 1131 S. 1170

S. 1238 H.R. 1101

JULY 20, 2005

(

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico, Chairman 

LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho 

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

RICHARD M. BURR, North Carolina, 

MEL MARTINEZ, Florida 

JAMES M. TALENT, Missouri 

CONRAD BURNS, Montana 

GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia 

GORDON SMITH, Oregon 

JIM BUNNING, Kentucky 

JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JON S. CORZINE, New Jersey 

KEN SALAZAR, Colorado

ALEX FLINT, Staff Director 

JUDITH K. PENSABENE, Chief Counsel 

ROBERT M. SIMON, Democratic Staff Director 

SAM E. FOWLER, Democratic Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS

LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho, Chairman 

CONRAD R. BURNS, Montana, Vice Chairman

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming 

JAMES M. TALENT, Missouri 

GORDON SMITH, Oregon 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington

PETE V. DOMENICI and JEFF BINGAMAN are Ex Officio Members of the Subcommittee

FRANK GLADICS, Professional Staff Member 

SCOTT MILLER, Democratic Counsel 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS 

Page

Benna, Lawrence E., Deputy Director, Operations, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior ....................................................................... 11

Bingaman, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator From New Mexico ........................................ 4

Boston, Dr. Penelope J., Ph.D., New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM ............................................................................................. 8

Burns, Hon. Conrad, U.S. Senator From Montana ............................................... 2

Craig, Hon. Larry E., U.S. Senator From Idaho ................................................... 1

Domenici, Hon. Pete V., U.S. Senator From New Mexico .................................... 3

Ensign, Hon. John, U.S. Senator From Nevada .................................................... 6

Holtrop, Joel, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, U.S. Forest Service, 

Department of Agriculture .................................................................................. 21

Johnson, Keith, Controller, State of Idaho ............................................................ 25

APPENDIX 

Additional material submitted for the record ........................................................ 31

(1)

CONVEYANCE OF LAND IN NEVADA; CONVEY 

LAND IN THE BEAVERHEAD-DEERLODGE 

FOREST, MT; EXCHANGE LAND IN IDAHO; 

FORT STANTON-SNOWY RIVER NATIONAL 

CAVE CONSERVATION AREA; AMEND THE 

PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT OF 1993; AND 

REVOKE LANDS IN CIBOLA NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE, CA 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2005

U.S. SENATE, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND FORESTS, 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m. in room 

SD–366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Larry E. Craig presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY E. CRAIG,

U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO 

Senator CRAIG. Good afternoon, everyone, I would like to thank 

you all for attending this hearing of the Public Lands and Forests 

Subcommittee, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 

First, let me welcome—in absentia for the moment—Senator 

Domenici, who will be here to testify. The ranking member of the 

full committee, Senator Bingaman, is with us. I would also like to 

welcome Senator Ensign, who is soon to arrive. Senator Ensign is 

here to discuss his Las Vegas Motor Speedway Land Conveyance 

bill, S. 703. Welcome to Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief of the National 

Forest System from the Forest Service, and Larry Benna, Deputy 

Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Thanks for coming to 

testify on these pieces of legislation today. Last, I would like to 

welcome our two outside witnesses, Dr. Penny Boston, from New 

Mexico, who is here to testify on the Fort Stanton-Snowy River 

Cave Conservation Act, S. 1170, and Keith Johnson, our State Controller from my State of Idaho, who is here to testify on my bill, 

S. 1131, the Idaho Land Enhancement Act. We will also be taking 

testimony on S. 997, the Montana Land Conveyance for a Historical Cemetery, S. 1238, an amendment by Senators Feinstein, 

Bingaman and Domenici to the Public Land Corps Act of 1993, and 

H.R. 1101, a bill to revoke a Public Land Order related to a boundary on the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. We anticipate showing 

2

a video today of the Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Cave Conservation Act before we take testimony, and after, the committee 

chairman of the full committee, Senator Pete Domenici, and Ranking Member, Senator Bingaman, make their opening comments. 

I do want to comment on my legislation, S. 1238—the Idaho 

Land Enhancement Act. Most people know that I don’t have a lot 

of patience for waste or inefficiency in government. When I see officials who are working to reduce waste or make a process more efficient, that does catch my attention. In this instance, I think the 

State and Federal officials are doing just that. 

In May 2001, the residents of Boise decided to tax themselves to 

fund efforts to secure open space in the Boise Foothills. The Idaho 

Land Enhancement Act would authorize the exchange of State 

lands in the Boise Foothills for Forest Service and Bureau of Land 

Management lands in Idaho’s panhandle. Under this legislation, 

the people of Boise, the Boise area, get more open space; and the 

State and Federal agencies involved get a higher level of management efficiency in other parts of the State. 

The process has been very open and transparent from the very 

beginning. I said that this must proceed in this manner, with all 

parties interested being allowed to comment in an open public process. That has been accomplished in a most admirable way, and I 

appreciate the efforts of all of the parties involved. 

Additionally, the multi-agency group completed evaluations of 

timber values, minerals, cultural resources, water rights, legal access, wildlife, fisheries, vegetation, hydrology, wetlands, threatened 

and endangered species, and specific types of habitat. The evaluations show that no major environmental effect will occur as a result 

of the exchange. The Nature Conservancy have independently reviewed the data and compared it to their eco-regional planning efforts and concluded that the exchange has ‘‘limited potential to impact biodiversity values’’ and they support the exchange. 

The exchange is an example of how local, State, and Federal 

partners can come together to collaboratively develop an exchange 

in which both the public and the land are the ultimate beneficiaries. 

So, I want to thank all of those parties who have been involved 

in this. I will now turn to Senator Domenici and Senator Bingaman 

for their opening statements, and then to other members who have 

statements, prior to a viewing of the video. 

Senator Domenici. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Burns follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. CONRAD BURNS, U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing on S. 997, the Montana Cemetery Act. 

The Elkhorn Cemetery in Jefferson County has been used as a cemetery since the 

1860’s. The cemetery is still used by families of the original homesteaders and miners. 

In the early 1900’s, a survey was conducted to determine the BeaverheadDeerlodge National Forest boundaries. Because of surveying errors and limited information, the Elkhorn Cemetery was included in the National Forest lands. However, it is clear the cemetery was in use prior to the designation of the National 

Forest. 

However, Forest Service direction opposes burials on National Forest lands, placing both the families and Forest Service in an awkward position. 

3

The Montana Cemetery Act conveys eight acres on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest to Jefferson County, Montana for continued use as a cemetery. 

I understand the Forest Service is requesting consideration for the market value 

of the property and for the administrative costs associated with the conveyance. It 

should be noted Jefferson County has already paid $5000 for a survey of the property. Since the County has borne a good portion of the administrative costs, I feel 

this is sufficient payment for the conveyance of eight acres. 

I also am concerned the Forest Service feels the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) process applies to this land conveyance to ensure the historic and cultural values of the cemetery are maintained. I believe Jefferson County and the 

Montana State Historic Preservation Office can develop a plan that will ensure a 

reasonable level of protection for the cemetery. In addition, the ownership of the 

cemetery will revert to the Forest Service if the use of the land is changed. 

The legislation is important to the residents of Jefferson County who want to legally inter family members in the cemetery. The Jefferson County Commissioners 

and residents of Jefferson County are supportive of this legislation. 

I look forward to the Forest Service’s testimony on this bill.

STATEMENT OF HON. PETE V. DOMENICI, U.S. SENATOR

FROM NEW MEXICO 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Both Senator Bingaman and I, as you know, are part of a conference on energy, and 

we very much appreciate your permitting us to go first on this 

agenda. I will be very brief. 

In my home State, we have a new and exciting natural wonder 

that was discovered near Fort Stanton, New Mexico. I’ve had the 

luxury of going out to the site and having the video presented to 

me in the presence of many of the volunteers who were part of the 

excavation and found this. This exploration has continued over the 

years in other areas, but in 2001 further exploration led to the discovery by BLM volunteers, many of whom I have met, of a more 

than 2 mile-long snow white continuous calcite formation, which 

we see here on the right picture. It is too bad that many more hundreds of people can’t get down there, but for now the entryway is 

rather difficult, and it’s hard to get through, and volunteers go 

through in pairs or in foursomes, and with new modern cameras 

have been able to take pictures and send them out. 

I was privileged to talk to the underground explorers by radio 

when I was at home, and they were having a marvelous time trying to explain the beauty of this. I’m certain that at some time, 

consistent with appropriate conservation, more people will be able 

to see it in person, but it never will be one that’s open to thousands 

of people. But it is the world’s largest formation of this type of calcite, and gives the scientific community many opportunities for exploration and for scientific evaluation. We don’t know the full potential of that yet. 

I’m very grateful that my colleague, Senator Bingaman, has 

agreed to co-sponsor this, and I thank the people from New Mexico 

that are here; in particular, Dr. Penny Boston, who is a director of 

the Cave and Karst Studies Program at New Mexico Tech. Thank 

you very much. 

Senator CRAIG. Thank you, Senator Domenici. 

Senator Bingaman. 

4

STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF BINGAMAN, U.S. SENATOR

FROM NEW MEXICO 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I’m glad to be 

here also, and thank you for letting us speak at the start of this 

hearing. S. 1107, introduced by Senator Domenici and co-sponsored 

by me, is one of the bills you’re having testimony on today. This 

is legislation to designate a conservation system for the Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Cave Conservation System. This is very 

consistent with what we have found in other parts of New Mexico. 

Of course, Carlsbad Caverns has been known for a very long time, 

Lechuguilla Cave is extremely well recognized internationally now 

for its size and features, and this will be, in addition to that. We 

do have this National Cave and Karst Research Institute that Congress established back in 1998, and that, of course, gives us some 

ability to do additional research. I want to join Senator Domenici 

and, in particular, Dr. Penny Boston for her work on this effort, 

particularly at New Mexico Tech. I know she is the expert, and has 

done a lot of the research that has been done to date, and so I look 

forward to seeing this video, and understanding a little better what 

this find entails. I think it is very good news, and I strongly support the effort to provide appropriate protection, thank you. 

Senator CRAIG. Thank you very much, Senator Bingaman. So 

that we can hold this testimony on this specific issue together, we 

will show the video, and then we’ll come to Senator Ensign. Your 

time allows that, John? It’s a brief video. Thank you. And I would 

ask Larry Benna if he might do the narrative of this. And why 

don’t you sit at the table and activate that mike, that would be 

great. 

[Video played.] 

Mr. BENNA. What you’re seeing here are some of the cavers going 

through a smaller passage that leads into the larger caverns of the 

cave. This particular area is about 900 feet long, and about 600 feet 

of it is as tight crawling as you see here. There’s also about 200 

feet of it that consists of vertical climbs, as well as crawling on 

your hands and knees. 

Senator CRAIG. I can understand why Senator Domenici didn’t go 

down there, neither would I. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. BENNA. It’s very tight quarters in many instances, it’s clearly 

a safety issue here, so this is a concern about limiting access to 

other than specific cavers. 

What you’re seeing here is the cavers are measuring the rate of 

air flow that is coming through the passages. You can see by the 

flag that is waving that the air flow is rather rapid. Air here is 

being measured at about 15 miles per hour, and they measures this 

consistently for several hours. The significant part of this is that 

the rate of air flow that rapid denotes that the size of the passages 

are probably a lot larger than what they’ve discovered so far, so the 

extent of the cave is quite a bit more. 

Senator BINGAMAN. What is the source of the air that is coming 

out of there? I mean, why do you have that air constantly flowing 

out of there? Or is that not the right question? 

Mr. BENNA. The Doctor can answer that. 

Senator BINGAMAN. I’m sorry, I was jumping ahead, thanks. 

5

Senator CRAIG. Dr. Boston, in her testimony, will get to it. 

Mr. BENNA. What you’re seeing here are, there’s a lot of different 

formations within the cave, these are starlight formations, they 

have been named Starry Nights, what they actually are, are gypsum that has come through the bedrock of the caves themselves. 

Senator CRAIG. Are any of these formations unique to this cave, 

not found in other cases? 

Mr. BENNA. Yes, I believe they are. These are similar-type formations, you can get a better idea of them on the roof of one of the 

caves. This gives you an idea of some of the larger parts of the 

caves. Here you can see the clothing that the cavers are wearing. 

When they get into the cave, they bring in new clothing in plastic 

bags. That’s to make sure there’s no outside contamination that 

comes into the cave. Originally, I understand they were using some 

sort of an overall suit, but because of the sharpness and the 

abrasiveness of the formations, they were getting torn, so they 

found that just a set of clean clothes accomplished the same objective. 

What you see here is a close up of one of the calcite formations, 

and again, this gives you an idea of how rough and abrasive the 

actual surface is. 

Here’s another photo of the cavers actually walking along the calcite formations on the floor of the cave, and its river-like appearance is what gives it the name Snowy River Caves. Just for your 

information, I’m told the combined caving experience of these five 

cavers is about 100 years. 

And this stretch of the cave actually extends for more than 2 

miles. This is a close up of what’s called ‘‘mound shaped clouds of 

calcite’’ and this, I’m told, is a very uncommon formation, and it 

is really not known how this formation was formed. Extremely 

unique, high scientific value, a very significant find. 

Thank you. 

Senator CRAIG. Larry, thank you very much, that was fascinating. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Bingaman, you asked a question about 

the volunteers in this area, always looking for caves, and how they 

get actually excavated down quite a bit, and quit, and then some 

new cavers, the ones that found it, got down in that hole and started digging a little bit more. And out came this constant flow of air, 

which meant there was a big cave under there, and they decided 

then to proceed. They got to the edge of something, and down about 

8 or 9 feet was something, and they climbed down that and they 

found this cave which is right in the midst of everything. These 

volunteers, who worked there for years, and the lead man came 

upon it. He was there when I was there, talking about that experience. It is the wind coming out that gives you the idea that underground there is some activity, there is a cave that has some in and 

out flow, but somebody can explain that more technically; but 

that’s what I understand. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator CRAIG. To both of you, thank you very much. 

