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Withdrawal of certain lands from mineral leasing. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Reserved Water of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session on S. 2801, H. R. 6542, September 23, 1982

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OSTI ID:5951445
Forty witnesses testified at a hearing held to receive public comment on H.R. 6542 and S. 2801, the Wilderness Protection Act of 1982, which withdraws already designated national wilderness lands plus 15 million acres of nonwilderness lands from mineral development until a national emergency should cause Congress to revoke the withdrawal. Responding to the request for comment were geologists, ranchers, oil companies, members of conservation and environmental groups, and members of Congress. Most of the policy dispute centers on leasing by the oil and gas industries, which favor a multiple-land-use approach. The industries challenge the consistency of a policy that allows land to be studied but not explored, and questions the amount of land designated as wilderness. Supporters of the bill point out that mineral development is incompatible with wilderness preservation. (DCK)
OSTI ID:
5951445
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English