II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 956 

To establish the Land Between the Rivers National Heritage Area in the 

State of Illinois, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2007 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Land Between the Rivers National Heritage 

Area in the State of Illinois, 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 ‘‘Land Between the Riv5 ers Southern Illinois National Heritage Area Act of 

6 2007’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 

9 (1) southern Illinois has a cohesive, distinctive, 

10 and important landscape that distinguishes the area 


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1 as worthy of designation as a National Heritage 

2 Area; 

3 (2) the historic features of southern Illinois re4 flect a period during which the area was the stra5 tegic convergence point during the westward expan6 sion of the United States; 

7 (3) the geographic centrality of southern Illinois 

8 ensured that the area played a pivotal military, so9 cial, and political role during the Civil War, which 

10 resulted in the area being known as the ‘‘Confluence 

11 of Freedom’’; 

12 (4) southern Illinois is at the junction of the 

13 ending glaciers and 6 ecological divisions; 

14 (5) after the expeditions of Lewis and Clark, 

15 the land between the rivers became known as 

16 ‘‘Egypt’’ because of the rivers in, and the beauty 

17 and agricultural abundance of, the area; 

18 (6) Native Americans described the area in 

19 southern Illinois between the Mississippi and Ohio 

20 Rivers as the ‘‘Land Between the Rivers’’; 

21 (7) a feasibility study led by the Office of Eco22 nomic and Regional Development at Southern Illi23 nois University Carbondale that was revised in April 

24 2006 documents a sufficient assemblage of nation25 ally distinctive historic resources to demonstrate the 


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1 feasibility of, and the need for, establishing the 

2 Land Between the Rivers National Heritage Area; 

3 and 

4 (8) stakeholders participating in the feasibility 

5 study process for the Heritage Area have developed 

6 a proposed management entity and financial plan to 

7 preserve the natural, cultural, historic, and scenic 

8 features of the area while furthering recreational 

9 and educational opportunities in the area. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 

13 Area’’ means the Land Between the Rivers National 

14 Heritage Area established by section 4(a). 

15 (2) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘man16 agement entity’’ means the management entity for 

17 the Heritage Area designated by section 4(c). 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior. 

20 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

21 of Illinois. 


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1 SEC. 4. LAND BETWEEN THE RIVERS NATIONAL HERITAGE 

2 AREA. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

4 State the Land Between the Rivers National Heritage 

5 Area. 

6 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall in7 clude— 

8 (1) Kincaid Mound, Fort de Chartres, 

9 Kaskaskia, Fort Massac, Wilkinsonville Contonment, 

10 the Lewis and Clark Sculpture, Flat Boat, Cave-in11 Rock, the Shawneetown Bank Building, the Iron 

12 Furnace, the Crenshaw ‘‘Slave House,’’ Roots 

13 House, the site of the Lincoln-Douglas debate, cer14 tain sites associated with John A. Logan, the Fort 

15 Defiance Planning Map, Mound City National 

16 Cemetary, and Riverlore Mansion; and 

17 (2) any other sites in Randolph, Perry, Jeffer18 son, Franklin, Hamilton, White, Jackson, 

19 Williamson, Saline, Gallatin, Union, Johnson, Pope, 

20 Hardin, Alexander, Pulaski, and Massac Counties in 

21 the State that the Secretary, in consultation with 

22 the management entity, determines to be appro23 priate for inclusion in the Heritage Area. 


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1 (c) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The management entity 

2 for the Heritage Area shall be the Southern Illinois Uni3 versity Carbondale. 

Æ 


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