Introduction of the Golden Gate National Parks and Technical Corrections Bill

Floor Speech

Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce today the Golden Gate National Parks and Technical Corrections bill. Our National Parks are some of America's greatest treasures, and they have been designated that way to ensure they are preserved for our future generations. In California, we are very proud of our Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with parks spanning across San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin Counties. They are a national treasure deserving of the highest National Park Service designation which this legislation will ensure. The Golden Gate National Parks offer a unique historical perspective on the story of California and the Nation, and unparalleled natural beauty in an unlikely setting close to a major metropolitan area.

One hundred years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt declared Muir Woods the Nation's tenth National Monument to honor the conservationist John Muir and preserve a beautiful natural space. Today, I would like to recognize the establishment of the Golden Gate National Parks, which will contain the Muir Woods National Monument, as the 59th National Park. In honor of renowned environmentalist Edgar Waybum, and my friend and predecessor in Congress, the late Congressman Phillip Burton, who dedicated their careers and lives to preserving these remarkable natural and historical spaces for our and future generations to enjoy, I dedicate this bill.

The Golden Gate National Parks offer residents of and visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area the opportunity to escape from the city and connect with nature and our Nation's history. The Golden Gate National Parks are home to sites utilized by the Coastal Miwok and Ohlone people, the Spanish missionaries and military, Mexican settlers, Gold Rush prospectors, and Civil War military units. There remain many historic sites preserved within the Parks, including the Cliff House Restaurant and the Sutro Baths in San Francisco, as well as decommissioned army bases and fortifications dating back to 1776 and used by our Nation from the Civil War to the Cold War. This bill will strengthen the ability of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and the Presidio, two of the Golden Gate National Parks, most historic areas, to preserve historic spaces and provide world-class services to visitors from throughout the world.

The Golden Gate National Parks also offer visitors access to an amazingly diverse natural area. Encompassing almost 60 miles of bay and ocean shoreline, the Golden Gate National Parks contain windswept beaches, salt-water marshes, stunning cliffs, and the world's only coastal old-growth redwood forest. The Parks contain expansive forests and costal lands, such as Sweeney Ridge in San Mateo County and Muir Woods in Marin. There is also an abundance of plant and animal life in the Parks with over 1,200 identified plant and animal species, including 33 threatened and endangered species.

In the years since the establishment of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area almost 40 years ago, the park units have collectively been referred to as Golden Gate National Parks. As natural and historic sites have been added to this park system the need has grown to recognize the system of parks for what they are, which is one of our Nation's great natural treasures. This bill recognizes the importance of Golden Gate National Parks to the history and future of our Nation and rewards it with a designation befitting its place among the most spectacular National Parks in our Nation.

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