89–010 

Calendar No. 298 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 111–148 

DOROTHY BUELL MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER 

PARTNERSHIP ACT 

MARCH 2, 2010.—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 H.R. 1287] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was referred the Act (H.R. 1287) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a partnership with the Porter County Convention, 

Recreation and Visitor Commission regarding the use of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center as a visitor center for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment 

and recommends that the Act do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of H.R. 1287 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a partnership with the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission regarding the use of the 

Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center as a visitor center for the 

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is located in northern Indiana along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Two million visitors travel to the national lakeshore each year, many from the Chicago metropolitan area. Visitors are often unaware that the national lakeshore is a unit of the National Park System. The National Park Service would like to relocate the primary visitor contact point to a more prominent location outside of the park and 

provide the opportunity to contact and educate many more visitors 

regarding the national lakeshore’s programs and resources. 


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In 1998, the National Park Service and the Porter County Con- vention, Recreation and Visitor Commission (PCCRVC) began to 

explore the concept of a joint visitor center. Additionally, the Park 

Service general management plan for the national seashore recommended that the Park Service relocate its visitor center to the 

more heavily traveled corridor outside of the park. After forming a partnership in 1998, the PCCRVC and the Park Service selected a prominent location outside the national lakeshore but within the primary travel corridors. The PCCRVC provided funding for the purchase of the property and the construction 

of a new visitor center. In October 2006, the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center was built. It is located approximately three 

quarters of a mile south of the national lakeshore on Indiana Highway IN49 and is owned by the PCCRVC. The Park Service would 

like to jointly staff the visitor center and lease some of its space 

for offices, exhibits, a theater and interpretive information about 

park resources. 

H.R. 1287 would provide the Secretary of the Interior authority to expend federally appropriated funds outside of the national lakeshore boundaries in order to lease space for exhibits, offices, a book 

store, and a theatre. It would further authorize the expenditure of 

funds for the planning, design, and development of exhibits to be 

placed in the new facility. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 1287 was introduced on March 3, 2009, by Representative 

Visclosky. It passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote 

on September 8, 2009. 

The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on H.R. 

1287 on November 4, 2009. At its business meeting on December 

16, 2009, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered 

H.R. 1287 favorably reported without amendment. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on December 16, 2009, by a voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 1287. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a 

memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint partnership with PCCRVC in regard to the use of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center. The memorandum of understanding shall 

identify the goals and purpose of the visitor center and the responsibilities of the Park Service and the PCCRVC. 

The MOU would also authorize the Secretary to plan, design, 

construct, and install exhibits in the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center at a cost not to exceed $1,500,000 and allow National 

Park Service staff from Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to work 

in the visitor center in order to provide visitor information and 

education. 

Section 2 amends section 19 of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s enabling Act (16 U.S.C. 4604–19) to permit the Secretary of 

the Interior to accept donations of lands located outside the present 


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boundaries of the lakeshore if the lands are either contiguous to or 

separated from such lands by a right-of-way only. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 1287—Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center Partnership Act 

H.R. 1287 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to 

plan, design, construct, and install exhibits in the Dorothy Buell 

Memorial Visitor Center at a cost of up to $1.5 million. 

Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates 

that the NPS would spend $1.5 million over the 2010–2014 period 

to carry out the legislation. This amount would be used to develop 

exhibits in the new visitor facility, which is not a federal building. 

The legislation also would authorize the NPS to accept donations 

of land separated from the existing park by a road or other rightof-way. Based on information provided by the agency, CBO expects 

that the cost of administering any property that may be added to 

the park would be minimal. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues. 

H.R. 1287 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. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 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 

H.R. 1287. 

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 H.R. 1287, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

H.R. 1287, as 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 National Park Service at the November 4, 2009, Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 1287 follows: 


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STATEMENT OF KATHERINE H. STEVENSON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, BUSINESS SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank 

you for the opportunity to appear before you today to 

present the Department of the Interior’s views on H.R. 

1287, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 

enter into a partnership with the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission regarding the use 

of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center as a visitor 

center for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and for 

other purposes. 

The Department supports H.R. 1287 as passed by the 

House with technical amendments. 

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was established as a 

unit of the National Park System in 1966. It lies on the 

southern tip of Lake Michigan and covers some 15,000 

acres with 15 miles of shoreline. In 1998, the national 

lakeshore and the Porter County Convention, Recreation 

and Visitor Commission (PCCRVC) began to explore the 

concept of a joint visitor center to be shared by the 

PCCRVC, the national lakeshore, and the Indiana Dunes 

State Park. At that time, both the national lakeshore and 

the PCCRVC suffered from low visitation at their respective visitor centers due to their poor locations away from 

the primary thoroughfares. Because of their location, size, 

and layout, the national lakeshore’s 1997 General Management Plan recommended relocating the visitor center to 

the more heavily traveled IN 49 corridor. 

