View Bill Status
View Bill Text
SJM110.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
CLEARWATER BASIN PROJECT ACT - Stating findings of the Legislature and
endorsing the federally proposed Clearwater Basin Project Act, endorsing
continued action by the federal government, as well as the Idaho Board of
Land Commissioners, toward additional development and implementation of
pilot projects for improved management of federal lands in other areas of
Idaho where local support exists, and endorsing the coordination of Idaho
federal land pilot project efforts with implementation by federal agencies
of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, nation, state of Idaho, and
community catastrophic wildfire risk reduction plans, stewardship,
contracting authority, and other initiatives to improve federal land
management.
03/15 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/16 Rpt prt - to 10th Ord
03/18 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsors - Brandt & Little
Title apvd - to House
03/18 House intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Con
03/19 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/20 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
Rls susp - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Cuddy
Title apvd - to Senate
03/20 To enrol
03/22 Rpt enrol - Pres signed - Sp signed
To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session - 2004
IN THE SENATE
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 110
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
3 TIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL
4 DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED
5 STATES.
6 We, your Memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
7 State of Idaho assembled in the Second Regular Session of the Fifty-seventh
8 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
9 WHEREAS, 39% of the land area in the state of Idaho is national forest
10 administered by the U.S. Forest Service, and an additional 22% of the land
11 area in Idaho is public land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage-
12 ment; and
13 WHEREAS, in 1996, the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners appointed the Fed-
14 eral Land Task Force to examine alternative methods of federal land management
15 in Idaho. In July of 1998, the task force completed its report entitled "New
16 Approaches for Managing Federally Administered Lands." The report identified
17 problems with management of lands administered by the Forest Service and the
18 Bureau of Land Management in Idaho and recommended the pursuit of pilot proj-
19 ects to test collaborative, cooperative, and/or trust models as alternative
20 approaches for federal land management; and
21 WHEREAS, in March of 1999, the First Regular Session of the Fifty-fifth
22 Idaho Legislature adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 8, endorsing the
23 task force report, stating its support for further action by the Idaho Board
24 of Land Commissioners on the proposals contained in the report, and urging the
25 Congress of the United States to pass legislation implementing the recommenda-
26 tions contained in the report; and
27 WHEREAS, in September of 1999, the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners
28 appointed the Federal Land Task Force Working Group to identify pilot projects
29 to test the three alternative approaches described in the task force report;
30 and
31 WHEREAS, in December of 2000, after soliciting and reviewing pilot project
32 proposals from around Idaho, the working group completed its report entitled
33 "Breaking the Gridlock: Federal Land Pilot Projects in Idaho." The report con-
34 firmed the continuing need to pursue alternative ways to manage federal lands
35 in Idaho, described five such pilot projects proposed for different locations
36 within Idaho, and recommended the projects be considered for implementation;
37 and
38 WHEREAS, the working group report was circulated for public comment
39 between December of 2000 and February of 2001, and over 80% of the 500 com-
40 ments received from within and outside Idaho were favorable of the report. In
41 February of 2001, the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners reviewed and approved
42 the report; and
43 WHEREAS, one of the projects in the report, designed to provide a working
44 test of a more collaborative approach to management of national forest lands
2
1 in the Clearwater River Basin, was developed into draft legislation known as
2 the Clearwater Basin Project Act; and
3 WHEREAS, in the first session of the 108th Congress of the United States,
4 the Clearwater Basin Project Act was introduced in the United States House of
5 Representatives by Congressman Otter of Idaho, on behalf of himself and Con-
6 gressman Simpson, as H.R. 835, and in the United States Senate by Senator
7 Craig of Idaho as S. 433; and
8 WHEREAS, since introduction of the Clearwater Basin Project Act, the fed-
9 eral Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 was enacted, and Congress has
10 expanded stewardship contracting authority for projects on lands administered
11 by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service; and
12 WHEREAS, catastrophic fire, fish and wildlife habitat, forest health, and
13 other environmental and management problems identified in the reports of the
14 task force and working group persist regarding federal lands administered by
15 the Forest Service in the Clearwater Basin, in which the citizens and communi-
16 ties of Idaho have a vital stake; and
17 WHEREAS, the proposed federal Clearwater Basin Project Act will assist in
18 addressing these problems and providing a useful working test for improved
19 management of national forest lands, fully consistent with continued federal
20 ownership and decision making authority over these lands, inclusive of
21 requirements for public participation and environmental protection; and
22 WHEREAS, the proposed Clearwater Basin Project Act will act to enhance,
23 and will be fully consistent with, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act,
24 national, state of Idaho, and community catastrophic wildfire risk reduction
25 plans, stewardship contracting authority, and other initiatives addressing
26 federal land management issues; and
27 WHEREAS, additional useful pilot projects to implement the recommendations
28 in the reports of the Federal Land Task Force and Federal Land Task Force
29 Working Group may be further developed with local interest and support, and
30 require federal legislation to fully implement.
31 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
32 sion of the Fifty-seventh Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Rep-
33 resentatives concurring therein, that we endorse the federally proposed Clear-
34 water Basin Project Act, urge the congressional delegation representing the
35 state of Idaho to work toward enactment of the legislation with continued pub-
36 lic participation, and urge the Congress of the United States to enact the
37 Clearwater Basin Project Act.
38 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we endorse continued action by the federal
39 government, as well as the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners, toward addi-
40 tional development and implementation of pilot projects for improved manage-
41 ment of federal lands in other areas of Idaho where local support exists, in
42 accordance with the recommendations in the July 1998 report of the Federal
43 Lands Task Force and the December 2000 report of the Federal Lands Task Force
44 Working Group.
45 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we endorse coordinating Idaho federal land
46 pilot project efforts with implementation by federal agencies of the Healthy
47 Forests Restoration Act, national, state of Idaho, and community catastrophic
48 wildfire risk reduction plans, stewardship contracting authority, and other
49 initiatives to improve federal land management.
50 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and she is
51 hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the Pres-
52 ident of the United States, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
53 House of Representatives of Congress, and the congressional delegation repre-
54 senting the State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States.