II

Calendar No. 320

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1117

[Report No. 106–186]

To establish the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park, in the

vicinity of the city of Corinth, Mississippi, and in the State of Tennessee,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 25, 1999

Mr. LOTT (for himself, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. ROBB, and Mr. JEFFORDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

OCTOBER 14, 1999

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To establish the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military

Park, in the vicinity of the city of Corinth, Mississippi,

and in the State of Tennessee, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

S 1117 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Corinth Battlefield

3 Preservation Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) in 1996, Congress authorized the establish7 ment and construction of a center—

8 (A) to facilitate the interpretation of the

9 Siege and Battle of Corinth and other Civil

10 War actions in the area in and around the city

11 of Corinth, Mississippi; and

12 (B) to enhance public understanding of the

13 significance of the Corinth campaign and the

14 Civil War relative to the western theater of op15 erations, in cooperation with—

16 (i) State or local governmental enti17 ties;

18 (ii) private organizations; and

19 (iii) individuals;

20 (2) the Corinth Battlefield was ranked as a pri21 ority 1 battlefield having critical need for coordi22 nated nationwide action by the year 2000 by the

23 Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in its report

24 on Civil War Battlefields of the United States;
3

S 1117 RS

1 (3) there is a national interest in protecting and

2 preserving sites of historic significance associated

3 with the Civil War; and

4 (4) the States of Mississippi and Tennessee and

5 their respective local units of government—

6 (A) have the authority to prevent or mini7 mize adverse uses of these historic resources;

8 and

9 (B) can play a significant role in the pro10 tection of the historic resources related to the

11 Civil War battles fought in the area in and

12 around the city of Corinth.

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

14 (1) to establish the Corinth Unit of the Shiloh

15 National Military Park—

16 (A) in the city of Corinth, Mississippi; and

17 (B) in the State of Tennessee;

18 (2) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to

19 manage, protect, and interpret the resources associ20 ated with the Civil War Siege and the Battle of Cor21 inth that occurred in and around the city of Corinth,

22 in cooperation with—

23 (A) the State of Mississippi;

24 (B) the State of Tennessee;

25 (C) the city of Corinth, Mississippi;
4

S 1117 RS

1 (D) other public entities; and

2 (E) the private sector; and

3 (3) to authorize a special resource study to

4 identify other Civil War sites area in and around the

5 city of Corinth that—

6 (A) are consistent with the themes of the

7 Siege and Battle of Corinth;

8 (B) meet the criteria for designation as a

9 unit of the National Park System; and

10 (C) are considered appropriate for inclu11 sion in the Unit.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act:

14 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en15 titled ‘‘Corinth Unit’’ ‘‘Park Boundary-Corinth

16 Unit’’, numbered 304/80,007, and dated October

17 1998.

18 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Shiloh

19 National Military Park.

20 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

21 the Secretary of the Interior.

22 (4) UNIT.—The term ‘‘Unit’’ means the Cor23 inth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park estab24 lished under section 4.
5

S 1117 RS

1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIT.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the States

3 of Mississippi and Tennessee the Corinth Unit of the Shi4 loh National Military Park.

5 (b) COMPOSITION OF UNIT.—The Unit shall be com6 prised of—

7 (1) the tract consisting of approximately 20

8 acres generally depicted as ‘‘Park Boundary’’ on the

9 Map, and containing—

10 (A) the Battery Robinett; and

11 (B) the site of the interpretive center au12 thorized under section 602 of the Omnibus

13 Parks and Public Lands Management Act of

14 1996 (16 U.S.C. 430f–5); and

15 (1) the tract consisting of approximately 20

16 acres generally depicted as ‘‘Battery Robinett Bound17 ary’’ on the Map; and

18 (2) any additional land that the Secretary de19 termines to be suitable for inclusion in the Unit

20 that—

21 (A) is under the ownership of a public en22 tity or nonprofit organization; and

23 (B) has been identified by the Siege and

24 Battle of Corinth National Historic Landmark

25 Study, dated January 8, 1991.
6

S 1117 RS

1 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be on file

2 and available for public inspection in the office of the Di3 rector of the National Park Service.

4 SEC. 5. LAND ACQUISITION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire land

6 and interests in land within the boundary of the Park as

7 depicted on the Map, by—

8 (1) donation;

9 (2) purchase with donated or appropriated

10 funds; or

11 (3) exchange.

