2 GOP Leaders Question Cost of Land Swap

WASHINGTON â€”  Two leading House Republicans raised questions Thursday about the cost of an agreement to give public assets to two private companies if they will drop plans that threaten ancient forests in Northern California and Yellowstone National Park.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Robert L. Livingston (R-La.), and the chairman of its interior subcommittee, Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), said that the plan “runs afoul� of budget laws and could result in a loss of federal assets worth more than the land in question. The swap involves land and mineral rights valued as high as $350 million.

But the two legislators insisted that they are not trying to derail the agreement, only to slow it down so it can be given additional scrutiny.

The tenor of their concerns were outlined in a letter to President Clinton. The letter distinguished itself among administration officials because of its low-key approach, which was vastly different from the angry rhetoric involved in environmental debates over the last two years between the White House and the Republican majority in the House as it tried to rein in a number of environmental programs.

The letter said: “The public lands belong to all Americans. They are our legacy to future generations and should not be disposed of without full and open disclosure which carefully addresses the concerns of the public and the Congress.�

The land exchanges involve the Headwaters Forest along California’s North Coast and the New World Mine in Montana, just outside Yellowstone. Critics have said that the mine would put the Yellowstone River at risk of pollution from the detritus of gold, silver and copper mining.

In the Headwaters Forest swap, the administration and state of California have offered to exchange assets that include prime oil and gas leases in Kern County and 10,000 acres of national forest in the Sierra for 3,500 acres of virgin coastal redwoods marked for logging by the Pacific Lumber Co.

Under the New World Mine exchange, announced by Clinton in August, Crown Butte Mines would clean up the mine site and surrender all rights to its minerals in exchange for federal lands of comparable value.

But with arrangements for the land swaps nearing completion, Livingston and Regula asked Clinton to provide details to Congress on the costs and benefits of the exchanges.

“We worry that exchanges, which sound positive at first glance, such as protecting old-growth redwoods or stopping mining in Yellowstone National Park, are being implemented on a fast track which does not assure that the American public is getting full value for the traded federal assets,� they wrote.

“This is what concerns me,� Regula said in an interview. “We’re talking about a major exchange here without really having a lot of detail.�

Brian Johnson, a spokesman for the Council on Environmental Quality, said that the administration “agrees with most of the concerns raised by the congressmen in the letter,� and said that it intended to make public the details of the swap and consult with Congress before completing the arrangements.