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Calendar No. 564
105th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2186
[Report No. 105-323]
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 31, 1998
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
September 9, 1998
Reported by Mr. Murkowski, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to the
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds and declares the following:
(1) The city of Casper, Wyoming, is nationally significant
as the only geographic location in the western United States
where 4 congressionally recognized historic trails (the Oregon
Trail, the Mormon Trail, the California Trail, and the Pony
Express Trail), the Bridger Trail, the Bozeman Trail, and many
Indian routes converged.
(2) The historic trails that passed through the Casper area
are a distinctive part of the national character and possess
important historical and cultural values representing themes of
migration, settlement, transportation, and commerce that shaped
the landscape of the West.
(3) The Bureau of Land Management has not yet established a
historic trails interpretive center in Wyoming or in any
adjacent State to educate and focus national attention on the
history of the mid-19th century immigrant trails that crossed
public lands in the Intermountain West.
(4) At the invitation of the Bureau of Land Management, the
city of Casper and the National Historic Trails Foundation,
Inc. (a nonprofit corporation established under the laws of the
State of Wyoming) entered into a memorandum of understanding in
1992, and have since signed an assistance agreement in 1993 and
a cooperative agreement in 1997, to create, manage, and sustain
a National Historic Trails Interpretive Center to be located in
Casper, Wyoming, to professionally interpret the historic
trails in the Casper area for the benefit of the public.
(5) The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
authorized by this Act is consistent with the purposes and
objectives of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241 et
seq.), which directs the Secretary of the Interior to protect,
interpret, and manage the remnants of historic trails on public
lands.
(6) The State of Wyoming effectively joined the partnership
to establish the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
through a legislative allocation of supporting funds, and the
citizens of the city of Casper have increased local taxes to
meet their financial obligations under the assistance agreement
and the cooperative agreement referred to in paragraph (4).
(7) The National Historic Trails Foundation, Inc. has
secured most of the $5,000,000 of non-Federal funding pledged
by State and local governments and private interests pursuant
to the cooperative agreement referred to in paragraph (4).
(8) The Bureau of Land Management has completed the
engineering and design phase of the National Historic Trails
Interpretive Center, and the National Historic Trails
Foundation, Inc. is ready for Federal financial and technical
assistance to construct the Center pursuant to the cooperative
agreement referred to in paragraph (4).
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are the following:
(1) To recognize the importance of the historic trails that
passed through the Casper, Wyoming, area as a distinctive
aspect of American heritage worthy of interpretation and
preservation.
(2) To assist the city of Casper, Wyoming, and the National
Historic Trails Foundation, Inc. in establishing the National
Historic Trails Interpretive Center to memorialize and
interpret the significant role of those historic trails in the
history of the United States.
(3) To highlight and showcase the Bureau of Land
Management's stewardship of public lands in Wyoming and the
West.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS INTERPRETIVE CENTER.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through
the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (in this section referred
to as the ``Secretary''), shall establish in Casper, Wyoming, a center
for the interpretation of the historic trails in the vicinity of
Casper, including the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the California
Trail, and the Pony Express Trail, the Bridger Trail, the Bozeman
Trail, and various Indian routes. The center shall be known as the
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (in this section referred
to as the ``Center'').
(b) Facilities.--The Secretary, subject to the availability of
appropriations, shall construct, operate, and maintain facilities for
the Center--
(1) on land provided by the city of Casper, Wyoming;
(2) in cooperation with the city of Casper and the National
Historic Trails Interpretive Center Foundation, Inc. (a
nonprofit corporation established under the laws of the State
of Wyoming); and
(3) in accordance with--
(A) the Memorandum of Understanding entered into on
March 4, 1993, by the city, the foundation, and the
Wyoming State Director of the Bureau of Land
Management; and
(B) the cooperative agreement between the
foundation and the Wyoming State Director of the Bureau
of Land Management, numbered K910A970020.
(c) Donations.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary may accept, retain, and, subject to the availability of
appropriations, expend donations of funds, property, or services from
individuals, foundations, corporations, or public entities for the
purpose of development and operation of the Center.
(d) Entrance Fee.--Notwithstanding section 4 of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a), the Secretary may--
(1) collect an entrance fee from visitors to the Center;
and
(2) subject to appropriations, use amounts received by the
United States from that fee for expenses of operation of the
Center.
(e) Concessions.--The Secretary may--
(1) take actions to encourage and enable private persons to
provide and operate facilities and services at the Center in
the same manner and extent as the Secretary may take such
actions, with respect to areas administered by the National
Park Service, under the Public Law 89-249 (16 U.S.C. 20a et
seq.), popularly known as the National Park System Concessions
Policy Act; and
(2) subject to appropriations, use amounts received by the
United States from such facilities and services for development
and operation of the Center.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 to carry out this section.
Passed the House of Representatives March 30, 1998.
Attest:
ROBIN H. CARLE,
Clerk.
Calendar No. 564
105th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2186
[Report No. 105-323]
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to the
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 9, 1998
Reported without amendment
Pages: 1 Other Popular 105th Congressional Bills Documents:
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