I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 708

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1) open space near Grand Teton National

6 Park continues to decline;
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1 (2) as the population continues to grow in

2 Teton County, Wyoming, undeveloped land near the

3 Park becomes more scarce;

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

5 has negative impacts on wildlife migration routes in

6 the area and on visitors to the Park, and its reper7 cussions can be felt throughout the entire region;

8 (4) a few ranches make up Teton Valley’s re9 maining open space, and the ranches depend on

10 grazing in Grand Teton National Park for summer

11 range to maintain operations;

12 (5) the Act that created Grand Teton National

13 Park allowed several permittees to continue livestock

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

15 in the family;

16 (6) the last remaining heirs have died, and as

17 a result the open space around the Park will most

18 likely be subdivided and developed;

19 (7) in order to develop the best solution to pro20 tect open space immediately adjacent to Grand

21 Teton National Park, the Park Service should con22 duct a study of grazing in the area and its impact

23 on open space in the region; and

24 (8) the study should develop workable solutions

25 that are fiscally responsible and acceptable to the
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1 National Park Service, the public, local government,

2 and landowners in the area.

3 SEC. 2. STUDY OF GRAZING USE.

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

5 conduct a study concerning grazing use in Grand Teton

6 National Park, Wyoming, and associated use of certain

7 agricultural and ranch lands, within and adjacent to the

8 Park, including—

9 (1) base land having appurtenant grazing privi10 leges within Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming,

11 remaining after January 1, 1990, under the provi12 sions of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a new

13 Grand Teton National Park in the State of Wyo14 ming, and for other purposes’’, approved September

15 14, 1950 (16 U.S.C. 406d–1 et seq.); and

16 (2) any ranch and agricultural land adjacent to

17 the Park, the use and disposition of which may af18 fect the accomplishment of the purposes of the Act.

19 (b) PURPOSE.—The study shall—

20 (1) determine the significance of the ranching

21 use and pastoral character of the land (including

22 open vistas, wildlife habitat, and other public bene23 fits);
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1 (2) determine the significance of that use and

2 character to the purposes for which Grand Teton

3 National Park was established;

4 (3) identify any need for preservation of, and

5 practicable means of preserving, the land that is

6 necessary to protect that use and character; and

7 (4) estimate the costs of implementing any rec8 ommendations made for the preservation of the land.

9 (c) PARTICIPATION.—In conducting the study, the

10 Secretary of the Interior shall seek participation from the

11 Governor of the State of Wyoming, the Teton County

12 Commissioners, the Secretary of Agriculture, affected land

13 owners, and other interested members of the public.

14 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the enact15 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit

16 a report to Congress that contains the findings of the

17 study under subsection (a), and makes recommendations

18 to Congress regarding action that may be taken with re19 spect to the land described in subsection (a).

20 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF GRAZING PRIVILEGES.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Sec22 retary of the Interior shall reinstate and extend for the

23 duration of the study described in section 2(a), the grazing

24 privileges described in section 2(a)(1), under the terms
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1 and conditions as were in effect prior to the expiration

2 of the privileges.

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

4 the period of the study, any portion of the land described

5 in section 1(a)(1) is disposed of in a manner that would

6 result in the land no longer being used for ranching or

7 other agricultural purposes, the Secretary of the Interior

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

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