89–006 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 111–293 

AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ADJUST THE 

BOUNDARY OF THE STEPHEN MATHER WILDERNESS AND THE NORTH 

CASCADES NATIONAL PARK IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE REBUILDING OF 

A ROAD OUTSIDE OF THE FLOODPLAIN WHILE ENSURING THAT THERE 

IS NO NET LOSS OF ACREAGE TO THE PARK OR THE WILDERNESS, AND 

FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

OCTOBER 8, 2009.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. RAHALL, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

ADDITIONAL AND DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 2806] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 2806) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust 

the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North 

Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding of a road 

outside of the floodplain while ensuring that there is no net loss 

of acreage to the Park or the Wilderness, and for other purposes, 

having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 2806 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness 

and the North Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding of a road outside the flood plain while ensuring that there 

is no net loss of acreage to the Park or the Wilderness. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Stephen Mather Wilderness was designated in 1988 as part 

of the Washington Park Wilderness Act (Public Law 100–668). Excluded from the wilderness area was a 100-foot corridor for an exVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:26 Oct 09, 2009 Jkt 089006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR293.XXX HR293

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isting dirt road that followed the Stehekin River for 23 miles from 

Lake Chelan into the wilderness, providing limited vehicle access 

to trails and campgrounds in that portion of the wilderness. The 

road dead-ended at a campground and trailhead to a scenic basin 

and pass. 

Until 2003, the park provided shuttle bus service along the road 

for hikers and campers, who could only reach the road by passenger ferry or floatplane. Local residents, who retained property 

and small businesses inside the park and the adjoining Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, also used the road for recreation. 

Damage to the road from a 1995 flood was repaired, except for 

a 2.5 mile section at the very end of the road, but in 2003 and 

again in 2006 major flooding along the river washed out significant 

portions of the road in the upper valley. Today, the road is impassible for vehicles above what used to be the halfway point. 

A 2004 Federal Highway Administration survey estimated that 

moving the most threatened three miles of the route out of the 

flood plain would cost $1.6 million; that estimate does not include 

the cost of the necessary environmental studies, repairing the remainder of the upper road for vehicle traffic, or maintenance and 

future repairs from flooding. 

In 2006, the park conducted an environmental assessment to determine whether to rebuild the upper half of the road; the assessment concluded that the road would be too difficult and costly to 

construct and maintain, and too environmentally damaging. 

That upper portion of the road has been maintained as a trail 

since 2004 and remains open to foot and horse traffic. The upper 

valley continues to be very popular with hikers and campers; the 

park estimates that some 1,300 people use the campgrounds each 

summer, reaching their campsites on foot. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 2806 was introduced June 10, 2009, by Natural Resources 

Committee Ranking Member Hastings (R–WA). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the 

Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and 

Public Lands. The Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill on July 

30, 2009. A representative of the Department of the Interior testified in opposition to the legislation. 

On September 10, 2009, the Subcommittee on National Parks, 

Forests and Public Lands was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2806 and the full Natural Resources Committee met 

to consider the bill. The bill was ordered favorably reported to the 

House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Findings 

Section 1 provides the history of the upper Stehekin Valley Road. 

Section 2. Authorization for boundary adjustments 

Section 2(a) authorizes, but does not require, the Secretary of the 

Interior to change the boundaries of the Stephen Mather Wilderness to create a new 100-foot road corridor outside the wilderness 

so that the upper portion of the Stehekin Valley Road may be reVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:26 Oct 09, 2009 Jkt 089006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR293.XXX HR293

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built above the flood plain. In their testimony the National Park 

Service (NPS) noted that if such authority were to be used, the 

NPS would be required to complete an environmental impact statement for the wilderness boundary change and the road reconstruction. 

Section 2(b) directs that any boundary adjustments made pursuant to this legislation must ensure that the wilderness acreage deleted by creating the new road corridor will be equal to the acreage 

added to the Stephen Mather Wilderness by the Secretary, so that 

there is no net loss of acreage to the wilderness area. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8, and Article IV, section 3, of the Constitution 

of the United States grants Congress the authority to enact this 

bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the 

boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding of a road outside of the flood plain while ensuring that there is no net loss of 

acreage to the Park or the Wilderness. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 


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H.R. 2806—A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust 

the boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North 

Cascades National Park in order to allow the rebuilding of a 

road outside of the floodplain while ensuring that there is no 

net loss of acreage to the Park or the Wilderness, and for other 

purposes 

H.R. 2806 would allow the Secretary of the Interior to redraw the 

boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness (which makes up more 

than 90 percent of the North Cascades National Park in Washington) to exclude a 100-foot wide corridor. The National Park 

Service (NPS) would use the corridor (which would remain in the 

park) to reroute a flood-damaged portion of the Stehekin Valley 

Road. 

Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that completing 

the rerouting project would cost $2.5 million over the next five 

years. Of this amount, about $500,000 would be spent to conduct 

an environmental impact study of the boundary change and the 

construction project. About $2 million would be spent to build the 

new road segment and restore the remaining portion of the existing 

road. 

Enacting the bill would have no effect on revenues or direct 

spending. 

