Jump to content

The New Land Bill Just Passed By Congress


Recommended Posts

Does anyone know what the details are of the expansions of Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks contained in the new bill just passed in Congress? I could not find any details where the expansions are shown.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


5 minutes ago, flakmagnet said:

Does anyone know what the details are of the expansions of Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks contained in the new bill just passed in Congress? I could not find any details where the expansions are shown.

 

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/02/12/senate-passes-massive-lands-bill-that-expands-joshua-tree-and-death-valley-national-parks/ 

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's appreciated that someone from Florida is posting about CA land bill changes and thanks... but unless one subscribe's to the Sun, it won't allow the article to be read. I have read numerous articles but none of them describe the new boundaries. Anyone else have the info?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, flakmagnet said:

It's appreciated...

I hate when that happens.. Try Googling something like: 2019 death valley details.. Many times Google can get to an article a site's direct link paywall prevents.... And by now there should be other site links as well..

Swamp
 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks (again) Swamp, I have been doing that with no luck - yet. It will be interesting especially as it relates to several good detecting areas that are right adjacent to Joshua Tree, which you probably are aware of...best.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, flakmagnet said:

It's appreciated that someone from Florida is posting about CA land bill changes and thanks... but unless one subscribe's to the Sun, it won't allow the article to be read. I have read numerous articles but none of them describe the new boundaries. Anyone else have the info?

It's a lot more than just California. ?

You won't find new boundaries because Congress no longer bothers to approve specific land withdrawal boundaries. If this bill passes the agencies involved will eventually agree on the boundaries and, if we are lucky, will eventually allow the public to know the final area.

We deal with this nonsense all the time. Clearly there are boundary maps passed around to the Congresscritters but they are not considered definite or final. Kinda just squiggly lines on a very simple one page map. Not something you could rely on to know where the final boundary will be on the ground.

As long as Congress continues to abdicate their power to the executive agencies the people and their representatives won't be able to really know where any of these proposed land status changes are happening. In my opinion it seems a silly way to manage public property and it's certainly not fair to the locals who have these changes imposed on them willy nilly.

If you want a general idea about the proposed changes you can read the Washington Post.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Clay, yes I understand it's (much), more than CA, it's just that CA is where I hunt so I concentrated on that. Your post was spot on and I did read the Washington Post, it helped some. Best...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can always do a Freedom of Information Act request.  I had to do that when the USFS tried to take land away here.  They have to respond or you can take it to your senator and they will make them respond.  But i live in a red state, might be different in a blue one.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, afreakofnature said:

You can always do a Freedom of Information Act request.  I had to do that when the USFS tried to take land away here.  They have to respond or you can take it to your senator and they will make them respond.  But i live in a red state, might be different in a blue one.

An FOIA is not really possible freak. Here's one of the parts of the Senate bill creating a new national monument.

Quote

 

SEC. 1111. Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial and National Monument.

(b) Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial.—

(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may establish a memorial at the Saint Francis Dam site in the county of Los Angeles, California, for the purpose of honoring the victims of the Saint Francis Dam disaster of March 12, 1928.

(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Memorial shall be—

(A) known as the “Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial”; and

(B) managed by the Forest Service.

(c) Recommendations for Memorial.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress recommendations regarding—

(A) the planning, design, construction, and long-term management of the Memorial;

(B) the proposed boundaries of the Memorial;

(C) a visitor center and educational facilities at the Memorial; and

(D) ensuring public access to the Memorial.

 

So Congress is just approving a memorial, if the Secretary of Agriculture decides they want one, and letting the agencies tell them what the boundaries are "Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment". Kinda hard to run an FOIA on documents that don't exist and might not until three years from now.

The actual monument is described as "approximately 353 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Monument”. Long experience tells me that 353 acres could be 200 or 1,000 acres in the final version and that original map has nothing but a scribbled line indicating a general area that may or may not be included in the final version. The current Forest Service map shows 440 acres for the monument, not 353.

Here is the entire bill as passed by the Senate. As you will notice there are very few actions that include anything like an actual described boundary .

Most of the land management bills rolled into this one bill have made several rounds through Congress and have failed in committee or on the floor. This particular monument proposal has failed several times - the last time was in 2016.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the updates guys. I can see this is not a done deal and am not surprised about the lack of specificity. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...