[Senate Report 115-48]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                         Calendar No. 61
                                                        
115th Congress    }                                            {   Report
                                  SENATE
 1st Session      }                                            {   115-48

======================================================================



 
    SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT AND PARKER'S 
                 CROSSROADS BATTLEFIELD DESIGNATION ACT

                                _______
                                

                  May 9, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

        Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                   Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany H.R. 88]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (H.R. 88) to modify the boundary of the 
Shiloh National Military Park located in Tennessee and 
Mississippi, to establish Parker's Crossroads Battlefield as an 
affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends 
that the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shiloh National Military Park 
Boundary Adjustment and Parker's Crossroads Battlefield Designation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
          (1) Affiliated area.--The term ``affiliated area'' means the 
        Parker's Crossroads Battlefield established as an affiliated 
        area of the National Park System by section 4(a).
          (2) Park.--The term ``Park'' means Shiloh National Military 
        Park, a unit of the National Park System.
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.

SEC. 3. AREAS TO BE ADDED TO SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK.

    (a) Additional Areas.--The boundary of the Park is modified to 
include the areas that are generally depicted on the map entitled 
``Shiloh National Military Park, Proposed Boundary Adjustment'', 
numbered 304/80,011, and dated July 2014, and which are comprised of 
the following:
          (1) Fallen Timbers Battlefield.
          (2) Russell House Battlefield.
          (3) Davis Bridge Battlefield.
    (b) Acquisition Authority.--The Secretary may acquire the land 
described in subsection (a) by donation, purchase from willing sellers 
with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange.
    (c) Administration.--Any land acquired under this section shall be 
administered as part of the Park.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF AFFILIATED AREA.

    (a) In General.--Parker's Crossroads Battlefield in the State of 
Tennessee is established as an affiliated area of the National Park 
System.
    (b) Description of Affiliated Area.--The affiliated area shall 
consist of the area generally depicted within the ``Proposed Boundary'' 
on the map entitled ``Parker's Crossroads Battlefield, Proposed 
Boundary'', numbered 903/80,073, and dated July 2014.
    (c) Administration.--The affiliated area shall be managed in 
accordance with--
          (1) this Act; and
          (2) any law generally applicable to units of the National 
        Park System.
    (d) Management Entity.--The City of Parkers Crossroads and the 
Tennessee Historical Commission shall jointly be the management entity 
for the affiliated area.
    (e) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary may provide technical 
assistance and enter into cooperative agreements with the management 
entity for the purpose of providing financial assistance for the 
marketing, marking, interpretation, and preservation of the affiliated 
area.
    (f) Limited Role of the Secretary.--Nothing in this Act authorizes 
the Secretary to acquire property at the affiliated area or to assume 
overall financial responsibility for the operation, maintenance, or 
management of the affiliated area.
    (g) General Management Plan.--
          (1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
        management entity, shall develop a general management plan for 
        the affiliated area in accordance with section 100502 of title 
        54, United States Code.
          (2) Transmittal.--Not later than 3 years after the date on 
        which funds are made available to carry out this Act, the 
        Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 
        Natural Resources of the Senate the general management plan 
        developed under paragraph (1).

