Bill Text: MO HCR9 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Strongly urges the National Park Service to draft its final General Management Plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways to recognize the importance the riverways provides to the state
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-05-15 - Senate Message (S) [HCR9 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2014-HCR9-Introduced.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 9
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES COOKSON (Sponsor), SPENCER, ENGLISH AND RICHARDSON (Co-sponsors).
WHEREAS, in 1959, Senate Resolution No. 33 and House Resolution No. 19, recognizing the importance of the extraordinary manifestations of nature and recreational attributes of the Current and Eleven Point Riverways, requested Congress to enact legislation to preserve the natural resources and provide recreational development and other improvements for the public use; and
WHEREAS, in 1964, Congress answered Missouri's request by enacting legislation to establish the Ozark National Scenic Riverways; and
WHEREAS, the riverways within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways are, and remain, public highways of the State of Missouri, subject to concurrent jurisdiction between the State of Missouri and the United States under Missouri Senate Bill No. 362 enacted in 1971; and
WHEREAS, in 2005, the National Park Service began researching for the purpose of drafting a new general management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways; and
WHEREAS, the general management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways will ensure that the National Park Service managers and stakeholders share a clearly defined understanding of the resource conditions, opportunities for recreational use, and managerial methodology for access, and development designed to successfully achieve the national riverways' purpose; and
WHEREAS, in keeping with the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, the general management plan will serve as a guideline which will be relied upon as a basis for decisions affecting the riverways and for decisions which serve to preserve resources for the enjoyment of future generations; and
WHEREAS, every national park system unit has been asked to prepare this kind of document since 1976 when Congress passed a law to that effect. The general management plan will guide decisions related to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways for the next 15 to 20 years; and
WHEREAS, the Missouri Conservation Commission is charged with the control, management, restoration, conservation and regulation of the bird, fish, game, forestry and all wildlife resources of the state, including hatcheries, sanctuaries, refuges, reservations and all other property owned, acquired or used for such purposes; and
WHEREAS, in September of 2009, the Missouri Department of Conservation recommended that "hunting, fishing and trapping continue to be allowed throughout the ONSR except in highly developed areas where a reasonable safety zone for public protection may be required" and supported the "No-Action Alternative" released in 2009 by the National Park Service as an appropriate balance between preservation of resource conditions and opportunities for recreational use; and
WHEREAS, the recreational resources afforded by the riverways are an economic staple to the citizens of the surrounding communities with the State of Missouri; and
WHEREAS, the State of Missouri and a majority of the citizens of Missouri agree that the citizens of Missouri and those Missouri citizens most impacted in their daily lives are in the best position to formulate policy and regulations to manage and protect Missouri's natural resources as opposed to a federal agency headquartered in Washington, D.C.:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby strongly urge the National Park Service to draft its final General Management Plan to recognize the importance the riverways provides to the State of Missouri not only for the preservation of those extraordinary manifestations of nature, but also recreational use and enjoyment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Missouri General Assembly finds that the previously announced "No Action Alternative" provides the best balance to maintain the riverways' purposes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Missouri General Assembly stand prepared to utilize its concurrent jurisdiction to assure this balance is properly maintained; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for Jonathan B. Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service, and Bill Black, Superintendent of Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
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