[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 318 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.R.318

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the third day of January, two thousand and six


                                 An Act


 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and 
  feasibility of designating Castle Nugent Farms located on St. Croix, 
  Virgin Islands, as a unit of the National Park System, 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. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE STUDY REGARDING CASTLE NUGENT FARMS.
    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
        (1) Castle Nugent Farms, located on the southeastern shore of 
    St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, is the largest parcel of privately-
    held land in the Virgin Islands and has been an operating cattle 
    ranch for 50 years.
        (2) This land has the largest and healthiest fringing coral 
    reef anywhere in the Virgin Islands.
        (3) It consists of Caribbean dry forest and pasturelands with 
    considerable cultural resources including both pre-Columbian and 
    post-European settlement.
        (4) Castle Nugent Farms contains a large historic 17th century 
    Danish estate house that sits on over 4 miles of pristine Caribbean 
    oceanfront property.
        (5) In addition to being an area for turtle nesting and night 
    heron nesting, it is the home for the Senepol cattle breed, a 
    unique breed of cattle that was developed on St. Croix in the early 
    1900's to adapt to the island's climate.
    (b) Study.--The Secretary of the Interior shall carry out a study 
regarding the suitability and feasibility of designating Castle Nugent 
Farms as a unit of the National Park System.
    (c) Study Process and Completion.--Section 8(c) of Public Law 91-
383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5(c)) shall apply to the conduct and completion of 
the study required by this section.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.