[Senate Report 106-374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 752
106th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 106-374
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EFFIGY MOUNDS NATIONAL MONUMENT ADDITIONS ACT
_______
August 25, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
Filed under authority of Senate of July 26, 2000
_______
Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1643]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 1643) to authorize the addition of
certain parcels to the Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with
amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 3, line 2, strike ``approximately 15 acres'' and
insert ``approximately 50 acres''.
2. On page 3, at the end of line 21, add the following:
``Any parcel included within the boundary pursuant to this
subsection shall be administered by the Secretary as part of
the national monument.''.
3. On page 4, line 3, strike ``$750,000'' and insert
``$1,000,000''.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. 1643 is to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to acquire approximately 1,100 acres of land on five
parcels abutting Effigy Mounds National Monument, and to direct
the Secretary to modify the boundaries of the site to include
the acquired lands.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Effigy Mounds National Monument, located in the State of
Iowa, was established by presidential proclamation in 1949, and
currently includes 1,481 acres in three units. The site
preserves outstanding examples of a significant phase of the
prehistoric American Indian mound building culture, and
protects wildlife and scenic and other natural values of the
area.
During the early 1990's the planning process for the
monument's General Management Plan considered several tracts of
land adjacent to the site for inclusion within the boundary.
Although the public favored acquisition of the lands, the NPS
at the time determined that the properties were not essential
to preserve and interpret, and were not likely to be under
severe development pressure. In the 1999 amendment to the
General Management Plan, the NPS reassessed its view in light
of new studies that shed light on the significance of the
resources located on the adjacent lands, recent economic
development trends in northeastern Iowa, and the failure of
efforts by other parties to secure the lands for long-term
preservation.
The 1,054 acre Ferguson/Kistler tract is the largest of the
five properties and contains a number of prehistoric mounds,
archeological sites, and historical sites, as well as a variety
of wildlife, including State-listed threatened and endangered
species. In order to prevent the tract from being lost to
development, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has signed a
contract to purchase the land with the intent to sell it to the
National Park Service. Of the remaining 80 acres on the other
four tracts, the State of Iowa owns 30 acres, and 50 acres are
privately owned.
S. 1643 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire
approximately 1,100 acres of land of five parcels abutting
Effigy Mounds National Monument, and directs the Secretary to
modify the boundaries of the site to include the acquired
lands. The measure authorizes the appropriation of $1,000,000.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 1643 was introduced by Senators Grassley and Harkin on
September 27, 1999. A hearing was held before the Subcommittee
on National Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation on June
22, 2000. At the business meeting on July 13, 2000, the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 1643
favorably reported, as amended.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on July 13, 2000, by a majority vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1643, if
amended as described herein.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
During the consideration of S. 1643, the Committee adopted
three amendments. The first corrects an error concerning the
size of one of the tracts of land. The second directs the
Secretary of the Interior to administer the acquired parcels as
part of the monument. The third increases the authorization of
appropriations from $750,000 to $1 million.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 designates the bill's short title as ``Effigy
Mounds National Monument Additions Act''.
Section 2 defines terms used in the Act.
Section 3 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
acquire, from willing sellers only, five specific parcels of
land as described in subsection (b). The secretary is
authorized to modify the boundary of Effigy Mounds National
Monument to include each parcel once it is acquired. There is
authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out the
purposes of the legislation.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 19, 2000.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S.1643, the Effigy
Mounds National Monument Additions Act.
Iif you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 1643--Effigy Mounds National Monument Additions Act
S. 1643 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
purchase five parcels of land totaling about 1,130 acres to be
added to the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa. For this
purpose, the bill would authorize the appropriation of $1
million.
Assumng appropriation of the necessary amounts and based on
information provided by the National Park Service, CBO
estimates that implementing S. 1643 would cost the federal
government about $2 million over the next five years. Of this
amount, $1 million would be used to purchase the five parcels
authorized for inclusion in the monument's boundaries and $0.5
million would be used to construct a visitor contact station on
the largest parcel, the Ferguson/Kistler tract. Finally, annual
costs to operate the monument would increase by about $250,000
as a result of the bill.
S. 1643 would not affect direct spending or receipts;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. The bill
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no
significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 1643. The bill is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 1643, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
On June 23, 2000, the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 1643. These
reports had not been received at the time the report on S. 1643
was filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the
National Park Service at the Subcommittee hearing follows:
Statement of Stephen Saunders, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish,
Wildlife and Parks, Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear
before the subcommittee to present the views of the Department
of the Interior on S. 1643, a bill to authorize the addition of
certain parcels to the Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa.
S. 1643 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
acquire approximately 1,100 acres on five tracts of land
abutting Effigy Mounds National Monument. The Department of the
Interior supports enactment of this legislation with amendments
to correct the size of the Riverfront tract from 15 acres to 50
acres and to increase the authorization of appropriations from
$750,000 to $1 million. This increase would ensure sufficient
funds are authorized for the purchase of all of the tracts in
the long term.
