U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

26–868 WASHINGTON : 2019

S. HRG. 115–417 

PENDING LEGISLATION 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

ON

S. 257 

S. 312 

S. 355 

S. 391 

S. 841 

S. 926 

S. 1073 

S. 1202 

S. 1403 

S. 1438 

S. 1459 

S. 1522 

JULY 19, 2017 

( 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming 

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho 

MIKE LEE, Utah 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

LUTHER STRANGE, Alabama 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont 

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia 

MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico 

MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii 

ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois 

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS

STEVE DAINES, Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO 

MIKE LEE 

CORY GARDNER 

LAMAR ALEXANDER 

JOHN HOEVEN 

ROB PORTMAN 

MAZIE K. HIRONO 

BERNARD SANDERS 

DEBBIE STABENOW 

MARTIN HEINRICH 

ANGUS S. KING, JR. 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH 

COLIN HAYES, Staff Director 

PATRICK J. MCCORMICK III, Chief Counsel 

MICHELLE LANE, Professional Staff Member 

ANGELA BECKER-DIPPMANN, Democratic Staff Director 

SAM E. FOWLER, Democratic Chief Counsel 

DAVID BROOKS, Democratic General Counsel 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Daines, Hon. Steve, Subcommittee Chairman and a U.S. Senator from Montana ....................................................................................................................... 1 

Hirono, Hon. Mazie K., Subcommittee Ranking Member and a U.S. Senator 

from Hawaii .......................................................................................................... 4 

King, Jr., Hon. Angus S., a U.S. Senator from Maine .......................................... 4 

WITNESSES 

Vogel, Robert, Acting Deputy Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior ............................................................................................. 5 

ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED 

Aquanauts Adaptive Aquatics, et al.: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 56 

(The) Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 57 

Blunt, Hon. Roy: 

Statement for the Record ................................................................................. 59 

Central High Neighborhood, Inc.: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 60 

CityArchRiver Alliance: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 61 

Columbus (Ohio) Downtown Development Corporation: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 62 

Cotton, Hon. Tom: 

Statement for the Record ................................................................................. 63 

Daines, Hon. Steve: 

Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 1 

Hearing Announcement and Agenda .............................................................. 3 

Ernst, Hon. Joni K.: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 64 

Explore St. Louis (Missouri): 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 65 

Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation: 

Statement for the Record ................................................................................. 66 

Got Your Six: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 69 

Hirono, Hon. Mazie K.: 

Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 4 

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 70 

King, Jr., Hon. Angus S.: 

Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 4 

Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Friends of Acadia: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 71 

Manchin III, Hon. Joe: 

Statement for the Record ................................................................................. 73 

McGraw, Dr. Patricia Washington, et al.: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 74 

National Veterans Memorial & Museum: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 75 
Page

IV 

Outdoors Alliance for Kids: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 77 

Preserve Arkansas Board of Directors: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 79 

Public Lands Alliance: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 80 

Santa Rosa County (Florida) Board of Commissioners: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 82 

Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne: 

Statement for the Record ................................................................................. 83 

Addendum: Information Regarding the Influence of Augustus SaintGaudens and the Cornish Art Colony ......................................................... 86 

Sierra Club: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 92 

Vet Voice Foundation: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 95 

Vogel, Robert: 

Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 5 

Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 7 

Responses to Questions for the Record ........................................................... 48 

(The) Wilderness Society: 

Letter for the Record ........................................................................................ 97 

The text for each of the bills which were addressed in this hearing can be found on the 

committee’s website at: https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings-and-businessmeetings?ID=9C398823-7906-4914-B76F-565FA5584600. 
(1) 

PENDING LEGISLATION 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:22 a.m. in 

Room SD–366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Steve Daines, 

Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DAINES, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA 

Senator DAINES [presiding]. The Subcommittee will come to 

order. 

The 12 bills we are examining this afternoon cover a wide range 

of issues relating to federal land administered by the Department 

of the Interior, primarily by the National Park Service (NPS). 

Today we will hear about legislation that includes a range of issues 

impacting park units including boundary adjustments, the establishment of national memorials both here in Washington, DC, and 

elsewhere around our country, redesignations, land conveyances 

and even issues related to park entrance fees and public land corps 

programs. 