Now we will turn to our colleague, John Ensign, for testimony in 

relation to the Las Vegas Speedway Bill. 

6

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN ENSIGN, U.S. SENATOR

FROM NEVADA 

Senator ENSIGN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity to come before you and testify on this piece of legislation. 

If I could just ask that my full statement be made part of the 

record, and then I can summarize it as quickly as possible. 

Senator CRAIG. Without objection. 

Senator ENSIGN. The bill would authorize the sale, at fair market 

value, of 115 acres next to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for use 

as a parking lot and no other use. If it was to be used for anything 

else, it would be reverted back to the taxpayers. The reason for this 

is obviously you don’t want—and this is the reason that Las Vegas 

Motor Speedway is telling us they need it for parking—we have 

huge events now, NASCAR events, that keeps growing and growing 

and growing and they need this land for parking. We didn’t want 

somebody just doing this and speculating and flipping the land and 

making a huge profit off of the Government, some may ask, because I’m the one who came up with the auction process in the first 

place in southern Nevada for BLM lands, why would we auction 

this land? Well, you can see, if it’s just being used for a parking 

lot, you put it up for auction, somebody out there could basically 

outbid the people at the Speedway and then hold them hostage for 

this piece of property, and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been 

fantastic for the economy of southern Nevada, and we’re not trying 

to get them for anything but fair market value, and we think this 

is the right way to go, to do a directed sale at a fair market value 

price. 

The administration has put forward a proposal to—instead of the 

proceeds being used in the way we’ve talked about them—they’ve 

put forward a proposal that they would want money going into the 

treasury, that should scare every Western Senator, because no 

other Western State is treated that way by the BLM, it’s either 

auctioned, or any other way. We know we at least have the BACA 

process where the money stays in that State to buy environmentally sensitive lands in that State, and we’re certainly willing 

to look at that. We’ve proposed a similar modeling for the money 

we have with the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, 

because that’s worked so well for our State for some time. 

Just to wrap things up, I think that it’s obviously a simple piece 

of legislation, that’s above-board and at a fair market value. Good 

appraisals can be done on this, and I think that it could be done 

to where the benefits go to the general public, because the money 

would be used for general public purposes. The southern Nevada 

economy is benefited because you’ve provided additional parking 

for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

So, I’d be more than happy to answer any questions that you 

may have. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Ensign follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN ENSIGN, U.S. SENATOR

FROM NEVADA, ON S. 703

Mr. Chairman, Senator Wyden, thank you very much for holding a hearing today 

on S. 703, a bill to sell Bureau of Land Management Land near Las Vegas, Nevada, 

to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

7

This bill is straightforward. S. 703 would require the Secretary of the Interior to 

sale approximately 110 acres of federal land to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for 

use as a parking lot. The land is adjacent to the existing Speedway facility. S. 703 

is supported by the entire Nevada Congressional Delegation and all local governments in southern Nevada. 

The land is critically needed to provide outdoor parking to accommodate the increasing number of visitors who attend NASCAR events at this premier facility near 

Las Vegas. The last NASCAR event in March 2005 drew 156,000 participants in an 

estimated 30,000 vehicles. Due to the popularity of these events, the Speedway is 

adding an additional 14,000 seats. The addition of parking is necessary to ensure 

the long-term viability of the facility which is inextricably linked to Las Vegas’ 

standing as a multi-faceted entertainment destination for millions of tourists from 

around the world. NASCAR events are a major boost to Las Vegas’ tourist-based 

economy. Typically, all hotel rooms in the region are fully booked when the Speedway hosts major events. 

S. 703 specifies that the BLM land must be sold to the Speedway at Fair Market 

Value. The land may only be used as a parking lot so the taxpayers’ interest is protected—the land cannot be converted or sold for another use. Proceeds would be disbursed in accordance with the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 

1998 (SNPLMA). The land is not encumbered by any other existing rights. 

I am certain the Administration will advocate an auction, as opposed to a direct 

sale, of the land. An auction will not work in this particular instance. The land identified for sale to the Speedway in S. 703 is outside the disposal boundary established 

by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 (SNPLMA). 

SNPLMA established a boundary around the Las Vegas Valley for BLM land disposal with the understanding that the BLM land inside the boundary was suitable 

for development (either residential or commercial). A directed sale at Fair Market 

Value ensures that the land will only be used as a parking lot—an auction would 

allow real estate speculators to purchase and hold the land for a purpose that is 

inconsistent with local planning (which is not permitted by SNPLMA) and does not 

solve the parking problem at the Speedway. 

As the author of the SNPLMA, I have not supported direct sales of land within 

the disposal boundary because I believe competition brings the highest price—and 

return to taxpayers—in a region where land is valuable and expensive. However, 

there will inevitably be a few instances where a direct sale is warranted. The economic benefit derived from the Speedway events is important to all citizens in 

southern Nevada. 

I am willing to work with the Committee to address any concerns you might have 

with this measure. S. 703 without question has some ambitious timelines for the 

required appraisal and completion of other administrative requirements. While this 

bill proposes a straightforward sale, I want the sale to be carried out properly. 

Thank you for holding this hearing and I look forward to working with you to 

move this bill forward expeditiously.

Senator CRAIG. Senator, any questions? 

Senator BINGAMAN. I have none. 

Senator CRAIG. John, thank you very much for your testimony. 

I know this committee over the years in working with you and Senator Reid has been as sensitive as it could be to the land-locked 

character, if you will, of your State, that is 90 plus percent public, 

if I remember correctly, isn’t that correct? We both struggle with 

that situation in trying to allocate lands and growing in populated 

areas to public use or to other uses that are now public, State and 

in almost all instances, Federal land, so we thank you for bringing 

this before us. 

Senator ENSIGN. And I thank you, and I just wanted to comment, 

by the way, on that video. That was really a neat, deep, geologic 

repository, I don’t know what for, but just kind of a little experience with those—just a little joke there, Mr. Chairman. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CRAIG. Unlike Yucca Mountain, that has no air flow——

Senator ENSIGN. I just thought that was such a nice, natural one, 

I could see a lot of uses for it. 

8

Senator CRAIG. John, you and I both know growing up that walking past an anthill, it’s often best to leave it unkicked. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CRAIG. Thank you very much. For the sake of Senator 

Bingaman being here in relation to the New Mexico bill, we would 

ask Dr. Penelope Boston, director of Cave and Karst Studies Program, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New 

Mexico Tech, and Larry Benna, Deputy Director of Bureau of Land 

Management, Department of the Interior, to come forward. 

And I’ll tell you what, Larry, we will ask you to do the Cave Bill 

first, and we will also ask Dr. Boston to do that, on behalf of our 

ranking member here, and then we will get on with the balance of 

the bills, and our other witnesses today. So, Dr. Boston, welcome 

before the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee. Please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF DR. PENELOPE J. BOSTON, PH.D., NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING AND TECHNOLOGY, SOCORRO, 

NM 

Dr. BOSTON. Thank you very much, I’m very happy to be here 

today to talk about a really spectacular find. You’ve had the opportunity to see it briefly, I just want to summarize a few of the main 

points that make this a very special find, and well worthy of this 

new class of conservation area within the BLM. 

It’s a world-class find, there’s nothing else like it. Not only is it 

a lot of beautiful, sparkling white calcite, but it has genuine—and 

I think—unique scientific value in many different areas. Because 

this is very long, of course, that is what caught our attention initially, but the other aspect is it’s actually a quite deep and thick 

deposit, we have very little data about it, but one of the things we 

do know is that from age dating right at the very top of this formation, that is a very young formation at the top, it is between 600 

and 1,000 years old. 

We suspect that the history of this formation probably captures 

geochemical signals that can illuminate, perhaps, the last 10,000 

years of climate change within the area. Recording the hydrology 

of the Sacramento Mountains, and of course the hydrology of the 

mountain and desert regions are of extreme importance to the entire Western part of the United States. So, it’s a unique opportunity to find continuously formed structures that can capture 

those record systems. 

My own area of specialization is geo-microbiology, and I was on 

the initial science assessment into the cave. I was surprised and 

pleased to see black crust all over the walls, and to me, black crust 

means that organisms, microorganisms, have been at work there. 

The black crust, lime cavity within which Snowy River exists, and 

clearly pre-date it. We took samples of it, and tried to grow organism from it, and I was expecting to, perhaps, get lucky and hit 

a few and we turned out to get hundreds and probably thousands 

of new species, microorganisms that are novel that is unknown to 

science, so this is a very active material, these kinds of organisms 

we study in many of the caves in New Mexico and elsewhere in the 

United States and abroad, and they have great significance in 

terms of being geological agents. Many of them actually break 

down the bedrock, so they’re essentially rock-eaters, and other ones 

9

actually precipitate minerals—manganese and iron, gold, uranium, 

copper—and it now becomes clear to our science that these organisms play a major role, perhaps, in the deposits of low temperature economic minerals, and so they have many other ramifications. 

The final point within the geo-microbiological realm is that there 

are types of bacteria known as actinomycete and streptomycetes 

that abound in Snowy River, and, in fact, in Fort Stanton Cave in 

general, and these are the organism groups from which we get all 

of our antibiotics, and so the biodiversity potential of this cave is 

very great. 

The other point about it that is significant is that it was really 

written off as a ‘‘trash cave.’’ As you probably know, caves are 

uniquely subject to vandalism, being used as trash pits and things 

of that sort, so this was a very badly abused cave until a few decades ago when volunteers, working with the BLM, cleaned it up 

and began to protect it, put in gates, put in a fence around it, so 

I think it is an illustration of a great success story. 

With regard to the piece of legislation at hand, caves and karst 

terrains present unique management challenges to the land agencies, and so therefore this is an opportunity to protect the surface 

and subsurface region that directly affects this cave. 

Caves are unique insofar as not only the cave itself is critical to 

itself, but also it is at the bottom of a catchment area, and so therefore anything that comes into that catchment drainage area will 

find its way to the cave and karst aquifers and karst terrain is 

highly fractured, and so material that you put in at the top goes 

right to the basement level, very, very quickly with no filtration. 

The extent of the cave system is currently unknown, but of course 

as we’ve seen with Jewel Cave in South Dakota, the size of the 

cave and the boundaries put around it need to grow as the cave is 

further explored. The tremendous amount of airflow coming out of 

this cave mentioned before implies that there’s a large cavity underground, that there’s much more of this cave yet to be explored, 

and so therefore the feature of having a somewhat elastic boundary 

is to allow for further exploration is critical. As it goes to features, 

the surface protection as well as the subsurface protection, and a 

certain degree of flexibility in the area of the catchment basin we 

can protect are critical features of this legislation. So, I strongly 

support it, thanks. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Boston follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. PENELOPE J. BOSTON, PH.D., NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE

OF MINING AND TECHNOLOGY, SOCORRO, NM 

WHY CARE ABOUT CAVES AND KARAT TERRAIN?

Human beings live primarily on Earth’s surface and are intimately familiar with 

much of the biology, geology, and other natural features that make up what we 

think of as our planet. But, beneath our feet in many parts of the world is an entirely unseen realm of great beauty, fragile biology, exquisite minerals, and a window inside the very skin of Earth. This realm is composed of Earth’s many caves, 

places that differ so much from the overlying surface environment that people often 

feel that they might as well be on another planet. 

For those whose only experience of caves is an occasional childhood trip to a developed tourist cavern, the enormous diversity of Earth’s subsurface comes as a surprise. Caves can be tiny or immense and labyrinthine. They can be filled with water, 

filled with air or other gases, or even have major rivers and sinking streams runVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:42 Oct 25, 2005 Jkt 109157 PO 24053 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 H:\DOCS\24053.TXT SENERGY2 PsN: PAULM
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ning through them. Although most caves are formed in soluble rocks like limestone 

and dolomite, every major rock type can be acted on by cave-forming geological and 

hydrological processes. Some can be entered by natural openings while others are 

accidentally discovered during construction or road-building activities. There are 

jewel-like caverns in marble in California, sinkholes and caverns thickly dotting the 

rolling green landscape of the Cumberland Plateau and beyond, dramatic vertical 

systems in some of our jagged dolomite mountain ranges, tubes formed from molten 

lava on the flanks of volcanoes in New Mexico and the Pacific Northwest, rock shelters eroded into sandstone sea cliffs along many of our coasts, granite fissure caves 

in the New England states and many more varieties. 

The term ‘‘karst’’ is a word that refers to landforms created by dissolving soluble 

rocks. Caves are one of the most characteristic features that occur typically in karst 

terrains. Besides caves, karst is frequently characterized by sinkholes that are potential geohazards to people and their structures but also can be water resources 

for wildlife. Aquifers that occur in karst, i.e., in highly fractured limestone or dolomite rock, are very different from ordinary sand aquifers. In the latter, water percolating from above takes time to move through the pores of the aquifer down to the 

water table. This relatively slow process through very small rock pores enables extensive filtration of the water to occur, thus helping to purify the water. In the case 

of karst aquifers, the water has a very rapid path through the many fractures in 

this type of rock, thus, if a pollutant enters a karst system at the surface, it practically has a super highway trip down to the water table. Little filtration can occur, 

thus making karst aquifers very susceptible to pollution. Karst terrain and caves 

impose extra and highly specialized management burdens on our land management 

agencies charged with their protection. 

Despite the wonders of the underground world, caves and karst landforms are 

part of perhaps the least protected of all of our wilderness treasures. Because we 

don’t normally see them, out of sight is indeed out of mind. They have perennially 

been used as trash pits for all types of waste including even hazardous chemicals 

spilled or even purposely introduced toxic substances. The introduction of such foreign material into a delicately balanced, low organic nutrient system like a cave is 

tremendously detrimental to both the geology and especially the living organisms 

from microbes to delicate transparent cave fish and salamanders that live within 

them. Caves are regularly vandalized, their decorations removed for illicit sale or 

simply thoughtlessly smashed, the precious archaeological and paleontological remains in many caves are looted or destroyed. With the advent of the Internet and 

GPS technology, cave locations kept secret for decades have now become public 

knowledge attracting additional vandalism and looting. 

