Laserfiche WebLink
<br />strengthened by virtue of what is really a reservation on a reserva- <br />tion. <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />L. Rights-of-way for water developments, power lines, oil <br />and gas pipelines, and so forth, affect only a small percentage of the <br />area through whic/1 they pass. The same is true of roadways. Never- <br />theless, areas of supply and demand are separated, in many instances <br />in the West, by rugged high mountain areas. It is through such areas <br />that rights-of-way must be obtained if we are to have communication <br />anp the transmission of water, power and fuels. In spite of the small <br />percentage of the areas of wilderness required for such rights-of-way, <br />thefy would be precluded, for all practical purposes, by S. 1123. True, <br />the President of the United States could grant exceptions. Those of <br />you who are familiar with dealings with the Federal Government, I <br />am sure, well recognize the complications that would be involved in <br />ever obtaining such a Presidential exception. It strikes me that the <br />President has better things to do than to be called upon to decide <br />whether Joe Doaks really needs a right-of-way to bring irriGation <br />water to his farm. If such rights-of-way are more important, then <br />the maintenance of pure wilderness areas, 100% unaffected by any <br />right-of-way, provision should be made in the legislation to insure <br />the granting of such rights-of-way. They would be virtually preclud- <br />ed by S. 1123. <br /> <br />Next, let us take up the issues involved in Section 2. Under <br />the policy declaration of Section 1, any lands which have so far re- <br />tained their primitive character under Federal administration are <br />"sanctioned" for inclusion in the Wilderness System in order to ob- <br />tain an adequate system of wilderness. Under Section 2, specific <br />provision is made under which inclusion of parts of various types of <br />federally-owned lands may be brought about. These include, under <br />Section (e), other public lands, and lands bequeathed or conveyed to <br />the United States for wilderness purposes. I think there can be no <br />reasonable argument that lands bequeathed to the United States for <br />wilderness purposes cannot be received as such and utilized as such. <br />One of the basic incidents of ownership is the right to use one's lands, <br />or provide for its non-use, as one sees fit. However, there is a real <br />issue in connection with all "other public lands". This covers a lot of <br />ground. In some of our states in the West, more than 50% of the lands <br />are in Federal ownership. Much of this land is undeveloped because <br />the Western United States developed somewhat later than the Eastern <br />part of the United States. Hence, it has retained its primitive char- <br />acter. The issue, then, under the existing legislation, is whether or <br />not development of all undeveloped lands owned by the Federal Govern- <br /> <br />15 <br />