12 (b) EXCEPTION.—Land may be acquired only by do13 nation from—

14 (1) the State of Mississippi (including a polit15 ical subdivision of the State);

16 (2) the State of Tennessee (including a political

17 subdivision of the State); or

18 (3) the organization known as ‘‘Friends of the

19 Siege and Battle of Corinth’’.

20 SEC. 6. PARK MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer

22 the Unit in accordance with this Act and the laws gen23 erally applicable to units of the National Park System,

24 including—
7

S 1117 RS

1 (1) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a Na2 tional Park Service, and for other purposes’’, ap3 proved August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and

4 (2) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the

5 preservation of historic American sites, buildings,

6 objects, and antiquities of national significance, and

7 for other purposes’’, approved August 21, 1935 (16

8 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

9 (b) DUTIES.—In accordance with section 602 of the

10 Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of

11 1996 (16 U.S.C. 430f–5), the Secretary shall—

12 (1) commemorate and interpret, for the benefit

13 of visitors and the general public, the Siege and Bat14 tle of Corinth and other Civil War actions in the

15 area in and around the city of Corinth within the

16 larger context of the Civil War and American his17 tory, including the significance of the Civil War

18 Siege and Battle of Corinth in 1862 in relation to

19 other operations in the western theater of the Civil

20 War; and

21 (2) identify and preserve surviving features

22 from the Civil War era in the area in and around

23 the city of Corinth, including both military and civil24 ian themes that include—

25 (A) the role of railroads in the Civil War;
8

S 1117 RS

1 (B) the story of the Corinth contraband

2 camp; and

3 (C) the development of field fortifications

4 as a tactic of war.

5 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry this Act, the Sec7 retary may enter into cooperative agreements with

8 entities in the public and private sectors, including—

9 (A) colleges and universities;

10 (B) historical societies;

11 (C) State and local agencies; and

12 (D) nonprofit organizations.

13 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To develop coop14 erative land use strategies and conduct activities

15 that facilitate the conservation of the historic, cul16 tural, natural, and scenic resources of the Unit, the

17 Secretary may provide technical assistance, to the

18 extent that a recipient of technical assistance is en19 gaged in the protection, interpretation, or commemo20 ration of historically significant Civil War resources

21 in the area in and around the city of Corinth, to—

22 (A) the State of Mississippi (including a

23 political subdivision of the State);

24 (B) the State of Tennessee (including a

25 political subdivision of the State);
9

S 1117 RS

1 (C) a governmental entity;

2 (D) a nonprofit organization; and

3 (E) a private property owner.

4 (d) RESOURCES OUTSIDE THE UNIT.—Nothing in

5 subsection (c)(2) authorizes the Secretary to own or man6 age any resource outside the Unit.

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—To determine whether certain ad9 ditional properties are appropriate for inclusion in the

10 Unit, the Secretary shall conduct a special resource study

11 of land in and around the city of Corinth, Mississippi, and

12 nearby areas in the State of Tennessee that—

13 (1) have a relationship to the Civil War Siege

14 and Battle of Corinth in 1862; and

15 (2) are under the ownership of—

16 (A) the State of Mississippi (including a

17 political subdivision of the State);

18 (B) the State of Tennessee (including a

19 political subdivision of the State);

20 (C) a nonprofit organization; or

21 (D) a private person.

22 (b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The study shall—

23 (1) identify the full range of resources and his24 toric themes associated with the Civil War Siege and

25 Battle of Corinth in 1862, including the relationship
10

S 1117 RS

1 of the campaign to other operations in the western

2 theater of the Civil War that occurred in—

3 (A) the area in and around the city of Cor4 inth; and

5 (B) the State of Tennessee;

6 (2) identify alternatives for preserving features

7 from the Civil War era in the area in and around

8 the city of Corinth, including both military and civil9 ian themes involving—

10 (A) the role of the railroad in the Civil

11 War;

12 (B) the story of the Corinth contraband

13 camp; and

14 (C) the development of field fortifications

15 as a tactic of war;

16 (3) identify potential partners that might sup17 port efforts by the Secretary to carry out this Act,

18 including—

19 (A) State entities and their political sub20 divisions;

21 (B) historical societies and commissions;

22 (C) civic groups; and

23 (D) nonprofit organizations;

24 (4) identify alternatives to avoid land use con25 flicts; and
11

S 1117 RS

1 (5) include cost estimates for any necessary ac2 tivity associated with the alternatives identified

3 under this subsection, including—

4 (A) acquisition;

5 (B) development;

6 (C) interpretation;

7 (D) operation; and

8 (E) maintenance.

9 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year and 180 days

10 after the date on which funds are made available to carry

11 out this section, the Secretary shall submit a report de12 scribing the findings of the study under subsection (a)

13 to—

14 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re15 sources of the Senate; and

16 (2) the Committee on Resources of the House

17 of Representatives.

18 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

20 as are necessary to carry out this Act, including

21 $3,000,000 for the construction of an interpretive center

22 under section 602(d) of title VI of the Omnibus Parks and

23 Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 430f–

24 5(d)).

Calendar No. 320

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1117

[Report No. 106–186]

A BILL

To establish the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National

Military Park, in the vicinity of the city of Corinth, Mississippi, and in the State of Tennessee,and for other purposes.

OCTOBER 14, 1999

Reported with amendments