1.This Act may be cited as the
Hudson River Valley Special Resource
Study Act
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(2)The term study area means the counties in New
York that abut the Hudson River that flows from Rogers Island at Fort Edward to
the southernmost boundary of Westchester County, New York.
3.Congress finds as follows:
(1)The Hudson River
Valley possesses nationally significant and unique cultural, historical,
natural, recreational, and scenic resources.
(2)The Hudson River
Valley is home to a robust and growing tourism and recreation industry that is
an important component of the regional economy.
(3)Throughout
history, the Hudson River Valley has played a crucial role in the development
of our Nation, starting from the vibrant Native American communities that first
inhabited the land, to Henry Hudson’s voyage up the river later named for him
in the vessel Half Moon in 1609 and later with the American Revolution, the
debate on our Constitution, the first successful steamboat voyage by Robert
Fulton in 1807, the Industrial Revolution, the establishment of the Erie Canal
and growth of metropolitan New York, and the inception of the modern labor and
environmental movements.
(4)The Hudson River
Valley continues to serve as a vitally important corridor of commerce for the
Nation, and it has contributed significantly to the development and innovation
of new technologies and industries.
(5)The Hudson River
Valley gave birth to important movements in American art, architecture, and
literature.
(6)The Hudson River
Valley encompasses a rich array of sensitive natural resources ranging from the
river itself and its vast estuarine district, to its wetlands, refuges, parks,
forests, farmlands, preserves, cliffs, valleys, and wildlife.
(7)The depictions and
descriptions of the Hudson River Valley’s renowned scenery and natural
resources played a central role in the recognition of the value of the
landscape and the development of an American esthetic and environmental
ideal.
(8)A
1996 National Park Service study called the Hudson River Valley the
landscape that defined America.
.
(9)The Hudson River
Valley has been the subject of multiple State and Federal inventories, studies,
and plans that should greatly assist a National Park Service special resource
study.
4.
(a)As soon as funds are made available for this purpose, the
Secretary shall commence a study of the Hudson River Valley in the State of New
York to evaluate—
(1)the national
significance of the area; and
(2)the suitability
and feasibility of designating the area as a unit of the National Park
System.
(b)In conducting the study under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall—
(1)use the criteria
for the study of areas for potential inclusion in the National Park System
included in section 8 of Public Law 91–383, as amended by section 303 of the
National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–391; 112 Stat.
3501); and
(2)closely examine
park unit models, in particular national river and recreation areas, as well as
other landscape protection models, that—
(A)encompass large
areas of non-Federal lands within their designated boundaries;
(B)promote increased
heritage tourism and economic development;
(C)foster public and
private collaborative arrangements for achieving National Park Service
objectives; and
(D)protect and
respect the rights of private landowners, as well as municipalities.
5.Not later than 24 months after the date that
funds are first made available for this purpose, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the
findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study authorized by this
Act.