Over the past few decades, the recreational caving community, cave scientists 

(speleologists), and conservationists have made major gains in raising the awareness 

of the public about the fragile nature of cave systems and the precious geological 

and biological resources that are housed within them. Many of these individuals, 

local caving groups (known as ‘‘grottoes’’), and major organizations like the National 

Speleological Society, the American Cave Conservation Association, Karst Waters 

Institute, and others have worked closely with BLM, U.S. Forest Service, and NPS 

personnel to help in the management, scientific study, and conservation of the Underground. Indeed, caver volunteer hours are being documented in some areas and 

amount to literally tens of thousands of person-hours, often of highly skilled technically and scientifically trained people. The caves of the United States have benefited enormously from this major volunteer effort. However, volunteer efforts alone 

can go only so far. We must provide our land management agencies like the BLM 

with the tools they need to enforce protection of our underground wilderness. 

WHY IS SNOWY RIVER SPECIAL?

The amazing sparkling calcite ‘‘frozen river’’ of Snowy River in Ft. Stanton Cave, 

NM is unique amongst known mineral formations of known caves in the world. This 

brilliantly white crystalline formation has been traced for over 2 miles in entirely 

pristine passage in otherwise well-known Ft. Stanton Cave. This cave has been visited since before historical times by indigenous peoples, and used extensively since 

colonization by European settlers. A few decades ago, Ft. Stanton was considered 

virtually a ‘‘trash cave’’ because of extensive vandalism and other abuse of its thenknown passages. The dedicated efforts of a handful of volunteers and BLM personnel over the past number of years has restored this cave to its rightful place as 

a major cave resource managed by the Roswell BLM office under the State of New 

Mexico regional BLM. Cave explorers have now presented us with a splendid feature of unparalleled magnificence, a river of glittering crystals. Thus, the efforts to 

save a thoughtlessly trashed cave have rewarded us many fold. 

11

Besides the scenic and scientific importance of the Snowy River formation itself, 

this passage contains other scientific finds of significance. My own research concerns 

the microorganisms that inhabit caves and contribute to the breakdown of bedrock 

and the precipitation of many biogenic minerals. Such organisms, though microscopically tiny, can act as major geological agents over time. Additionally, they are 

primarily novel species unknown to science. Each cave that we are studying yields 

up new sets of hundreds to thousands of new organisms. Such untapped biological 

wealth is ripe for exploration seeking sources of new pharmaceuticals, industrial 

agents like novel enzymes that can act in extreme chemical conditions, and insight 

into the microbial role in the very production of economically significant low-temperature ores including uranium, gold, copper, manganese, and many other minerals. As an example, Actinomycete and Streptomycete organisms are two of the 

major groups that produce the antibiotics upon which so much of modern medicine 

depends. These organisms abound in these environments and Snowy River is no exception. Black coatings full of manganese-oxidizing bacteria occur on much of the 

wall rock in the Snowy River Passage. Actinomycete colonies sparkle as shiny white 

and yellow dots on many of the walls throughout the cave. 

Other scientists are interested in many other facets of Snowy River. Plans are 

afoot to date the age of the formation and to study the hydrological conditions that 

led to its occurrence. Geochemistry and isotopic data from both the sparkling calcite 

and other materials in the cave are of great interest. The climate history over the 

past few thousand years may be hidden in the chemistry and mineralogy of the 

River and its surroundings. 

CONCLUSION

Today is the 36th anniversary of our first human landing on the moon by Buzz 

Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. That frontier still beckons us, but so too should the unexplored realms here on Earth. The cave frontier offers much promise for science, 

as a possible provider of biological and geological resources, and places of beauty to 

feed the human spirit. It is our duty to protect it as best we can.

Senator CRAIG. Dr. Boston, thank you very much. 

Larry. 

STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE E. BENNA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR,

OPERATIONS, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Mr. BENNA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify today on 

a number of bills relating to the BLM. 

As you suggested, Mr. Chairman, I will limit my first remarks 

to the Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Cave. 

Senator CRAIG. If you would do that, Larry, we’ve got a vote that 

has just started. Senator Bingaman may have questions on your 

testimony singular to the cave. We will then break briefly and I’ll 

go vote, return, and then proceed with the balance of our testimony. Please proceed. 

Mr. BENNA. I’d be happy to do that, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate 

the opportunity to testify on S. 1170, the Fort Stanton-Snowy River 

National Cave Conservation Area Act, which will protect the special scientific values of this new discovery. I hope the video we 

showed provided members of the committee with a perspective on 

both the scientific and the significance of the resource that has 

been discovered here. I do have some additional pictures that are 

available for members to continue to look at. 

The legislation before the committee today would create the first 

conservation area dedicated to protecting cave resources. We 

strongly support the goals of the legislation, and would like the opportunity to work with Senators Domenici and Bingaman and the 

12

committee staff to modify S. 1170 to improve management of the 

area and to offer a number of technical refinements to the bill. 

I think of significance, one of those refinements, as Dr. Boston 

has indicated, is we do believe that it would be important to include surface acres that are expected to have cave areas under 

them to ensure that we have appropriate protection for the cave resource. Each of the National Conservation Areas, or NCAs, as 

they’re called, designated by Congress and managed by the BLM 

is unique, however for the most part they all do address certain 

critical elements, and these include mining and mineral leasing, 

and land law withdrawals, limits on off-highway vehicle use, and 

language which charges the Secretary to allow only those uses that 

further those purposes for which the conservation area is established. Furthermore, NCA proposals do not diminish the protections that currently apply to the lands. The Fort Stanton-Snowy 

River NCA proposal largely honors this spirit, and we would like 

the opportunity to work with the sponsors to further develop appropriate protections. 

The Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave Complex is important both 

scientifically and educationally, we look forward to working cooperatively both with the Congress and our many partners to see the 

vision for the caves becomes a reality. Thank you. 

Senator CRAIG. Director Benna, thank you very much, let me 

turn to my colleague, Senator Bingaman, for any questions he 

might have. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, thank 

you both for being here and congratulations, Dr. Boston, on this 

find. You’ve both made the point that in order to adequately protect the cave, we need to protect the surface, and we need to protect as much surface as is necessary as the cave continues to be 

explored, and the size of it determined, and I certainly agree with 

that, and we need to make those changes in the legislation, as necessary. 

Let me just ask Dr. Boston, why is the air coming out? 

Dr. BOSTON. Well, it’s a complicated answer, but I’ll make it as 

simple as I can, we have several factors at work. 

One is, of course, in a ventilated cave, you’ve got air masses of 

different temperatures, and the colder the air mass, the denser it 

is, and so they tend to flow in down along the passage, which then 

forces warm air out, and so that is one type of circulation. But even 

in closed passages, like Snowy River is largely closed, a recent 

study that we just did modeling the physics of Carlsbad Taverns 

shows that even just with the geothermal gradient, the heat coming from earth’s interior below, one sets up large convection cells 

within a cave, and so the fact that there’s a lot of air coming out 

of that passage is probably a result of these internally generated, 

thermally driven convection cells, and the speed of the wind is 

roughly proportional to the size of the cavity volume that you have, 

so whenever you’re a caver and you feel strong wind flow, you’re 

very excited because you anticipate much more cavity below than 

what you can see. 

Senator BINGAMAN. That’s very good. I appreciate that. I just 

note for the chairman’s notice here that we need to get Senator AlVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:42 Oct 25, 2005 Jkt 109157 PO 24053 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 H:\DOCS\24053.TXT SENERGY2 PsN: PAULM
13

exander informed that this is an opportunity to locate a wind turbine. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BINGAMAN. He’s a strong proponent of wind turbines on 

our committee. 

Senator CRAIG. Except the blades won’t fit in the cabin. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Make it be up at the surface to take advantage of the air flow. 

Thank you very much, I do need to excuse myself, but thank you 

very much. 

Senator CRAIG. Dr. Boston, let me ask this question of you in relation to the air—is it then a circulation within the cavity? 

Dr. BOSTON. Yes. 

Senator CRAIG. Or is there air being pulled in from the surface? 

Dr. BOSTON. It’s probably a component of both. The Snowy River 

passage is being discussed as a separate cave, but actually it is a 

part of this large cave system, of which Fort Stanton is the historically known part. There are undoubtedly other passages, and so 

there are connections to the surface, although they’re very restricted in size, so clearly both things are operating. There is external barometric pressure changes, of course, weather systems outside that help to affect what goes in the cave, but then there’s a 

lot of internally generated action, and perhaps a lot of what goes 

on in terms of producing a mineral deposit as unique as Snowy 

River itself. The calcite depends upon what we call the micro-meteorological conditions within the cave, of which this airflow is an example. 

Senator CRAIG. I understand that at the point, as far as you’ve 

found, you’ve found a water flow? 

Dr. BOSTON. Yes, there is some water, there is residual water, 

and we’re testing it for isotopic signatures to try determine how old 

it is. 

Senator CRAIG. And then the cave goes beyond that? 

Dr. BOSTON. Yes, and it’s very tiny. So even our smaller cavers 

are not small enough to try to get beyond there. But we believe 

that the passage probably opens out back into a large passage, perhaps another half a kilometer on. So we’ve only just begun to map 

the extent of this structure. 

Senator CRAIG. This particular photograph that’s on the easel 

now, can I assume that at the upper line, that was a water level 

at one time? 

Dr. BOSTON. Yes, we call it Snowy River now, because it looks 

like a snow-laden river, but it actually was a river, it was an underground river, probably at the end of the Pleistocene, which was 

the last Ice Age, entering which we were in a much wetter climate 

regime in the Western States, and gradually over time, as the climate dried up and hydrology changes, there was less and less 

water flowing through the system and it essentially froze, in the 

mineral sense, but this is a large underground river conduit, and 

you’re seeing the high water mark, as you suspected. 

Senator CRAIG. And because it’s at the bottom of a catchment 

basin, therefore it caught all of the mineralization that effectively 

moved in the water as it moved through the system? 

14

Dr. BOSTON. Yes, this is a limestone system, so the groundwater 

becomes super-charged with the calcium carbonate in the water. 

Senator CRAIG. Well, thank you both very much. Larry, if you 

will stay in place, I’m going to recess the committee briefly, run 

and vote, we’ll be back, we’ll take the balance of your testimony 

and that of the U.S. Forest Service, and then, of course, we’ll have 

Keith Johnson before the committee also. With that, the committee 

will stand in recess. 

[Recess.] 

Senator CRAIG. The subcommittee will reconvene. We already 

have Larry Benna before us. Will Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, join us? Thank you both. 

Larry, we’ll let you continue to give testimony on the balance of 

the legislation that pertains to the Bureau of Land Management 

and then we’ll turn to Joel for his testimony. Thank you. 

Mr. BENNA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I would like to reiterate that I would like to have the entirety of my written statements entered into the record. 

Senator CRAIG. Without objection, it will be. 

Mr. BENNA. Concerning S. 1131, the Idaho Land Enhancement 

Act, this Act authorizes the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service to 

move forward with an exchange which would secure Federal open 

space for residents of Boise and Ada Country, and in exchange, 

conveyance of Federal timbered lands to the State of Idaho, will 

provide the State with more long-term revenue than could be derived from its lands in the Boise foothills. The exchange authorized 

by S. 1131 is a milestone in a 30 year effort of conservation in the 

Boise foothills. The Department supports enactment of S. 1131. 

S. 1131 requires that Federal land and the land to be exchanged 

in the bill to be of equal value, and if the values are not equal, the 

bill authorizes the equalization of value by cash payment to the 

United States or the State of Idaho, as appropriate. We will work 

with the committee on the technical matter described in our testimony. 

Concerning S. 703, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Land Transfer Act, the Department supports the goal of S. 703, but again, 

would like an opportunity to work with the sponsors of the bill and 

the committee to resolve some concerns with the bill. 

The bill would convey by direct sale, approximately 113 acres of 

public lands managed by the BLM in Clark County, Nevada, to the 

Nevada Speedway. The lands would be used as a parking lot to alleviate parking congestion at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and 

are located directly adjacent to the land currently owned by Nevada Speedway. We would like the opportunity to work with the 

sponsors and the committee on a number of amendments providing 

for a competitive bid to ensure a fair return to the public, the handling of the receipts from the sale of the land, and to resolve some 

additional technical issues. 

Concerning H.R. 1101, the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge modifications, again, we support H.R. 1101, which would revoke a portion of Public Land Order 3442, dated August 21, 1964. This Public 

Land Order withdrew approximately 16,600 acres of public domain 

lands along the Colorado River in California and Arizona for the 

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. The withdrawal eventually inVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:42 Oct 25, 2005 Jkt 109157 PO 24053 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 H:\DOCS\24053.TXT SENERGY2 PsN: PAULM
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cluded a small area of approximately 140 acres in Imperial County 

at the southern boundary of the California portion of the refuge. 

Similar bills passed the House and Senate in the 108th Congress, 

but were not enacted. The inclusion of these 140 acres in Public 

Land Order 3442 was in error, and we believed the most equitable 

solution was the removal of the lands from the Refuge. There are 

no listed species inhabiting the 140 acres, and the area in question 

has, at best, marginal wildlife habitat. Removal of the 140 acres of 

land from the refuge would free up the area necessary for the continuation of the recreational concession, while still affording more 

than adequate protection. 

In conclusion, thank you for the opportunity to testify on these 

bills. We look forward to working with the committee to resolve the 

issues discussed above. I’ll be happy to try and answer any questions. 

[The prepared statements of Mr. Benna and the Park Service follow:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE E. BENNA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS, 

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, ON S. 1170

Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of S. 1170, the Fort StantonSnowy River National Cave Conservation Area Act. This new discovery is both exciting and awe-inspiring. Our responsibility, as emphasized in the legislation, is to protect the special scientific values of this new discovery. As Senator Domenici stated 

upon introduction of his legislation, this new discovery ‘‘can only be described as 

magnificent.’’ We agree completely. 

