[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 7 (Monday, January 31, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S654-S655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself and Mr. Vitter):
  S. 207. A bill to adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit 
of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in the State 
of Louisiana, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today I rise, along with Senator Vitter, 
to introduce the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve 
Boundary Adjustment Act of 2005. This bill was passed unanimously by 
the Senate during the 108th Congress.
  The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve was 
established in 1978 to preserve for present and future generations 
significant examples of the rich natural and cultural resources of 
Louisiana's Mississippi delta region. The park seeks to illustrate the 
influence of environment and history on the development of a unique 
regional culture. It is named for Jean Lafitte who was a pirate, or 
privateer as he like to be called, that fought alongside U.S. forces in 
the Battle of New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812. The park 
consists of six physically separate sites and a park headquarters 
located in New Orleans. The sites in Lafayette, Thibodaux and Eunice 
interpret the Acadian culture of the area. The Barataria Preserve, in 
Marrero, interprets the natural and cultural history of the uplands, 
swamps and marshlands of the region. Six miles southeast of New Orleans 
is the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery, site of the 1815 
Battle of New Orleans and the final resting place for soldiers from the 
Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II and Vietnam. The 
park's visitor center, which is located in the historic French Quarter, 
interprets the history of New Orleans and diverse cultures of 
Mississippi delta region.
  It is the Barataria site that is the focus of our attention today. 
The Bill before us would merely adjust the boundary of the Barataria 
preserve unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and 
by doing so protect a crucial component of one of the largest and most 
productive expanses of coastal wetlands in North America--coastal 
Louisiana or as they are known: America's Wetlands. The Barataria 
preserve is the only part of our coastal wetlands preserved in the 
National Park System. As we strive to find ways to stem the tide of 
coastal erosion in Louisiana, and bring about the restoration of 
wetlands already lost, it is equally important that we protect those 
areas that remain such as the Barataria preserve so that Americans can 
experience, first hand, the amazing beauty and fertility of Louisiana's 
bountiful coastal wetlands--the most threatened wetland ecosystem in 
the country--disappearing at a rate of 25 to 35 square miles a year. 
Located on the outskirts of New Orleans, where it is accessible not 
only to the people of New Orleans but also to the millions of tourists 
from around the world that visit New Orleans and south Louisiana, 
Barataria serves as an interpretive experience of this greatest of 
coastal wetlands.
  This bill expands this national treasure without any cost to the 
Federal Government while preserving private property rights. It simply 
transfers to the Park over 3,000 acres of wetlands already in Federal 
ownership, already paid for by the American people. These lands, which 
are adjacent to the Preserve, became Federal as a result of the 
settlement by the Justice Department of two lawsuits brought by the 
landowners against Federal agencies. However, because these acres are 
not managed by the park, they are presently unavailable for public use. 
An Act of Congress is necessary to allow inclusion of these lands into 
a new boundary.
  My bill does just that, opening these lands for canoeing, wildlife 
viewing, exploration, fishing, and hunting, all under the management 
and protection of the park service. The bill grants long-term 
protection to crucial resources that the Park Service has found 
suitable and feasible for inclusion within a new boundary through a 
1996 boundary study.
  The Park is immediately adjacent to the developed areas of the 
Westbank of Jefferson Parish along much of its boundary while the 
Barataria unit in particular is right next door to a hurricane levee. 
Making more of the park boundary contiguous with the levee

[[Page S655]]

that divides developed land from undeveloped wetlands enhances 
opportunities for direct cooperation between these communities and the 
Park for management of shared concerns. These concerns include the 
routing of storm-water run-off; the discharge of treated sewage; 
estuarine water quality and its effects on fisheries and recreational 
uses; wetland restoration and mitigation; and a number of other 
problems and opportunities. The Park has worked with Jefferson Parish 
in seeking creative solutions to these problems and will continue to do 
so. The addition of these properties will only enhance their chances 
for success.
  It is for all of these reasons that I am hopeful the Senate can 
approve of this measure in the near future. The expansion we seek in 
this Bill benefits us today as well as tomorrow.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 207

       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 ``Jean Lafitte National 
     Historical Park and Preserve Boundary Adjustment Act of 
     2005''.