This position is consistent with the park's August 1999
general management plan (GMP) amendment and environmental
assessment (EA) and a June 1999 boundary review. The largest
tract, the approximately 1,054-acre Ferguson/Kistler property,
has been in the State forest reserve program for the past 20
years and therefore has not been on the county tax rolls. The
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has recently signed a contract
to purchase this land for approximately $1.2 million with the
intent to sell this property to the National Park Service for
$750,000. Of the remaining 80 acres on the other four tracts,
the State of Iowa owns 30 acres and 50 acres are privately
owned.
Effigy Mounds National Monument was established by
presidential proclamation in 1949. It was established to
preserve a representative and outstanding example of a
significant phase of the prehistoric American Indian mound
building culture, to protect wildlife, scenic and other natural
values of the area and to provide for scientific study of its
features.
Indian burial mounds are found in a large part of the
United states; however, effigy mounds are found only in a
relatively small area in northeastern Iowa, southeastern
Minnesota, and eastern Wisconsin. Effigy Mounds National
Monument includes 1,481 acres in three units; the north and
south units which overlook the Mississippi River, and the Sny
Magill unit, which lies on the river bottom land. These three
areas preserve over 200 mound sites and represent three known
mound building cultures. There are four distinct mound types
including outstanding examples of effigy mounds, or mounds in
the shape of birds and bears. The monument's ``Marching Bears
Mound Group'' is one of the finest in the country and the Sny
Magill contains the largest extant concentration of Indian
mounds (about 100) in the United States. The mounds are a
legacy of the belief systems and practices of prehistoric,
indigenous peoples.
The landscape of the monument reveals evidence of a
continuum of cultures and their relationships to the
environment over a span of at least 2,500 years. The monument's
varied landforms and habitats, characteristic of the
unglaciated ``driftless zone,'' provide exceptional diversity
of plant and animal species. These natural resources are
important both for understanding past lifeways that depended on
them and monitoring the health of present ecosystems.
During the planning process for the GMP in the early 1990s,
several tracts of land adjacent to the monument were considered
for inclusion within the boundary. Public response from
organizations such as the Allamakee County Tourism and Economic
Development Commission and the Audubon Society favored the
acquisition of these tracts. However, at that time it was
decided that the properties were not essential to preserve and
interpret, were not likely to be under severe development
pressure in the next ten years, and could be preserved through
other means. Today, ten years later, the NPS has reassessed
this view in light of studies assessing the significance of
resources on these lands, recent economic development trends in
northeast Iowa, and the failure of serious efforts by other
parties to secure important parcels for long-term preservation.
The 1,054 acre Ferguson/Kistler tract, which is adjacent to
the park, is a key property. This land contains a number of
prehistoric mounds; two bear effigy mounds in very good
condition which have a rare orientation of the bears, which are
lying on their left side; Iowa state recorded archaeological
sites; historical sites including potential village sites; rock
shelters and the Jefferson Davis Sawmill. Natural resources
present include river otters and jeweled shooting stars, both
on Iowa's threatened species list, and red-shoulder hawks,
which is on the state endangered list. To prevent this tract
from being lost for use of forest resources, second-home
development, or new agri-industrial facilities, which are
intensifying in northeast Iowa, the Iowa Natural Heritage
Foundation has signed a contract for this property.
Management objectives for Effigy Mounds National Monument
emphasize preservation of the cultural and natural resources,
and the historic scene of the monument. In the GMP amendment
and EA are plans that address the visitor use, interpretation
and development of each unit of the park. Ultimately, the
Ferguson/Kistler tract will have appropriate provisions for
visitor access to the tract, including trails leading to the
effigy mounds. With cooperative efforts among public land
managers and local jurisdictions, this area could provide
recreational trails and new canoeing, camping, birding and
wildlife viewing opportunities. A small increase in base
funding (less than $250,000) would be needed to provide
maintenance, interpretive, resources protection and resource
management services for the acquired areas. National Park
Service funds for land acquisition would be subject to the
availability of appropriations and National Park Service
priorities.
As seen from the blufftop viewpoints, the panorama of the
undeveloped Ferguson/Kistler property appears to be a seamless
extension of the cultural and natural landscape represented
within the monument. Both the resources and the viewshed are
significant to the mission and purpose of Effigy Mounds
National Monument and this property will help ensure that the
visual and historical integrity of the site is maintained.
Also, this acquisition, which is one of the largest remaining
blocks of unbroken forest in Northeast Iowa, will connect
Effigy Mounds National Monument with Yellow River State Forest,
with over 4,000 acres and 7.8 river miles of the Yellow River
in public trust. This linkage would enable the public to enjoy
recreation opportunities not available within the monument
while protecting ecosystems with endangered and threatened
species, cultural landscapes and a viewshed critical to the
monument.
This concludes my testimony. I would be happy to answer any
questions that you or members of the subcommittee may have.
Changes In Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 1643, as
ordered reported.