165 Bipartisan Members of Congress Co-Author Thompson's Legislation to Transger Management of Lake Berryessa to Bureau of Land Management

Press Release

In one week, a bipartisan group of more than 100 additional Members of Congress signed on as co-authors of U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson's (CA-5) legislation that would transfer the management of Lake Berryessa from the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The bill, H.R. 4166, now has 165 co-authors.

"We are rapidly approaching a bipartisan majority of members in the House who are on record supporting a change of management at Lake Berryessa," said Thompson. "People on both sides of the aisle agree that our federal agencies need to be operating efficiently, and BLM is the best agency to manage recreation at Lake Berryessa."

BOR has failed to provide and manage adequate concessions at Lake Berryessa in recent years. Currently, only one of the seven concessions has a permanent operator and four are operated under interim contracts, providing only boat launching and camping without hook-ups, showers or running water. The two remaining concession locations are closed. The lack of concessions has caused tourism to drop and has hurt the local economy.

BLM manages 264 million acres of public lands across the United States, and has extensive experience managing outdoor activities on public lands -- including camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, wildlife viewing, and more. BLM management of the Lake Berryessa Recreation area would help ensure better management and enhanced recreational opportunities for visitors to the lake.

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