[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2384 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2384

To adjust the boundary of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 16, 2005

 Mr. Sweeney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To adjust the boundary of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Martin Van Buren National Historic 
Site Boundary Adjustment Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Historic site.--The term ``historic site'' means the 
        Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in the State of New 
        York, as authorized by Public Law 93-486 on October 26, 1974.
            (2) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled 
        ``Boundary Map, Martin Van Buren National Historic Site,'' 
        numbered ``460/80801'' and dated ``January 2005''.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the historic site was established to preserve and 
        interpret the landscape, structures, and collections of 
        ``Lindenwald,'' in Kinderhook, New York, owned by Martin Van 
        Buren, the eighth President of the United States (1837-1841) 
        from 1839 to his death in 1862;
            (2) the current boundary, encompassing about 39 acres of 
        land, does not adequately protect natural and cultural 
        resources that contribute to the significance of the historic 
        site;
            (3) the conservation easements acquired to preserve the 
        historic site's key agricultural views no longer offer adequate 
        protection for those views;
            (4) administrative buildings and facilities required for 
        future operations of the historic site may not be suitable to 
        be developed within its boundaries due to impacts on historic 
        or scenic resources; and
            (5) a boundary study prepared by the National Park Service 
        in 2003 identifies about 331 acres of lands that, if acquired, 
        would help protect the agricultural character and the quality 
        of the historic setting of the historic site and increase 
        opportunities for interpretation and education there.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to protect the remaining contributing resources 
        significant to the historic site;
            (2) to preserve a more accurate portrayal of Van Buren's 
        Lindenwald by reuniting remaining agricultural lands associated 
        with the house through their acquisition from willing sellers;
            (3) to enhance the interpretation of Van Buren's broader 
        political and agrarian beliefs by enabling public access to key 
        historic agricultural resources and to protect scenic values 
        associated with the historic site; and
            (4) to enable the National Park Service to establish 
        administrative facilities to serve the historic site that do 
        not intrude upon the historic site's resources or scenic 
        values.

SEC. 4. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS TO THE HISTORIC SITE.

    (a) Boundary Adjustment.--Effective on the date of enactment of 
this Act, the boundary of the historic site is adjusted to include 
approximately 261 acres of land identified as the ``Proposed Park 
Additions,'' as generally depicted on the map.
    (b) Future Acquisitions.--The Secretary may acquire approximately 
70 acres of land and interests in land outside the boundary of the 
historic site identified as ``53-1-17.2'' and ``53-1-19.111,'' which 
are the Columbia County, New York, tax map numbers for those lands, as 
generally depicted on the map.
    (c) Lands for Administrative Purposes.--In order to preserve the 
historic site's resources and scenic values, the Secretary may acquire 
land or interests in land outside the boundary of the historic site 
necessary for administrative, maintenance, curatorial, or other park 
purposes.
    (d) Acquisition Authority.--The Secretary may acquire the lands and 
interests in lands referred to this section from a willing seller by 
donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange.
    (e) Revision of Boundary.--Upon acquisition of any land referred to 
in subsections (b) and (c), the boundary of the historic site shall be 
revised to include the acquired land.
    (f) Availability of Map.--The map shall be on file and available 
for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park 
Service.
    (g) Administration.--Land acquired for the historic site by this 
section shall be administered as part of the historic site in 
accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
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