I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1964

To establish the Highlands Stewardship Area in the States of Connecticut, 

New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2003

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN (for himself, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 

HOEFFEL, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mrs. MALONEY, 

Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 

WALSH, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. HOLT, 

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. SAXTON, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in 

addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To establish the Highlands Stewardship Area in the States 

of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 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 ‘‘Highlands Stewardship 

5 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) the Highlands region is a geographic area 

4 that encompasses more than 2,000,000 acres extend5 ing from eastern Pennsylvania through the States of 

6 New Jersey and New York to northwestern Con7 necticut; 

8 (2) the Highlands region is an environmentally 

9 unique area that—

10 (A) provides clean drinking water to over 

11 15,000,000 people in metropolitan areas in the 

12 States of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, 

13 and Pennsylvania; 

14 (B) provides critical wildlife habitat, in15 cluding habitat for 247 threatened and endan16 gered species; 

17 (C) maintains an important historic con18 nection to early Native American culture, colo19 nial settlement, the American Revolution, and 

20 the Civil War; 

21 (D) contains recreational resources for 14 

22 million visitors annually; and 

23 (E) provides other significant ecological, 

24 natural, tourism, recreational, educational, and 

25 economic benefits; 
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1 (3) an estimated 1 in 12 citizens of the United 

2 States live within a 2-hour drive of the Highlands 

3 region; 

4 (4) more than 1,400,000 residents live in the 

5 Highlands region; 

6 (5) the Highlands region forms a greenbelt ad7 jacent to the Philadelphia-New York City-Hartford 

8 urban corridor that offers the opportunity to pre9 serve natural and agricultural resources, open 

10 spaces, recreational areas, and historic sites, while 

11 encouraging sustainable economic growth and devel12 opment in a fiscally and environmentally sound man13 ner; 

14 (6) continued population growth and land use 

15 patterns in the Highlands region—

16 (A) reduce the availability and quality of 

17 water; 

18 (B) reduce air quality; 

19 (C) fragment the forests; 

20 (D) destroy critical migration corridors 

21 and forest habitat; and 

22 (E) result in the loss of recreational oppor23 tunities and scenic, historic, and cultural re24 sources; 
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1 (7) the natural, agricultural, and cultural re2 sources of the Highlands region, in combination with 

3 the proximity of the Highlands region to the largest 

4 metropolitan areas in the United States, make the 

5 Highlands region nationally significant; 

6 (8) the national significance of the Highlands 

7 region has been documented in—

8 (A) the New York-New Jersey Highlands 

9 Regional Study conducted by the Forest Service 

10 in 1990; 

11 (B) the New York-New Jersey Highlands 

12 Regional Study: 2002 Update conducted by the 

13 Forest Service; 

14 (C) the bi-State Skylands Greenway Task 

15 Force Report; 

16 (D) the New Jersey State Development 

17 and Redevelopment Plan; 

18 (E) the New York State Open Space Con19 servation Plan; 

20 (F) the Connecticut Green Plan: Open 

21 Space Acquisition FY 2001–2006; 

22 (G) the open space plans of the State of 

23 Pennsylvania; and 

24 (H) other open space conservation plans 

25 for States in the Highlands region; 
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1 (9) the Highlands region includes or is adjacent 

2 to numerous parcels of land owned by the Federal 

3 Government or federally designated areas that pro4 tect, conserve, restore, promote, or interpret re5 sources of the Highlands region, including—

6 (A) the Wallkill River National Wildlife 

7 Refuge; 

8 (B) the Shawanagunk Grasslands Wildlife 

9 Refuge; 

10 (C) the Morristown National Historical 

11 Park; 

12 (D) the Delaware and Lehigh Canal Cor13 ridors; 

14 (E) the Hudson River Valley National 

15 Heritage Area; 

16 (F) the Delaware River Basin; 

17 (G) the Delaware Water Gap National 

18 Recreation Area; 

19 (H) the Upper Delaware Scenic and Rec20 reational River; 

21 (I) the Appalachian National Scenic Trail; 

22 (J) the United States Military Academy at 

23 West Point, New York; 

24 (K) the Highlands National Millenium 

25 Trail; 
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1 (L) the Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey; 

