Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge Expansion Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4957) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Tylersville division of the Lamar National Fish Hatchery and Fish Technology Center to the State of Pennsylvania, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

H.R. 4957 contains several important conservation titles. It would first convey the Tylersville National Fish Hatchery to the State of Pennsylvania, a provision authored by Congressman John Peterson and Senator Rick Santorum.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has been operating this facility under a long-term lease agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service. By all accounts they have operated this hatchery in a highly effective manner, producing adult trout for thousands of recreational fishermen and investing nearly $4 million in improvements. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has testified that this facility is not considered an active component of the Federal Fish Hatchery System.

Title II of this bill is based on the text of H.R. 1428, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Reauthorization Act, as passed by the House. It will simply extend the existing authorization levels for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The foundation has funded more than 6,500 conservation projects and involved more than 1,800 conservation organizations.

The goal of those projects has been to increase resources for fish and wildlife conservation and develop innovative conservation solutions while respecting private property rights and sustaining healthy ecosystems.

Title III of the legislation will extend the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 2000, legislation which has already been passed by the House. This will allow the Secretary of the Interior to continue to approve grants for the conservation of the more than 800 species of neotropical birds that migrate and reside throughout North America.

Title IV incorporates the text of the Ed Fountain Park Expansion Act, approved by the other body on July 11. Under this provision, about 8 acres of Federal land would be conveyed from the Fish and Wildlife Service to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. There, land was once used as the headquarters for the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, but the only remaining structure on the property is an abandoned storage building.

The city of Las Vegas would pay administrative transfer costs and the property would revert back to the Federal Government if not used for a park.

Title V incorporates the House-passed language of H.R. 4947, the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge Expansion Act. The Cahaba River is the longest free-flowing river in the State of Alabama, and it may have the greatest fish biodiversity per mile of any river in the United States. This measure will modestly expand the boundaries of the existing refuge.

Title VI incorporates the House-passed text of H.R. 5232, the Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge Study Act. This legislation requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the potential of creating a new national wildlife refuge in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Finally, there is an extension of existing authorization of appropriation levels for the Great Ape Conservation Act taken from S. 1250 which passed the Senate earlier this month.

For the past 6 years, about $1 million per year has been spent to stop great ape species from sliding toward extinction. The Fish and Wildlife Service has assisted endangered chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans through 155 projects in dozens of range States and leveraged an additional $7.7 million in private matching funds.

Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote on this legislation.

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

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

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the leadership, Chairman Pombo, Subcommittee Chairman Gilchrest and Ranking Member Pallone for allowing the House to consider this legislation. The bill before us today, H.R. 4947, represents a 2nd major step by this Congress in protecting and preserving one of the most biologically diverse areas of the United States.

In 2000, I introduced the legislation that created the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge. That bill passed this Congress and was signed into law. Since that time, each year the Appropriations Committee has dedicated funding for land acquisition. The initial 3,500 acres authorized in that bill have been completely purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The strong support of local elected officials and property owners, coupled with that of many environmental organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, The Cahaba River Society, and The Land Trust has fostered plans to expand the existing boundaries of The Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge.

Alabama is the 5th most biologically diverse State in the country, but it also has the unfortunate distinction of being the most extinction-prone State in the continental United States, with at least 98 species extinct. The Cahaba River basin alone supports 69 rare and imperiled species. The river is recognized nationally for its unique biological diversity; the Cahaba Shiner, a federally endangered species is just one of more than 131 species of fish that call the Cahaba home. That is more species of fresh water fish than inhabit the entire State of California. The Cahaba's wealth of fish species is greater than any other river of its size in North America.

The Cahaba River also harbors the world's largest population of the imperiled shoals lily, known locally as the ``Cahaba Lily.'' Recently a population of Cahaba pebble-snails was discovered in the refuge. Once thought to be extinct, this marked the first time this species had been seen since the 1960s, an accomplishment that can be attributed to the protection offered by the Cahaba's designation as a Wildlife Refuge.

The proposed expansion of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge would:

Increase direct protection of the banks of the mainstem Cahaba River from the current 3.5 miles to approximately 8 miles, thereby giving additional protection to additional large populations of the globally imperiled shoals spider lily (aka Cahaba lily), and many other rare species.

Provide large enough areas of forest to support viable breeding populations of declining Neotropical migratory birds, both in the longleaf pine forests (e.g. Northern Bobwhite Quail, Brown-headed Nuthatch) and in hardwood forests (e.g. Swainson's Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Acadian Flycatcher).

Provide significant increase in public access to the Cahaba River for canoeing, fishing and other riverine recreational activities.

Provide a significant increase in acreage available to the public for hunting, hiking, birding and other outdoor wildlife-based activities (Alabama has only about 3 percent public land, less than most other States in the Nation).

Provide a significant boost in revenue to Bibb County, one of the poorest counties in the Nation. Due to low prevailing property tax rates, the revenue to the County coffers from the Federal Refuge Revenue Sharing Program (payments in lieu of taxes) have averaged about $6 per acre per year (versus a yield of about $1 per acre per year as privately owned timberland).

H.R. 4947 authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase up to an additional 3,600 acres of land and waters. This would double the number of protected acres of the Cahaba, all of which will be purchased from willing sellers. Protecting the land upstream from the original refuge will add to the buffer zone needed to shield this critical habitat and watershed.

The bill before us will help protect one of the greatest natural treasures in my State of Alabama and I urge a ``yes'' vote.