     SEC. 2. JEAN LAFITTE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK AND PRESERVE 
                   BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.

       (a) In General.--Section 901 of the National Parks and 
     Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 230) is amended in the 
     second sentence by striking ``twenty thousand acres generally 
     depicted on the map entitled `Barataria Marsh Unit-Jean 
     Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve' numbered 
     90,000B and dated April 1978,'' and inserting ``23,000 acres 
     generally depicted on the map entitled `Boundary Map, 
     Barataria Preserve Unit, Jean Lafitte National Historical 
     Park and Preserve', numbered 467/80100, and dated August 
     2002,''.
       (b) Acquisition of Land.--Section 902 of the National Parks 
     and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 230a) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by striking ``(a) Within the'' and all that follows 
     through the first sentence and inserting the following:
       ``(a) In General.--
       ``(1) Barataria preserve unit.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may acquire any land, 
     water, and interests in land and water within the boundary of 
     the Barataria Preserve Unit, as depicted on the map described 
     in section 901, by donation, purchase with donated or 
     appropriated funds, transfer from any other Federal agency, 
     or exchange.
       ``(B) Limitations.--
       ``(i) In general.--With respect to the areas on the map 
     identified as `Bayou aux Carpes Addition' and `CIT Tract 
     Addition'--

       ``(I) any Federal land acquired in the areas shall be 
     transferred without consideration to the administrative 
     jurisdiction of the National Park Service; and
       ``(II) any private land in the areas may be acquired by the 
     Secretary only with the consent of the owner of the land.

       ``(ii) Easements.--Any Federal land in the area identified 
     on the map as `CIT Tract Addition' that is transferred under 
     clause (i)(I) shall be subject to any easements that have 
     been agreed to by the Secretary and the Secretary of the 
     Army.'';
       (B) in the second sentence, by striking ``The Secretary may 
     also'' and inserting the following:
       ``(2) French quarter.--The Secretary may'';
       (C) in the third sentence, by striking ``Lands, waters, and 
     interests therein'' and inserting the following:
       ``(3) Acquisition of state land.--Land, water, and 
     interests in land and water''; and
       (D) in the fourth sentence, by striking ``In acquiring'' 
     and inserting the following:
       ``(4) Acquisition of oil and gas rights.--In acquiring'';
       (2) by striking subsections (b) through (f) and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(b) Resource Protection.--With respect to the land, 
     water, and interests in land and water of the Barataria 
     Preserve Unit, the Secretary shall preserve and protect--
       ``(1) fresh water drainage patterns;
       ``(2) vegetative cover;
       ``(3) the integrity of ecological and biological systems; 
     and
       ``(4) water and air quality.''; and
       (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (c).
       (c) Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping.--Section 905 of the 
     National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 230d) is 
     amended in the first sentence by striking ``within the core 
     area and on those lands acquired by the Secretary pursuant to 
     section 902(c) of this title, he'' and inserting ``the 
     Secretary''.
       (d) Administration.--Section 906 of the National Parks and 
     Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 230e) is amended--
       (1) by striking the first sentence; and
       (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``Pending such 
     establishment and thereafter the'' and inserting ``The''.

     SEC. 3. REFERENCES IN LAW.

       (a) In General.--Any reference in a law (including 
     regulations), map, document, paper, or other record of the 
     United States--
       (1) to the Barataria Marsh Unit shall be considered to be a 
     reference to the Barataria Preserve Unit; or
       (2) to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park shall be 
     considered to be a reference to the Jean Lafitte National 
     Historical Park and Preserve.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--Title IX of the National Parks 
     and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 230 et seq.) is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking ``Barataria Marsh Unit'' each place it 
     appears and inserting ``Barataria Preserve Unit''; and
       (2) by striking ``Jean Lafitte National Historical Park'' 
     each place it appears and inserting ``Jean Lafitte National 
     Historical Park and Preserve''.
                                 ______