BACKGROUND

The first documented exploration of the Fort Stanton Cave in south central New 

Mexico was in the mid-19th century, although there is evidence that native peoples 

previously explored its environs. This cave system has been extensively explored 

and is opened, on a permitted basis, to the public. Scout troops, amateur cavers 

(cave explorers) and the general public have explored this cave for years. Also, for 

many years volunteer groups of scientists, cavers and other professionals working 

in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have been searching 

the Fort Stanton Cave system for additional passages that would expand the known 

cave system. In 2001, they confirmed a new passage into a previously unknown expansion of the cave system; public disclosure was delayed until just two months ago 

in order to ensure protection of the unique cave ecosystem. This initial discovery 

was spearheaded by BLM volunteers John Corcoran, Lloyd Swartz, John Mclean, 

Don Becker, and Andrew Grieco. 

Following the discovery, a careful, systematic and scientific process of exploration 

of the expanded cave system began. Cavers have their own protocols to assure documented and scientific exploration of virgin passages. The first rule is to do no harm 

and proceed with caution. On discovery of a new extraordinary expansion of the 

cave system complex, while human instinct would compel us to charge forward, for 

cavers the imperative is to stop. Caves are fragile ecosystems and their wonders can 

be easily and unintentionally destroyed. Fighting against human instinct, they 

stopped and they studied before they proceeded. The rewards they have reaped have 

been numerous. 

As they began their systematic and scientific search of the cave, they were careful 

to keep all contact with the non-cave world at bay. Entering the Snowy River Cave 

complex involves a 600-yard crawl through spaces no larger than 10 inches high. 

Upon arrival, all dirty clothes are changed and clean jumpsuits and shoes are then 

worn. No outside substances are brought into the cave and airflow is restricted so 

as not to contaminate or depressurize the cave environment. 

Exploration of the Snowy River complex will be a slow and thoughtful process. 

The complex includes ‘‘Snowy River’’ of calcium carbonate (calcite) that runs at least 

two miles through the base of the cave. To our knowledge, this is a unique phenomenon probably caused by an ancient slow moving river which over centuries dissolved the calcite from the surrounding stone and re-deposited it as a snowy carpet 

down the length of the cave. 

16

We are making additional exceptional discoveries throughout the cave. The BLM 

is partnering with the caving community, scientific community, and local universities to ensure that the cave’s mysteries and resources are properly treated, studied 

and analyzed. Dr. Penny Boston, the Director of the Cave and Karst Studies program at New Mexico Tech indicates that 16 organisms have been isolated to date 

from the cave that are unique and may exist nowhere else in the world. These organisms appear to survive by eating rock. This discovery lends itself to possible practical applications in the field of pharmaceuticals. 

The BLM is committed to continuing these and other partnerships to explore fully 

the Snowy River Cave system. To date, over two miles of the system has been 

mapped. The full extent of the system has not been determined, but the scientists 

and cavers tell us that they expect many more miles of cave passages are left to 

be explored. In addition, there are also numerous other caves within the Fort Stanton area which contain significant cultural resources now under study. 

S. 1170

The legislation before the Committee today would create the first conservation 

area dedicated to protecting cave resources. Its goal is to ‘‘secure, protect, and conserve’’ the Fort Stanton-Snowy River cave system. We strongly support those goals 

and the legislation to implement them. We would like the opportunity to work with 

Senators Domenici and Bingaman and the Committee staff to modify S. 1170 to improve management of the area to offer a number of technical refinements of the bill. 

Each of the National Conservation Areas (NCAs) designated by Congress and 

managed by the BLM is unique. However, for the most part they have certain critical elements, these include: public land, mining, and mineral leasing law withdrawal, OHV use limitations, and language which charges the Secretary to allow 

only those uses that further the purposes for which the NCA is established. Furthermore, NCA proposals do not diminish the protections that currently apply to the 

lands. The Fort Stanton-Snowy River NCA proposal largely honors this spirit and 

we would like the opportunity to work with the sponsors to further develop appropriate protections. 

This NCA proposal is unique because of the unusual subterranean nature of the 

lands to be protected. Because the area is located within the old Fort Stanton military reservation (withdrawal revoked in 1956) the BLM already has some protections in place. It lies within both the Fort Stanton Area of Critical Environmental 

Concern (ACEC) and the 24,000 acre Fort Stanton Recreation Area. The current 

uses of the area which are largely recreational are compatible with the protections 

envisioned by the legislation. 

At the same time, the world class nature of this discovery demands further protections as noted in S. 1170. We would like to work with the Committee to further clarify those protections and the area to be covered. Inclusion of surface as well as subsurface is important. While in many places the cave system is 60 to 100 feet below 

the ground, in other places tree roots have been observed suggesting a close proximity to the surface. Some surface activities could affect the cave environment if 

safeguards are not in place. We believe it is important to draw some line around 

the area. Initial estimates are that an area of about 10,000 acres would likely cover 

the entire cave system which includes other significant caves. The establishment of 

this NCA would be consistent with the current uses of the area. 

CONCLUSION

We want to express our deep appreciation to Senators Domenici and Bingaman 

for introducing this legislation to protect the important cave resources of the Fort 

Stanton and Snowy River Cave system. These are important resources—scientifically and educationally. We look forward to working cooperatively both with Congress and our many partners to see this vision become a reality. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE E. BENNA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS, 

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, ON S. 703

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to testify 

on S. 703, a bill that would convey by direct sale approximately 113 acres of public 

lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Clark County, Nevada to the Nevada Speedway, LLC. The lands would be used as a parking lot to 

alleviate parking congestion at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and are located directly adjacent to land currently owned by Nevada Speedway, LLC. The Administration does not object to the proposed conveyance in S. 703 but cannot support the 

17

bill’s distribution of revenues from the sale of these public lands. We would also like 

an opportunity to work with the sponsor of the bill and the Committee to ensure 

that the conveyance results in the best possible return for the public and to resolve 

some other concerns with the bill. 

The land proposed for sale is within the southwest part of a designated community sand and gravel pit area. However, there are no ongoing sand and gravel operations on the lands proposed to be conveyed. No other leasing, commodity use, or 

production activities occur on the lands. Recreation use in the area is also limited. 

S. 703 requires the Secretary to complete an appraisal of the land not later than 

90 days after the date of enactment of the bill. Nevada Speedway, LLC has 30 days 

from the completion of the appraisal to submit an offer to the Secretary to acquire 

the lands at the appraised value. The Secretary then has 30 days to complete the 

conveyance. The Act directs the BLM to convey the lands to Nevada Speedway, LLC 

notwithstanding land use planning and other requirements provided for in sections 

202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and withdraws the lands from all forms of entry. All costs associated with the appraisal and 

conveyance of the lands are to be paid by Nevada Speedway, LLC. The proceeds 

from the sale of the lands are to be distributed in accordance with section 4(e)(1) 

of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA), which provides 

for the distribution of 5 percent of the proceeds to the State of Nevada general education program, 10 percent to Southern Nevada Water Authority, and 85 percent to 

the special account for the various resource purposes described in SNPLMA. 

While the BLM supports the conveyance of these lands to Nevada Speedway, 

LLC, we would like to work with Committee to resolve some concerns with the legislation. First, the lands identified for conveyance are outside the SNPLMA disposal 

boundary and they are not identified for disposal in the BLM Las Vegas Resource 

Management Plan. The BLM, as a matter of policy and practice, and in accordance 

with FLPMA, uses its land use planning process to identify public lands suitable 

for disposal. Based on previous sales in Clark County, Nevada, it is likely that the 

lands identified for conveyance in S. 703 would be sold at a much higher price than 

their appraised value if the sale was completed through a competitive procedure. 

Therefore, to ensure a fair return to the public, the Department supports the sale 

of these lands via a competitive bidding process, as defined in Section 203 of 

FLPMA, rather than a direct sale to Nevada Speedway, LLC. 

Second, because the lands proposed for conveyance fall outside of the SNPLMA 

disposal boundary, the Administration recommends that the proceeds of the sale be 

directed to the U.S. Treasury. 

Finally, the Department would like to work with the Committee on some additional technical modifications to S. 703, including ensuring that the subsurface estate is conveyed along with the surface estate to prevent any split-estate issues. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this bill. We look forward to working 

with the Committee to resolve the issues discussed above. I will be happy to answer 

any questions. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE E. BENNA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS, 

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, ON H.R. 1101

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to 

testify today in support of H.R. 1101, which will revoke a portion of Public Land 

Order 3442, dated August 21, 1964. This Public Land Order withdrew approximately 16,600 acres of public domain lands along the Colorado River in California 

and Arizona for the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The withdrawal erroneously included a small area of approximately 140 acres in Imperial County at the 

southern boundary of the California portion of the Refuge. A similar bill in the 

108th Congress, H.R. 417, was passed by the House and by the Senate with an 

amendment, but was not enacted. 

Prior to 1964, this property fell under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In 1962, the BLM issued a permit for a public recreation concession 

on 18 acres of the lands now in question. The concession is known as ‘‘Walter’s 

Camp,’’ and consists of a recreational vehicle park, a small marina, and a store, and 

the BLM estimates that Walter’s Camp receives 11,000 visitors per year. Because 

neither the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) nor the BLM recognized the mistake 

in legal descriptions on the ground, the BLM continued to renew the original permit 

and the recreational concession use has continued, unbroken, to the present time. 

The current concession contract was issued by the BLM in 1980, under the provisions of Section 10 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 for a period of 20 years. 

Four extensions to the current contract have since been issued. 

18

The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended, 

(Act) requires that all uses of refuge lands be compatible with the purpose for which 

the refuge was established. Section 4(a) of the Act and section 204(j) of the Federal 

Land Policy and Management Act both prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from 

revoking withdrawals of land within NWRs. For this reason, Congressional action 

is required to remove these lands from the Refuge System. 

Since the inclusion of these lands in Public Land Order 3442 was a mistake, due 

to the prior existence of the concession, we believe the most equitable solution is 

removal of the lands from the refuge. There are no listed species inhabiting the 140 

acres and the area in question is, at best, marginal wildlife habitat. Removal of the 

140 acres of land from the refuge would free-up the area necessary for the continuation of the recreational concession, while still affording more than adequate protection for the nearest significant wildlife habitat feature, Three Fingers Lake. 

We believe that withdrawal of these lands will benefit all parties involved—the 

concessionaire, the Service, the BLM and, ultimately, the public. For this reason, 

we support the bill and urge prompt action on enactment of H.R. 1101. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE E. BENNA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS, 

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, ON S. 1131

Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of the Department of the Interior on S. 1131, the ‘‘Idaho Land Enhancement Act.’’ This legislation authorizes the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to move 

forward with an exchange that has been developed in collaboration with the State 

of Idaho and the City of Boise. The exchange was initiated by the City of Boise to 

preserve open space in the Boise Foothills. Under S. 1131, conveyance of Stateowned lands in the Boise foothills into Federal ownership will secure open space for 

residents of Boise and Ada County, and, in exchange, conveyance of Federal timbered lands to the State of Idaho will provide the State with more long-term revenue than could be derived from its lands in the Boise foothills. The exchange authorized by S. 1131 is a milestone in a 30-year effort of conservation in the Boise 

Foothills. The Department supports enactment of S. 1131. 

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION

A proposed multi-party exchange initiated by the City of Boise involving lands 

managed by the BLM, the USFS, and the State of Idaho (no privately-owned lands 

are involved) has been proceeding administratively. In accordance with the administrative process for land exchanges, the BLM and USFS completed a Feasibility 

Analysis, and, on April 26, 2005, the BLM, USFS, State of Idaho, and City of Boise 

signed an Agreement to Initiate for the Boise Foothills—Northern Idaho Land Exchange (Agreement). As the Forest Service does not have the authority to participate in a three party exchange absent Congressional authorization, S. 1131 is needed to effectuate the exchange Agreement. 

S. 1131

The legislation authorizes the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service to proceed with 

the land exchanges described in the Agreement. As authorized by S. 1131, under 

the Agreement, the BLM is to convey approximately 605 acres of public land to the 

State of Idaho; the USFS is to convey approximately 7,220 acres of National Forest 

System land in the Idaho Panhandle and Clearwater National Forests to the State 

of Idaho; and the State of Idaho is to convey approximately 11,085 acres to the 

United States (6,930 acres to be managed by the BLM and 4,155 acres to be managed by the USFS). 

AUTHORIZATION OF EXCHANGE

Section 3 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

(Secretaries) to complete the land exchanges described in the Agreement. The BLM 

is to convey four parcels which total approximately 605 acres, including Boise Peak 

(86 acres), Mt. Coeur d’Alene (120 acres), Skeel Gulch (80 acres), and Rock Creek 

(319 acres). Although forested, none of the BLM lands to be conveyed in this exchange contain old growth or officially designated old growth replacement stands. 

There is no current mining or mineral activity on the BLM lands, except in the Rock 

Creek parcel, where much of the area contains old mining prospects. There are no 

other permitted uses. 

Although the 605 acres of public land to be conveyed out of Federal ownership 

by the BLM are not identified for disposal, we believe the exchange is in the public 

19

interest because this exchange will result in a net gain of 3,156 acres of high value 

resource lands within designated retention areas, providing management protection 

for cultural resources and a variety of sensitive wildlife species. Acquisition of the 

State lands in the Boise foothills will help the BLM meet its management objectives 

to protect and enhance watershed resources, wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, and scenic values. 

The legislation authorizes the parties to enter into additional agreements that 

specify other terms and conditions necessary to complete the land exchange:

• provide legal descriptions of the Federal land and the State land to be exchanged; 

• identify all reserved and outstanding interests in the Federal land and State 

land; and 

• stipulate any cash equalization payments required.

The conveyances are subject to valid and existing rights. As part of the Agreement, the BLM, USFS, and State of Idaho reviewed, examined, and disclosed all 

valid existing rights on their respective lands. 