I would like to take a moment and discuss Senate bill 1403, the 

21st Century Conservation Corps Act of 2017. Right now in my 

home state of Montana there is a Veterans Public Lands Corps 

working hard at Glacier National Park. The Montana Conservation 

Corps have done some great work in fuel reduction and trail maintenance. 

I can tell you I have a state that is suffering from drought. It 

is very dry right now. And so, this fuel reduction is critically important to try to prevent massive wildfires. With the cost and intensity 

of catastrophic wildfire continually increasing and the deferred 

maintenance backlog for land management agencies affecting management and access, corps like the Montana Conservation Corps 

are good partners in tackling these challenges. I am anxious to 

hear more about how this legislation can work to expand the good 

work that these public land corps do in our national parks and forests in Montana and across the U.S. 

I will say, as I was growing up in Montana I nearly took a summer job working for the corps, working on some trail maintenance 

crews. And it is not only in terms of preventative maintenance, but 

also in providing important skill sets for a new generation of young 
2 

Americans as well as veterans. There is nothing better than getting 

young people outdoors. 

In addition, we will hear testimony on Senate bill 926, a bill that 

would authorize the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation to 

establish the National Global War on Terrorism Memorial as a 

commemorative work here in the District of Columbia. Since Senator Ernst introduced Senate bill 926 in April, 19 other Senators, 

including myself and Ranking Member Hirono, have co-sponsored 

this legislation. While the legislation requires some significant exemptions from the Commemorative Works Act, I believe this marks 

the beginning of a very necessary discussion regarding the need to 

appropriately honor those who have served in our nation’s longest 

war. 

We are also going to talk about Senate bill 1522, the Every Kid 

Outdoors Act, which was introduced by Senators Alexander and 

Heinrich. It is my understanding that there may be a few details 

left to work out on that, but let me just say, I do support the concept of getting kids and their families spending some time together 

outside. I think that is something we all can certainly get behind. 

I look forward to a robust discussion today. I know that each of 

these agenda items are not only important to individual members 

of the Subcommittee, but to our nation, parks and citizens as a 

whole. Many on our list have passed the House of Representatives, 

a few of these bills have been heard before in this Subcommittee 

and others have been considered in previous Congresses. While a 

few of these bills may spark conversation, I am hopeful we can 

move through this list fairly quickly. 

The purpose of this hearing is to consider the Administration’s 

views on these bills and allow Committee members an opportunity 

to ask questions they might have. We will also include written 

statements that have been sent to the Subcommittee in the official 

hearing record. 

Because of the large number of bills on today’s agenda I will not 

read through the list, but at this time I will include the complete 

agenda in the hearing record, without objection. 

[The information referred to follows:] 
3 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY 

AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS

HEARING ANNOUNCEMENT AND AGENDA 

This notice is to advise you of a legislative hearing before the 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on 

National Parks. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, July 19, 

2017, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office 

Building in Washington, DC. 

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: 

• S. 257, Acadia National Park Boundary Clarification Act 

• S. 312, Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park Redesignation 

Act 

• S. 355, Wounded Veterans Recreation Act of 2017 

• S. 391, African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum 

and Educational Center Act 

• S. 841, National Veterans Memorial and Museum Act 

• S. 926, Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act 

• S. 1073, Escambia County Land Conveyance Act 

• S. 1202, Little Rock Central High School National Historic 

Boundary Modification Act 

• S. 1403, 21st Century Conservation Corps Act of 2017 

• S. 1438, Redesignate Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 

in the State of Missouri as the ‘‘Gateway Arch National Park’’ 

• S. 1459, A bill to establish Fort Sumter and Fort Multrie National Park in the State of South Carolina, and for other purposes 

• S. 1522, A bill to establish an Every Kid Outdoors program, 

and for other purposes 
4 

Senator DAINES. Let me now turn to the Ranking Member, 

Senator Hirono, a great partner here in the Parks Committee, for 

her opening remarks. 

STATEMENT OF HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII 

Senator HIRONO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Across our country, our national parks and public lands preserve 

environments that are meaningful to our communities. In Hawaii, 

this includes protecting native plants and animals and sites that 

hold deep, cultural significance to the Native Hawaiian community. 

Many of the bills we are considering today represent worthy ideas 

to improve and expand access to our public lands and national 

parks. Before we hear from our witness, I would like to comment 

on two of these bills briefly. 

