[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 136 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 136

To amend the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 to designate the 
    Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness and to amend the Everglades 
  National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 to designate the 
                     Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

 Mr. Deutsch (for himself and Mr. Goss) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 to designate the 
    Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness and to amend the Everglades 
  National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 to designate the 
                     Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS WILDERNESS AND ERNEST F. COE 
              VISITOR CENTER, EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Marjory Stoneman Douglas, through her book, ``The 
        Everglades: River of Grass'' (1947), defined the Everglades for 
        the American people and for the world. Her book was the first 
        to stimulate widespread understanding of the Everglades 
        ecosystem and ultimately served to awaken the desire to restore 
        its health.
            (2) In her 106th year, Mrs. Douglas is the sole surviving 
        member of the original group of people who devoted decades of 
        selfless effort to establish Everglades National Park.
            (3) When the water supply and ecology of the Everglades, 
        both within and outside the park, became threatened by drainage 
        and development, Mrs. Douglas dedicated the balance of her life 
        to the defense of the Everglades through extraordinary personal 
        effort and by inspiring countless other people to take action.
            (4) For these and many other accomplishments, the President 
        awarded Mrs. Douglas the Medal of Freedom on Earth Day, 1994.
            (5) Ernest F. Coe (1886-1951) was a leader in the creation 
        of Everglades National Park. He organized the Tropic Everglades 
        National Park Association in 1928 and was widely regarded as 
        the ``Father of Everglades National Park''.
            (6) As a landscape architect, Mr. Coe's vision for the park 
        recognized the need to protect south Florida's diverse wildlife 
        and their habitats for future generations. His original park 
        proposal included lands and waters subsequently protected 
        within Everglades National Park, the Big Cypress National 
        Preserve, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
            (7) Mr. Coe's leadership, selfless devotion, and commitment 
        to achieving this vision culminated in the authorization of 
        Everglades National Park by Congress in 1934. Afterwards, Mr. 
        Coe fought tirelessly and lobbied strenuously for establishment 
        of the park, finally realizing his dream in 1947. He 
        accomplished much of this work at his own expense, which 
        dramatically demonstrated his commitment to establishment of 
        the park.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to commemorate the 
vision, leadership, and enduring contributions of Marjory Stoneman 
Douglas and Ernest F. Coe in the protection of the Everglades and the 
establishment of Everglades National Park.
    (c) Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness.--
            (1) Redesignation.--Section 401(3) of the National Parks 
        and Recreation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-625; 92 Stat. 3490; 
        16 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended by striking out ``to be known 
        as the Everglades Wilderness'' and inserting ``to be known as 
        the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness to commemorate the 
        vision and leadership shown by Mrs. Douglas in the protection 
        of the Everglades and the establishment of Everglades National 
        Park''.
            (2) Notice of redesignation.--As part of the redesignation 
        of the ``Everglades Wilderness'' as the ``Marjory Stoneman 
        Douglas Wilderness'' under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the 
        Interior shall provide such notification of the redesignation 
        by signs, materials, maps, markers, interpretive programs, and 
        other means (including changes in existing signs, materials, 
        maps, and markers) as will adequately inform the public of the 
        redesignation of the wilderness area and the reasons therefor.
            (3) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, 
        document, record, map, or other paper of the United States to 
        the ``Everglades Wilderness'' shall be considered to be a 
        reference to ``Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness''.
    (d) Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center.--
            (1) Designation.--Section 103 of the Everglades National 
        Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 (16 U.S.C. 410r-7) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center.--Upon completion of 
construction of the main visitor center facility at the headquarters of 
Everglades National Park, the Secretary of the Interior shall designate 
the visitor center facility as `The Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center' to 
commemorate the vision and leadership shown by Mr. Coe in the 
establishment and protection of Everglades National Park.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Subsection (e) of such section 
        is amended by striking ``Visitor Center'' and inserting 
        ``Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center''.
            (3) Technical correction.--Subsection (c)(2) of such 
        section is amended by striking ``personnally-owned'' and 
        inserting ``personally-owned''.
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