A partnership to acquire land for a new site was initiated. A more prominent location outside the national lakeshore but within the primary travel corridor to the dunes 

was selected. Using a series of Transportation Enhancement grants, the PCCRVC purchased the land, which is located approximately three quarters of a mile south of the 

national lakeshore boundary on IN 49, the principal north/ 

south artery into the national lakeshore and secured a contract for construction. The new Dorothy Buell Memorial 

Visitor Center was completed in October 2006. 

The NPS currently has an interim lease of the space in 

the new visitor facility and is in the process of securing a 

General Services Administration lease agreement for offices, storage, exhibits, bookstore, and a theatre. The payments for this lease come from funds in the park’s authorized annual operating budget. 

H.R. 1287 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

to enter into an agreement with the PCCRVC that would 

outline the terms of the partnership, including cooperative 

management of the new visitor facility and sharing of 

operational activities. The two parties will jointly plan and 

staff the new visitor center and offer ‘‘one-stop shopping,’’ 

with exhibits and theater space to educate visitors about 

the resources found in the park, aspects of threatened and 


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endangered species management, habitat preservation, 

and wetlands restoration. 

H.R. 1287 would also authorize $1,500,000 to plan, design, construct, and install exhibits to be placed in the new 

facility for visitor information and education. The space 

leased by the National Park Service (NPS) includes room 

for exhibits, offices, a theatre, and a bookstore. All funds 

are subject to NPS priorities and the availability of appropriations. 

H.R. 1287 also would amend Section 19 of Public Law 

89–761 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to accept 

donated lands that are considered contiguous to Indiana 

Dunes National Lakeshore but physically separated from 

the boundary by a public or private right-of-way, such as 

a road, railroad, or utility corridors. 

The park is segmented with numerous isolated parcels. 

The northern portion of Indiana is crisscrossed with numerous interstate highways, oil and gas pipeline corridors, 

and electrical lines. A number of these rights of way exist 

within the national lakeshore. Several landowners have offered to donate land adjacent to the park (separated by 

utility, roadways, and rail corridors), but the park’s ability 

to accept such lands is ambiguous. It is unclear whether 

the NPS can accept these lands under the minor boundary 

revision authority of the Land and Water Conservation 

Fund Act of 1965. The bill would clarify this terminology 

as it relates to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and 

allow the park to accept donated lands to further the purposes of the park unit when they adjoin the park’s boundary. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to comment. We look forward to working with the Committee to 

provide technical amendments to the bill. This concludes 

my prepared remarks and I will be happy to answer any 

questions you or other committee members might have. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill H.R. 

1694 as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is 

printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is 

shown in roman): 

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL SEASHORE ACT 

(Public Law 89–761, Approved November 5, 1966) 

¿16 U.S.C. 460u–19

AN ACT To provide for the establishment of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, 

and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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That in order to preserve for the educational, inspirational, and 

recreational use of the public certain portions of the Indiana dunes 

and other areas of scenic, scientific, and historic interest and recreational value in the State of Indiana, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to establish and administer the Indiana Dunes 

National Lakeshore (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘lakeshore’’) in 

accordance with the provisions of this Act. The lakeshore shall 

comprise the area within the boundaries delineated on a map identified as ‘‘A Proposed Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’’, dated 

September 1966, and bearing the number ‘‘LNPNE–1008–ID’’, 

which map is on file and available for public inspection in the office 

of the Director of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC 19. ¿After notifying (a) After notifying the Committees on 

Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States Congress, in writing, of his intentions to do so and of the reasons therefor, the Secretary may, if he finds that such lands would make a significant 

contribution to the purposes for which the lakeshore was established, accept title to any lands, or interests in lands, located outside the present boundaries of the lakeshore but contiguous thereto 

or to lands acquired under this section, such lands the State of Indiana or its political subdivisions may acquire and offer to donate 

to the United States or which any private person, organization, or 

public or private corporation may offer to donate to the United 

States and he shall administer such lands as a part of the lakeshore after publishing notice to that effect in the Federal Register. 

(b) CONTIGUOUS CLARIFIED.—For purposes of subsection (a), 

lands may be considered contiguous to other lands if the lands 

touch the other lands, or are separated from the other lands by 

only a public or private right-of-way, such as a road, railroad, or 

utility corridor. 

* * * * * * * 

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