[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 106 (Monday, July 19, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5995-S5996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. Leahy):
  S. 3612. A bill to amend the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National 
Historical Park Establishment Act to expand the boundary of the Marsh-
Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in the State of Vermont, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join my colleague and 
good friend Senator Sanders to introduce the boundary expansion of the 
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in the State of 
Vermont. This amendment will add 159 acres and several historic 
farmstead structures to the 555-acre National Park.
  This park is an extraordinary place in Vermont where a unique and 
enduring connection has been forged between the land and its 
inhabitants. The picturesque and historic landscape of the Marsh-
Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is nestled in the rolling 
hills near Woodstock, in Vermont's Windsor County. It is a small park 
with the powerful mission of recognizing and continuing the legacy of 
three generations of stewardship thought, and stewardship in action. 
The successive owners of this estate,

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for whom the park is named, were each in their own right giants of 
conservation ideas and practice. This legislation will expand the 
park's land area to help our generation and future generations to 
better fulfill and carry forward its mission.
  The boyhood home of George Perkins Marsh, one of America's first 
conservationists, and later the home of Frederick Billings, the 
property was given to the American people by its most recent owners, 
Laurance S. and Mary F. Rockefeller. The park was created by an Act of 
Congress and signed into law by President George Bush on August 26, 
1992. It is a living symbol of America's conservation ethic. The Marsh-
Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park tells a story of 
conservation history and the evolving nature of land stewardship in 
America.
  The park puts the idea of conservation stewardship into a modern 
context, interpreting the idea of place and the ways in which people 
can balance natural resource conservation with the requirements of our 
21st Century world. It is also a repository for the histories of these 
three American families. Visitors can tour the mansion and gardens and 
learn more about conservation by hiking in the sustainably managed 
forest, and they can visit the land stewardship exhibit at the Carriage 
Barn Visitor Center. The park operates in partnership with The 
Woodstock Foundation and the adjacent Billings Farm and Museum--a 
working dairy farm and a museum of agricultural and rural life that 
offers visitors the opportunity to experience both farm and forest 
landscapes, in side-by-side settings.
  This new legislation would expand the boundaries of the park to 
incorporate the neighboring King Farm. The land and structures of this 
historic Woodstock farm will allow the National Park Service to expand 
the scope and delivery of its telling of the conservation story. The 
farm will provide a setting for programs in sustainable agriculture and 
a venue for community groups and others to undertake related projects 
and educational opportunities activities that have been limited in the 
past by the sensitivity of the historic structures constituting the 
Rockefeller estate. Model forestry activities and the trail network 
will also be enhanced through this boundary expansion.
  This legislation also formally establishes the Conservation Studies 
Institute within the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical 
Park. The Institute has evolved within the National Park Service over 
the past decade to enhance leadership in conservation throughout the 
National Park Service and to facilitate stewardship partnerships in 
local communities. It is through these partnerships that the Institute 
inspires collaborative conservation to engage communities and help them 
build their vision for the future. The park, the Institute and their 
Vermont setting are a great fit and a valuable setting in which to 
offer prototypes for conservation and sustainable practices on so many 
fronts.
  A Vermont author and professor, John Elder, said this at the park's 
dedication on June 5th 1998:

       There is a mandate to invent an entirely new kind of park. 
     It must be one where the human stories and the natural 
     history are intertwined; where the relatively small acreage 
     serves as an educational resource for the entire National 
     Park Service and a seedbed for American environmental 
     thought; and where the legacy of American conservation and 
     its future enter into dialogue, generating a new 
     environmental paradigm for our day.

  This is a unique opportunity to enhance the mission of the Marsh-
Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and its service to the 
American people.

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