S-1713               _______________________________________________

                                          SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 8010

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State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Senators Hansen and Barr

Read first time 2/19/87 and referred to Committee on Agriculture.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, 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 THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:

          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, The Department of Defense has begun a study of the feasibility of expanding the Yakima Firing Center by approximately 63,000 acres; and

          WHEREAS, The State of Washington holds substantial portions of the land in question; and

          WHEREAS, There exists within the land in question delicate natural habitats which would surely suffer damage if the Army were to perform maneuvers; and

          WHEREAS, Proposed river crossings would endanger the migration of anadromous fish which constitute a tremendous state resource; and

          WHEREAS, The land acquisition would deprive area ranchers of their traditional access to the Columbia River waters, necessary for the survival of their sheep and cattle; and

          WHEREAS, There exists the potential for a vast expanse of natural gas under the proposed site; and

          WHEREAS, The Army has announced its intention to condemn all such mineral rights, thus infringing on the basic rights of individual lessees, as well as on the rights of the companies which have invested millions of dollars in the search for petroleum products; and

          WHEREAS, Access to reserves of petroleum products is critical to the National Defense; and

          WHEREAS, The Federal government holds title to the unused lands which comprise the buffer zone around the Hanford nuclear sites; and

          WHEREAS, The Hanford land was condemned under the Second War Powers Act of 1943, for military use; and

          WHEREAS, The Hanford reservation may also contain large quantities of natural gas, rendering it unsuitable for other use; and

          WHEREAS, The Senate and the House of Representatives of the state of Washington are adamantly opposed to the unnecessary federal acquisition of state and private lands for dubious purposes when other sites are available;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Congress of the United States reject the short-sighted and erroneous proposal to increase the size of the Yakima Firing Center by condemning state and private lands, or infringe on the rights of its citizens by arbitrarily requiring them to relinquish their mineral rights.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the Department of Defense, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.