Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2909 - Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Eminent Domain Prevention Act

(House)
(Reps. Bass (R) NH, Zeliff (R) NH, and Sanders (I) CT)

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 2909 because the bill would restrict the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's ability to protect the Conte Refuge.

H.R. 2909 would limit the usual means by which the Federal Government may acquire land. In particular, it would preclude the use of the Service's condemnation authority to protect the resources of the Conte Refuge. The Service has no current plans to use this authority for any aspect of the refuge, and would do so only where an imminent threat to the refuge or its resources could not otherwise be mitigated. In fact, the Service rarely employs this authority; during the last ten years, only about one percent of the total land acquired by the Service was through adverse condemnation. Also in the last ten years, the Service has used adverse condemnation to acquire land only twice, and has not used this power in over seven years.

Notwithstanding the Service's past restraint and its plans not to use this authority at the Conte Refuge, the Administration should not be limited in the use of otherwise authorized means of acquiring land. The condemnation authority serves as the means of last resort to protect the resources of the refuge, and its prohibition at any refuge would serve as a precedent for future attempts to void the authority generally for the National Wildlife Refuge System.