[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 931 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 931

To designate the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness and the Ernest F. 
                          Coe Visitor Center.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                June 18 (legislative day, June 17), 1997

 Mr. Graham (for himself and Mr. Mack) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To designate the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness and 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness 
and Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center Designation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1)(A) Marjory Stoneman Douglas, through her book, ``The 
        Everglades: River of Grass'' (published in 1947), defined the 
        Everglades for the people of the United States and the world;
            (B) Mrs. Douglas's book was the first to stimulate 
        widespread understanding of the Everglades ecosystem and 
        ultimately served to awaken the desire of the people of the 
        United States to restore the ecosystem's health;
            (C) in her 107th year, Mrs. Douglas is the sole surviving 
        member of the original group of people who devoted decades of 
        selfless effort to establish the Everglades National Park;
            (D) 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;
            (E) for these and many other accomplishments, the President 
        awarded Mrs. Douglas the Medal of Freedom on Earth Day, 1994; 
        and
            (2)(A) Ernest F. Coe (1886-1951) was a leader in the 
        creation of Everglades National Park;
            (B) Mr. Coe organized the Tropic Everglades National Park 
        Association in 1928 and was widely regarded as the father of 
        Everglades National Park;
            (C) as a landscape architect, Mr. Coe's vision for the park 
        recognized the need to protect south Florida's diverse wildlife 
        and habitats for future generations;
            (D) Mr. Coe's original park proposal included lands and 
        waters subsequently protected within the Everglades National 
        Park, the Big Cypress National Preserve, and the Florida Keys 
        National Marine Sanctuary; and
            (E)(i) Mr. Coe's leadership, selfless devotion, and 
        commitment to achieving his vision culminated in the 
        authorization of the Everglades National Park by Congress in 
        1934;
            (ii) after authorization of the park, Mr. Coe fought 
        tirelessly and lobbied strenuously for establishment of the 
        park, finally realizing his dream in 1947; and
            (iii) Mr. Coe accomplished much of the work described in 
        this paragraph at his own expense, which dramatically 
        demonstrated his commitment to establishment of Everglades 
        National Park.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to commemorate the 
vision, leadership, and enduring contributions of Marjory Stoneman 
Douglas and Ernest F. Coe to the protection of the Everglades and the 
establishment of Everglades National Park.

SEC. 3. MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS WILDERNESS.

    (a) 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 ``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 the Everglades National Park''.
    (b) Notice of Redesignation.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
provide such notification of the redesignation made by the amendment 
made by subsection (a) by signs, materials, maps, markers, interpretive 
programs, and other means (including changes in signs, materials, maps, 
and markers in existence before the date of enactment of this Act) as 
will adequately inform the public of the redesignation of the 
wilderness area and the reasons for the redesignation.
    (c) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, document, 
record, map, or other paper of the United States to the ``Everglades 
Wilderness'' shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Marjory 
Stoneman Douglas Wilderness''.

SEC. 4. ERNEST F. COE VISITOR CENTER.

    (a) 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.--On completion of construction 
of the main visitor center facility at the headquarters of Everglades 
National Park, the Secretary 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.''.

SEC. 5. CONFORMING AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

    Section 103 of the Everglades National Park Protection and 
Expansion Act of 1989 (16 U.S.C. 410r-7) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ``personnally-owned'' 
        and inserting ``personally-owned''; and
            (2) in subsection (e), by striking ``Visitor Center'' and 
        inserting ``Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center''.
                                 <all>