OCR Text |
Show Natural areas should be given recognition as a proper use of the public lands in the statutes immediately, so they can be protected from other uses. Many uses of the public lands are not controlled by permit or contract. And even if the recommendations of this Commission are adopted to require permits for additional uses, some, such as permits for general recreation use or for hunting and fishing, will not create a relationship between the United States and the user that will permit the establishment of specific control measures to protect the environment. Where public lands and resources are used or obtained under a contract or permit issued for a specific purpose, the situation is quite different. In such cases, the Federal Government is able to, and to some extent does, establish environment conditions that must be maintained in connection with the use. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management timber sale contracts require that the contractor build roads in a specified manner, remove 84 obstacles to the normal flow of water, remove slash from some areas, and so on. These and similar requirements imposed on operators holding mineral leases place the burden and cost of meeting the requirements directly on the operators. They must take the estimated costs of all contractual obligations into consideration when obtaining the contract. A major difficulty is that the requirements are uneven and will remain so in the absence of a statutory foundation. Where the casual user has caused damage, or where there has been a failure to have a proper requirement in a lease, the Federal Government must bear the cost of restoration, rehabilitation, or the minimum cleanup of the area. We recommend that there be a statutory requirement that all users be made responsible for maintaining or restoring en- |