I am a co-sponsor of S. 355, the Wounded Veterans Recreation 

Act, introduced by Senator Shaheen. This bill would provide a free, 

lifetime National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass to 

veterans with a service-connected disability. Several veterans service organizations have highlighted the healing influence of spending time in our national parks, forests and other public lands. Providing service-disabled veterans with lifetime passes to our national parks and public lands would convey our gratitude for their 

service. 

The second bill I would like to highlight, also highlighted by the 

Chair, is S. 1403, the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act 

of 2017, sponsored by Senator McCain. This bill would strengthen 

partnerships that engage youth and veterans in maintaining public 

lands and waters. In Hawaii, our accredited 21st Century Conservation Service Corps member is the Hawaii Youth Conservation 

Corps, also known as KUPU. Over the past 10 years, KUPU has 

provided training to over 3,000 of Hawaii’s youth to become stewards of our culture and aina, or land. I know the Department’s testimony recommends that Congress defer action on this bill until 

they can undergo a review of their youth programs, and I will address this recommendation with our witness this morning. 

Mr. Chairman, I understand that there are continuing policy concerns about a number of these bills on the agenda today. I look forward to working with you and the bill sponsors to help move these 

bills through the Committee. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator DAINES. Thank you, Senator Hirono. 

Are there any other Senators who would like to make a short 

statement on the legislation today? 

Senator KING. Yes, Mr. Chairman, if you would. 

Thank you. 

Senator DAINES. Senator King. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ANGUS S. KING, JR., 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MAINE 

Senator KING. S. 257, Acadia National Park Boundary Clarification Act. We have had quite a bit of discussion about this with the 

National Park Service and also with the House. There are some 
5 

questions, but we are attempting to work out language that will be 

satisfactory to all. 

Basically, there was a 1929 Act that established Acadia National 

Park and then in 1986, there were questions about the boundary 

of the park, and it was established and fixed. I believe one of the 

staff members that perhaps worked on that, or at least worked in 

the Office of Senator Cohen, was one Susan Collins. So, anyway, 

that fixed the boundary. 

Then several years ago there was a transfer of about 1,500 acres 

pursuant to the ’29 Act but arguably in violation of the ’86 boundary. This bill corrects that problem and deals with some of the 

other issues along the boundary. 

Mr. Vogel, I do not know if you want to add anything, but this 

is something that we are assiduously trying to get worked out. I 

think it is a fairly straightforward bill and should be non-controversial once we work through the various provisions. Is that accurate? 

Thank you. It is very important to this region and I will, at the 

appropriate time, urge the Committee’s active consideration. 

Thank you. 

Senator DAINES. Thank you, Senator King. 

It is now time to hear from our witness, Mr. Robert Vogel, Acting 

Deputy Director for Operations, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Thank you for being with us today. At the 

end of your testimony, we will begin questions. Your full written 

testimony will be made part of the official hearing record. 

Mr. Vogel, you may proceed. 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Mr. VOGEL. Thank you. 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, thank you so much 

for the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior’s 

views on 12 bills on today’s agenda. I would like to submit our full 

statements on each of these bills for the record and would like to 

summarize the Department’s views. 

The Department supports the following bills: 

—S. 312, which would redesignate the Saint-Gaudens National 

Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire, as the Saint-Gaudens 

National Historical Park; 

—S. 335, which would amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make 

the lifetime National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass 

available without cost to any veteran with a service-connected disability; 

—S. 926, which would authorize the Global War on Terror National Memorial Foundation to establish the National Global War 

on Terrorism Memorial as a commemorative work on federal land 

here in the District of Columbia; 

—S. 1073, which would provide the authority to Escambia County, Florida, to convey property, subject to certain conditions, that 

it received from the Federal Government in 1947; 
6 

—S. 1202, which would modify the boundary of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and expand the park’s authority to enter into cooperative agreements; 

—S. 1438, which would redesignate the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in the State of Missouri as the Gateway Arch 

National Park; and 

—S. 1459, which would establish Fort Sumter and Fort Multrie 

National Park in the State of South Carolina. 

The reasons for our support of these bills are explained in our 

full statements. For several of the bills we are requesting amendments and we would be happy to work with the Committee, of 

course, on drafting them. 

Regarding S. 257, which would clarify the boundary of Acadia 

National Park and includes changes to a range of authorities for 

the park, the Department has various positions on each of the bill’s 

nine sections. These positions are explained further in our written 

statement and we would be happy to work with the Committee, of 

course, on recommended amendments, particularly with regard to 

providing administrative boundary adjustment authority and limiting the authority for harvesting clams and worms to the traditional level at which it occurs now. 

