The committee report contained a lengthy section on the background and need for the bill. This section read in part:
Since the lake was viewed as the primary feature of the park, straight line boundaries, generally following land survey section lines, were drawn to assure protection of the lake and to delineate the park. These boundaries did not follow the natural ecological features of the land area nor did they include certain significant natural features associated with the geological formations in the park.
In April of 1979, the administration transmitted to Congress its recommendations for management of some 62 million acres of roadless national forest lands. Included in its wilderness recommendations was a 30,000-acre strip of U.S. Forest Service land which surrounds Crater Lake National Park. These lands were recommended by the Forest Service for designation as wilderness.
The committee, however, felt these lands that are geographically related to the features of the park should be managed by the National Park Service, rather than having a narrow strip surrounding the park managed in wilderness by another agency.
In addition, the proposed minor changes would improve the park boundary by more closely following the topographical features of the land area. It would also add to the park key natural features associated with the geological formations in the park. . . .
Since the bill would have the effect of transferring lands from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Park Service no additional administrative costs were expected to be incurred by the federal government as a result of the bill’s passage. It was estimated that it would cost $300,000 to post the revised boundary line. The removal of the lands involved from the national forest system would reduce the long-term programmed harvest of the surrounding forest by approximately 800,000 board feet per year, thus causing a long-term reduction in timber receipts of some $200,000 annually. [35]
A companion bill, Title I of H.R. 8350, was introduced by Representative Philip Burton in the House of Representatives on November 17, 1980. The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to which the bill was referred, was discharged from consideration, and H. R. 8350 passed the House on November 19.
S. 2318 was brought before the Senate for consideration on December 4, 1980. During debate a section was added to the bill concerning provisions to make possible more effective protection of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and more comprehensive management of the Alpine Lakes Area in Washington as established by the Alpine Lakes Area Management Act of 1976. The bill, as amended, passed the Senate on December 4 and the House the following day. The bill was signed into law (94 Stat. 3255) by President James E. Carter on December 19, 1980. [36]
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