H-2208.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4021
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By Representatives Morton, Morris, Ballard, McLean, Fuhrman, Mielke, Nealey, Ludwig, Inslee, Hochstatter, Chandler, Lisk, Bray, Hargrove, Padden, Beck, Dellwo, Neher, Tate, Vance and Orr.
Read first time March 14, 1991. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.
TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO MANUEL LUJAN JR., SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:
We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
WHEREAS, Lake Roosevelt was created when Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1941. It is some one hundred fifty miles in length with approximately six hundred miles of shoreline and is a lake of state-wide significance; and
WHEREAS, The National Park Service manages recreation on the lake as well as manages recreation on a narrow strip of land, owned by the Federal Government, between the water's edge and the one thousand three hundred ten foot elevation line; and
WHEREAS, Said body of water with the adjacent narrow strip of land is designated as a National Recreation Area and is now managed under the guidelines of National Park Service Special Park Use Guidelines, NPS-53, which implements 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1(a); and
WHEREAS, Using said guidelines, the National Park Service implemented a Special Park Use Management Plan in October of 1990 that will phase out all permitted docks for use by local adjacent landowners, eliminate the grazing and watering of cattle from the freeboard lands, place unrealistic and costly conditions for the future use of the present permitted water withdrawal systems across the freeboard lands, which affects agricultural irrigation from the lake, and generally place new and restrictive uses for path and trail access to the water from the adjacent private property, and;
WHEREAS, The restrictions negatively impact what fifty years of traditional and permitted use has established, and further, have a negative impact on the local tax base and individual livelihoods, and adversely affect future development growth within the area of private land adjacent to this National Recreation Area; and
WHEREAS, The restrictions are not in the best interest of the economic well-being of either the State of Washington or the area within the region of Lake Roosevelt;
NOW, THEREFORE, The Washington State Legislature encourages the United States Congress, Manuel Lujan Jr., Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service to work more closely with the local citizens to amend the Special Park Use Management Plan of 1990 so as to be less restrictive in its plan elements, thus creating less negative impacts to the economies of both the State of Washington and the various local jurisdictions and citizens within the area of Lake Roosevelt, and not take away what history and traditional use have already established.
BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George Bush, President of the United States, Manuel Lujan Jr., Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.