The Department defers to the Department of Veterans Affairs for 

a position on S. 841 since the purpose of the legislation is to confer 

a title on a memorial and museum designed to honor veterans. 

The Department recommends that Congress defer action on the 

following two bills until we have had an opportunity to review all 

of the Department’s youth programs and determine the most costeffective strategies for engaging youth in our nation’s great outdoors: those bills are S. 1403, which would establish the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps; and S. 1522, which would establish the Every Kid Outdoors Program. 

The Department opposes S. 391 which would establish the African Burial Ground National Monument Museum and Education 

Center to serve as a memorial to the enslaved who are buried at 

the African Burial Ground and to other enslaved Africans and African Americans. We do not have yet the necessary information to 

evaluate this proposal as there has been no comprehensive study 

that addresses the purpose, need, feasibility or cost to establish an 

associated museum or a study that evaluates alternatives for such 

a facility. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be very 

pleased to answer any questions that you may have. 

[The prepared statements of Mr. Vogel follow:] 
7 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 257, TO CLARIFY THE BOUNDARY OF ACADIA NATIONAL 

PARK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

July 19, 2017 

Chainnan Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 257, to clarify the 

boundary of Acadia National Park, and for other purposes. 

The Department supports the boundary confinnation provided by S. 257. However, this bill also 

includes changes to a range of authorities for Acadia National Park (Acadia). The Department 

supports this legislation with clarifying amendments. These positions are explained in this 

statement. 

Section 2 of S. 257 would confirm in statute that the boundary of Acadia National Park (Acadia) 

now also includes the approximately 1,441 acres of land on the Schoodic Peninsula that 

comprise the Schoodic Woods property that was donated to the National Park Service (NPS) in 

2015. The Schoodic Woods donation was a gift by an anonymous donor that included not only 

the land but also a newly constructed campground, trails, and other visitor amenities, an 

endowment to help pay for operating expenses at the site, and funds to pay local governments to 

help offset the loss of tax revenue. The addition to the park of this land, adjacent to existing 

national park land and ready to welcome visitors, was strongly supported by the communities on 

the Schoodic Peninsula and throughout the area surrounding Acadia. 

The NPS accepted the donation of the Schoodic Woods property and added it to the boundary of 

the park under the authority of 16 U.S.C. 342(a), which was enacted as part of the Act of January 

19, 1929, and which authorizes the National Park Service to accept donations of lands, 

easements, and buildings within Hancock County, Maine, the county in which most of Acadia is 

located. The NPS published the notice of the boundary adjustment reflecting the imminent 

acceptance of fee title to the Schoodic Woods property in the Federal Register of November 17, 

2015. 

We are aware of the concerns that have been raised about the use of this authority given that 

Congress passed legislation in 1986 establishing a "pennanent boundary" for the park (Section 

102 ofP.L. 99-420). To allay those concerns, the Department supports Section 2. 

Section 3 provides that the Secretary may only acquire land or interests in land for Acadia 

National Park in accordance with the 1986 law, except that the Secretary may conduct exchanges 

of federal and nonfederallands that are entirely within the park's boundaries. It is important to 

have this explicit authority to conduct land exchanges (54 USC 102901) because existing law is 

ambiguous as to whether intraboundary land exchanges are allowed under the 1986 Acadia law. 

Jntraboundary land exchange authority is available for most units of the National Park System. 

1 
8 

However, the intraboundary exception alone does not go far enough in providing the authority 

the NPS needs to work with owners of land adjacent to park boundaries to collaboratively 

resolve land issues. We believe that Acadia should have the administrative boundary adjustment 

authority under 54 USC I 00506, which allows the NPS to exchange land within a park boundary 

for land outside the boundary, subject to strict requirements. This authority would assure Acadia 

has the same ability as nearly every other national park to address encroachments due to 

mistaken surveys, rationalize boundary lines, and otherwise resolve real-world land ownership 

dilemmas that have an impact on neighboring landowners. In many cases these adjustments 

result in no net increase in federal land ownership. For that reason, the Department recommends 

amending this section to include a second exception to the 1986 law for administrative boundary 

adjustment authority consistent with 54 USC I 00506. 

