99–010 

Calendar No. 136 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 112–56 

GREAT LAKES SHIPWRECK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

PATENT MODIFICATION 

AUGUST 30 (legislative day, AUGUST 2), 2011.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 404] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 404) to modify a land grant patent issued by 

the Secretary of the Interior, having considered the same, reports 

favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 

bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 404 is to modify a land grant patent issued by 

the Secretary of the Interior pertaining to the Whitefish Point 

Light Station in Michigan. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

On September 23, 1998, the Secretary of the Interior issued a 

land patent (U.S. Patent Number 61–98–0040) to the Great Lakes 

Shipwreck Historical Society for ownership of several acres of land 

on Whitefish Point, a 43–acre spit of land jutting into Lake Superior. The land, which contains the historic Whitefish Point Lighthouse, was transferred to the Historical Society for the purpose of 

interpreting maritime history. On March 10, 2000, the Secretary 

reissued the Historical Society’s land patent (U.S. Patent Number 

61–2000–0007) to correct an error in the original conveyance. 

Following the conveyance of the Whitefish Point property, a dispute between the Michigan Audubon Society, which owns land on 

Whitefish Point, and the Historical Society over the management 

of Whitefish Point led to a lawsuit in 1999. The resulting settlement agreement led to the development of a management plan for 


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Whitefish Point in 2002, titled Human Use/Natural Resource Management Plan for Whitefish Point. 

The reissued land patent, 61–2000–0007, does not reference the 

Human Use/Natural Resource Management Plan for Whitefish 

Point or the settlement agreement between the Michigan Audubon 

Society and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. S. 404 

will correct that error by directing the Secretary of the Interior to 

modify the patent to reflect the current management plan. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 404 was introduced by Senator Levin on February 17, 2011. 

The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on the bill on 

May 11, 2011. At its business meeting on July 14, 2011, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee ordered S. 404 

to be favorably reported without amendment. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on July 14, 2011, by a voice vote of a quorum present, 

recommends that the Senate pass S. 404. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 contains Congressional findings. 

Section 2(a) modifies United States Patent Number 61–2000– 

0007, issued by the Secretary of the Interior by deleting the reference in the patent to the Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan of 

October 1992 and instead referencing the Human Use/Natural Resource Plan for Whitefish Point, dated December 2002. 

Subsection (b) states that each other term of the conveyance that 

is the included in the existing patent, including any obligation to 

maintain the property in accordance with the National Historic 

Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f et seq.), and any other appropriate law, shall remain in effect. 

Section 3(a) provides that the modification shall become effective 

on the date the modification is recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds in Chippewa County, Michigan. 

Subsection (b) requests the Office of the Register of Deeds in 

Chippewa County, Michigan, to endorse on the recorded copy of the 

patent the fact that the patent has been modified in accordance 

with this Act. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 404—A bill to modify a land grant patent issued by the Secretary 

of the Interior 

S. 404 would amend an existing land grant patent to ratify a 

change in the use of the Whitefish Point Light Station in Michigan 

and related property covered by that patent. (A land grant patent 

is a method of conveying ownership of land.) Based on information 

provided by the Department of the Interior, CBO estimates that 

implementing S. 404 would have no effect on the federal budget. 

The ratification would enable development plans for the property 


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to go forward, but those plans do not involve federal spending. The 

Light Station was conveyed by the federal government to two nonprofit organizations in 1996. Enacting S. 404 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 

not apply. 

The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 

would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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 

S. 404. 

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 S. 404, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 404, 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

The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management at the May 11, 2011 Subcommittee 

hearing on S. 404 follows: 

STATEMENT OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Thank you for the invitation to present testimony on S. 

404, legislation to modify a land patent pertaining to the 

Whitefish Point Light Station (Michigan). Although the 

Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) role under the legislation is ministerial, preservation of historic lighthouses 

such as the Whitefish Point Light Station is a priority for 

the Department of the Interior. The BLM supports S. 404. 

BACKGROUND

In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the United States 

built a series of lighthouses in and around Lake Michigan, 

Lake Huron, and Lake Superior to aid in navigation of the 

Great Lakes. The role played by these lighthouses in the 

westward expansion and economic growth of the United 

States is part of our national heritage, with ships and 

shipwrecks recalled in story and song. The Great Lakes 

lighthouses—including the Whitefish Point Light Station 


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at issue in S. 404—are listed on the National Register of 

Historic Properties. 

The U.S. Coast Guard retains responsibility for aid to 

navigation in the Great Lakes, as it (or its predecessor, the 

Revenue Marine) has since 1790. In the mid-1990s, concerns reached the Congress that the Coast Guard, in carrying out its mission in the Great Lakes, was unable to assure preservation of the historic lighthouses. Interest in 

preserving the Whitefish Point Light Station led the Congress, in 1996, to convey land adjacent to the Light Station 

to two non-profit organizations dedicated to conservation 

and historic preservation—an 8.27 acre parcel to the Great 

Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (Historical Society) 

and a 2.69 acre parcel to the Michigan Audubon Society 

(Audubon Society) of Chippewa County—and a 33 acre 

parcel to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) (Public 

Law 104–208, Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

Fiscal Year 1997, Section 5505). 

This law contains limitations on development at the historic lighthouse, and explicitly requires compliance with 

the ‘‘Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan of October 

1992.’’ The patents the BLM issued under this authority 

(including the most recent, number 61–2000–0007, issued 

March 10, 2000, to the Historical Society) contain this reference. 

In 1999, the Audubon Society brought suit against the 

Historical Society and the FWS over plans to develop a 

museum at the site. The parties reached a settlement 

agreement under which the three groups developed the 

‘‘Human Use/Natural Resource Plan for Whitefish Point, 

December 2002,’’ to supersede the Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan of 1992. 

S. 404

S. 404 directs the Secretary of the Interior to modify patent number 61–2000–0007 by striking reference to the 

Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan of October 1992 and 

inserting the ‘‘Human Use/Natural Resource Plan for 

Whitefish Point, dated December 2002.’’ S. 404 affirms the 

applicability of the National Historic Preservation Act to 

the Whitefish Point Light Station. S. 404 requires that the 

property be used in a manner that does not impair or 

interfere with its conservation values. The BLM supports 

this legislation. 

CONCLUSION

Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony in 

support of S. 404. 


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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 S. 404, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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