2 (M) the Great Swamp National Wildlife 

3 Refuge; 

4 (N) the proposed Crossroads of the Revo5 lution National Heritage Area; 

6 (O) the proposed Musconetcong National 

7 Scenic and Recreational River in New Jersey; 

8 and 

9 (P) the Farmington River Wild and Scenic 

10 Area in Connecticut; 

11 (10) it is in the interest of the United States 

12 to protect, conserve, restore, promote, and interpret 

13 the resources of the Highlands region for the resi14 dents of, and visitors to, the Highlands region; 

15 (11) the States of Connecticut, New Jersey, 

16 New York, and Pennsylvania, and units of local gov17 ernment in the Highlands region have the primary 

18 responsibility for protecting, conserving, preserving, 

19 restoring and promoting the resources of the High20 lands region; and 

21 (12) because of the longstanding Federal prac22 tice of assisting States in creating, protecting, con23 serving, preserving, restoring and interpreting areas 

24 of significant natural and cultural importance, and 

25 the national significance of the Highlands region, 
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1 the Federal Government should, in partnership with 

2 the Highlands States and units of local government 

3 in the Highlands region, protect, restore, promote, 

4 preserve, and interpret the natural, agricultural, his5 torical, and cultural resources of the Highlands re6 gion. 

7 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

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

9 (1) to recognize the importance of the natural 

10 resources and the heritage, history and national sig11 nificance of the Highlands region to the United 

12 States; 

13 (2) to assist the Highlands States, units of local 

14 government, and private landowners in protecting, 

15 restoring, preserving, interpreting, and promoting 

16 the natural, agricultural, historical, cultural, and 

17 recreational resources of the Highlands Stewardship 

18 Area; 

19 (3) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to 

20 provide financial and technical assistance for 

21 projects that will protect, restore, promote and inter22 pret the natural, agricultural, historic, cultural or 

23 recreational resources of the Highlands region; 

24 (4) to authorize the Secretary of Interior to 

25 work in partnership with the Secretary of Agri-
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1 culture and the Highlands States and to provide fi2 nancial assistance to the Highlands States to pre3 serve and protect high priority conservation lands in 

4 the Highlands region; 

5 (5) to coordinate with and assist the manage6 ment entities of the Hudson River Valley National 

7 Heritage Area, the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge 

8 Area, the Morristown National Historic Area, and 

9 other federally designated areas in the region in car10 rying out any duties relating to protecting the nat11 ural resources of the Highlands region. 

12 (b) LACK OF EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF GOVERN13 MENTS.—It is not the purpose of this Act and nothing 

14 in this Act shall be construed to modify, enlarge, or dimin15 ish any authority of Federal, State or local governments 

16 to regulate any use of land, to grant powers of zoning or 

17 land use control to any entity established under this Act 

18 or to authorize any such entity to interfere with the rights 

19 of any person with respect to private property or with any 

20 local zoning ordinance or land use plan of any local unit 

21 of government in the Highlands Stewardship Area. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti25 ty’’ means any Highlands State, unit of local govern-
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1 ment, public entity, private entity, or private land2 owner in the Stewardship Area. 

3 (2) HIGHLANDS REGION.—The term ‘‘High4 lands region’’ means the region that encompasses 

5 more than 2,000,000 acres extending from eastern 

6 Pennsylvania through the States of New Jersey and 

7 New York to northwestern Connecticut. 

8 (3) HIGHLANDS STATE.—The term ‘‘Highlands 

9 State’’ means—

10 (A) the State of Connecticut; 

11 (B) the State of New Jersey; 

12 (C) the State of New York; 

13 (D) the State of Pennsylvania; and 

14 (E) any agency or department of any 

15 Highlands state, including the Palisades Inter16 state Park Commission, a duly authorized bi17 state entity in New York and New Jersey. 

18 (4) NON-FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘non19 Federal entity’’ means any Highlands state, or any 

20 agency or department of any Highlands state with 

21 authority to own and manage land for conservation 

22 purpose, including the Palisades Interstate Park 

23 Commission. 

24 (5) LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP

25 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘land conservation partnership 
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1 project’’ means a project located in an area identi2 fied as having high conservation value in the U.S. 