Section 4 would authorize the Secretary, subject to the availability of prior appropriations, to 

contribute $350,000 to a regional consortium of local governments on or near Mount Desert 

Island that is established to improve the management of the disposal and recycling of solid 

waste. The 1986 law required the Secretary to contribute the lesser of$350,000 or 50% of the 

cost of the construction of a waste transfer facility that would benefit the park as well as the local 

towns. This funding was never appropriated and construction of a facility is no longer needed, 

but there is local interest in converting the $350,000 authorization for construction into a federal 

payment for municipal waste disposal. The Department does not believe that this type of subsidy 

for municipal waste disposal is an appropriate use of federal funds and therefore opposes this 

section. 

Section 5 would permanently authorize the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission. The 

Department recognizes the important work of the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission. 

The commission advises the Secretary of the Interior, through his designee, the superintendent of 

Acadia, on matters relating to the management and development of the park including, but not 

limited to, the acquisition of land and interests in land, and the termination of rights of use and 

occupancy. The advisory commission is composed of 16 members, ten of whom are appointed 

based on recommendations from the park's host communities including the four towns of Mount 

Desert Island, three Hancock County mainland towns, and three island towns. 

The commission was first authorized in 1986 and is currently due to expire in 2026. There are 

several other advisory commissions for units of the National Park System that are permanently 

authorized, including the ones at Gettysburg National Military Park, Jimmy Carter National 

Historic Site, and the National Park of American Samoa. 

Section 6 would prohibit the use of the 1929 authority, and authority under section 3 of the Act 

of February 26, 1919, to acquire land by donation outside of the "permanent boundary" 

established in 1986. The intent of this section is to ensure that the boundaries of the park cannot 

be enlarged beyond the lines drawn in 1986 through a donation of land. The Department 

believes that it is important for parks to have the flexibility to accept donations of land that are 

adjacent to their boundaries to address a variety of encroachment issues as discussed in section 3. 

The Depa1tment would not object to this provision if the bill were amended to include limited 

2 
9 

administrative boundary adjustment authority similar to 54 USC I 00506 as an amendment for 

section 3. We would be happy to work with the committee on this language. 

Section 7 provides that specified lands that were part of Acadia and that were conveyed by the 

NPS to the town of Tremont, on Mt. Desert Island, for school purposes shall no longer be 

required to be used exclusively and perpetually for school purposes if the land is being used for 

public purposes, subject to the condition that use of the land shall not degrade or adversely 

impact the resources or values of Acadia National Park and that the lands shall remain in public 

ownership for recreational, educational, or similar public purposes. 

Public Law 81-629, enacted in 1950, permitted the NPS to convey a parcel identified as NPS 

Tract 06-126 to the town to locate a new school. The conveyance was completed in 1951, with a 

reverter clause included in the deed specifying that the land would revert back to the United 

States if no longer used exclusively for school purposes. The town is now consolidating schools 

with a neighboring town and thus will no longer use this property exclusively for school 

purposes, but would like to retain ownership and continue to use the developed property for 

community purposes. This legislation would allow it to do so. The Department supports this 

section. 

Section 8 provides that the Secretary shall permit the harvesting of marine organisms in the 

intertidal areas of Acadia in accordance with the laws (including regulations) of the State of 

Maine and units of local government. The provision would allow for the harvesting and 

aquaculture of clams, worms, mussels, periwinkles, and other marine organisms (as defined by 

Maine Revised Statutes as in effect on the date of enactment of this act.). 

There is a long history of small-scale commercial harvesting of clams and worms within 

Acadia's intertidal zone, despite the NPS's general prohibition on commercial harvest. In fact, 

the activity predates the park's establishment. There is no specific legislation authorizing this 

activity at Acadia, as required by 36 CRF 2.3(d)(4). 

The Department supports permitting harvesting of clams and worms at Acadia, but only if such 

harvesting can be kept at the traditional level at which it occurs now. However, the language of 

section 8 extends authority for harvesting far beyond what is needed to allow traditional 

harvesting of clams and worms. We have concerns about expanding the harvesting to other 

"marine organisms", or to aquaculture activity. The full range of organisms included in Maine's 

definition of Marine Organism includes, "any animal, plant or other life that inhabits waters 

below head of tide." Such a broad definition could include any species, from plants and 

mollusks to birds, fish, and mammals, that "inhabits waters below head of tide." Rockweed 

harvest has increased exponentially along the coast in Maine in recent years. While continued 

commercial harvest of clams and worms poses a relatively small threat to the intertidal area, 

harvest ofrockweed would have much more significant impacts, as could aquaculture operations. 