S. 1131 also requires the Federal land and State land to be exchanged under the 

bill to be of equal value; and, if the values are not equal, the bill authorizes the 

equalization of value by cash payment to the United States or to the State of Idaho, 

as appropriate, in accordance with section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act (FLPMA). The value of the Federal and State lands is to be determined in accordance with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions, and the appraisals must be approved by the Secretaries. Any cash equalization payment received by the United States is to be used by the Secretary of Agriculture for the acquisition of land to add to the National Forest System in the state 

of Idaho. 

The City of Boise passed a bond levy to support acquisition of properties on the 

Boise Front to preserve its natural character. The City will pay the costs associated 

with the conveyances outlined in the Agreement and this Act, including the costs 

of any field inspections, environmental analyses, appraisals, title examinations, and 

deed and patent preparations. The BLM will review the exchange package in its 

regular course of business (i.e., at no additional cost to the City of Boise). 

MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL LAND

Section 4 transfers administrative jurisdiction of approximately 2,111 acres of 

public land in Shoshone County, Idaho, currently managed by the BLM, to the 

USFS, to be managed in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to the 

National Forest System. This area—called Grandmother Mountain—is completely 

surrounded by National Forest System lands that previously, as part of the Arkansas-Idaho Land Exchange Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-584), had been transferred from 

BLM management into the National Forest System. Consolidation of administrative 

jurisdiction in this area will improve the Federal government’s management of the 

land and resources. Also, these 2,111 acres are in a Wilderness Study Area, and the 

legislation preserves Congress’ options to act on this WSA by providing that after 

transfer to the USFS, this area will be managed in a manner that preserves the 

suitability of the land for designation as wilderness until Congress determines otherwise. 

In addition, Section 4 requires the Secretary of the Interior to manage the land 

conveyed by the State of Idaho as acquired land (as distinct from public domain) 

under FLPMA and other applicable laws. Under FLPMA, the BLM manages both 

public domain and acquired lands under the same management structure and plans. 

The direction in S. 1131 that the lands conveyed by the State be managed as acquired lands affects only the ability to locate mining claims under the Mining Law 

of 1872 (which applies exclusively to public domain lands); exploration for and mining of locatable minerals on acquired lands is through a permitting process rather 

than by claim. 

Finally, concerning land use planning, Section 4 provides that BLM need not do 

an amendment or revision to its resource management plans (RMP) upon acquisition of lands from the State of Idaho. The acquired lands are to be managed under 

the existing RMP applicable to that area, until the land use plans are updated in 

the regular planning process. The BLM’s Coeur d’Alene Field Office is currently 

working on a Resource Management Plan that will replace the current land use 

plan. The Field Office held a scoping meeting earlier this year on the proposed 

changes to the RMP, and public comments have been generally favorable. The Field 

Office expects to issue a Draft plan revision by the end of calendar year 2005, and 

hopes to issue a Final RMP by December of 2006. 

20

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Section 5 of the bill contains several miscellaneous provisions. This Section:

• authorizes the Secretaries and the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners 

to modify the land descriptions in the Agreement to correct errors; make minor 

adjustments to the parcels based on a survey or other means; or reconfigure the 

parcels to facilitate the land exchange; • provides that the written legal description shall prevail if there is a discrepancy 

between a map, acreage estimate, and written legal description of the Federal 

land or State land; • provides that, subject to valid existing rights, any public land orders withdrawing any of the Federal land from appropriation or disposal under the public 

land laws are revoked to the extent necessary to permit disposal of the Federal 

land. (No withdrawals are on the BLM land); • provides that subject to valid existing rights, pending completion of the land exchange, the Federal land to be conveyed under this Act is withdrawn from all 

forms of location, entry, and patent under the mining and public land laws; and 

disposition under the mineral leasing laws and the Geothermal Steam Act of 

1970.

As part of the administrative process detailed in the Agreement, the BLM had 

previously segregated the Federal lands proposed for exchange in the Agreement. 

Section 5(e) of S. 1131 expresses the Congressional finding that the Forest Service 

and the BLM have conducted adequate analyses and reviews of the environmental 

impacts of the exchange authorized under this Act, and stipulates that no further 

administrative or environmental analyses or examination is required to carry out 

any activities authorized under this Act. As part of the Agreement, the BLM, Forest 

Service, and the City of Boise agreed to be jointly responsible for completing environmental and cultural review work on the Federal lands being transferred to the 

State of Idaho. The City of Boise is responsible for paying for contract environmental and cultural review work approved by all parties to the Agreement. The 

BLM, Forest Service, Idaho Department of Lands, and the City of Boise will be 

jointly responsible for completing mineral reports, to be paid for by the City of 

Boise. 

Under the Agreement, initial NEPA scoping was done. The BLM and Forest Service have completed the following resource assessments: cultural/historic, Threatened 

and Endangered Species, biological, botanical, noxious weeds, timber, wetlands, 

floodplains, water resources, recreation, wilderness, visual, mineral and mineral potential. Pursuant to the Congressional Finding in Section 5(e), the BLM and Forest 

Service would carry out no further administrative or environmental analysis in completing the exchange delineated in the bill. We will work with the Committee so 

that there is a common understanding of the additional administrative or environmental review that would otherwise be undertaken by the agencies. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on S. 1131. I would be glad to answer 

any questions. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ON S. 1238

Thank you for the opportunity to present for the record the views of the Department of the Interior on S. 1238, a bill to amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 

to provide for the conduct of projects that protect forests and for other purposes. 

The National Park Service (NPS) has successfully implemented the Public Land 

Corps Act of 1993, to expand our youth service opportunities to carry out needed 

repairs and restoration projects within the National Park System. With the passage 

of the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program in 1996 (P.L. 104-134; U.S.C. 4601-

6a), funding was available to implement the NPS Public Land Corps program in 

1997. 

As required in the recreation fee demonstration legislation and in the recently 

passed Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (P.L. 108-447), funds acquired 

through the recreation fee program may be used only for specific purposes. For that 

reason, NPS Public Land Corps projects must focus on repair, maintenance and facility enhancement related directly to visitor enjoyment, education, access, services 

and health and safety or on habitat restoration related directly to wildlife dependent 

recreation. 

The NPS regards the Public Lands Corps Program as an important and successful 

example of civic engagement and conservation. The program is unique because nonprofit agencies such as the Student Conservation Association and the National AssoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:42 Oct 25, 2005 Jkt 109157 PO 24053 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 H:\DOCS\24053.TXT SENERGY2 PsN: PAULM
21

ciation for Service and Conservation Corps serve as the primary partners in administering the Public Land Corps program. In addition, any nonprofit youth organization may participate such as the Boy and Girl Scouts, local high schools and job 

training youth organizations. Each year over 300 parks apply for work grants of up 

to $25,000. The nonprofit youth organizations assist the NPS in its efforts to attract 

diverse audiences to the parks by recruiting youth 16 to 25 years of age from all 

socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Since 1997, the Public Land Corps 

has funded more than 2,000 work projects with more than 100 parks participating 

on an annual basis. 

S. 1238 would allow the National Park Service to expand the current work it accomplishes with the Public Land Corps by creating an additional type of project to 

promote healthy forests and authorize appropriations for these projects. The legislation would not adversely affect the National Park Service’s ability to continue its 

practice of funding other Public Land Corps projects through the use of proceeds 

from the recreation fee program. In addition, we would still be able to prioritize 

projects according to the needs of the parks. Therefore, the Department of the Interior has no objection to this legislation. However, funding for projects authorized by 

this legislation would be subject to current and future budgetary constraints and the 

Administration’s priority-setting process.

Senator CRAIG. Thank you, Larry, thank you very much. Your 

concerns in relation to certain specific portions of any of the bills, 

of course, will be looked at and we will work with the Bureau to 

see if we can resolve them as best we possibly can. 

Mr. BENNA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator CRAIG. Joel, please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF JOEL HOLTROP, DEPUTY CHIEF, NATIONAL 

FOREST SYSTEM, U.S. FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 

AGRICULTURE 

Mr. HOLTROP. Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the opportunity to present the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

on S. 997, the Montana Cemetery Act of 2005, S. 1131, the Idaho 

Land Enhancement Act of 2005, and S. 1238, the Public Lands 

Corps Healthy Forest Restoration Act. I will ask that my entire 

written statement, which I will summarize, be made part of the 

hearing record. 

Senator CRAIG. Without objection, it will be. 

Mr. HOLTROP. S. 997, Montana Cemetery Act of 2005—this legislation directs the Secretary to convey, for no consideration, all 

right, title and interest in 10 acres of land within the BeaverheadDeerlodge Forest, Montana to Jefferson County, Montana to be 

used for cemetery purposes. The parcel to be conveyed is a National Register-eligible property, that contributes to the significance 

of the Elkhorn town site and the Elkhorn historic mining district. 

The 10-acre conveyance will provide a sufficient amount of land to 

accommodate all known grave sites. The Department support S. 

997. We would like to work with the committee to ensure that the 

land conveyed will be managed with due consideration for the historic and cultural values associated with the cemetery. The Department also recommends that the conveyance of the public land to 

the State include consideration for the market value of the property, and the for the administrative cost associated with the conveyance. 

S. 1131, Idaho Land Enhancement Act. The Idaho Land Enhancement Act would authorize the Forest Service and Bureau of 

Land Management to enter into a collaborative exchange with the 

State of Idaho and the city of Boise, Idaho. The Department supVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:42 Oct 25, 2005 Jkt 109157 PO 24053 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 H:\DOCS\24053.TXT SENERGY2 PsN: PAULM
22

ports enactment of S. 1131. The exchange was initiated by the city 

of Boise to preserve open space in the Boise foothills, the goal was 

to reduce the potential of scenic and recreational lands that are 

highly valued by the city of Boise from being developed, to increase 

long-term financial returns to the Idaho State Endowment Fund, 

and to improve land management through consolidation of land 

ownership on Federal and State lands. In addition, the proposed 

land exchange addresses threats upon managed recreational use, 

habitat fragmentation and fire and fuels reduction in both northern 

and southern Idaho. 

In April, the city of Boise, the Idaho Department of Lands, the 

Forest Service and BLM signed an agreement to initiate an exchange which provides the framework for S. 1131. Under the proposed exchange, approximately 7,200 acres of National Forest System land between the Idaho Panhandle National Forest and the 

Clearwater National Forest would be conveyed to the State of 

Idaho. Approximately 11,000 acres of land under the jurisdiction of 

the Idaho Department of Lands would be conveyed—to the Bureau 

of Land Management, 7,000 acres, and to the U.S. Forest Service, 

4,000 acres. In addition, 2,100 acres in the Grandmother Mountain 

Area, identified as a wilderness study area under BLM’s jurisdiction in Shoshone County, Idaho, would be transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture to be managed on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest in a manner that preserves the suitability for designation as wilderness until Congress determines otherwise. 

The administrative costs associated with the conveyance of the 

Federal land and State land would be paid by the city of Boise, 

pursuant to the congressional finding in section 5(e), the Forest 

Service would carry out no further administrative or environmental 

analysis in completing the exchange, as delineated in the bill. 

We recommend two amendments to the bill, first, amend section 

4(e) to modify the boundaries on all four of the affected national 

forests to accommodate the State of Idaho parcels that would be acquired by the Forest Service, which would be outside of the existing 

National Forest boundaries. Second, amend section 3(d) to allow for 

the deletion of parcels as an alternative method for equalizing values. The intent of this section is to require that the exchange be 

of equal value between State and Federal lands. Cash equalization 

is the only method provided to achieve this result under S. 1131, 

as introduced. 

And finally, S. 1238, the Public Lands Corps Healthy Forest Restoration Act. S. 1238 would amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 

1993 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 

Interior in carrying out priority projects in a specific area to give 

preference to the maximum extent practicable to qualified Youth or 

Conservation Corps located in that specific area that have a substantial portion of members who are economically, physically or 

educationally disadvantaged. It is important to recognize that implementation of some priority projects require a certain amount of 

maturity, decisionmaking capability, perspective and attention to 

safety, it is both appropriate and necessary to provide the Secretary the discretion in determining the type of priority projects 

suitable for the target corps. 

23

The Department support S. 1238, the Department would like to 

work with the committee and bill sponsors to ensure specific conservation corps would be covered under S. 1238 since we work with 

several programs that service disadvantaged youth. 

This concludes my statement, I would be happy to answer any 

questions you may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Holtrop follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOEL HOLTROP, DEPUTY CHIEF, NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM, U.S. FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ON S. 997, S. 1131, AND

S. 1238

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for giving me the 

opportunity to present the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on S. 997, 

the Montana Cemetery Act of 2005; S. 1131, the Idaho Land Enhancement Act of 

2005; and S. 1238, the Public Lands Corps Healthy Forest Restoration Act. 

S. 997—MONTANA CEMETERY ACT OF 2005

This legislation directs the Secretary to convey for no consideration, all right, title, 

and interest in 10 acres of land within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests 

to Jefferson County, Montana to be used for cemetery purposes. The Department 

is supportive of S. 997, but would recommend that the Committee add provisions 

to the legislation that will protect historic interests and provide consideration to the 

Federal government for the conveyance. 

The parcel to be conveyed to Jefferson County is currently being used for cemetery purposes but a special use authorization has never been issued for this purpose. 

The 10-acre conveyance will provide a sufficient amount of land to accommodate all 

known grave sites and any additional sites that may be outside of the concentration 

of known sites. In addition the conveyance is of adequate size to include the cemetery parking lot so that it will be located on private property. 

The parcel to be conveyed is a National Register eligible property that contributes 

to the significance of the Elkhorn town site and the Elkhorn historic mining district. 

We would like to work with the committee and through the NEPA process to ensure 

that the land conveyed will be managed with due consideration for the historic and 

cultural values associated with the cemetery. 

Also, we are concerned about conveying public land to other jurisdictions without 

any form of consideration. The Department does not object to making the Federal 

land available for use as a cemetery, but requests that the conveyance of the public 

land estate include consideration for the market value of the property and for the 

administrative costs associated with the conveyance. 

