109 HR 5978 IH: To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a U.S. House of Representatives 2006-07-28 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 109th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5978 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 28, 2006 Mr. Blunt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of including the battlefields and related sites of the First and Second Battles of Newtonia, Missouri, during the Civil War as part of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield or designating the battlefields and related sites as a separate unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

1.

National Park System special resource study, Newtonia Civil War Battlefields, Missouri

(a)

Special resource study

The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a special resource study relating to the First Battle of Newtonia in Newton County, Missouri, which occurred on September 30, 1862, and the Second Battle of Newtonia, which occurred on October 28, 1864, during the Missouri Expedition of Confederate General Sterling Price in September and October 1864. (b)

Contents

In conducting the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— (1)evaluate the national significance of the Newtonia battlefields and their related sites; (2)consider the findings and recommendations contained in the document entitled Vision Plan for Newtonia Battlefield Preservation and dated June 2004, which was prepared by the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association; (3)evaluate the suitability and feasibility of adding the battlefields and related sites as part of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield or designating the battlefields and related sites as a unit of the National Park System; (4)analyze the potential impact that the inclusion of the battlefields and related sites as part of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield or their designation as a unit of the National Park System is likely to have on land within or bordering the battlefields and related sites that is privately owned at the time of the study is conducted; (5)consider alternatives for preservation, protection, and interpretation of the battlefields and related sites by the National Park Service, other Federal, State, or local governmental entities, or private and nonprofit organizations; and (6)identify cost estimates for any necessary acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance associated with the alternatives referred to in paragraph (5). (c)

Criteria

The criteria for the study of areas for potential inclusion in the National Park System contained in section 8 of Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–5) shall apply to the study under subsection (a). (d)

Transmission to congress

Not later than three years after the date on which funds are first made available for the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report containing— (1)the results of the study; and (2)any conclusions and recommendations of the Secretary.