The Obama administration lent its support to a measure to expand protections for an Oregon river and to several other pieces of public lands legislation yesterday.
The administration supports S. 1369, which would designate segments totaling about 21 miles of the Molalla River in Oregon as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, said Katherine Stevenson, the National Park Service's assistant director of business services.
With the administration's backing, the legislation appears ready to be marked up the next time the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee evaluates bills, Bill Wicker, majority spokesman for the committee, said following the National Parks Subcommittee hearing yesterday.
The House Natural Resources Committee approved a companion measure, H.R. 2781, 23-18 along partisan lines last week (E&E Daily, Oct. 29).
New England bills go 2 for 3
A trio of New England historical preservation bills got a mixed reception.
The administration opposes S. 1413, which would incorporate Quincy family lands into a Massachusetts national historical site that commemorates former President John Adams and his family. The Park Service could not support the new additions because the site was commissioned to honor the Adams family, and Quincy lands do not fit its mandate, Stevenson said.
Stevenson conveyed the administration's support for S. 1405, from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), which would rename the Longfellow National Historic Site as the "Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site" to commemorate the nine months George Washington was housed there during the British siege of Boston.
Interior also supported H.R. 2802, which would extend by four years the deadline for the Adams Memorial Foundation to raise the money needed to establish a Washington, D.C.-area monument honoring former President John Adams and his family.
Other House measures get support
The administration also urged the Senate to enact two other bills the House passed in October.
H.R. 1287, from Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.), would authorize Interior to enter into a partnership with the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission regarding the use of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
It also supports H.R. 3113, which would authorize a segment of the Elk River in West Virginia to be studied for wild and scenic designation. The legislation would direct the Forest Service to study a 5-mile segment of the river and present a report to Congress within the next three years.