S. 1131—IDAHO LAND ENHANCEMENT ACT

The Idaho Land Enhancement Act would authorize the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enter into a collaborative land exchange with 

the State of Idaho and the City of Boise, Idaho. The exchange was initiated by the 

City of Boise to preserve open space in the Boise foothills. The exchange culminates 

a long-term effort by all parties to preserve the character of the Boise foothills, to 

increase long term financial return to the Idaho State Endowment Fund and to improve land management through consolidation of land ownership on federal and 

state lands. The Department supports enactment of S. 1131. We have a few recommendations that we would like the committee to consider. 

The Boise metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation. 

The Boise foothills region provides a scenic backdrop as well as multiple opportunities for outdoor recreation activities by area residents. The State of Idaho manages 

approximately 6,000 acres of State Endowment lands within the Foothills that have 

significant residential development potential. These lands have a State Constitutional mandate to maximize revenue to benefit State public schools. These lands 

currently yield very little revenue from livestock grazing or from any other source 

thus there are incentives to convey the land out of public ownership. 

To reduce the potential of scenic and recreational lands that are highly-valued by 

the City of Boise from being developed, S. 1131 proposes to convey lands in the foothills from the State of Idaho to the BLM and the Forest Service. To equalize the 

value of the exchange, federal timbered lands under the jurisdiction of the Forest 

Service would be conveyed to the State of Idaho. The administrative costs associated 

with the conveyance of the Federal land and State land would be paid by the City 

of Boise. 

24

The proposed land exchange addresses threats of unmanaged recreational use, 

habitat fragmentation, and fire and fuels reduction in both Northern and Southern 

Idaho. This proposal has been proceeding through the administrative process for 

land exchanges. Upon determination that the exchange was feasible and worthy of 

continued study, on April 26, 2005, the City of Boise, Idaho Department of Lands, 

Forest Service and the BLM signed an agreement to initiate an exchange. 

As part of the agreement, BLM, the Forest Service and Boise City agreed to be 

jointly responsible for completing environmental and cultural review work on Federal lands being transferred to the State of Idaho. Boise City is to pay for contract 

environmental and cultural review work approved by all parties to the agreement. 

BLM, the Forest Service, Idaho Department of Lands, and Boise City will be jointly 

responsible for completing mineral potential reports, also to be paid for by the City 

of Boise. 

Under the agreement, initial NEPA scoping was done. BLM and the Forest Service have completed the following resource assessments: cultural/historic, Threatened 

and Endangered Species, biological, botanical, noxious weeds, timber, wetlands, 

floodplains, water resources, recreation, wilderness, visual, socio-economic and environmental justice, mineral and mineral potential. Pursuant to the Congressional 

Finding in Sec. 5(e), the Forest Service would carry out no further administrative 

or environmental analysis in completing the exchange as delineated in the bill. We 

will work with the Committee so that there is a common understanding of the additional administrative or environmental review that would otherwise be undertaken 

by the agency. 

This agreement provides the framework for S. 1131. Under the proposed exchange, approximately 7,220 acres of National Forest System land within the Idaho 

Panhandle National Forest and the Clearwater National Forest would be conveyed 

to the State of Idaho. Approximately 11,085 acres of land under the jurisdiction of 

the Idaho Department of Lands would be conveyed to the Bureau of Land Management (7,000 acres) and to the U.S. Forest Service (4,085 acres). In addition 2,111 

acres in the Grandmother Mountain area currently under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management in Shoshone County, Idaho would be transferred to the 

Secretary of Agriculture to be administered by the Forest Service on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. 

Management of National Forest System lands within the Idaho Panhandle, Boise, 

Wallowa-Whitman and Clearwater National Forests would be improved with the 

consolidation of land ownership patterns achieved by the Act. Efficiencies will be realized by reducing the number of joint-use roads and easements, and decreasing 

costs associated with boundary management. Consolidation of National Forest ownership within the Elk Creek watershed will prevent habitat fragmentation and increase opportunities for public recreation in a popular area of the Clearwater National Forest. Likewise, the State of Idaho and the BLM will benefit from land ownership consolidation and increase ability to achieve important management objectives. 

The 2,111 acre Grandmother Mountain tract is in an area where other land under 

BLM jurisdiction was previously transferred to the Forest Service. Through the Arkansas-Idaho Land Exchange Act of 1992 approximately 10,000 acres of land administered by the BLM were conveyed to the Forest Service. The 2,111 acre remaining 

BLM tract is identified as a Wilderness Study Area. The legislation provides that 

land transferred to the Forest Service that was previously designated as a Wilderness Study Area shall be managed in a manner that preserves the suitability of the 

land for designation as wilderness until Congress determines otherwise. 

We would like to work with the committee to implement the following recommendations concerning this bill. The intent of Sec. 3(d) is to require that the exchange be of equal value between state and federal lands, however, the cash equalization provision is the only method described to facilitate this result. Since none of 

the parties wish to incur a large cash obligation, we recommend adding a provision 

allowing for the deletion of parcels as an alternative method of equalizing values. 

There are several of the State of Idaho parcels that would be acquired by the Forest Service that are located adjacent to but outside of the existing National Forest 

boundaries. We recommend amending Sec. 4(e) to modify the boundaries on all four 

of the affected National Forest to accommodate these parcels. 

S. 1238—PUBLIC LANDS CORPS HEALTHY FOREST RESTORATION ACT OF 2005

The Department supports S. 1238. However, the Department would like to work 

with the committee and bill sponsors to ensure specific conservation corps would be 

covered under S. 1238 since we work with several programs that service disadvantaged youths. 

25

S. 1238 would amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to direct the Secretary 

of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, in carrying out priority projects in 

a specific area, to give preference, to the maximum extent practicable, to qualified 

youth or conservation corps located in that specific area that have a substantial portion of members who are economically, physically, or educationally disadvantaged. 

Priority projects are those that will: (1) reduce wildfire risk to communities, municipal water supplies, or other at risk Federal land; (2) protect a watershed or address 

a threat to forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire; (3) address 

the impact of insect or disease infestations or other damaging agents on forest and 

rangeland health; (4) protect, restore, or enhance forest ecosystem components to 

promote recovery of threatened and endangered species, to improve biological diversity, or to enhance productivity and carbon sequestration. 

It is important to recognize that implementation of some priority projects requires 

a certain amount of maturity, decision-making capability, perspective and attention 

to safety. It is both appropriate and necessary to provide the Secretaries the discretion in determining the types of priority projects suitable for the target corps. 

In many respects, the goals of S. 1238 are consistent with existing authorities 

that the Department has supported, including the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

(HFRA) [P.L. 108-208], the original Public Land Corps Act of 1993, P.L. 103-82 Title 

II, and the Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970, P.L. 91-378. 

However, the Administration does have concerns about the Committee’s expectation regarding the authorization of specific appropriations contained in the bill given 

current and future budgetary constraints. 

This concludes my statement, I would be happy to answer any questions that you 

may have.

Senator CRAIG. Well, Joel, thank you very much. I have no questions at this time, but we will work with you on your suggestions 

in relation to S. 1131. I think those are good, solid recommendations, and we will see if that cannot be resolved. Let me thank you 

both very much. 

Mr. BENNA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. HOLTROP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator CRAIG. Now, let me invite before the committee Keith 

Johnson, controller of the State of Idaho, Keith. It’s a pleasure to 

have you before the committee. 

STATEMENT OF KEITH L. JOHNSON, CONTROLLER,

STATE OF IDAHO, BOISE, ID 

Mr. JOHNSON. Good afternoon, I am the Idaho State Controller, 

and I’m here by assignment, and I wanted to let you know that I 

am here not as the State’s Chief Accountant, but as a member of 

the State Board of Land Commissioners. The State Controller is 

one of five members of that Board of Land Commissioners that’s 

responsible for management policy direction for the endowment 

lands in the State of Idaho. I also have submitted written comments that I would like to include as a part of the record. 

Senator CRAIG. Keith, your full statement will become a part of 

the record. Thank you. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you. 

I am here before you today to endorse and request your support 

for the Idaho Lands Enhancement Act, or S. 1131, because of its 

benefits to citizens, to schools, to communities as well as the Federal and State agencies that are involved in the legislation. As has 

been noted, directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture 

to exchange lands that are currently owned and managed by the 

Federal Government, with lands owned and managed by the State 

of Idaho. 

Passage of this legislation will grant the authority to ultimately 

provide the State of Idaho with more timberland, meaning greater 

26

revenue to our public schools. The people of Idaho will get more 

open space, the Federal lands will be protected from development 

and other limited uses forever. Additionally, Federal and State 

agencies will increase efficiency in managing those lands for fire 

and basic species and recreation. 

Invasive species and recreation—the State-owned parcels in the 

Boise Foothills subject to this are currently endowment plans that 

are required under the State Constitution to be managed for the 

maximum financial return to the beneficiaries, primarily, public 

schools in Idaho. Historically, these lands have provided revenue to 

the beneficiaries through leasing the ground to cattle and sheep 

ranchers for grazing, however, those opportunities are becoming 

more limited due to the economics of ranging in an urbanized setting. Moreover, the State cannot legally, directly convey these parcels to the city of Boise, nor can we, as a landlord, manage them 

for non-monetary or purely aesthetic reasons. We have a constitutional mandate as fiduciaries to maximize financial return to those 

beneficiaries, so we needed a way to protect that open space and 

the desire of the local community without negatively affecting the 

financial condition of those local beneficiaries. This proposal and 

exchange provides the means to make that possible. Commercial timberlands in Idaho currently provides over $50 

million each year, primarily to benefit the public schools in Idaho. 

Passage of this legislation will enhance our ability to provide funding for schools, while providing the desired benefits to the community and the other government agencies. 

The exchange involves approximately 20,000 acres in 7 Idaho 

counties. A tremendous amount of effort has gone into this exchange, all parcels in the exchange have been evaluated for legal 

boundaries and cumbrances, legal access, mineral potential, hazardous materials, threatened and endangered plant and animal 

habitat, wetlands, cultural resources and timber types, to ensure 

equal economic value between the State and Federal holdings. 

From the beginning, as the concept of this exchange was being 

developed, a primary goal was to identify a land exchange package 

that was absent of environmental resource concerns. The surveys 

were conducted by professional staff, the analysis was rigorous and 

included a mix of private and independent contractors, as well as 

professional staff from the Department of Lands, and the Clearwater National Forest, where the bulk of the Federal parcels are 

going to be located. We held a series of public forums to solicit public comment, meetings were held with county commissioners to get 

their input, public participation was solicited throughout the series 

of open houses. 

Senator Craig, Congressman Butch Otter and Governor Dirk 

Kempthorne held a joint news conference to help advertise the opportunity to comment on the exchange, a website had been developed, by the city of Boise to provide information, including copies 

of the legislation and gave the public an opportunity to comment. 

Conservation and environmental groups were specifically solicited 

for input and tribal governments were also engaged to provide comment. 

The proposal enjoys overwhelming support in Idaho, the exchange encourages both common sense and improved economics. 

27

We think it makes sense for the State to increase revenues to the 

public school endowment while ensuring open space access to the 

citizens. We think it makes sense to save money to have publicly 

managed lands connected or contiguous for ecosystem-wide management. It makes sense for the State of Idaho and the Federal 

Government to have better access to prevent and battle invasive 

species and wild land fires, and it makes sense to provide more recreational opportunities and access to our public lands for our citizens. 

From the environmental community, to public officials to land 

managers, everyone seems to view this as a win-win endeavor. The 

concept for the exchange has been open, transparent, it has been 

wise, and it has indeed been bipartisan and very strong support in 

the State of Idaho. It is an example of how local, State and Federal 

partners can come together to work on an issue to develop an exchange which the public and the land are the ultimate beneficiaries. 

Consequently, I’m here to urge your support in the passage of 

the legislation, and certainly answer any questions that I can for 

you. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Johnson follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KEITH L. JOHNSON, IDAHO STATE CONTROLLER

Mr. Chairman, as Idaho’s State Controller, I am one of five members of the State 

Board of Land Commissioners (Land Board) which is comprised of five of our state’s 

elected officials. This includes the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney 

General, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and myself, the State Controller. 

The State Land Board, as trustee, is charged under the Idaho Constitution with the 

management of state endowment lands and funds to maximize the long-term financial return to certain beneficiaries within the state, most notably the public schools 

in Idaho. 

I come before you today to endorse and request your support for The Idaho Lands 

Enhancement Act (S. 1131) because of its benefits to citizens, schools and communities as well as the federal and state agencies involved. This collaborative piece of 

legislation directs the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to exchange lands that 

are currently owned and managed by the federal government with lands owned and 

managed by the State of Idaho from the Boise Foothills to North Idaho. While my 

testimony today is my own and is not intended to be a representation of the views 

of the Land Board as a whole, the board has been involved in this matter from its 

inception and has voted unanimously to support it. 

Passage of this legislation will grant the regulatory authority for this agreement 

which will ultimately provide the State of Idaho with more timberland, meaning 

greater revenue to Idaho’s public schools. The people of Idaho, particularly those living in the Boise Valley, will get more open space, a precious commodity in one of 

this nation’s fastest growing communities. These lands will be protected from development and other limiting uses forever. Additionally, federal and state agencies will 

increase efficiency in managing their lands for fire, invasive species, and recreation 

with their land holdings consolidated, rather than scattered. 

The state-owned parcels in the Boise Foothills subject to this exchange are endowment lands that are required under the state constitution to be managed for the 

maximum benefit of the beneficiaries of the endowment such as public schools. Historically, these lands have provided revenue to the school endowment by leasing the 

ground to cattle and sheep ranchers for grazing. However, the opportunities for 

maximum return from this practice are becoming more limited due to the economics 

of ranching in a more urbanized location versus other competing uses for these 

lands. The State cannot legally simply convey these parcels to the City of Boise nor 

can we manage them for non-monetary returns such as recreational or aesthetic 

purposes. Because of the constitutionally mandated fiduciary duty we have as a 

board to maximize financial return, we needed a way to protect the open space desires of the local community without negatively impacting the financial condition of 

the beneficiaries of the endowments. This proposed land exchange is the means to 

make that possible. 

