105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 708

AN ACT

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 and open space
105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 708

AN ACT

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.

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

4 Park continues to decline;

5 (2) as the population continues to grow in

6 Teton County, Wyoming, undeveloped land near the

7 Park becomes more scarce;

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

9 has negative impacts on wildlife migration routes in

10 the area and on visitors to the Park, and its reper11 cussions 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

14 grazing in Grand Teton National Park for summer

15 range 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

25 Teton National Park, the Park Service should con26 duct a 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

3 National Park Service, the public, local government,

4 and 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

8 in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, and associated

9 use of certain agricultural and ranch lands within and ad10 jacent 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 en14 titled ‘‘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 af20 fect 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

5 necessary to protect that use and character;

6 (3) recommend a variety of economically fea7 sible and viable tools and techniques to retain the

8 pastoral 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

12 Secretary of the Interior shall seek participation from the

13 Governor of the State of Wyoming, the Teton County

14 Commissioners, the Secretary of Agriculture, affected land

15 owners, 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

19 that contains the findings of the study under subsection

20 (a) and makes recommendations to Congress regarding ac21 tion that may be taken with respect to the land described

22 in subsection (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
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1 duration of the study described in section 2(a) and until

2 such time as the recommendations of the study are imple3 mented, the grazing privileges described in section 2(a)(1),

4 under the same terms and conditions as were in effect

5 prior to the expiration of the privileges.

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

7 the period of the study or until such time as the rec8 ommendations of the study are implemented, any portion

9 of the land described in section 2(a)(1) is disposed of in

10 a manner that would result in the land no longer being

11 used for ranching or other agricultural purposes, the Sec12 retary of the Interior shall cancel the extension described

13 in subsection (a).

Passed the House of Representatives October 21,

1997.

Attest:

Clerk.