NPCA submitted the following positions to members of the House of Representatives ahead of floor votes scheduled for October 30 & 31, 2019.
Amendments Made in Order to H.R. 823
Tipton Amendment #8
NPCA opposes this amendment, which would weaken an interagency agreement to transfer 2,560 acres of U.S. Forest Land in the Gunnison National Forest to the National Park Service, by only transferring 915 acres. This land is an important component of the Curecanti National Recreation Area that H.R. 823 formally establishes.
Amendments Made in Order to H.R. 1373
Gosar Amendment #3
NPCA opposes this amendment, which could nullify the landscape protections this bill was introduced to advance. Previous studies of mineral resources within the withdrawal area have found little economic viability to develop those resources beyond the uranium, copper, and gravel that have been previously mined and are not rare.
Amendments Made in Order to H.R. 2181
Gosar Amendment #1
NPCA opposes this unnecessary amendment, which opens the door to giving away federal interests for future development. H.R. 2181, Sec. 4 © already accounts for any potential tribal needs or changes based on their Resource Management Plan process, therefore there is no need for an additional legislative provision.
Gosar Amendment #2
NPCA opposes this amendment, which could unnecessarily delay or even derail the protections that the areas around Chaco deserve and are rightfully afforded in H.R. 2181. The bill already respects valid existing mineral rights held by tribal allottees within the withdrawal area, but this amendment could disrupt current protections by fundamentally increasing the number of federal leases that are considered economically valuable (projected and undefined) for development, and increasing the geographic range of leases to be considered in decision making beyond the proposed protection zone to a larger, vague “greater Chaco region.”