28

The land board currently manages approximately 750,000 acres of commercial 

timberland in Idaho. These endowment lands are the principal source of revenue to 

the beneficiaries, bringing in over $55,000,000 annually, which benefits the public 

school children in Idaho. Passage of S. 1131 will enhance our ability to provide funding for Idaho’s public schools while providing the desired benefits for the community 

and other government agencies. 

The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners voted last year in a public meeting 

to grant conceptual approval of this exchange. Final approval is pending the successful passage of this legislation. 

All told, the exchange involves approximately 20,000 acres in 7 Idaho counties. 

A tremendous amount of effort has gone into this exchange. All parcels in the exchange have been evaluated with regard to legal boundaries, encumbrances, legal 

access, mineral potential, hazardous materials, threatened and endangered plant 

and animal habitat, wetlands, cultural resources and timber types and volume to 

ensure equal economic value between the state and federal holdings. 

From the very beginning as the concept of this exchange was being developed, a 

primary goal was to identify a land exchange package that was absent of environmental resource concerns. Once the conceptual exchange lands were agreed to by 

the agencies, both literature reviews and on the ground surveys were conducted by 

professional staff. The analysis was rigorous and included a mix of private independent contractors hired by the City of Boise and professional staff from Idaho Department of Lands and the Clearwater National Forest where the bulk of the federal parcels are located. 

After completing the evaluation of the federal parcels to be conveyed to the state, 

a series of public forums were conducted to solicit public comment. First, meetings 

were held with County Commissioners to gauge their support. Next, public participation was solicited through a series of open house forums. 

Notifications were mailed to federal agency lists throughout the state. Senator 

Larry Craig, Congressman Butch Otter, and Governor Dirk Kempthorne held a joint 

news conference to advertise the opportunity to comment on the exchange. A 

website was developed by the city of Boise to provide information including copies 

of the proposed legislation, as well as the opportunity to comment. Public open 

house meetings were held in the Idaho communities of Kellogg, St. Marie’s, Moscow 

and Boise. 

Tribal governments were also engaged to provide comment. Their principal concern was the ability to continue to hunt and fish on the federal parcels that would 

be conveyed to the state. The Idaho Department of Lands will honor this request. 

While no public land use change is without some level of opposition, this exchange 

proposal enjoys overwhelming support in Idaho. The exchange encourages both common sense and improved economics. It makes sense for the State to increase revenues to the endowment while ensuring open space access to the citizens of its largest community. It makes sense and saves money to have publicly managed lands 

connected or contiguous for ecosystem-wide management. It makes sense to consolidate scattered parcels to streamline on the ground management activities. It makes 

sense for the State of Idaho and the federal government to have better access to 

prevent and battle invasive species and wildland fire. It makes sense to provide 

more recreational opportunities and access to our public lands for our citizens. 

It is indeed rare to find the level of consensus demonstrated in support of this 

land exchange. From the environmental community to public officials to land managers, this is viewed as a win-win endeavor. The concept for this land exchange has 

been open, transparent, and has wide support throughout the state. This exchange 

is an example of how local, state, and federal partners can come together to collaboratively develop an exchange in which the public and the land are the ultimate 

beneficiaries. Consequently, I strongly urge your support in the passage of this legislation.

Senator CRAIG. Keith, thank you very much. 

In part of your testimony, you’ve covered well the process that 

this effort has gone through. From the very beginning, I and others 

have insisted that it be a very open and transparent process, and 

that we assume that certainly most of the criteria of the National 

Environmental Policy Act be met even though land exchanges do 

not require that and Congress by its authority can legislate such 

land designation as it feels necessary and appropriate. 

But at the same time, I think all of us realize the sensitivity of 

it, and as a result we proceeded. You briefly described some of that. 

29

Would you reflect a little more on the public involvement, and the 

collaboration that went on that has brought us to a near-unanimous acceptance of this approach? 

Mr. JOHNSON. Yes, certainly, Senator. I think you’ve characterized it very well, that although NEPA technically is not required, 

the way I’ve heard it characterized is the spirit of NEPA has been 

met, largely, through this process. Clearly, the city of Boise has led 

this endeavor, the voters of Idaho—or the voters of Boise—elected 

to tax themselves $10 million to acquire, through purchase, as 

much open space land as they could. Those parcels that they’re 

purchasing are next to the State parcels that we will be trading to 

the Federal Government to allow the spirit of what the city of 

Boise wanted to accomplish through that vote to happen. So, it will 

allow open space for recreational use, as well as reverb the view 

shed of the city of Boise in perpetuity. 

You mentioned the public comment period, as I said in my statement, a website was created, public meetings were held throughout 

the State to allow folks to come and visit and to view maps and 

to get information and have their questions answered. We solicited 

comments from the Idaho Conservation League, the Nature Conservancy, the Kootenai Alliance—those environmental groups that 

typically, and often, have a contrary view to much of the land use 

decisions that are made in the State—and they have come together 

to work with us on this exchange, to make sure that it’s open, that 

their questions are answered, and it hasn’t been completely unanimous yet, but as you described, it is working toward a very comprehensive support for this exchange, and those environmental 

groups are on record now of not objecting to it, in most cases, supporting what is being proposed. 

Senator CRAIG. Thank you for that explanation. I think it was 

thorough and appropriate, also. Some have grown frustrated by, 

but you also covered in your testimony very well, the role of the 

State, the State Land Board’s authority under law and constitution, and the State lands involved, and that highest and best use, 

or value rate of return for the endowments can really not be 

achieved as they once were, because of the changed use of that 

land. 

I found it fascinating, the thought went through my mind as you 

were testifying, 50, 100 years ago, that was a spring sheep range, 

and of course, that particular era of our livestock raising on our 

public lands in Idaho, and in the West, brought a population of 

people out of the Pyrenees, the Basque people who are now prominent, and dominant, in the State of Idaho. We are about to commence a Basque Festival in Boise, and it is second only to the one 

held in the Basque country of Spain. And all of it’s a part of that 

culture, but I think that what this exchange and project demonstrates is the ability to be flexible and adjust as the use of the 

land changes over time. But the value of its openness, while 

changed, still has a high value to the community of Boise by their 

effort and their taxation. 

Let me thank you very much for taking the time to be back here 

representing the State, and the State Land Board on this issue, we 

will move it now at this stage as expeditiously as we can so the 

30

project can stay on time and on schedule. Thank you very much for 

being with us. 

With that, we will leave the record open for 10 days for questions 

or additional comments that may come forward on the legislation 

involved in this hearing. With that, this subcommittee will stand 

adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:35 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

(31)

APPENDIX 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF PAMELA PRIDE EATON, DEPUTY VICE PRESIDENT,

PUBLIC LANDS CAMPAIGN, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, ON S. 1170

Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony for the record of this hearing 

on S. 1170, the Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Cave Conservation Act. The cave 

system at Fort Stanton, especially the newly discovered ‘‘Snowy River’’ portion of 

the cave, is a unique and marvelous treasure, owned by the American people and 

managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It deserves special protection 

and we are delighted legislation to protect it is moving forward. 

We want to thank Senators Domenici and Bingaman for their leadership in proposing legislation to safeguard this area. We look forward to working with the Senators and the Committee to improve S. 1170 to ensure that this national treasure 

is adequately protected. 

THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION SYSTEM

The Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area would be a valuable addition to the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). The National 

Landscape Conservation System encompasses 26 million acres in 12 western states, 

including National Conservation Areas, National Monuments and wilderness areas. 

It embraces an astonishing array of historic sites ranging from Native American 

pueblos to traces of frontier-era migration routes. The Fort Stanton-Snowy River 

Cave National Conservation Area would add a unique dimension to this system of 

national treasures. 

S. 1170

We strongly support the protection of the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave complex 

and other caves in the Fort Stanton area through the designation of a National Conservation Area (NCA). S. 1170 should be improved in a number of ways to ensure 

that the magnificent resources of the cave complex—and the lands of the Fort Stanton Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) of which they are a part—are 

adequately protected for all Americans. 

SIZE OF THE CONSERVATION AREA

S. 1170 limits the Conservation area to ‘‘the minimum subsurface area necessary 

to provide for the Fort Stanton Cave, including the Snowy River passage in its entirety (which may include other significant caves).’’ It also limits the surface area 

protected to ‘‘the minimum surface acreage . . . that is necessary to provide access 

to the cave entrance.’’ These boundaries and constraints are insufficient to adequately protect the cave resource and the associated surface lands in the Fort Stanton ACEC and should be changed. 

Subsurface protection 

The full extent of the Fort Stanton cave system has not yet been determined. As 

the BLM testified, ‘‘scientists and cavers tell us that they expect many more miles 

of cave passages are left to be explored’’ (Testimony of Lawrence E. Benna, Deputy 

Director, Operations, BLM, July 20, 2005). Also, there are numerous other caves 

within the Fort Stanton area which contain significant cultural resources that are 

being studied. S. 1170 should allow for the inclusion of all caves and passages on 

federal lands in the Fort Stanton area—known and not yet known—in the National 

Conservation Area. The bill should ensure that all new cave discoveries on federal 

land that are part of the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave complex are automatically 

added to the NCA. 

32

Surface protection 

S. 1170 should also protect all federally-owned surface areas above the caves and 

the surface lands should be managed consistent with the standards for National 

Conservation Areas. BLM notes in its testimony that ‘‘[w]hile in many places the 

cave system is 60 to 100 feet below the ground, in other places tree roots have been 

observed suggesting a close proximity to the surface. Some surface activities could 

affect the cave environment if safeguards are not in place.’’ As currently drafted, 

Section 4, Subsection D(1)(B) says the NCA designation cannot preclude ‘‘any activity or use, including new uses, on the surface land above the Conservation Area or 

on any land appurtenant to that surface land.’’ This language should be removed 

and all federally-owned surface lands associated with the cave should be included 

in the NCA. 

The Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave area should be made a National Conservation Area, consistent with other such designations and the ‘‘critical elements’’ outlined by Deputy BLM Director Benna in his testimony on July 20, 2005. According 

to Benna, ‘‘[e]ach of the NCA’s designated by Congress and managed by the BLM 

is unique. However, for the most part they have certain critical elements, these include: public land, mining[] and mineral leasing law withdrawal, [off-highway vehicle] use limitations, and language which charges the Secretary to allow only those 

uses that further the purposes for which the NCA is established. Furthermore, NCA 

proposals do not diminish the protections that currently apply to the lands.’’ Meeting the critical elements includes insuring that sufficient surface lands are withdrawn to appropriately manage the resource, that those lands are managed to conserve the NCA’s resources, and that at least management is as or more protective 

as the current management standards for the area, contained in the management 

prescriptions for the Fort Stanton ACEC. 

FORT STANTON ACEC

Ideally, S. 1170 should protect the whole Fort Stanton ACEC. This 24,630-acre 

area encompasses outstanding biological, archeological, and scenic qualities, including the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave and the Feather Cave Archeological Complex, which includes Feather Cave, Lower Stanton Pueblo Ruin, and Indian Shelter 

Cave. Designation of the entire Fort Stanton ACEC as an NCA would protect the 

known and yet to be discovered portions of the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave complex and the other important values of the ACEC. The ACEC does not include the 

State-owned hospital, prison, or the Sierra Blanca Airport, all of which are within 

the boundary but not included in the acreage or affected by federal land designations. 

Fort Stanton ACEC is already withdrawn from the general mining laws, and 

closed to the disposal of leasable minerals and to the leasing of oil and gas. It is 

protected from other developments, such as major rights-of-way. Vehicle use is restricted to designated roads and trails. Fort Stanton is a ‘‘Special Recreation Management Area’’ with emphasis on providing quality recreational opportunities, while 

protecting riparian and wildlife resources. 

This entire special area should be encompassed in the Fort Stanton-Snowy River 

Cave National Conservation Area created by S. 1170. 

NAMING THE NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA

S. 1170 would create the ‘‘Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Cave Conservation 

Area.’’ We believe the name should be consistent with the naming of other conservation areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management. That is, the name should 

be the ‘‘Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area.’’ S. 1170 implies that it is creating a new class of ‘‘Cave Conservation Areas.’’ This is unnecessary and could be confusing to the public, who may already struggle to understand 

the various categories of public lands in the National Landscape Conservation System. 

WATER RESOURCES

S. 1170 denies a federal reserved water right for this National Conservation Area. 

Because water was essential in the formation of the Snowy River Cave and continues to shape the features that give the Snowy River Cave its name, S. 1170 

should be modified to direct the BLM to ensure that water resources are secured 

as necessary to protect the continuing dynamics of the cave and its features. 

33

* Retained in subcommittee files. 

CONCLUSION

We strongly support the protection of the Snowy River Cave system and the Fort 

Stanton ACEC. We urge the committee to expand its vision for this area and protect 

the full array of resources and lands encompassed in the Fort Stanton ACEC. We 

look forward to working with Senators Domenici and Bingaman and others on the 

Committee to protect this area which is so important to New Mexicans and all 

Americans by adding it to the National Landscape Conservation System as a National Conservation Area.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JEFF PARKER, ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST YOUTH CORPS, EUGENE, OR 

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to 

submit testimony for the record in support of S. 1238, the Public Lands Corps 

Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005. I want to thank Senators Feinstein, 

Domenici, and Bingaman for their leadership in this process. 

I am the Administrative Director of the Northwest Youth Corps (NYC). The NYC 

is headquartered in Oregon but also does work in Idaho, Washington State, and 

California. I am also testifying on behalf of the National Association of Service and 

Conservation Corps (NASCC) which represents the corps movement in Washington 

and consists of more than 100 corps, enrolling 23,000 corpsmembers in 37 states 

and the District of Columbia. I have attached detailed descriptions of the NYC and 

NASCC for the record.* 

Because this bill differs in certain key respects from earlier versions, I will summarize its key provisions. First, it authorizes the Interior and Agriculture Secretaries to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with conservation corps to 

carry out appropriate conservation projects which are defined as ‘‘any project for the 

conservation, restoration, construction or rehabilitation of natural, cultural, historic, 

archeological, recreational, or scenic resources.’’

