[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 2 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E25]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MONGAUP VISITORS CENTER H.R. 20 AND UPPER DELAWARE CAC, H.R. 54

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to introduce two bills--
one to authorize the Mongaup Visitor's Center, H.R. 20 and the other to 
extend the Upper Delaware Citizen's Advisory Counsel, H.R. 54.
  Mr. Speaker, as you may know, in 1978, along with our good friend and 
colleague, Congressman Joe McDade, I introduced Federal legislation 
establishing the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River as a 
component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
  The property proposed as the location of the Upper Delaware Scenic 
and Recreational River's primary visitor facility--the Mongaup Visitor 
Center--is owned by the State of New York's Department of Environmental 
Conservation. The property was acquired by the State in 1986 as part of 
a much larger purchase of a 10,000-acre tract intended to provide 
habitat for a population of wintering bald eagles. New York State 
legislation authorizing Federal development of the property as a 
visitor center by means of a long-term lease was passed in 1993. A 
legislative support data package was prepared in 1994 for Federal 
legislation authorizing development of the site, to appropriate funds 
for development and to increase the Upper Delaware's operational base 
to provide for year-round operation.
  The site for the Mongaup Visitor Center contains abundant natural and 
cultural resources and this proposal will identify and develop 
strategies to protect the Mongaup area's natural resources, including: 
wintering bald eagles; upland forest; hemlock and laurel gorges and 
steep slopes; riverline and flood plain forest, and a mile or river 
front with natural sand beaches. The possible presence of prehistoric 
elements will also be evaluated.
  The visitor center will benefit the community in many respects. It 
will serve as an educational asset, a local museum, a classroom, and 
meeting place. Bordered by the Delaware River, the Mongaup River, and 
New York State highway route 97 in the town of Deerpark in Orange 
County, New York--it is the only center of its kind within an hour's 
drive from New York City. Both the proposed visitor center Mongaup site 
and the Upper Delaware valley have enormous unrealized potential to 
provide both the local and visiting public with an exceptional 
experience.
  I am also introducing a bill, H.R. 54, that will extend the Upper 
Delaware Citizens Advisory Council for another ten years. The Upper 
Delaware CAC provides an excellent forum for citizens of the Upper 
Delaware to have an opportunity to impact and interact with the 
National Park Service and Department of the Interior.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to help pass these two measures 
which will benefit the State of New York on economic, environmental and 
educational levels.

                                H.R. 20

       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 ``Upper Delaware Scenic and 
     Recreational River Mongaup Visitor Center Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Secretary of the Interior approved a management 
     plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, as 
     required by section 704 of Public Law 95-625 (16 U.S.C. 1274 
     note), on September 29, 1987.
       (2) The river management plan called for the development of 
     a primary visitor contact facility located at the southern 
     end of the river corridor.
       (3) The river management plan determined that the visitor 
     center would be built and operated by the National Park 
     Service.
       (4) The Act that designated the Upper Delaware Scenic and 
     Recreational River and the approved river management plan 
     limits the Secretary of the Interior's authority to acquire 
     land within the boundary of the river corridor.
       (5) The State of New York authorized on June 21, 1993, a 
     99-year lease between the New York State Department of 
     Environmental Conservation and the National Park Service for 
     the construction and operation of a visitor center by the 
     Federal Government on State-owned land in the Town of 
     Deerpark, Orange County, New York, in the vicinity of 
     Mongaup, which is the preferred site for the visitor center.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF VISITOR CENTER FOR UPPER DELAWARE 
                   SCENIC AND RECREATIONAL RIVER.

       For the purpose of constructing and operating a visitor 
     center for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River 
     and subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
     Secretary of the Interior may--
       (1) enter into a lease with the State of New York, for a 
     term of 99 years, for State-owned land within the boundaries 
     of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River located 
     at an area known as Mongaup near the confluence of the 
     Mongaup and Upper Delaware Rivers in the State of New York; 
     and
       (2) construct and operate such a visitor center on land 
     leased under paragraph (2).


                                H.R. 54

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION FOR UPPER DELAWARE 
                   CITIZENS ADVISORY COUNCIL

       The last sentence of paragraph (1) of section 704(f) of the 
     National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1274 
     note) is amended by striking ``20'' and inserting ``30''.

     

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