[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8394-8395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 137--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF HOT SPRINGS 
NATIONAL PARK ON THE 175TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENACTMENT OF THE ACT THAT 
        AUTHORIZED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HOT SPRINGS RESERVATION

  Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself and Mr. Pryor) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources:

                              S. Res. 137

       Whereas, with the establishment of the Hot Springs 
     Reservation, the concept in the United States of setting 
     aside a nationally significant place for the future enjoyment 
     of the citizens of the United States was first carried out 
     175 years ago in Hot Springs, Arkansas;
       Whereas the Hot Springs Reservation protected 47 hot 
     springs in the area of Hot Springs, Arkansas;
       Whereas, in the first section of the Act of April 20, 1832 
     (4 Stat. 505, chapter 70), Congress required that ``the hot 
     springs in said territory, together with four sections of 
     land, including said springs, as near the centre thereof as 
     may be, shall be reserved for the future disposal of the 
     United States, and shall not be entered, located, or 
     appropriated, for any other purpose whatever'';
       Whereas the Hot Springs Reservation was the first protected 
     area in the United States;

[[Page 8395]]

       Whereas the Act that authorized the establishment of the 
     Hot Springs Reservation was enacted before the establishment 
     of the Department of the Interior in 1849, and before the 
     establishment of Yellowstone National Park as the first 
     national park of the United States in 1872;
       Whereas, in 1921, the Hot Springs Reservation was renamed 
     ``Hot Springs National Park'' and became the 18th national 
     park of the United States; and
       Whereas the tradition of preservation and conservation that 
     inspired the development of the National Park System, which 
     now includes 390 units, began with the Act that authorized 
     the establishment of the Hot Springs Reservation: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That on 175th anniversary of the Act of Congress 
     that authorized the establishment of the Hot Springs 
     Reservation, the Senate recognizes the important 
     contributions of the Hot Springs Reservation and the Hot 
     Springs National Park to the history of conservation in the 
     United States.

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