WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal agencies are closing too many remote airstrips on government land, limiting access to the wilderness and creating a safety problem for private pilots, some Western Republicans said Thursday.
Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, held a hearing on his bill that would require the airstrips be maintained and make it harder for federal agencies to close them. Hansen, a pilot, said the airstrips allow people to enjoy public land and offer an important safe haven for pilots with in-flight emergencies.
''Hopefully, Mr. Hansen's bill will keep backcountry airstrips from being just another pawn in the (Clinton) administration's plans to lock up federal lands,'' said Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, R-Idaho.
Critics say the administration has gone too far in its efforts to protect wilderness, halting road construction, restricting off-road vehicle use and closing airstrips to limit public access.
Federal land managers told Hansen's House Resources subcommittee the bill is unnecessary and could burden the government with high maintenance and liability insurance costs. Current regulations already give the public a chance to comment before any airstrips are closed, said Pat Shea, a top land management official in the Interior Department.
''The system isn't broken and it doesn't need to be fixed,'' said Shea, the former head of the Bureau of Land Management.
Neither side could offer firm estimates on how many airstrips have been closed or how many remain open. David Alexander, supervisor of Idaho's Payette National Forest, said there probably still are hundreds of airstrips nationwide.
Hansen's bill would require federal agencies to get the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration and state aviation officials and hold a 90-day public comment period before closing any airstrip. It would require federal land managers to consult with state aviation officials and ''other interested parties'' to ensure that airstrips are maintained ''in a manner that is consistent with the resource values of the adjacent area.''
Shea and Alexander said those rules would be too cumbersome. Federal officials in California estimate desert airstrips in that state could cost $2,000 to $5,000 per year to maintain, Shea said.
A law keeping those airstrips open could encourage overuse and aid marijuana growers and smugglers who often ferry cargo through remote areas, Shea and Alexander said.