In addition, aquaculture has not historically occurred in Acadia's intertidal zone and would 

represent a new use. 

3 
10 

Finally, Section 9 would require the Secretary to convey to the Town of Bar Harbor a 0.29-acre 

parcel ofland for the construction of a solid waste transfer facility. This provision includes a 

reverter clause if the land were to be used for a different purpose. The Department supports this 

section but would welcome the opportunity to explore potential land exchange options. 

We would be happy to work with the sponsor and the committee to develop amendments to 

address all of the matters of concern about this bill that are described in this statement. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee may have. 

4 
11 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 312, TO REDESIGNATE THE SAINT-GAUDENS NATIONAL 

HISTORIC SITE AS THE "SAINT -GAUD ENS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK", AND 

FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

JULY 19, 2016 

Chainnan Daines, Ranking Member Hirano, and members of the committee, thank you for the 

opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 312, a bill to redesignate the 

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site as the "Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park", and for 

other purposes. 

The Department supports S. 312. 

S. 312 would redesignate the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire, 

as the "Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park." This bill would not have a significant financial 

impact on the park as the National Park Service would update maps and signage as a part of 

routine maintenance and reordering of interpretive materials. We note that this bill has been 

modified from the version introduced in the !141

h Congress and we appreciate the sponsor's 

willingness to propose a redesignation that fits with the National Park System's naming 

conventions. 

Authorized in 1964, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site preserves the home, studios, gardens, 

and artwork of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), the greatest American sculptor of 

the Gilded Age. During his career, Saint-Gaudens completed a variety of important monuments 

and memorials around the country, many of them, like the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in 

Boston, Massachusetts; the Sherman Monument and Farragut Monument in New York City; and 

the Standing and Seated Abraham Lincoln monuments in Chicago, Illinois, memorializing 

heroes of the Civil War. 

Saint-Gaudens began his association with Cornish, New Hampshire, in 1885 when he and his 

family began using the property that today comprises Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site as 

their summer residence. The presence of the famous sculptor in Cornish attracted a variety of 

other artists to the area, fanning the Cornish Colony of Artists, one of the earliest examples of an 

unplanned artist colony in the United States. The colony included painters, sculptors, authors, 

poets, playwrights, musicians, architects, and many other artistic disciplines, and during the 

presidency of Woodrow Wilson, served as the summer White House. 

In addition to the Saint-Gaudens estate, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site also includes the 

Blow-Me-Down Farm, historically the social hub of the Cornish Colony, which was added to the 

park via a donation from the park's partner group, the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, in 2010. This 

addition expanded the park's interpretive themes beyond Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his work 
12 

to include the full range of artists and artistic disciplines, as well as the historical impact of the 

Cornish Colony. 

Generally, National Park System units designated as national historic sites tell a discrete story or 

contain a small number of historic resources related to that story. National Park System units 

designated as national historical parks have a greater diversity of historical resources and 

interpretive themes and may be spread out over non-contiguous lands. The addition of the BlowMe-Down Farm to the park in 20 l 0 added new historical resources and interpretive themes to 

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. This increased scope provides a basis for supporting 

redesignating this park as a national historical park. The name "Saint-Gaudens National 

Historical Park" would incorporate the word "park" into the title, and it would better reflect the 

broad historical context and resource diversity found at this park, while conforming to naming 

conventions for National Park System units. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer questions that you 

or other members of the committee might have. 

2 
13 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

NATIONAL PARKS, CONCERNING S. 355, A BILL TO AMEND THE FEDERAL 

LANDS RECREATION ENHANCEMENT ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A LIFETIME 

NATIONAL RECREATION PASS FOR Al'I!Y VETERAN WITH A SERVICECONNECTED DISABILITY. 

July 19, 2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the 

opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 355, a bill to amend the Federal 

Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to provide for a lifetime National Recreational Pass for any 

veteran with a service-connected disability. 

The Department supports S. 355 with amendments that are discussed later in this statement. We 

believe that the brave men and women who are disabled as a result of their service to our nation 

in the armed forces should be assured of their eligibility for free entrance to our national parks 

and other federal public lands. This legislation would provide that assurance. 

