Senators To Consider More Than Two Dozen Measures Affecting National Parks

Measures to open areas of Capitol Reef National Park in Utah to OHV use, to rename Mount McKinley in Denali National Park in Alaska as Denali, to block Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida from any wilderness designations, and to ensure the maintenance of a herd of horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota are among proposed legislation to be considered Tuesday by a U.S. Senate committee.

How many of the more than two dozen measures are taken up by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee remains to be seen, as some were proposed by Democrats and the committee is controlled by the GOP.

For instance, will the senators consider a measure calling for the reduction of disposable products in the parks, another that asks that the boundary of Santa Monica National Recreation Area in California be expanded to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, or one that directs the Interior secretary to study the suitability and feasibility of establishing the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Educational Center at the African Burial Ground National Monument?

One measure almost surely to get consideration is one that was introduced back in October by Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis, both Republicans from Utah. It calls for increased OHV access at Capitol Reef National Park to "ensure that Americans with disabilities can access and enjoy the nation’s public lands."

The legislation if approved by Congress would apply to the Burr Trail Road, Cathedral Road, Hartnet Road, Highway 24, Notom Bullfrog Road, Polk Creek Road, Oil Well Bench Road, Baker Ranch Road, South Desert Overlook Road, Temple of the Sun and Moon Road, Gypsum Sinkhole Road, and Sulphur Creek Road. 

When the measure was introduced in October, Lee said that the "mountains, canyons, and forests managed by the federal government are part of our shared heritage, and access to them should not depend on whether someone can hike ten miles or climb a ridge. This bill ensures that Americans with disabilities have the same chance to experience the beauty of our country as everyone else.”

But opponents say the affected routes are currently closed to ORV use to protect cultural and natural resources and the visitor experience. 

Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands national parks, as well as Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments, have had a prohibition against OHV use since 2019 at least. Kate Cannon, who then oversaw those units, wrote a memorandum to the parks' managers that the "addition of off-road vehicle traffic on park roads will inevitably result in injury and damage to park resources."

"These specialized vehicles are designed and marketed for the purpose of off-road travel, and they are uniquely capable of easily leaving the road and traveling cross-country," she continued. "No reasonable level of law enforcement presence would be sufficient to prevent ATV and OHV use off roads. Park rangers will have no ability to pursue and apprehend vehicle users off-road without adding to the damage they cause to park resources."  

Also likely to get the committee's approval is the measure that would require the National Park Service to maintain feral horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. When the agency broached the possibility of letting the horses vanish from the park Doug Burgum, then North Dakota's governor and now Interior secretary, opposed that move.

The measure to revert Mount McKinley's name to Denali could be more controversial, as President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term ordered that McKinley's name be reattached to the mountain. Seeking to reverse that move is Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who said after Trump ordered the name switch that, “[T]here is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One.”

Other measures scheduled to be considered by the committee include:

• S. 290, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to upgrade existing emergency communications centers in units of the National Park System to Next Generation 9-1-1 systems, and for other purposes (Barrasso);
• S. 332, to require a study on Holocaust education efforts of States, local educational agencies, and public elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes (Rosen);
• S. 446, to prohibit Big Cypress National Preserve from being designated as wilderness or as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes (Scott);
• S. 601, to remove restrictions from a parcel of land in Paducah, Kentucky (Paul);
• S. 730, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of establishing the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Educational Center at the African Burial Ground National Monument, and for other purposes (Gillibrand);
• S. 791, to establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes (Van Hollen);
• H.R. 186 / S. 858, to authorize the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation to establish a commemorative work on the National Mall to honor the extraordinary acts of valor, selfless service, and sacrifice displayed by Medal of Honor recipients (Rep. Moore) / (Justice);
• S. 1088, to provide that the memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and service of the women who worked on the home front to support the efforts of the United States military during World War II may be located on the National Mall, and for other purposes (Shaheen);
• S. 1131, to establish the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes (Ossoff);
• S. 1135, to amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (Curtis);
• S. 1280, to designate six creeks in North Carolina in honor of the lives lost in a plane crash in Carteret County, North Carolina, on February 13, 2022, and for other purposes (Tillis);
• S. 1353, to extend the authority for modifications to the Second Division Memorial in the District of Columbia (Murkowski);
• S. 1518, to redesignate the Saratoga National Historical Park as the “Saratoga National Battlefield Park” (Gillibrand);
• S. 1777, to amend the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 to expand the boundary of Joshua Tree National Park, to redesignate the Cottonwood Visitor Center at Joshua Tree National Park as the “Dianne Feinstein Visitor Center”, and for other purposes (Padilla);
• S. 1870, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes (Schiff);
• S. 1926, to encourage reduction of disposable plastic products in units of the National Park System, and for other purposes (Merkley);
• S. 2270, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate the portion of the Myakka River in Sarasota County, Florida, as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes (Scott);
• S. 2308, to amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to collect a surcharge from international visitors to units of the National Park System, and for other purposes (Banks);
• S. 2369, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to remove or permanently conceal the name of Francis Newlands on the grounds of the memorial fountain located at Chevy Chase Circle in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes (Van Hollen);
• S. 2385, to codify Executive Order 14253 relating to restoring truth and sanity to American history, and for other purposes (Banks);
• S. 2546, to provide for an extension of the legislative authority of the National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its environs (Coons);
• S. 2708, to enhance the preservation, maintenance, and management of national historic trails and national scenic trails, and for other purposes (Kaine); and
• H.R. 249, to redesignate certain facilities at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in honor of Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (Rep. Pallone).