33 



Mrs. MORELLA. I don't have any questions, I just have thanks. 

 I want to thank Ms. Fuller for the work she's done in bringing this 

 to the attention of the environmental community and working with 

 us on it. 



And I want to thank Mr. Rutford for his very splendid testimony 

 and the various features of Antarctica that you brought out that 

 had not been brought out in other testimony. I appreciate that very 

 much. 



And again, Mr. Chairman, I say to you that I do not remember 

 any bill that's come before us, whether there wasn't any need to 

 like put a semicolon in or add a little phrase or a but or if to it. 



And so I think this is a bill whose time has come. 



And thank you. 



The Chairman. Thank you very much. 



Mr. Bartlett? 



Mr. Bartlett. Thank you very much. 



I would like to commend the Chairman. I don't think I've ever 

 sat on a hearing where everybody from both sides says, let's pass 

 the bill, it's great and it doesn't need change. 



The Chairman and the Staff have done a great job of putting this 

 bill together. 



The Chairman. We'll probably have a view that won't get that 

 kind of recommendation. 



[Laughter.] 



Mr. Bartlett. But we're starting out well. 



As our globe becomes more crowded and people to seek to get 

 away, they're going to about every place they can and one of those 

 is Aiitarctica. And I understand that tourism is increasing there. 



Does this pose a threat to the environment, and if so, how? 



Ms. Fuller? 



Ms. Fuller. Well, Mr. Bartlett, the tourism is still modest in ab- 

 solute terms. It was 8,000 a year or so ago. It may be as high as 

 9,000 now. But the environment is so fragile that when you have 

 people, whether it is scientists or whether it's tourists with a pres- 

 ence in Antarctica, you have impacts that can be substantial. 



What the legislation would do is to ensure that there is an envi- 

 ronmental assessment of any tourism and that permits are re- 

 quired for any sensitive activities. 



It will also help to ensure that those tour operators that have not 

 already subscribed to pretty stringent standards for environ- 

 mentally sensitive tourism in the region do so. 



It'll help once again to elevate awareness. 



It is, though I said before, tourism, whether it's in Antarctica or 

 other parts of the world in ecologically sensitive areas, is both a 

 boon and a bane. It creates a really powerful constituency for con- 

 servation. Knowledgeable people who care profoundly about what 

 it is that the^ve experienced, but their presence inevitably has an 

 impact, so it's important to have standards so that tourism doesn't 

 overwhelm the resource. 



Mr. Bartlett. Are we concerned about what they would leave 

 there where you have numbing cold and fierce winds. That's a pret- 

 ty harsh environment. We're concerned about things that they 

 would leave there that would be chemical pollutants? 