3 Forest Service Study or Update or a State open 

4 space or greenway plan in which a non-Federal enti5 ty acquires land or an interest in land from a willing 

6 seller for the purpose of permanently protecting, 

7 conserving, or preserving the natural, forest, agricul8 tural, recreational, historical, or cultural resources of 

9 the Stewardship Area. 

10 (6) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of11 fice of Highlands Stewardship established under sec12 tion 6(a). 

13 (7) STEWARDSHIP AREA.—The term ‘‘Steward14 ship Area’’ means the Highlands Stewardship Area 

15 established under section 5(a). 

16 (8) STUDY.—The term ‘‘study’’ means the New 

17 York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study con18 ducted by the Forest Service in 1990. 

19 (9) UPDATE.—The term ‘‘update’’ means the 

20 New York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study: 

21 2002 Update conducted by the Forest Service. 

22 (10) WORK GROUP.—The term ‘‘Work Group’’ 

23 means the Highlands Stewardship Area Work Group 

24 established under section 6(c). 
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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF HIGHLANDS STEWARDSHIP 

2 AREA. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

4 and the Secretary of the Interior shall establish the High5 lands Stewardship Area in the Highlands region. 

6 (b) CONSULTATION AND RESOURCE ANALYSES.—In 

7 establishing the Stewardship Area, the Secretary of Agri8 culture and the Secretary of the Interior shall—

9 (1) consult with appropriate officials of the 

10 Federal Government, the Governors of the High11 lands States and other appropriate officials of the 

12 Highlands States, and units of local government; 

13 and 

14 (2) utilize the study, the update, and relevant 

15 State resource analyses. 

16 (c) MAP.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

19 Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall 

20 prepare a map depicting the Stewardship Area. 

21 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The map shall be on file 

22 and available for public inspection at the appropriate 

23 offices of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec24 retary of the Interior. 
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1 SEC. 6. OFFICE OF HIGHLANDS STEWARDSHIP AND WORK 

2 GROUP. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

4 in consultation with the Under Secretary of Agriculture 

5 for Natural Resources and Environment, the Chief of the 

6 Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Chief of 

7 the Forest Service, shall establish within the Department 

8 of Agriculture the Office of Highlands Stewardship. 

9 (b) DUTIES.—

10 (1) ADVISORY DUTIES.—shall advise the Gov11 ernors of the Highlands States, the Secretary of Ag12 riculture, and the Secretary of Interior on priorities 

13 for—

14 (A) projects carried out with financial or 

15 technical assistance under this section; 

16 (B) land conservation partnership projects 

17 carried out under section 7; 

18 (C) research relating to the Highlands re19 gions; and 

20 (D) policy and educational initiatives nec21 essary to implement the findings of the study 

22 and update. 

23 (2) IMPLEMENTATION DUTIES.—The Office 

24 shall implement in the Stewardship Area—

25 (A) the strategies of the study and update; 

26 and 
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1 (B) in consultation with the Highlands 

2 States, other studies consistent with the pur3 poses of this Act. 

4 (c) HIGHLANDS STEWARDSHIP AREA WORK

5 GROUP.—

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agri7 culture shall establish an advisory committee to be 

8 known as the ‘‘Highlands Stewardship Area Work 

9 Group’’ to assist the Office in implementing the 

10 strategies of the study and update referred to in 

11 subsection (b). 

12 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Work Group shall be 

13 comprised of members that represent various public 

14 and private interests throughout the Stewardship 

15 Area, including private landowners, and representa16 tives of private land trusts, conservation groups, 

17 drinking water purveyors, academic institutions, and 

18 local governments, to be appointed by the Secretary 

19 of Agriculture, in consultation with the Governors of 

20 the Highlands States. 

21 (3) DUTIES.—The Work Group shall advise the 

22 Office, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Sec23 retary of the Interior on priorities for—

24 (A) projects carried out with financial or 

25 technical assistance under this section; 
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1 (B) land conservation partnership projects 

2 carried out under section 7; 

3 (C) research relating to the Highlands re4 gion; and 

5 (D) policy and educational initiatives nec6 essary to implement the findings of the study 

7 and update. 