The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 2806 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule 

XXI. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is printed in italic 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 

WASHINGTON PARK WILDERNESS ACT OF 1988 

* * * * * * * 


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TITLE II—NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 

COMPLEX WILDERNESS 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 207. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS FOR ROAD. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may adjust the boundaries of the 

North Cascades National Park and the Stephen Mather Wilderness 

in order to provide a 100-foot wide corridor along which the 

Stehekin Valley Road may be rebuilt— 

(1) outside of the floodplain between milepost 12.9 and milepost 22.8; 

(2) within the boundaries of the North Cascades National 

Park; and 

(3) outside of the boundaries of the Stephen Mather Wilderness. 

(b) NO NET LOSS OF LANDS.—The boundary adjustments made 

under this section shall be such that equal acreage amounts are exchanged between the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North 

Cascades National Park, resulting in no net loss of acreage to either 

the Stephen Mather Wilderness or the North Cascades National 

Park. 

* * * * * * * 


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DISSENTING VIEWS 

H.R. 2806 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to change the 

boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park in order to rebuild the upper Stehekin Road 

in a new location, presumably within the Wilderness boundary, 

after several floods have damaged the current road. This legislation 

raises a number of serious concerns regarding the use of limited 

National Park Service (NPS) dollars and the process of designating 

wilderness. 

In 2006, the NPS completed an environmental assessment of the 

upper Stehekin road and after analyzing potential options, decided 

to retire the upper section of the road. The decision was based on 

topography of the area, access, expected floods, and cost. 

We strongly support protecting and maximizing access of national parks and publicly protected land. When access points are 

damaged, NPS uses criteria based on usage, topography, and cost 

to decide how to proceed with maintenance needs. While we wholeheartedly believe we should try and preserve past points of access, 

we must also recognize changes to the terrain and look at the use 

of a park system as a whole when determining how to spend limited NPS funds. 

The passage of H.R. 2806 should not change the priority list for 

the National Park Service, putting a road used by less than 3,000 

visitors annually above other projects in the North Cascades National Park and neighboring parks that may have maintenance 

needs for roads used by more than 150,000 visitors each year. NPS 

has a limited budget and must prioritize projects based on a variety of factors. At an estimated cost of $1.5 million, rebuilding the 

upper Stehekin could pull funds away from projects that provide 

access points for tens of thousands. Public access to our wild lands 

is a cornerstone of conservation efforts so it is vitally important 

that available NPS dollars go towards high priority projects, including those that provide access to the highest number of people. 

We strongly believe that NPS should not adjust their priority list 

of the road maintenance as a result of the passage of this legislation. 

Since the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, Congress has had 

the sole authority to designate wilderness. H.R. 2806 departs from 

that historic, democratic process, by handing unprecedented authority to the Secretary of the Interior. Giving authority to the Secretary is major change from over 45 years of wilderness policy. It 

is a precedent that we believe requires much more input and discussion. 

H.R 2806 gives the Secretary authority to relocate the road between milepost 12.9 and milepost 22.8, as far up the Stehekin road 

as Cottonwood Camp. The last 2.5 miles are rough terrain, difficult 

to access and maintain, where the road has not been in place as 


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far back as 1995. If we end up building a road, it should not go 

as far as Cottonwood Camp, but instead should stop 2.5 miles earlier at Glory Mountain. This decision would save important NPS 

dollars and still allow day hikers access to Cottonwood Camp. 

As we are already beginning to see, climate change is increasing 

the frequency and impact of floods in Washington State and 

throughout the country. Upper Stehekin is the first of a forthcoming issue on how to manage damaged cherry-stemmed roads 

throughout our National Park system and Wilderness areas. Washington State and the rest of the nation will face more decisions like 

this and we need to make sure our process for fixing roads is 

sound. 

The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as ‘‘land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements 

or human habitation, . . . which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s 

work substantially unnoticeable. . . .’’ Clearly, changing wilderness area boundaries should not be taken lightly. 

Giving authority to the Secretary seemingly streamlines the 

process for one community but H.R. 2806 has serious implications 

that will influence park policy for years to come. Congress should 

revise the approach to ensure that in future instances a thoughtful 

process is in place that might protect wilderness and maximize access. 

Sincerely, 

JAY INSLEE. MARTIN HEINRICH. 


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ADDITIONAL VIEWS 

H.R. 2806 is a limited bill that allows for continued public access 

to the North Cascades National Park from the community of 

Stehekin, Washington. 

Stehekin, located at the western end of Lake Chelan, is the gateway to the North Cascades National Park and is accessible only by 

boat, floatplane, or a multi-day hike. From the town of Stehekin, 

the Stehekin Valley Road has long allowed residents and visitors 

to access some of the most beautiful scenery in the North Cascades 

in what is now the Park’s Stephen Mather Wilderness. 

At the July 30, 2009 hearing before the Subcommitee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, the Subcommittee heard 

testimony from local officials on how flood damage to the upper 

Stehekin Road has limited public recreational access to the North 

Cascades National Park Complex. This reduced access has been 

particularly painful for the small, tourist-dependent community of 

Stehekin which serves as the gateway to the Park. 

