IB 

House Calendar No. 45 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 263 

[Report No. 116–228] 

To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman 

Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2019 

Mr. SUOZZI (for himself, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. KING of New York, 

Miss RICE of New York, Ms. MENG, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. 

LOWEY, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, 

Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. NADLER, Ms. OCASIOCORTEZ, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. MORELLE, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. REED, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. 

KATKO, and Mr. BRINDISI

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Committed to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 


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•HR 263 RH

A BILL 

To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the 

Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife 

Refuge. 


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•HR 263 RH

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge 

6 was created in 1968. It is located on the north shore 

7 of Long Island in eastern Nassau County, is the 

8 largest refuge in the Long Island National Wildlife 

9 Refuge Complex, and receives the most public use of 

10 all the refuges in the Complex. 

11 (2) The State of New York designated Oyster 

12 Bay a significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. It 

13 is especially important for wintering waterfowl such 

14 as black duck, greater scaup, bufflehead, canvasback 

15 and long-tailed ducks. Management activities include 

16 wetland restoration and protection of the natural 

17 shoreline and vegetation. 

18 (3) The refuge is unique in consisting solely of 

19 bay bottom and adjacent shoreline up to the mean 

20 high-tide mark. Ninety percent of New York’s com21 mercial oyster harvest comes from the refuge. Visi22 tors enjoy fishing, wildlife observation, photography 

23 and environmental education. The refuge is truly a 

24 national treasure. 


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•HR 263 RH

1 (4) Many visitors are unaware that were it not 

2 for the tireless work and advocacy of then-freshman 

3 Congressman Lester Wolff, this area would today be 

4 an 8.5-mile causeway and bridge across Long Island 

5 Sound between Oyster Bay and Rye, New York, con6 necting Nassau and Westchester Counties. 

7 (5) The bridge was first proposed by Robert 

8 Moses, the well-known New York City Planner, to 

9 divert traffic from New York City. Former Governor 

10 Nelson Rockefeller signed into law legislation cre11 ating the bridge authorized by the New York State 

12 Legislature in 1967. 

13 (6) Congressman Wolff, elected in 1964, quick14 ly decided the bridge would be an intrusion in a pris15 tine area, and that Long Island Sound was a very 

16 precious resource that was despoiled. The conserva17 tion threats in the mid-1960s were suburban devel18 opment, wetland filling, and industrial pollution. The 

19 fight to preserve this land became an enormous po20 litical fight and is considered to be a turning point 

21 in New York State’s environmental legacy. 

22 (7) With State and local political and commu23 nity leaders, and especially the North Shore leaders 

24 and the Committee to Save the Long Island Sound, 

25 Congressman Wolff arranged a meeting with DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Oct 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H263.RH H263

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•HR 263 RH

1 partment of the Interior representatives and local 

2 leaders where the idea of creating a wildlife refuge 

3 from municipal and privately owned wetlands was 

4 created. 

5 (8) The Town of Oyster Bay, in which one end 

6 of the bridge was to be located, deeded 5,000 acres 

7 of wetlands to the United States to be maintained 

8 as a Federal wildlife preserve. It was stipulated that 

9 if the Department of the Interior agreed to an intru10 sion of the property, it would revert to the town. 

11 Creating a Federal wildlife preserve provided the 

12 land with Federal protection. 

13 (9) Because of the vision, dedication, and perse14 verance of Congressman Lester Wolff, all of us and 

15 future generations can enjoy the beauty and mag16 nificence of this refuge. 

17 SEC. 2. RENAMING THE OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE 

18 REFUGE AS THE CONGRESSMAN LESTER 

19 WOLFF OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE 

20 REFUGE. 

21 (a) RENAMING.—The unit of the National Wildlife 

22 Refuge System known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife 

23 Refuge and located near Oyster Bay, New York, shall be 

24 known as the ‘‘Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay Na25 tional Wildlife Refuge’’. 


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•HR 263 RH

1 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg2 ulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

3 States to the unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System 

4 known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge is 

5 deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Congressman Lester 

6 Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
House Calendar No. 45 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 263 

[Report No. 116–228] 

A BILL 

To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife RefBay National Wildlife Refuge. uge as the Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster 

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Committed to the House Calendar and ordered to be 

printed 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS