The Senate yesterday unanimously passed a bill to overhaul a variety of National Park Service management practices, including procedures for studying new areas that might be added to the park system (Congressional Green Sheets Express, 6/12).
The most prominent provision of the bill lays out a "more competitive selection process" for commercial concessions at parks, an issue which has been debated for years. The bill also would extend the recreational user fee demonstration program through 2005, and would direct Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to establish a "reasonable fee" for commercial filming activities in national parks.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Parks Subcommittee Chairman Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., the bill's sponsor: "This legislation builds a sturdy foundation of reform and innovation."
Action on the legislation now moves to the House.
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