TRAIL Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the House leadership for moving this legislation, which I introduced nearly one year ago. It stiffens the penalties for folks who willfully destroy our public lands, and standardizes them across most Federal lands. In addition, the bill includes provisions of H.R. 1038, which I also introduced, setting a tough, minimum fine of $500 for individuals who violate fire regulations on public lands when a complete ban on open fires is in place.

I want to recognize and thank Chairman Pombo, Chairmen McInnis and Walden, Chairman Radanovich, Chairman Goodlatte, and Chairman Sensenbrenner for their efforts over the last two fire seasons in finally getting this legislation to the floor. I'd also like to thank another colleague from Colorado, Mr. Udall, who was instrumental in helping to make passage of this legislation possible today.

Those of us privileged to represent western States here in the Congress know of the long running battle between Federal land agencies and private interests--mainly because the Federal Government is the landlord of so much of the land in the western part of the United States. Over the years, issues of contention have ranged from grazing rights, to forest management, and energy development. Today, the public lands debate is also characterized by access to public lands for different recreational activities--all of which have an enormous and positive economic impact on the communities that we represent.

In the last 20 years, Americans have found new ways to enjoy their public lands and waterways beyond just hiking, horseback riding, or powerboats. Today, mountain bikers, ATVs, SUVs, and snowmobilers also use our public lands. Many of these vehicles represent the only access to the great outdoors to a whole segment of our population--folks like senior citizens and the disabled--that might not otherwise be able to get out and visit beautiful places like the Pike National Forest in my district.

The economic impact for Colorado of these kinds of recreational activities contributes more than $200 million to our economy, creating more than 3,100 jobs. With those economic benefits however, have come conflicts and irresponsible people.

No one here will say that there haven't been problems with certain individuals and groups abusing, misusing and in some instances, destroying valuable property on our Federal lands. Because of the actions of these thoughtless people, future generations have been deprived of the opportunity to view and enjoy our public lands.

Recreation on our public lands and waterways will continue to grow-- and it should. This bill will help equip our land managers with the means to appropriately and evenhandedly enforce land use regulations against those few bad apples who spoil the whole bunch. The TRAIL Act accomplishes this by creating consistent fines and penalties among all of our land use agencies. In doing so, the bill also increases fines and penalties substantially for people who knowingly engage in inappropriate behavior.

The second section of the bill addresses the growing problem of human caused wildfires on our public lands. Over the last 10 years, human carelessness has been responsible for the ignition of just over one million wildfires on our public lands. By comparison, lightning has caused only about one-tenth that many fires over the same time period.

The current penalties for violating fire regulations vary from agency to agency. In a practical sense, however, the fines are generally assessed at a far lower level. In fact, under current law, fines--or ``collaterals'' as they are called, are set as low as $25--little more than the cost of a seatbelt ticket in most states. I believe, as I think most people do, that these weak penalties lack any real deterrent value for would-be violators. In fact, one district ranger in Colorado related a story to me about a would-be visitor to the Pike National Forest who called to inquire if he could pay the puny fine in advance.

In 2002, well after the imposition of the fire ban by both the Governor of Colorado and the Forest Supervisor--I was flying over Hayman Fire with the same district ranger. In addition to having a birds-eye view of the largest wildfire in State history, the two of us also had an excellent view of several campfires dotting the landscape outside its perimeter. He told me that even in the midst of a fire season like the one we had in Colorado--where some 800 human caused wildfires destroyed over a quarter of a million acres--that enforcing the ban was a continuing problem in large part because the fine is so small.

Enhancing the penalties for those who chose to disregard the directives of our land managers may be one way we can reduce both the number of human caused wildfires and the terrible destruction they leave in their wake by creating a deterrent. This bill would accomplish that by imposing a minimum fine of $500 for individuals who violate fire regulations during period when declared fire bans are in effect.

I hope the House will pass the bill, and ask for your support.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, and congratulate my Colorado colleague, Mr. Tancredo, for his leadership in introducing it.

I joined as a cosponsor of this bill because I also want to improve the ability of the land-managing agencies to adequately enforce the rules that apply to uses of the Federal lands.

That is also why I also introduced a related bill--H.R. 751, the Responsible Off-road Vehicle Enforcement and Response Act, or ``ROVER.'' My bill is narrow. It deals only with enforcement of the regulations for use of vehicles on National Forest lands and public lands managed by BLM. This bill goes much further. In addition to the forests and BLM lands, it also applies to lands managed by the National Park Service and the refuges managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. And it addresses the enforcement of all regulations, not just those related to use of vehicles.

In the Resources Committee, Mr. Tancredo and I worked with Chairman Pombo, Ranking Member Rahall, and other Members, to develop a substitute that included a number of improvements in the bill.

After the Resources Committee completed its work, the measure was reviewed by the Judiciary Committee, and the bill now before the House reflects changes made in that committee. It also includes the provisions of H.R. 1038, the Public Lands Fire Regulations Enforcement Act of 2003--also approved by the Resources and Judiciary Committees last year--which would increase the maximum fine for violations of regulations related to campfires. I also cosponsored that measure.

As I said, I do support the legislation before us. I hope the House will approve it, because legislation for better and more consistent enforcement of regulations is needed. However, we need to recognize that it is only one part of a bigger picture.

Even more than new legislation, it seems to me, the land-managing agencies need more resources--more money and more people--if we want them to do a better job.

As approved by the Resources Committee, H.R. 3247 would have helped with that, too, by allowing the agencies to use money from fines to help pay for some of the restoration work caused by violations of regulations, as well as for offsetting the administrative costs involved in enforcement of those regulations. Unfortunately, the Judiciary Committee evidently had some concerns about that part of the legislation, and so the bill now before us does not include those provisions.

This is something that I think should be addressed in the future, and I will seek to work with other Members to do that. Today, however, we can take an important step forward by passing this bill, and I urge the House to approve it.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3247) to provide consistent enforcement authority to the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service to respond to violations of regulations regarding the management, use, and protection of public lands under the jurisdiction of these agencies, to clarify the purposes for which collected fines may be used, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, introduced by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), H.R. 3247, the Trail Responsibility and Accountability for Improvement of Lands, or TRAIL Act, would provide consistent enforcement authority to the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service to respond to violations of regulations regarding the management, use, and protection of public lands.

Additionally, it creates a minimum fine of $500 for anyone who knowingly starts a fire during a fire ban. The bill shares bipartisan support, and I urge its adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Under clause 2 of rule XII, bills and reports were delivered to the Clerk for printing, and bills referred as follows:

Mr. POMBO: Committee on Resources. H.R. 3247. A bill to

provide consistent enforcement authority to the Bureau of

Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States

Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service to respond

to violations of regulations regarding the management, use,

and protection of public lands under the jurisdiction of

these agencies, the clarify the purposes for which collected

fines may be used, and for other purposes, with an amendment;

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary for a period

ending not later than June 30, 2004, for consideration of

such provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the

jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(k), rule

X (Rept. 108-511, Pt. 1). Ordered to be printed.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 752, H.R. 3954, H.R. 4066, H.R. 4469, H.R. 4579, H.R. 4596, H.R. 4683, H.R. 4808, S. 643, S. 1687, S. 2052, H.R. 3247, H.R. 4617, H.R. 4827, H.R. 4838, S. 1537, S. 1778, S. 2180, H.R. 3210, H.R. 3597, H.R. 4606, H.R. 5009, H.R. 5016, S. 2508, H.J. Res. 102, H. Res. 737, H.R. 2941, and H.R. 3479.