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of H.R. 88 is to modify the boundary of the 
Shiloh National Military Park located in the States of 
Tennessee and Mississippi, to establish Parker's Crossroads 
Battlefield as an affiliated area of the National Park System.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Civil War battle of Shiloh was fought from April 6 to 7 
in 1862. The Federal Army of the Tennessee, under the command 
of Major General U.S. Grant, was surprised by an attack led by 
Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, and after General 
Johnston's fatal wound, General P.G.T. Beauregard. General 
Grant had led his Army into Tennessee, and was waiting to join 
forces with the Army of the Ohio under General Don Carlos 
Buell. Initial Confederate attacks inflicted large losses on 
Grant's troops, but they were able to hold a defensive line 
until reinforcements from the Army of the Ohio joined to force 
the retreat of the Confederate army.
    Shiloh was the bloodiest battle in American history to that 
date. The savagery of the battle shocked observers and the 
casualties totaled more than 23,000 soldiers. The following 
day, General Grant ordered General Sherman to locate the 
Confederate forces to determine whether they were regrouping to 
attack again. Approaching the Confederate Camp, the infantry 
troops under General Sherman were nearly ambushed trying to get 
through a field of fallen timbers. Losing roughly 100 men, 
General Sherman was able to push through and confirm that the 
Confederates were on the retreat.
    Shiloh National Military Park currently preserves 5,442 
acres of the battlefield and is considered to be one of the 
best preserved battlefields in the United States. This site 
does not include the entire area of the battle, the Fallen 
Timbers Battlefield, or the line of march of the Federals and 
Confederate forces.
    H.R. 88 would add 2,100 acres to the 5,442 acres that 
comprise Shiloh National Military Park, and would incorporate 
some pivotal areas of the Battle of Shiloh that currently lack 
adequate preservation, including the battlefields at Fallen 
Timbers, Russell House, and Davis Bridge.
    The bill would also establish the Parker's Crossroads 
Battlefield as an affiliated site of the National Park System 
on nearly 350 acres of land where the December 31, 1862 Battle 
of Parker's Crossroads occurred.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Representative Blackburn introduced H.R. 88 on January 3, 
2017. On February 27, 2017, H.R. 88 passed the House of 
Representatives on a voice vote.
    On January 11, 2017 a related bill, S. 100, was introduced 
by Senator Alexander.
    In the 114th Congress, similar legislation, S. 1943, was 
introduced by Senator Alexander on August 5, 2015. The 
Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 1785 on 
March 17, 2016. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
met in open business session on July 13, 2016, and ordered S. 
1943 favorably reported as amended (S. Rept. 114-321).
    A companion bill, H.R. 87, was introduced in the House of 
Representatives by Representative Blackburn on January 6, 2015. 
The Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a hearing on H.R. 87 on 
February 11, 2016. The House Natural Resources Committee 
reported H.R. 87, as amended, on March 16, 2016 (S. Rept. 114-
516), and the House of Representatives passed the bill as 
amended, by voice vote on June 7, 2016. H.R. 87 was referred to 
the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on June 8, 
2016.
    In the 113th Congress, Senator Alexander introduced S. 1785 
on December 10, 2013. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a 
hearing on the bill on July 23, 2014 (S. Hrg. 113-493). A 
companion bill, H.R. 63, was introduced in the House of 
Representatives by Representative Blackburn on January 3, 2013.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on March 30, 2017, and ordered H.R. 88 
favorably reported as amended.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 
88, if amended as described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

    During its consideration of H.R. 88, the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources adopted an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute to conform the language to the version reported 
by the Committee during the 114th Congress. This amendment is 
further described in the section-by-section analysis.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides a short title for the measure.

Section 2. Definitions

    Section 2 provides the definitions of key terms.

Section 3. Areas to be added to Shiloh National Military Park

    Section 3(a) modifies the boundary of the Shiloh National 
Military Park to include the Fallen Timbers, Russell House, and 
Davis Bridge Battlefields.
    Subsection (b) authorizes the Secretary to acquire the land 
by donation, purchase from willing sellers with donated or 
appropriated funds, or exchange.
    Subsection (c) directs that the acquired lands shall be 
administered as a part of the Park.

Section 4. Establishment of affiliated area

    Section 4(a) establishes Parker's Crossroads Battlefield as 
an affiliated area of the National Park System.
    Subsection (b) provides a map-based description of the 
affiliated area.
    Subsection (c) authorizes the management associated with 
the addition of the affiliated area.
    Subsection (d) deems the City of Parkers Crossroads and the 
Tennessee Historical Commission to be the joint management 
entity for the affiliated area.
    Subsection (e) authorizes the Secretary to provide 
technical assistance and enter into cooperative agreements with 
the management entity.
    Subsection (f) clarifies that the Act does not authorize 
the Secretary to acquire property at the affiliated area or to 
assume overall financial responsibility for the affiliated 
area.
    Subsection (g) directs the Secretary, in consultation with 
the management entity to develop a general management plan for 
the affiliated area and to transmit that plan to the 
Congressional committees of jurisdiction within three years of 
receiving funding to carry out the Act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
    H.R. 88 would revise the boundary of the Shiloh National 
Military Park in Mississippi to include three additional Civil 
War battlefield areas over approximately 2,100 acres. The 
legislation stipulates that the National Park Service (NPS) may 
acquire the additional land through donation, with donated 
funds, with appropriated amounts, or through a land exchange. 
The legislation also would designate Parker's Crossroads 
Battlefield in Henderson County, Tennessee, as an affiliated 
area of the National Park System and would direct the NPS to 
develop a management plan for the area.
    Based on recent sale prices of comparable tracts of land in 
the areas where land would be purchased, and information from 
the NPS, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would 
cost $3 million over the 2018-2022 period, assuming the land 
was acquired with appropriated funds over the next five years. 
Based on an analysis of information from the NPS, the cost of 
developing the management plan required by the legislation 
would be insignificant.
    Enacting H.R. 88 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 88 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 88 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 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 H.R. 88. 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 H.R. 88, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    H.R. 88, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    Because H.R. 88 is similar to legislation considered by the 
Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request 
Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the National 
Park Service at the hearing before the Subcommittee on National 
Parks on March 17, 2016, follows:

