IB

Union Calendar No. 171

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 708

[Report No. 105–300]

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study concerning

grazing use of certain land within and adjacent to Grand Teton National

Park, Wyoming, and to extend temporarily certain grazing privileges.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 12, 1997

Mrs. CUBIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

OCTOBER 6, 1997

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 12, 1997]

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study

concerning grazing use of certain land within and adjacent to Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, and to

extend temporarily certain grazing privileges.

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

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) open space near Grand Teton National Park

4 continues to decline;

5 (2) as the population continues to grow in Teton

6 County, Wyoming, undeveloped land near the Park

7 becomes more scarce;

8 (3) the loss of open space around Teton Park has

9 negative impacts on wildlife migration routes in the

10 area and on visitors to the Park, and its repercus11 sions can be felt throughout the entire region;

12 (4) a few ranches make up Teton Valley’s re13 maining open space, and the ranches depend on graz14 ing in Grand Teton National Park for summer range

15 to maintain operations;

16 (5) the Act that created Grand Teton National

17 Park allowed several permittees to continue livestock

18 grazing in the Park for the life of a designated heir

19 in the family;

20 (6) some of the last remaining heirs have died,

21 and as a result the open space around the Park will

22 most likely be subdivided and developed;

23 (7) in order to develop the best solution to pro24 tect open space immediately adjacent to Grand Teton

25 National Park, the Park Service should conduct a

26 study of open space in the region; and
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1 (8) the study should develop workable solutions

2 that are fiscally responsible and acceptable to the Na3 tional Park Service, the public, local government, and

4 landowners in the area.

5 SEC. 2. STUDY OF GRAZING USE AND OPEN SPACE.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall

7 conduct a study concerning grazing use and open space in

8 Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, and associated use

9 of certain agricultural and ranch lands within and adja10 cent to the Park, including—

11 (1) base land having appurtenant grazing privi12 leges within Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming,

13 remaining after January 1, 1990, under the Act enti14 tled ‘‘An Act to establish a new Grand Teton Na15 tional Park in the State of Wyoming, and for other

16 purposes’’, approved September 14, 1950 (16 U.S.C.

17 406d–1 et seq.); and

18 (2) any ranch and agricultural land adjacent to

19 the Park, the use and disposition of which may affect

20 accomplishment of the purposes of the Act.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The study shall—

22 (1) assess the significance of the ranching use

23 and pastoral character of the land (including open

24 vistas, wildlife habitat, and other public benefits);
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1 (2) assess the significance of that use and char2 acter to the purposes for which the park was estab3 lished and identify any need for preservation of, and

4 practicable means of, preserving the land that is nec5 essary to protect that use and character;

6 (3) recommend a variety of economically feasible

7 and viable tools and techniques to retain the pastoral

8 qualities of the land; and

9 (4) estimate the costs of implementing any rec10 ommendations made for the preservation of the land.

11 (c) PARTICIPATION.—In conducting the study, the Sec12 retary of the Interior shall seek participation from the Gov13 ernor of the State of Wyoming, the Teton County Commis14 sioners, the Secretary of Agriculture, affected land owners,

15 and other interested members of the public.

16 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years from the date

17 funding is available for the purposes of this Act, the Sec18 retary of the Interior shall submit a report to Congress that

19 contains the findings of the study under subsection (a) and

20 makes recommendations to Congress regarding action that

21 may be taken with respect to the land described in sub22 section (a).

23 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF GRAZING PRIVILEGES.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Sec25 retary of the Interior shall reinstate and extend for the du-
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1 ration of the study described in section 2(a) and until such

2 time as the recommendations of the study are implemented,

3 the grazing privileges described in section 2(a)(1), under

4 the same terms and conditions as were in effect prior to

5 the expiration of the privileges.

6 (b) EFFECT OF CHANGE IN LAND USE.—If, during the

7 period of the study or until such time as the recommenda8 tions of the study are implemented, any portion of the land

9 described in section 2(a)(1) is disposed of in a manner that

10 would result in the land no longer being used for ranching

11 or other agricultural purposes, the Secretary of the Interior

12 shall cancel the extension described in subsection (a).

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the

Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study concerning

grazing use and open space within and adjacent to Grand

Teton National Park, Wyoming, and to extend temporarily certain grazing privileges.’’.
Union Calendar No. 171

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 708

[Report No. 105–300]

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct

tain grazing privileges.Park, Wyoming, and to extend temporarily cerwithin and adjacent to Grand Teton Nationala study concerning grazing use of certain land

OCTOBER 6, 1997

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-