Recognizing its value to local residents and tourists, the Road 

was specifically protected when the Park and Wilderness areas 

were created. Stehekin Road has for many years been maintained 

and run by Park officials, but following extreme flooding and subsequent changes in the course of the river, much of the Road bed is 

now under water. Because the Road occupies a narrow corridor 

within the borders of the Wilderness Area, congressional approval 

is required to modify the corridor prior to the Park Service rebuilding the road. 

During legislative consideration of the Park’s creation in 1988, 

Congress determined that Stehekin Road would remain exempt 

from the restrictions of other wilderness areas. Otherwise, no cars, 

mountain bikes or other mechanized vehicles would have been allowed to transport area residents or Park visitors to the wilderness 

areas north of the Stehekin community. Former U.S. Senator and 

Washington Governor Dan Evans, the author of the 1988 Act creating the Park, submitted written testimony that it was Congress’ 

intent to allow for continued road access into the Park. 

As the Stehekin River has shifted and damaged the road, the 

Park Service has been unable to rebuild the road out of the path 

of the river because of the narrow road corridor in the original 

Park designation. H.R. 2806 would simply allow the Secretary limited authority to adjust the road corridor out of the path of the 

Stehekin River, with no net loss of land to either the Park or the 

Stephen Mather Wilderness. These changes and road rebuilding 

would still be subject to review and comment under the National 

Environmental Policy Act. 

In addition to the merits of adjusting the road corridor boundary 

to enable maintenance of this grandfathered access road, the Subcommittee hearing also revealed troubling inconsistencies in the 


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Park Service’s position on road maintenance. This Committee recently approved a bill, H.R. 1061 authored by Mr. Dicks of Washington, which gives away 36 acres of the Olympic National Park 

without compensation and for the purpose of ensuring road access. 

In a July 9, 2009 letter to Mr. Bishop, Acting Director Wenk of the 

Park Service endorsed the road and land giveaway in H.R. 1061. 

However, Mr. Wenk testified against H.R. 2806, which will result 

in no net loss of park or wilderness area, citing ‘‘higher priorities.’’ 

Approval of H.R. 2806 will serve as a reminder to the Park Service that ensuring public access to the National Park System remains a high priority and it will ensure that we keep our nation’s 

commitment to the residents of Stehekin. Moreover, H.R. 2806 accomplishes these goals without any net loss to the Park or the Wilderness, and ensures adequate public and environmental review 

before any changes take place. 

DOC HASTINGS. 

DANIEL J. EVANS, 

5215 NORTH EAST 45TH, 

Seattle, WA, July 7, 2009. 

Hon. RAUL M. GRIJALVA, 

Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public 

Land, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I am pleased to write in favor of H.R. 2806 

sponsored by Representative Doc Hastings of the state of Washington. I believe his proposal for reconstruction of the Upper 

Stehekin road is both desirable and vital for appropriate access to 

portions of the North Cascade National Park. 

Before speaking on the particulars of the road reconstruction let 

me establish my credentials for testifying on this measure. I served 

as United States Senator for the state of Washington from 1983 to 

1989. During that time I served as a member of the Energy and 

Natural Resources Committee of the Senate, which has jurisdiction 

over our National Park system. While on the committee I initiated 

and became prime sponsor of a bill to create wilderness areas within the three national parks of Washington state, Olympic, Rainier, 

and North Cascades. It was my intent to ensure that undue development would not occur within those national parks. I also recognized that access to trails and vistas within those parks was vital 

and carefully excluded those road rights-of-way from wilderness 

boundaries. Normally, road reconstruction and minor relocation 

would be accommodated within these 100 foot right of ways but on 

rare occasions natural catastrophes could require modification of 

wilderness boundaries to allow road relocations. 

For almost 70 years I have hiked and climbed in the National 

Parks of Washington state and have a strong and continuing desire 

to maintain their integrity. I am very familiar with the area in 

question and have ridden the road from Stehekin to trailheads 

where I have embarked on extensive hiking and climbing trips. If 

this road is not rebuilt, access to extraordinary wilderness experiences will be substantially more difficult. Almost a full days’ hike 

will be necessary to reach what once were trailheads giving mountain access. 


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I believe very strongly that continued protection of our wilderness National Parks depends on the active support of visitors, 

hikers, and climbers who act as champions for our National Parks. 

If we make access substantially more difficult we reduce the number of visitors and ultimately the numbers of citizens and taxpayers who know enough about these parks to want to protect 

them. 

It was my intent when I sponsored the Park Wilderness Bill of 

1988 to protect the unique features of these splendid Parks but not 

to make access more difficult for those seeking the unusual experience of a wilderness Park. I believe that in this instance an alternative route along the Old Wagon Road would maintain the appropriate access and that portions of the current road could revert to 

wilderness category with no net loss of wilderness area. I strongly 

urge the passage of HR 2806 and believe it is compatible with the 

original bill I sponsored in 1988. 

I thank you for your attention to this matter and hope that it can 

be resolved promptly and successfully. 

Sincerely 

DANIEL J. EVANS, U.S. Senator 1983–1989. 

Æ 


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