  Statement of Peggy O'Dell, Deputy Director for Operations, National 
             Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to present the views of the Department of the 
Interior on S. 1943, a bill to modify the boundary of Shiloh 
National Military Park in the States of Tennessee and 
Mississippi, to establish Parker's Crossroads Battlefield in 
the state of Tennessee as an affiliated area of the National 
Park System, and for other purposes.
    The Department supports S. 1943 with technical amendments.
    S. 1943 would add three sites related to the Siege and 
Battle of Corinth to the boundary of Shiloh National Military 
Park. In 1991, the ``Siege and Battle of Corinth Sites'' was 
designated a National Historic Landmark. The Corinth 
Battlefield Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-271) 
authorized the creation of the Corinth Unit, as part of Shiloh 
National Military Park, to ``interpret the Siege and Battle of 
Corinth and other Civil War actions in the area in and around 
the city of Corinth, Mississippi.'' The legislation defined a 
large partnership role with state, local, and private park 
partners in the planning, development and interpretation of the 
unit. The law also authorized a special resource study to 
identify and determine any other areas that would be 
appropriate for inclusion in the unit.
    The ``Corinth Special Resource Study and Boundary 
Adjustment Environmental Assessment,'' completed in 2004, 
identified 18 sites that have a high degree of integrity and 
significant resources that would provide opportunities for 
public enjoyment, and recommended that these be included in the 
boundary of the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park. 
In 2007, Congress amended the Corinth Battlefield Protection 
Act of 2000 (Public Law 110-161, Section 127) to expand the 
boundary of the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park 
to include 12 of those sites.
    S. 1943 would modify the boundary of Shiloh National 
Military Park to include three of the six remaining sites 
identified in the 2004 special resource study. These three 
sites--the battlefields of Fallen Timbers, Russell House, and 
Davis Bridge--would contribute significantly to telling the 
remarkable story of the United States Army's Mississippi Valley 
Campaign during the Civil War, especially the Battle of Shiloh, 
Tennessee, and the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi. The 
Mississippi Valley Campaign was a major milestone on the road 
that led to the final success of the Union Army in the war and 
the ultimate reunification of the nation.
    The first battlefield that S. 1943 would include in 
Shiloh's authorized boundary is Fallen Timbers. On April 8, 
1862, after two days of fierce fighting at Shiloh, Major 
General Ulysses S. Grant dispatched Brigadier General William 
T. Sherman on a reconnaissance to investigate Confederate 
intentions. Sherman encountered a large Confederate field 
hospital protected by a force of Southern cavalry under 
Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest in an area called 
Fallen Timbers. Sherman advanced against the Confederate force 
and captured the field hospital with its surgeons and about 250 
wounded Southern soldiers and about 50 wounded U.S. soldiers 
that had been previously captured by the Confederates. After 
this engagement, the Confederates retreated to Corinth and 
Sherman returned to Shiloh Church. Thus, the final shots of the 
Battle of Shiloh were fired at Fallen Timbers. A cautious and 
methodical U.S. Army advance would mark the beginning of the 
advance upon, and siege of Corinth.
    The Fallen Timbers Battlefield site consists of 468 acres 
of agricultural and forested land, a small portion of which is 
developed. The Civil War Trust has acquired approximately 270 
acres of this land with the intention of donating it to the 
federal government. The remaining 198 acres that would be 
included in the boundary are in private ownership.
    The second battlefield that S. 1943 would include in 
Shiloh's authorized boundary is the Russell House. On May 17, 
1862, during the advance upon Corinth, U.S. forces, led by 
Major General Sherman, fought a Confederate brigade and 
compelled the southern force to abandon its strong outpost at 
the Russell House situated on the Tennessee-Mississippi state 
line. Because the position possessed a great natural strength, 
Sherman's men lost no time fortifying it and driving the enemy 
further south toward Corinth.
    The pastoral setting of the Russell House Battlefield 
retains a high degree of integrity, contains the extant remains 
of field fortifications, and has high potential for 
archeological survey and research. The approximately 666-acre 
tract that would be included in the boundary is in private 
ownership.
    The third battlefield that S. 1943 would include in 
