Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 403 - El Malpais National Monument

(House)
(Rep. Richardson (D) NM and Lujan (R) NM)

The administration opposes enactment of H.R. 403, because the bill would:

— include too much private land within the El Malpais National Monument and the El Malpais National Conservation Area, exposing the Federal government to expensive land acquisition pressures;

— require the Department of the Interior to conduct a duplicative wilderness study of lands that have already been studied;

— require construction of two visitor centers when one would be adequate;

— prematurely designate two new wilderness areas totalling over 80,000 acres before an ongoing wilderness study process can be completed;

— fail to release for multiple use management several areas that have been studied and determined to be unsuitable for wilderness designation; and

— unnecessarily restrict land management flexibility by requiring a number of land exchanges that could be completed under existing authority without the additional administrative burdens imposed by H.R. 403.