Good afternoon, Chairman Thomas and members of the Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today in support of S. 347, the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act. As the author of the House version of the bill, I would like to express my gratitude to Senator Feinstein for her leadership on behalf of all Californians in introducing this legislation in the Senate.
S. 347 would call for a study by the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service of the feasibility and suitability of more than doubling the size of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The Rim of the Valley consists of parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa Susanna Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Verdugo Mountains, the San Rafael Hills, and adjacent connector areas to the Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests. The Rim of the Valley is home to very rare environmental treasures, including one of the most endangered habitat areas in the world, the Mediterranean Chaparral ecosystem, found only here and in South Africa.
This environmentally sensitive area is located in one of the most densely populated areas in the United States. The greater Southern California metropolitan region has the nation's second-largest urban concentration; about one in every ten Americans lives in this region. At the same time, this area has one of the lowest ratios of park-and-recreation-lands per thousand-population of any area in the country. So this rapidly growing urban region is very underserved in terms of open space needs. Unless action is taken soon, this situation will only worsen as the region continues to be subjected to intense growth.
Since Congress set aside the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Areas in 1978, federal, state and local authorities have worked in remarkable cooperation to manage what is the world's largest urban park. Now, nearly a quarter-century later and in the face of tremendous projected population growth and development pressures, Congress, by passing this bill, again will have the opportunity to help safeguard and supplement the existing state and local parks, open space and recreational opportunities in Southern California.
We have amended this bill in response to comments from the National Park Service. First, the bill now authorizes a joint study between the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture, since the Rim of the Valley incorporates some lands that are now managed by the Park Service and others managed by the Forest Service. Together, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service can decide on the most appropriate way to protect this environmental treasure for future generations. Secondly, we eliminated from the bill explicit provisions for a 17-member advisory commission. This provision was felt to be unnecessary, as this type of special resource study conducted by the National Park Service automatically entails extensive public outreach to communities and local governments.
In addition to protected land, the Rim of the Valley Corridor encompasses private property. However, within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the Park Service is permitted to acquire private property from voluntary sellers or donors only and is prohibited from exercising the powers of eminent domain. Indeed, private ownership need not be incompatible with open space preservation efforts, and there are many good examples of private-public partnerships in the Santa Monica Mountains which have served to maintain the beauty of open space and preserve the rights of property owners.
It is my hope that the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act will embody a similar dream and vision--of a Southern California enhanced not only by what was built, but also by what was preserved. This legislation enjoys strong bipartisan support, and the House version is supported by Republican and Democratic Members of Congress whose district includes portions of the Rim of the Valley Corridor, including Representatives Howard Berman, David Dreier, Howard “Buck” McKeon, George Miller, Brad Sherman and Hilda Solis. I thank you for your attention, and ask for your support for the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act.