I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1117

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Preservation Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) in 1996, Congress authorized the establish4 ment and construction of a center—

5 (A) to facilitate the interpretation of the

6 Siege and Battle of Corinth and other Civil

7 War actions in the area in and around the city

8 of Corinth, Mississippi; and

9 (B) to enhance public understanding of the

10 significance of the Corinth campaign and the

11 Civil War relative to the western theater of op12 erations, in cooperation with—

13 (i) State or local governmental enti14 ties;

15 (ii) private organizations; and

16 (iii) individuals;

17 (2) the Corinth Battlefield was ranked as a pri18 ority 1 battlefield having critical need for coordi19 nated nationwide action by the year 2000 by the

20 Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in its report

21 on Civil War Battlefields of the United States;

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

23 preserving sites of historic significance associated

24 with the Civil War; and

25 (4) the States of Mississippi and Tennessee and

26 their respective local units of government—
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1 (A) have the authority to prevent or mini2 mize adverse uses of these historic resources;

3 and

4 (B) can play a significant role in the pro5 tection of the historic resources related to the

6 Civil War battles fought in the area in and

7 around the city of Corinth.

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

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

10 National Military Park—

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

12 (B) in the State of Tennessee;

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

14 manage, protect, and interpret the resources associ15 ated with the Civil War Siege and the Battle of Cor16 inth that occurred in and around the city of Corinth,

17 in cooperation with—

18 (A) the State of Mississippi;

19 (B) the State of Tennessee;

20 (C) the city of Corinth, Mississippi;

21 (D) other public entities; and

22 (E) the private sector; and

23 (3) to authorize a special resource study to

24 identify other Civil War sites area in and around the

25 city of Corinth that—
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1 (A) are consistent with the themes of the

2 Siege and Battle of Corinth;

3 (B) meet the criteria for designation as a

4 unit of the National Park System; and

5 (C) are considered appropriate for inclu6 sion in the Unit.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:

9 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en10 titled ‘‘Park Boundary-Corinth Unit’’, numbered

11 304/80,007, and dated October 1998.

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

13 National Military Park.

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

15 the Secretary of the Interior.

16 (4) UNIT.—The term ‘‘Unit’’ means the Cor17 inth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park estab18 lished under section 4.

19 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIT.

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

21 of Mississippi and Tennessee the Corinth Unit of the Shi22 loh National Military Park.

23 (b) COMPOSITION OF UNIT.—The Unit shall be com24 prised of—
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1 (1) the tract consisting of approximately 20

2 acres generally depicted as ‘‘Battery Robinett

3 Boundary’’ on the Map; and

4 (2) any additional land that the Secretary de5 termines to be suitable for inclusion in the Unit

6 that—

7 (A) is under the ownership of a public en8 tity or nonprofit organization; and

9 (B) has been identified by the Siege and

10 Battle of Corinth National Historic Landmark

11 Study, dated January 8, 1991.

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

13 and available for public inspection in the office of the Di14 rector of the National Park Service.

15 SEC. 5. LAND ACQUISITION.

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

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

18 depicted on the Map, by—

19 (1) donation;

20 (2) purchase with donated or appropriated

21 funds; or

22 (3) exchange.

23 (b) EXCEPTION.—Land may be acquired only by do24 nation from—
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1 (1) the State of Mississippi (including a polit2 ical subdivision of the State);

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

4 subdivision of the State); or

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

6 Siege and Battle of Corinth’’.

7 SEC. 6. PARK MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.

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

9 the Unit in accordance with this Act and the laws gen10 erally applicable to units of the National Park System,

11 including—

12 (1) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a Na13 tional Park Service, and for other purposes’’, ap14 proved August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and

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

16 preservation of historic American sites, buildings,

17 objects, and antiquities of national significance, and

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

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

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

21 Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of

22 1996 (16 U.S.C. 430f–5), the Secretary shall—

23 (1) commemorate and interpret, for the benefit

24 of visitors and the general public, the Siege and Bat25 tle of Corinth and other Civil War actions in the
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1 area in and around the city of Corinth within the

2 larger context of the Civil War and American his3 tory, including the significance of the Civil War

4 Siege and Battle of Corinth in 1862 in relation to

5 other operations in the western theater of the Civil

6 War; and

7 (2) identify and preserve surviving features

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

9 the city of Corinth, including both military and civil10 ian themes that include—

11 (A) the role of railroads in the Civil 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 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry this Act, the Sec18 retary may enter into cooperative agreements with

19 entities in the public and private sectors, including—

20 (A) colleges and universities;

21 (B) historical societies;

22 (C) State and local agencies; and

23 (D) nonprofit organizations.

24 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To develop coop25 erative land use strategies and conduct activities
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1 that facilitate the conservation of the historic, cul2 tural, natural, and scenic resources of the Unit, the

3 Secretary may provide technical assistance, to the

4 extent that a recipient of technical assistance is en5 gaged in the protection, interpretation, or commemo6 ration of historically significant Civil War resources

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

8 (A) the State of Mississippi (including a

9 political subdivision of the State);

10 (B) the State of Tennessee (including a

11 political subdivision of the State);

12 (C) a governmental entity;

13 (D) a nonprofit organization; and

14 (E) a private property owner.

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

16 subsection (c)(2) authorizes the Secretary to own or man17 age any resource outside the Unit.

18 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—To determine whether certain ad20 ditional properties are appropriate for inclusion in the

21 Unit, the Secretary shall conduct a special resource study

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

23 nearby areas in the State of Tennessee that—

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

25 and Battle of Corinth in 1862; and
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1 (2) are under the ownership of—

2 (A) the State of Mississippi (including a

3 political subdivision of the State);

4 (B) the State of Tennessee (including a

5 political subdivision of the State);

6 (C) a nonprofit organization; or

7 (D) a private person.

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

9 (1) identify the full range of resources and his10 toric themes associated with the Civil War Siege and

11 Battle of Corinth in 1862, including the relationship

12 of the campaign to other operations in the western

13 theater of the Civil War that occurred in—

14 (A) the area in and around the city of Cor15 inth; and

16 (B) the State of Tennessee;

17 (2) identify alternatives for preserving features

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

19 the city of Corinth, including both military and civil20 ian themes involving—

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

22 War;

23 (B) the story of the Corinth contraband

24 camp; and
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1 (C) the development of field fortifications

2 as a tactic of war;

3 (3) identify potential partners that might sup4 port efforts by the Secretary to carry out this Act,

5 including—

6 (A) State entities and their political sub7 divisions;

8 (B) historical societies and commissions;

9 (C) civic groups; and

10 (D) nonprofit organizations;

11 (4) identify alternatives to avoid land use con12 flicts; and

13 (5) include cost estimates for any necessary ac14 tivity associated with the alternatives identified

15 under this subsection, including—

16 (A) acquisition;

17 (B) development;

18 (C) interpretation;

19 (D) operation; and

20 (E) maintenance.

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

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

23 out this section, the Secretary shall submit a report de24 scribing the findings of the study under subsection (a)

25 to—
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1 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate; and

3 (2) the Committee on Resources of the House

4 of Representatives.

5 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

7 as are necessary to carry out this Act, including

8 $3,000,000 for the construction of an interpretive center

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

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

11 5(d)).

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.