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NEW WYDEN LEGISLATION TO PROTECT
NATIONAL PARK LANDS, ECOSYSTEMS FROM INVASIVE SPECIES
Senator’s bill would give Secretary of
Interior authority
to enter into cooperative agreements to stretch Federal dollars
farther
June 22, 2005
Washington, DC – To help
the National Park Service more effectively fight off invasive
species and preserve threatened natural resources, U.S. Senator
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced legislation to authorize the
Secretary of Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with
watershed councils, non-profits organizations, private landowners
and county and state governments to protect, maintain and restore
natural plant species and water resources in and around national
park lands. The Natural Resource Protection Cooperative Agreement
Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Ranking
Member of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation
and Recreation. The National Park Service lacks sufficient dollars
to perform much-needed restoration projects alone. The Wyden legislation
aims to take full advantage of successful public-private partnerships
to stretch Federal dollars farther by encouraging partnerships
to accomplish high priority restoration, protection and enhancement
work.
“America’s national
parks need all the help they can get to protect against threatening
and invasive species before they get into park lands, rather than
waiting until the problem is bigger and more costly to deal with,”
said Wyden. “Waiting for harmful species to invade national
park land before acting to control their spread means the battle
is already lost. This legislation will go a long way toward fostering
successful partnerships to protect park land before the natural
ecosystems national parks are set up to protect are destroyed.”
Senator Daniel Akaka said, “This
legislation will allow the National Park Service to enter into
cooperative agreements with a wide range of groups including our
state DLNR and invasive species councils, and non profit organizations,
to come together to fend off invasive species as they threaten
native habitat and resources within Park boundaries. For years,
Hawaii’s national parks have been asking for this authority
because it makes more sense to protect parks’ resources
before the invasive species get inside.”
The legislation introduced today
is based on a similar, successful program enacted in 1998 by Wyden
for the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The successful 1998 measure, commonly referred to as the Wyden
Amendment, has paved the way for numerous Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management cooperative agreements with neighboring state
and local land owners to perform restoration projects.
The Natural Resource Protection
Cooperative Agreement Act is expected to be referred to the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, of which both Wyden
and Akaka are members.
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