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HJM014........................................by RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
FEDERAL LANDS RECREATION ENHANCEMENT ACT - Stating findings of the
Legislature and demanding that the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act
be repealed and that no recreational fees authorized under the Federal
Lands Recreation Enhancement Act be imposed to use federal public lands in
the state.
02/10 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/13 Rpt prt - to Res/Con
02/22 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/23 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/07 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Eskridge
Title apvd - to Senate
03/08 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/14 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
03/15 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Langhorst
Title apvd - to House
03/16 To enrol
03/17 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/20 Pres signed
03/21 To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 14
BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE SECRETARY OF
3 THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, TO THE MAJORITY AND MINORITY
4 LEADERSHIP OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
5 STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION REPRE-
6 SENTING THE STATE OF IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
7 We, your Memorialists, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the
8 State of Idaho assembled in the Second Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth
9 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
10 WHEREAS, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, H.R. 3283, 108th
11 United States Congress, was introduced in the United States House of Represen-
12 tatives and would have authorized the United States Forest Service, the United
13 States Bureau of Land Management, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
14 the National Park Service, and the United States Bureau of Reclamation to
15 charge visitor fees for recreation on publicly owned lands; and
16 WHEREAS, H.R. 3283 was not voted on separately in the United States House
17 of Representatives and was not introduced in, did not have hearings in, and
18 was not approved by the United States Senate, but instead was attached to the
19 omnibus spending bill, H.R. 4818, by the 108th United States Congress, as an
20 appropriation rider; and
21 WHEREAS, the 108th United States Congress enacted H.R. 4818, and the Fed-
22 eral Lands Recreation Enhancement Act is now codified as 16 U.S.C. sections
23 6801 through 6814; and
24 WHEREAS, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act includes criminal
25 penalties and is substantive legislation that fundamentally changes the way
26 public land in the state is funded and managed; and
27 WHEREAS, the concept of paying fees to use public land is contrary to the
28 idea that public land belongs to the people of the state and is land where
29 every person is granted access and is welcome, a concept that has been and
30 should remain in place; and
31 WHEREAS, recreational fees constitute double taxation and bear no rela-
32 tionship to the actual costs associated with recreational use such as hiking,
33 picnicking, observing wildlife, or scenic driving on state roads and public
34 rights-of-way; and
35 WHEREAS, the fees imposed by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act
36 are a regressive tax that places an undue burden on the people living in rural
37 areas adjacent to or surrounded by large areas of federal land and discrimi-
38 nates against lower-income and working Idahoans by placing financial obstacles
39 in the way of their enjoyment of public land; and
40 WHEREAS, the public land access fees in the Federal Lands Recreation
41 Enhancement Act are controversial and are opposed by hundreds of organiza-
42 tions, several state legislatures and millions of rural Americans; and
43 WHEREAS, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act establishes an
44 interagency pass that may be used to cover entrance fees and recreational ame-
2
1 nity fees for federal public land and water, disregarding the substantially
2 different ways in which national parks and other federal public land are man-
3 aged and funded; and
4 WHEREAS, the limited means of expressing opposition to and the lack of
5 public debate in the implementation of the fee program raises the concern that
6 some citizens may be deterred from visiting and enjoying public land in the
7 state and throughout the United States; and
8 WHEREAS, tourism is an important industry to the state, and the imposition
9 of recreational use fees will have a negative effect on state and local econo-
10 mies.
11 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
12 sion of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and
13 the Senate concurring therein, that the Legislature of the State of Idaho
14 demands that the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which was enacted
15 on December 8, 2004, be repealed and that no recreational fees authorized
16 under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act be imposed to use federal
17 public land in the state.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representa-
19 tives be, and she is hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this
20 Memorial to be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United
21 States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States
22 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, United States
23 Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the
24 U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Ted Stevens, President Pro Tem-
25 pore of the U.S. Senate, the Honorable William H. Frist, Majority Leader of
26 the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate;
27 the Honorable John Boehner, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representa-
28 tives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Repre-
29 sentatives; and the congressional delegation representing the State of Idaho
30 in the Congress of the United States.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15931
This legislation is a House Joint Memorial asking for repeal of
the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no fiscal impact associated with the Memorial.
Contact
Name: Representative George Eskridge
Phone: (208) 332-1000
Representative Eric Anderson
Representative Dick Harwood
Senator David Langhorst
Senator Clint Stennett
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE HJM 14