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

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 4957, an omnibus package of fish, wildlife and conservation legislation. I thank Chairman Pombo and Ranking Member Nick Rahall of the Committee on Resources for bringing this legislation to the House floor.

Title I of H.R. 4957 is noncontroversial legislation sponsored by Representative John Peterson. It will direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Tylersville National Fish Hatchery to the State of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Speaker, also included in the omnibus legislation before us today are a number of other important conservation measures, all of which have previously passed either the House or the Senate.

Title II contains the text of H.R. 1428, legislation sponsored by Chairman Pombo. It will reauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation which has been a valuable resource in fostering private- public conservation partnerships.

Title III includes H.R. 158, legislation sponsored by Congressman Ron Kind, that would reauthorize and enhance the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Since 2000, $17.2 million of Federal funding under this act has supported 186 conservation projects in 42 U.S. States and 30 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

This investment has leveraged an additional $89.1 million in total partner contributions to conserve some 3.2 million acres of bird habitat. I applaud Congressman Kind for his dedication and leadership on this critical conservation issue.

Title IV includes H.R. 4345, legislation sponsored by our colleague from Nevada, Representative Shelley Berkley, which would transfer abandoned Federal property to the city of Las Vegas to enhance popular park and recreational programs. Both Representative Berkley and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada deserve credit for this initiative.

Title V includes H.R. 4947, a bill sponsored by Representative Bachus which would expand the Cahaba National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama.

Title VI includes H.R. 5232, a bill sponsored by Representative Kanjorski, which directs the Fish and Wildlife Service to complete its study for a new refuge in the Cherry Valley region of northeast Pennsylvania.

Representative Kanjorski has worked throughout the process to address the concerns of all stakeholders, and this study would be the catalyst towards achieving the long-term protection of this area.

Mr. Speaker, last but certainly not least, Title VII contains S. 1250, legislation sponsored by Senator Jeffords, that would reauthorize funding for the Great Ape Conservation Act.

I commend the sponsor of the House companion bill, H.R. 2693, and the author of the original act, Representative George Miller of California, for his continued leadership in international wildlife conservation, for raising awareness of the dire plight of great apes in Africa.

In closing, the fish and wildlife and conservation titles in this legislation are all worthy of our support. I urge adoption of H.R. 4957.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislative package, which will reauthorize important international fish and wildlife conservation programs and will expand national parks and wildlife refuges.

In particular, I want to draw special attention to the Great Ape Conservation Act. The reauthorization that's before us today was introduced by Senator Jeffords last June, following a bill that I introduced in May 2005 with Rep. Baird.

It has now been more than 5 years since the Great Ape Conservation Act was signed into law. In that time, this program has helped protect threatened primates, including chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons. I'm very pleased that the House is now poised to pass this reauthorization, which is needed to continue progress in this important field.

As the Fish and Wildlife Service testified in the Resources Committee last June, ``Much of the success of the Great Ape Conservation Act has been a direct result of the unique small project focus on on-the-ground conservation projects in Africa and Asia.'' The funds provided by the Great Ape Conservation Act have gone to such diverse projects as: protecting chimpanzee habitat from logging operations; establishing anti-poaching enforcement units; starting conservation education programs; coordinating gibbon population surveys and threat assessments; and implementing ape health monitoring programs.

Like the other Multinational Species programs, Federal funds under the Great Ape Conservation Act are distributed as matching grants, meaning that the expense for these projects is shared between the Federal government and project partners. This match requirement has leveraged over $7.7 million in non-federal contributions over the period of 2001-2005 and has more than doubled the actual funding for conservation projects.

But despite the ongoing successes of the Act, the threats to these noble primates continue, and time is not on our side. Press accounts and reports from the field indicate that these species continue to be placed in jeopardy by habitat loss, poaching, logging, and the bush meat trade. The bill before us today specifically authorizes funding to address these root causes of threats to great apes.

The contributions of the Great Ape Conservation Act have been very important in the international efforts to protect and conserve the great apes of Africa and Asia, but there is much work yet to be done. Accordingly, today's bill extends the program's authorization through the year 2010.

As I said when I introduced the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000, the task ahead is daunting. But the ecological consequences of not acting are far more tragic if it means that great apes will cease to exist in the wild.

I want to thank the Resources Committee staff, especially Dave Jansen, for their work in shepherding this bill through the House, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4947) to expand the boundaries of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

I am pleased to support H.R. 4947, introduced by our colleague, Congressman Spencer Bachus, to expand the boundaries of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge in Bibb County, Alabama. This refuge was legislatively created in 2000, and it has done a remarkable job of conserving 64 rare and imperiled species and 131 species of fish. The Cahaba River is the longest free-flowing river in the State, and it may have the greatest fish biodiversity per mile of any river in the United States.

Under Congressman Spencer Bachus's legislation, an additional 3,600 acres would become eligible for acquisition. This would help to maximize the benefits of this refuge and ensure that unique plants like the beautiful Cahaba lily and the more than 60 other rare species survive in the future.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4947 proposes a modest increase in the size of the Cahaba River Refuge. It is enthusiastically supported by the local communities and the two major land owners. U.S. Steel and Forest Investment Associates have indicated that they are interested in being willing sellers in this expansion effort.

I want to compliment Congressman Spencer Bachus for his tireless effort and effective leadership on behalf of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, which is a very special place in rural Alabama; and I would urge an ``aye'' vote on this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and encourage our Members to support this very important legislation brought to us by Spencer Bachus.