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Show Arches-Reef Bills Pass Senate The Senate Wednesday passed pas-sed two bills introduced by Senator Frank E. Moss, D-Utah, D-Utah, to establish two new national parks in southeastern Utah, Arches National Park atnd Capitol Reef National Park. In a Senate Statement, Senator Moss said ''Both areas are now national monuments mon-uments and my bills will choose the sections in each instance which will be most worthy of national park status, sta-tus, and free the remaining areas for multiple use. "The two new parks will be unique and scenically spectacular," spec-tacular," Senator Moss said. He then related how the original or-iginal monuments had been expanded by President Johnson John-son and that the President suggested that they be made naional parks. "I was not asked to approve in advance either of the proclamations issued by President Johnson. I protested the fact that they were prepared and issued wihout any opportunity for the people of the area to express ex-press their views on the expansion." ex-pansion." "In both instances, and particularly in the case of Capitol Reef, large areas were included under the proclamation proc-lamation on which there may be recoveraDie minerals. There was an immediate outcry out-cry in Utah by those who were affected and rightfully so." Senator Moss said there was a need to re-draw the boundary lines included in the Johnson proclamation and his bills had been amended amend-ed to do so. Some areas were excluded and other scenic areas were included, but the sum total of the acreage included in-cluded in the Moss bills is considerably less in both in-s'pnees in-s'pnees that (that included in the Johnson proclamation. President Johnson addiKl 48.943 acres to Arches for a total of. 82.953. The Moss Arches National Park bill, as amended would decrease that property by 9,799 acres for a park totaling 73,154 acres. President Johnson added 215,056 acres to Capital Reef for a total of 254,242 acres. The Moss National Park bill as amended would decrease the Johnson proposal by 23,-425 23,-425 acres for a total park acreage of 230,829 acres. Senator Moss said when he introduced the bills, it was a way of letting .the people of Utah comment on the Johnson prociamaion. Hearings Hear-ings on the bills were conducted con-ducted by Senator Moss and Senator Alan Bible, D-Neva-da, Chairman of the Senate Parks and Recreation Sub-Committee, Sub-Committee, in Salt Lake City, Moab, and Richfield. "Because virtually all of the land in both parks is publica'lly owned, land aqui-sition aqui-sition costs will be very small," Senator Moss said. 'The National Park Service testified that it will cost no more to operate the a-reas as National Parks than it would if they were to remain National Na-tional Monuments." Senator Moss emphasized that grazing rights will be protected for twenty-five years under the terms of the bill, and that easements for public utility crossings of the parks land in a manner not to interfere with park purposes pur-poses will be included. Noting that road consideration consid-eration is of primary concern, con-cern, Sena-tor Moss said the report to the Department, of Interior which will accompany accomp-any the bill specifically spells out the fact that flic Senate Interior Committee endorses endors-es the stale program of providing pro-viding adequate scenic highways high-ways 'leading to the parks. "This is a great day for the recreation development of Utah," S'-nator Mss said. "When finally approved by Congress and the President, these two bills will give Utah Five National Parks. We will then lie wi!h California with five parks, the largest number num-ber in any state. This will cerainly help our tourist industry, in-dustry, as well as provide more recreational facilities ff-r our own citizens," he said. |