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| Baca Ranch bill heads to the House |
May 25, 2000 |
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WASHINGTON -- The House Resources Committee has approved legislation that will allow the federal government to spend $101 million to purchase the Baca Ranch.
The bill, which has already passed the Senate, now goes to the full House. If it passes as expected, it will be sent to President Clinton for his consideration.
"The committee`s overwhelming support of this legislation puts us on the verge of clearing the final hurdle to preserving the Baca Ranch," said Rep. Heather Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, in a written statement after Wednesday`s voice vote.
"The many months of hard work to build bipartisan support for this legislation are beginning to pay off, and I look forward to bringing this legislation to the floor for the final historic vote."
Wilson said she is asking House leadership to put the bill on a fast track to the House floor, with the goal of getting a vote in early June.
"The purchase of the Baca Ranch is excellent, but I want to be sure everyday citizens are able to use and enjoy it," Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat, said in a written statement. "This is especially important in New Mexico, where our traditional communities still rely on fishing and hunting to feed their families. Fishing and hunting are part of New Mexico`s culture."
Udall, whose district includes the 95,000-acre ranch, is a member of the House Resources Committee.
He said during the hearing he was pressing the Clinton administration to ensure greater access to hunting and fishing on the ranch once it is owned by the government.
He said the hunting guides that now operate on the ranch charge "$10,000 to shoot an elk," a price out of reach of most New Mexicans.
"We`re not talking about having a playground for the rich here," Udall said.
Critics of the purchase say $101 million is too high a price. Congress` General Accounting Office also has questioned the appraisal used by the Forest Service and the ranch`s private owners to justify the $101 million price tag.
"It`s a very bad deal for the taxpayers," said Rep. John Duncan Jr., a Tennessee Republican. "It`s welfare for the rich."
Supporters of the purchase, along with the current owners -- the Dunigan family of Abilene, Texas -- say the ranch is a spectacular natural jewel and well worth the price.
In the weeks leading up to the committee`s vote, Wilson said she was able to ward off attempts by other committees to claim jurisdiction over the bill and threats from other members to attach amendments to the legislation.
Of particular concern was the possibility that someone would attempt to amend the bill. If successful, an amendment would have required that the bill be returned to the Senate for reconsideration. That would have almost certainly killed the effort to purchase the Baca this year.
Wilson said she was able to persuade members to accept the bill as passed by the Senate.
The Baca authorizing bill takes a unique approach to public-lands management. It sets up a special trust with its own board to oversee the ranch. Under the plan, the ranch is supposed to be self-sustaining.
It also directs the federal government to develop a plan to sell surplus lands so that funds can be used to purchase in-holdings -- private parcels of land within federal lands -- including privately held lands within the Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque`s West Side.
The president and his administration have agreed to the plan.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. |
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