Shiloh's authorized boundary is Davis Bridge. On October 5, 
1862, U.S. troops attacked a retreating Confederate force at 
Davis Bridge on the Hatchie River. The Federals drove the 
Confederates back across the river, seized the bridge, and 
charged into a thicket east of the river. Confederates 
defending the heights overlooking the crossing to the east 
inflicted heavy casualties on the Federals and checked their 
further advance, thereby permitting the defeated Confederate 
force to retreat south into Mississippi. The engagement at 
Davis Bridge was the last Confederate offensive in Mississippi.
    In 1998, a 598-acre portion of the Davis Bridge Battlefield 
was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 
bridge across the Hatchie River has long since washed away and 
the banks of the river have undergone erosion, but the 1,090 
acres proposed to be included in the park boundary retain a 
high degree of integrity with much of the acreage remaining in 
agricultural cultivation or woodlands. The State of Tennessee 
owns approximately 845 of these acres. An approximately five-
acre plot, which is a contributing property to the Siege and 
Battle of Corinth National Historic Landmark, has been donated 
to the National Park Service by the Davis Bridge Memorial 
Foundation.
    If this legislation is enacted, we anticipate that we would 
acquire the majority of land by donation and that we would not 
develop visitor services or facilities at the three sites for 
the foreseeable future. Therefore, land acquisition and 
development costs would be minimal. Our current estimate for 
administrative costs associated with land donation at the three 
sites is $60,000 to cover title searches, environmental site 
assessments, and closing actions, subject to the availability 
of appropriations.
    S. 1943 would also establish Parker's Crossroads 
Battlefield in the State of Tennessee as an affiliated area of 
the National Park System. The bill designates the city of 
Parkers Crossroads and the Tennessee Historical Commission as 
the management entity for the affiliated area and authorizes 
the Secretary of the Interior to provide technical assistance 
and enter into cooperative agreements with the management 
entity for the purpose of providing financial assistance for 
the marketing, marking, interpretation, and preservation of the 
affiliated area. As an affiliated area, Parker's Crossroads 
Battlefield would continue under non-federal ownership and 
management, but the owner would be required to administer the 
site consistent with laws applicable to units of the National 
Park System.
    Affiliated areas comprise a variety of locations in the 
United States that preserve significant properties outside of 
the National Park System. Some of these have been designated by 
Acts of Congress and others have been designated 
administratively. All draw on technical assistance or financial 
aid from the National Park Service.
    The Parker's Crossroads Battlefield is listed in the 
National Register of Historic Places and is significant for its 
role in the military history of the Civil War and its 
archeological potential to yield information concerning the 
battle. The Parker's Crossroads Battlefield was the final 
engagement of Confederate now-Brigadier General Nathan Bedford 
Forrest's West Tennessee raid of December, 1862, which resulted 
in the disruption of Major General Ulysses S. Grant's supply 
lines as his army advanced towards Vicksburg. Forrest's raid 
and the simultaneous destruction of Grant's supply depot at 
Holly Spring, Mississippi, caused Grant to end his overland 
campaign against Vicksburg.
    Since the battle, the area has remained largely in 
agricultural fields and forests consistent with its appearance 
in 1862, and the site retains a high degree of integrity. It is 
likely that the site contains physical remnants of the battle 
that can provide information concerning troop movements and 
areas where primary fighting occurred. The site is known to 
contain the remains of soldiers who were killed during the 
fighting and other burials may have also occurred there.
    We recommend amending both of the dates of the map 
referenced in S. 1943 to allow for more current maps to be 
substituted. Those amendments are attached.
    Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be happy 
to answer any questions you or any members of the subcommittee 
may have.


proposed amendments to s. 1943, shiloh national military park boundary 
     adjustment and parker's crossroads battlefield designation act


     On page 2, line 18, strike ``April 2012'' and insert 
``July 2014''.
    On page 3, line 11, strike ``April 2012'' and insert ``July 
2014''.
    Explanation:
    The above amendments would update the map references to 
more current maps.

                        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 as ordered 
reported.