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[House Report 115-207]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

115th Congress   }                                     {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                     {      115-207

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TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ACQUIRE CERTAIN PROPERTY 
RELATED TO THE FORT SCOTT NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE IN FORT SCOTT, KANSAS, 
                         AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 July 11, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1541]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1541) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to acquire certain property related to the Fort Scott National 
Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kansas, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 1541 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to acquire certain property related to the Fort 
Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kansas.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Established in 1842, Fort Scott initially served in a line 
of forts created to establish a ``Permanent Indian 
Frontier.''\1\ After an influx of white settlements forced 
several tribes to relocate west of the Mississippi, the 
government guaranteed certain lands to tribes as off-limits to 
white settlement. The Army created a line of forts stretching 
from Minnesota to Louisiana to maintain peace between the newly 
relocated tribes and the white settlers in Missouri and 
Arkansas, as well as prevent conflicts between the tribes 
themselves.\2\ In the 1850s, a variety of factors including the 
Gold Rush resulted in the continued Western expansion, and a 
desire to establish a transcontinental railroad caused the 
concept of the Permanent Indian Frontier to fall apart. The 
Army closed Fort Scott.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\https://www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/pif.htm
    \2\Ibid.
    \3\Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    During the Civil War, the Union Army returned to Fort Scott 
and erected four blockhouses, including Lunette Blair, to 
protect the Southern portion of the town from Confederate 
invasion.\4\ Fort Scott served as a strategic point to protect 
Kansas from Confederate control as well as ``a major supply 
depot for Union armies in the West, a general hospital for 
soldiers in the region and a haven for people fleeing the war--
displaced Indians, escaped slaves, and white farmers.''\5\ 
Following the Civil War, the Army auctioned off the Lunette 
Blair blockhouse to a private citizen who used the site as a 
carpentry shop for 40 years. Despite relocating six times and 
various transfers in ownership over the next 150 years, Lunette 
Blair remains the only intact blockhouse from the Civil War in 
Fort Scott today.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Schofield, Arnold W. ``Battlefield Dispatches No. 345: Lunettes 
and Fortifications.'' 11/30/12 http://www.fstribune.com/story/
1918152.html
    \5\https://www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/index.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 1541 removes a statutory prohibition preventing the 
Secretary of the Interior from acquiring the Lunette Blair 
blockhouse and includes the structure in the boundary of the 
Fort Scott National Historic Site (NHS). Congress initially 
deemed the Lunette Blair blockhouse anachronistic and excluded 
the structure from the boundaries of Fort Scott NHS. The 
National Park Service (NPS) now wants to add the blockhouse to 
expand the interpretation of Fort Scott and demonstrate its 
different roles throughout American history. The current 
private citizens maintaining the blockhouse asked NPS to 
acquire the structure due to their aging and challenges raising 
the necessary funds for renovations. Both the City of Fort 
Scott and the Historic Preservation Association, the owners of 
the property, support NPS acquiring the site. NPS believes the 
16-square foot site requires very little repair and that its 
maintenance can fit within the existing park budget.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 1541 was introduced on March 15, 2017, by 
Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On June 22, 2017, the Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were 
offered, and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by unanimous consent on June 27, 2017.

            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

      Compliance With House Rule XIII and Congressional Budget Act

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 10, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1541, a bill to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain 
property related to the Fort Scott National Historic Site in 
Fort Scott, Kansas, and for other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO Staff contact is Janani 
Shankaran.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Keith Hall.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1541--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire 
        certain property related to the Fort Scott National Historic 
        Site in Fort Scott, Kansas, and for other purposes

    H.R. 1541 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) 
to acquire, by donation only, the Civil War-era structure known 
as the ``Lunette Blair'' blockhouse and to incorporate the 
structure into the Fort Scott National Historic Site in Bourbon 
County, Kansas. The bill also would modify the boundary of the 
site to include this property.
    Based on analysis of information provided by the NPS, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 1541 would have no significant 
effect on the federal budget. Under the legislation, the 
blockhouse could only be acquired through donation. CBO 
estimates that costs to operate and maintain the new property 
over the next five years would be less than $500,000 because 
the NPS does not anticipate the need for significant additional 
resources to manage the property once it is acquired.
    Enacting H.R. 1541 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 1541 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 1541 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.
    On April 7, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
189, the Fort Scott National Historic Site Boundary 
Modification Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee 
on Energy and National Resources on March 30, 2017. S. 189 
would authorize the NPS to acquire 4 acres of private land and 
facilities adjacent to the blockhouse historic site using 
appropriated funds or through a land exchange. CBO's estimated 
cost for S. 189 is greater than for H.R. 1541 because of that 
difference.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani 
Shankaran. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to acquire certain property related to the Fort Scott 
National Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kansas.

                           Earmark Statement

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       Compliance With H. Res. 5

    Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

                           PUBLIC LAW 95-484

  AN ACT An Act to authorize establishment of the Fort Scott National 
             Historic Site, Kansas, and for other purposes.

  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in 
order to commemorate the significant role played by Fort Scott 
in the opening of the West, as well as the Civil War and the 
strife in the State of Kansas that preceded it, the Secretary 
of the Interior may acquire by donation only the land and 
interests in land, together with buildings and improvements 
thereon, known as Fort Scott, located in the city of Fort 
Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas[: Provided, that the buildings so 
acquired shall not include the structure known as ``Lunette 
Blair''].
  Sec. 2. (a) When the site of Fort Scott has been acquired by 
the United States as provided in section 1 of this Act, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall establish such area as the Fort 
Scott National Historic Site, by publication of notice and 
boundary map thereof in the Federal Register.
  (b) The boundary of the Fort Scott National Historic Site 
established under subsection (a) is modified as generally 
depicted on the map referred to as ``Fort Scott National 
Historic Site Proposed Boundary Modification'', numbered 471/
80,057C, and dated February 2017.

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                                  [all]
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