[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2186 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 2186


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 1998

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.