8 (d) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office may provide fi10 nancial and technical assistance to an eligible entity 

11 to carry out a project consistent with the steward12 ship goals and conservation strategies articulated in 

13 the study and update to protect, restore, preserve, 

14 promote, or interpret the natural, agricultural, his15 torical, cultural, or recreational resources of the 

16 Stewardship Area. 

17 (2) PRIORITY.—In determining the priority for 

18 financial and technical assistance under paragraph 

19 (1), the Office shall consider the recommendations of 

20 the study and update. 

21 (3) CONDITIONS.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The provision of finan23 cial assistance under this subsection shall be 

24 subject to the condition that the eligible entity 

25 enter into an agreement with the Office that 
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1 provides that if the eligible entity converts, 

2 uses, or disposes of the project for a purpose in3 consistent with the purpose for which the finan4 cial assistance was provided, as determined by 

5 the Office, the United States shall be entitled to 

6 reimbursement from the eligible entity in an 

7 amount that is, as determined at the time of 

8 conversion, use, or disposal, the greater of—

9 (i) the total amount of the financial 

10 assistance provided for the project by the 

11 Federal Government under this section; or 

12 (ii) the amount by which the financial 

13 assistance has increased the value of the 

14 land on which the project is carried out. 

15 (B) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The 

16 Federal share of the cost of carrying out a 

17 project under this subsection shall not exceed 

18 50 percent of the total cost of the project. 

19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agri21 culture to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of 

22 fiscal years 2004 through 2013, to remain available until 

23 expended. 
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1 SEC. 7. LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Annually, the Governors of the 

3 Highlands States, with input from pertinent units of local 

4 government, the public, the Office, and Work Group shall 

5 jointly identify land conservation projects that shall be 

6 proposed for federal financial assistance and submit them 

7 to the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 (b) THE SECRETARY OF INTERIOR.—The Secretary 

9 of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agri10 culture, the Office, the Work Group, and the Governors 

11 of the Highlands States, shall annually designate land 

12 conservation partnership projects that are eligible to re13 ceive financial assistance under this section. 

14 (c) CONDITIONS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for financial 

16 assistance under subsection (a), a non-Federal entity 

17 shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary of 

18 the Interior that—

19 (A) identifies—

20 (i) the non-Federal entity that will 

21 own or hold and manage the land or inter22 est in land; and 

23 (ii) the source of funds to provide the 

24 non-Federal share under paragraph (2); 

25 (B) describes the management objectives 

26 for the land in question that will assure perma-
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1 nent protection and use of the land for the pur2 pose for which the assistance was provided, as 

3 required by section 4(5); 

4 (C) provides that if the non-Federal entity 

5 converts, uses, or disposes of the project for a 

6 purpose inconsistent with the purpose for which 

7 the assistance was provided, as determined by 

8 the Secretary of the Interior, the United States 

9 shall be authorized to seek specific performance 

10 of the conditions of financial assistance in ac11 cordance with subsection (b) in Federal court 

12 and shall be entitled to reimbursement from the 

13 non-Federal entity in an amount that is, as de14 termined at the time of conversion, use, or dis15 posal, the greater of—

16 (i) the total amount of the financial 

17 assistance provided for the project by the 

18 Federal Government under this section; or 

19 (ii) the amount by which the financial 

20 assistance increased the value of the land 

21 or interest in land; and 

22 (D) provides that use of the financial as23 sistance will be consistent with—

24 (i) the open space plan or greenway 

25 plan of the Highlands State in which the 
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1 land conservation partnership project is 

2 being carried out; and 

3 (ii) the findings and recommendations 

4 of the study and update. 

5 (2) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The Fed6 eral share of the cost of carrying out a land con7 servation partnership project under this subsection 

8 shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the 

9 land conservation partnership project. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte12 rior from the general funds of the Treasury or the Land 

13 and Water Conservation Fund to carry out this section 

14 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2013, 

15 to remain available until expended.

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