Second, it establishes a priority for projects that will reduce the risk of wildfire 

to a community, municipal water supply, or other at-risk Federal land; protect watersheds or address threats to the health of forests and rangeland; address the impact of insect or disease infestation or other damaging agents; and protect, restore, 

and enhance components of forest ecosystems to promote the recovery of threatened 

and endangered species, improve biological diversity, and enhance productivity and 

carbon sequestration. 

It also establishes two preferences. For appropriate conservation projects, the Secretary ‘‘may’’ give preference to a qualified corps that has a substantial portion of 

members who are economically, physically, or educationally disadvantaged. For priority projects, the Secretary ‘‘shall, to the maximum extent practicable’’ give preference to a qualified corps that has a substantial portion of members who are economically, physically, or educationally disadvantaged. 

Fourth, it gives the Secretary discretion to grant credit for time served in the Public Lands Corps toward future Federal hiring and to provide non-competitive hiring 

status for Corps alumni for up to 120 days. 

Fifth, the government may not pay more than 75 percent of the cost of any 

project. The remaining 25 percent may be provided in cash or in-kind from nonfederal sources. 

Finally, it authorizes $15 million per year, of which $10 million is to carry out 

priority projects. 

I would like to note that on July 14, 2005 the Administration expressed its support for H.R. 2875, identical legislation, in testimony before the Subcommittee on 

Forests and Forest Health of the House Resources Committee. 

Based on the Northwest Youth Corps’ work and reports from my colleagues 

around the country, it is clear that corps have an important role to play in preventing forest fires and other natural disasters, providing appropriate assistance to 

communities threatened by such disasters, and helping them recover from the devastation that occurs. 

As of July 6, nine states—Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New 

Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Washington—had reported large, active fires. About 324 

large fires have been contained this year. In addition to these large fires, the National Interagency Fire Center reported that almost 32,000 fires have consumed 

about three million acres since January 1. In 2004, some 77,534 reported fires 

burned 6,790,692 acres. Federal government agencies spent $890 million to suppress 

them. 

34

In 2004 the National Fire News noted that ‘‘as firefighters control wildland fires, 

another group of quiet heroes move into the area to start the healing. After a 

wildland fire, the land may need stabilization to prevent loss of topsoil through erosion and prevent the movement of dirt into rivers and streams. Land management 

specialists and volunteers jump start the renewal of plant life through seeding and 

planting with annuals, trees, and native species that help retain soils and fight 

invasive weeds. It’s a long term process that comes alive as the wildland fires die 

down.’’

This is exactly the kind of work at which corps excel: 

• In 2004, the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) completed over 600 acres of 

wildfire fuels reduction projects in partnership with Yellowstone National Park, 

with state agencies on private lands, and with local conservation districts. Its 

priority has been to create defensible space around historic buildings in the national parks and around campgrounds. At Big Hole National Historic Battlefield, MCC crews thinned areas of woodlands adjacent to national forest lands 

to protect the cultural resources from catastrophic wildfires. In West Yellowstone, MCC partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to remove 300 hazardous 

trees lining the popular Rendezvous Ski Trails, site of national ski races, and 

an important economic asset in a community trying to diversify from the traditional snowmobile-based economy. MCC is working to sign agreements to work 

with BAER (Burned Area Emergency Recovery) teams to complete post-fire 

emergency restoration activities including erosion control, hazardous tree removal, tree planting, trail maintenance, and stream restoration. 

• In 2004, NYC Corpsmembers built or maintained 448 miles of trail, pruned 105 

acres of conifers, performed fuel reduction on 181 acres, planted 6,550 trees, 

and restored 28 acres of wetlands. 

• In the summer of 2003, the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (Colorado) thinned 

almost 175 acres in Rocky Mountain National Park and Medicine Bow/Routt 

National Forest and rehabilitated another 155 acres in Rocky Mountain National Park. In June and July, 2003 Lathrop State Park, it felled 664 trees, 

maintained 360 feet of fence, and eradicated weeds from 60 acres. 

• In 2003, the Utah Conservation Corps did thinning in a wild land fire-urban 

interface zone outside of Park City that was a partnership between a homeowner’s association and Utah Department of Forestry. In the past, it has carried 

out ‘‘soil stabilization’’ projects in the Bridger-Teton National Forest that included the rehabilitation and re-routing of trail in bum areas and building 

drainage structures. 

• In 2003, the Youth Corps of Southern Arizona have partnered with ApacheSitgreaves National Forest, the Coronado National Forest, and Chiricahua National Monument. Corpsmembers cut and piled excess fuels in preparation for 

a bum as part of a hazardous fuel reduction project. They also thinned and removed trees for habitat improvement in the Apache-Sitgreaves. The YCOSA 

worked with Ramsay Canyon, a facility of The Nature Conservancy in southern 

Arizona to remove hazardous, flammable material from buildings. Work to create defensible space was conducted several weeks prior to a fire and the Corps 

has received credit for saving the buildings. Crews have also been sent to fires 

on BLM and USFS areas in Wyoming and Arizona. 

• The Coconino Rural Environment Corps located in Flagstaff, Arizona thins hundreds of acres of federal, state, county, city, and private lands every year. The 

Corps has created multiple partnerships in local communities to mitigate the 

hazards of catastrophic wild fires. The Partnership also provided the local Native American Reservations with more than 400 cords of fire wood. Working 

with County and City Waste Management, the partnership found a way to 

transport fire wood to community members in need with little to no cost to the 

project. The partnerships have also increased community awareness to the dangers of wildfire and the risks that may be associated with living in one of the 

most fire prone forests in the world, thus creating a more fire wise community. 

The CREC thins more than 500 acres a year and returns more than 4000 acres 

to native grasslands. Forest restoration has also been a large portion of the forestry work CREC has done over the last several years. 

• The Western Colorado Conservation Corps (WCCC) has done access and egress 

in urban interface in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park housing 

area to insure safe passage for emergency response workers. Corpsmembers 

have been trained in firescaping around new suburban neighborhoods as cities 

spread into rural areas. They help to provide both visually aesthetic and fire 

resistant landscape around structures of value and along the avenues of emergency response. 

35

• In 2003, the Minnesota Conservation Corps responded to 45 wildfires that totaled 30,656 acres. It completed 920 home and property assessments (fire wise) 

relating to wildfire danger and defensible space and made recommendations to 

the home owners on how to make their property safer in the event of a wildfire. 

Corpsmembers also provided about 8,720 hours in indirect fire suppression activities including 5 miles of fire break construction, 400 acres of timber stand 

improvement, and 5,560 acres of prescribed bums. In any given year MCC 

plants 150,000 plus trees in areas that may or may not have been impacted by 

previous fires. MCC also completes 150 Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) plots 

each year for the Minnesota Department of natural resources Division of Forestry. These plots are then used in a variety of Forestry models including a 

wildfire model. 

• The California Conservation Corps (CCC) is the nation’s oldest, largest and 

longest-running youth conservation corps. Nearly 90,000 young men and women 

have worked more than 50 million hours to protect and enhance California’s environment and communities and have provided six million hours of assistance 

with emergencies like fires, floods and earthquakes. Last June the CCC laid 

plastic and sandbags on Delta levees to prevent flooding; fought fires in Santa 

Barbara and Madera counties and surveyed for the glassy-winged sharpshooter 

(a major agricultural pest that has caused the loss of millions of dollars to wine 

grape growers). At the request of the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency 

Services and the state Department of Water Resources, 15 crews placed heavy 

plastic sheeting and sandbags to protect 13.5 miles of interior levees not designed to hold flood waters. Twelve Corps sent crews to fight floods. At the 

same time the CCC responded to the Delta levees, three crews were dispatched 

to the Gaviota Fire in Santa Barbara County. Corpsmembers also provided the 

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection with logistical support. 

As crews finished up with the Gaviota Fire, the CCC was called upon to respond to the Source Fire in the Sierra National Forest, under the direction of 

the U.S. Forest Service. Fresno and Pomona corpsmembers provided assistance 

at the fire camp. 

As you can see from these examples, corps have experience working with federal, 

state, and local land management agencies. Indeed, the Forest Service invested $4.2 

million in partnerships with Corps and leveraged an additional $2.4 million in 

match. 

S. 1238 will provide the federal government with the resources necessary to continue to utilize corps and cost-effectively fight wildfires. 

Invasive species are another large and growing threat to our public lands across 

the nation. Up to 46 percent of the plants and animals listed as endangered species 

by the federal government have been negatively affected by invasive species. Purple 

loosestrife diminishes waterfowl habitats, alters wetland structure and function, and 

chokes out native plants. The Asian longhorned beetle is causing the destruction of 

valuable city trees and could spread to forests. Nutria is devastating large portions 

of wetland ecosystems. 

Invasive plants are estimated to infest 100 million acres in the United States. 

Every year, they spread across three million additional acres, an area twice the size 

of Delaware. According to a Bureau of Land Management study (1996) up to 4,600 

acres of additional Federal public natural areas in the Western continental United 

States are negatively affected by invasive plant species every day. One report indicates that the economic cost of invasive species to Americans is an estimated $137 

billion every year. 

Corps have also been mobilized in California, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, 

and elsewhere to fight invasive species; a growing problem on our public lands 

across the nation. For example: 

• The Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC), based in Taos and the Western Colorado Conservation Corps (WCCC), based in Grand Junction, Colorado, have 

been actively involved in tamarisk removal for several years. This year and last, 

the WCCC has partnered with the Colorado State Parks Department and the 

state Division of Wildlife, the Audubon Society, and the Tamarisk Coalition to 

control 28 acres of Tamarisk and Russian Olive, 7 acres of Hounds Tongue, 

Canada Thistle and other species, as well as 15 miles of Salsafy, Russian Thistle, Storks Bill and other species. 

• Last August, Colorado’s Rock Mountain Youth Corps based in Steamboat 

Springs removed 1550 Tamarisk frees from the Dinosaur National Monument. 

In August 2003, corpsmembers more than 10,000 square feet of Tamarisk and 

poisoned the stumps. 

• The Northwest Youth Corps removed noxious weeds from 1,537 acres. 

36

• The Montana Conservation Corps is partnering with the National Forest Foundation, Gallatin National Forest, and Gallatin/Big Sky Weed Management Area 

Committee to undertake an extensive invasive weed mapping and removal 

project in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. The project will include: creating an inventory (GPS/photos), hand-pulling, reseeding, biological controls and spot 

spraying of noxious weeds by a crew of seven young adults for four weeks at 

12 trailheads, 24 backcountry campsites and along 124 miles of trails in the 

northern unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. In 2003, in partnership with the 

Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS), MCC floated sections of 

the Missouri Breaks Wild and Scenic River to inventory and map patches of 

invasive Leafy Spurge using hand-held GPS units and data loggers. The crews 

collected thousands of Flea Beetles, a tested and successful biological control 

method for leafy spurge, and returned to the surveyed sites to release the flea 

beetles in the most sensitive areas. 

While targeting fires and invasive species, S. 1238 provides disadvantaged youth 

with an opportunity to help themselves by helping their communities by supporting 

programs like the Southwest Youth Corps’ (Colorado) Fire Careers Training Program. The program which started in September 2004 has two goals. First, it trains 

young people 18-25 for careers in the wildland fire management industry. Second, 

it helps to reduce the threat of fires by providing wildfire prevention and mitigation 

services. In addition to training, participants completed more than 7,000 hours of 

significant fire prevention projects in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. 

In a recent class nine young adults completed the program which includes S212 

chainsaw training, S130/190 introduction basic wildland firefighting, and between 

300 and 900 hours of on-the-job training. All nine obtained jobs at the conclusion 

of the program. Six of the participants obtained jobs directly with federal agencies, 

local mitigation companies, and other youth corps that is directly related to their 

experience and training. 

According to Allen Farnsworth, the BLM Fire Mitigation and Education Specialist 

for the San Juan Public Lands Center in Durango, Colorado ‘‘. . . participants got 

some new life skills that will help them get decent paying jobs, the agencies got to 

assist one of our non-profit partners by providing training, and the wildland fire industry has a trained and energetic employee pool to pick from. It doesn’t get much 

better than that.’’

A current Rocky Mountain Youth Corps of Colorado (RMYC) project with the Department of Wildlife in Yampa River State Park in Hot Sulphur Springs provided 

chainsaw training for 20 conservation corps mentors who were then placed throughout RMYC crews and utilized for further fuels reduction projects. Corpsmembers 

thin forests comprised mainly of cottonwoods. 

Service and conservation Corps are descended from the Civilian Conservation 

Corps (CCC) of the Depression era, and are established pathways to re-integrate 

vulnerable young people into society. They engage primarily young people ages 16-

25 in service, training, and educational activities. The corps model places young people under the leadership of adult leaders who serve as mentors and role models. 

In return for their efforts to restore and strengthen communities, corpsmembers 

receive: a stipend, classroom education to improve basic competencies and secure 

credentials, technical skills training, and supportive services. Young men and 

women learn to value their personal contribution, learn the importance of teamwork 

and experience the recognition that comes from making a positive investment in 

their community. 

Approximately 60 percent of NASCC corpsmembers are young people of color, half 

enroll without a high school diploma or GED and 55 percent come from homes 

where the annual income is less than $15,000. A rigorous, random assignment evaluation conducted by Abt Associates/Brandeis University reported that significant 

employment and earnings gains accrue to young people who join a corps and that 

they are significantly less likely to engage in anti-social behavior. Corps also generate a positive return on investment. 

S. 1238 provides needed additional resources to meet the challenges posed by forest fires, invasive species, and other threats to our ecosystem. Enactment of this bill 

and the funding that it authorizes will enable us to do more. 

Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on this important piece of legislation.

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