S. 355 would amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) to authorize the 

Secretary of the Interior to make the lifetime National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass 

available, without cost, to any veteran with a service-connected disability. S. 355 would further 

require the Secretary to offset any direct spending authorized under this authority to provide 

disability discounts using any additional amounts made available to the Secretary for the 

applicable fiscal year. 

Although veterans with service-connected disabilities are not specifically mentioned in FLREA, 

our nation's veterans who are disabled may already be eligible for a free pass called the Access 

Pass. This pass provides free admission for permanently disabled U.S. citizens, regardless of 

past military service, to parks and public lands that charge entrance fees. To be eligible tor the 

free lifetime Access Pass, FLREA requires proof of disability as defined by the Rehabilitation 

Actofl973. 

The Department is sensitive to concerns that there may be some confusion among veterans about 

whether the Rehabilitation Act's definition of disabled individuals includes veterans with any 

percentage of service-c<Jnnected disability. By specifying service-connected disabilities in the 

law, the intent ofS. 355 is to affirm that any service-connected disabled veteran is eligible for 

the same pass as any other individual with a pennanent disability. 

The Department recommends that S. 355 be amended in two areas. 

Section 2(a) states that eligibility for a free pass for disabled veterans is based on "a serviceconnected disability as defined in section 101 oftitle 38, United States Code". Section 101 
14 

defines "service-connected" but not "disability". We believe that this section should be clarified 

to ensure that there is no question that every veteran with any percentage of service-connected 

disability qualifies for the free lifetime pass. We would welcome the opportunity to work with 

the Committee, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to clarify this 

language. 

Section 2(b) would require the Secretary to offset any direct spending caused by the new 

authority for issuing Access Passes with funds made available to the Secretary. We would note 

that, as this bill reaffirms an existing practice, we do not expect that it would generate any 

significant direct spending. However, we are concerned that this provision would create a 

complex administrative burden for agencies because it would be difficult to determine and 

quantify the number of additional Access Passes that are being issued as a result of the enactment 

of this bill. We strongly urge that the bill be amended to delete section 2(b). 

Chainnan Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions that 

you or the other members of the subcommittee might have. 
15 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 391, TO ESTABLISH THE AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND 

INTERNATIONAL MEMORIAL MUSEUM AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER IN NEW 

YORK, NEW YORK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

July 19,2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirano, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 391, to establish the 

African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Educational Center in New York, 

New York, and for other purposes. 

While the Department understands that a memorial museum at the site of the African Burial 

Ground National Monument (Monument) was first recommended by a Federal steering 

committee in 1992, there has been no comprehensive study ofthe proposal that addresses the 

purpose, need, feasibility, or cost to establish an associated museum or a study that evaluates 

alternatives for such a facility. Without having the necessary information to evaluate this 

proposal, the Department opposes S. 391 at this time. 

S. 391 would establish at the African Burial Ground National Monument a memorial museum 

and educational center to be known as the "African Burial Ground International Memorial 

Museum and Educational Center" (Museum) to serve as a permanent living memorial to the 

enslaved who are buried at the African Burial Ground and to other enslaved Africans and 

African-Americans. The Museum would examine the African cultural traditions brought to the 

United States by the enslaved and explore in-depth the institution of slavery in the United States 

and other parts of the world. Many of these themes and concepts are already embraced and 

presented by the Monument in its present visitor facility and memorial. In the absence of a study 

or plan that specifically explores this concept, we have little information about how the Museum 

is meant to relate to the Memorial. 

The site encompassed by the Monument is among the oldest, and is the largest known urban 

burial site of enslaved and free Africans in the United States. The site is one of the most 

significant archeological discoveries in the 20'11 century- with an estimated 15,000 burials. The 

Monument provides the opportunity to study, contemplate, and discuss the history and 

implications of the African Diaspora and redefines and makes accessible to all the history and 

contributions of Africans in the building of the Americas. 

The Monument consists of designed urban space that encompasses a plaza, sculptural elements 

and seven burial mounds, the location of the re-interred remains from the burial ground. A large 

24-foot granite sculpture resembles the prow of a ship and symbolically references the journey 

from and back home to Africa. Passing through the threshold of the ''ship," one encounters a 

large map depicting the African Diaspora. A spiral ramp provides access back out to the street 

level past carved symbols from many of the world's religions and African cultural groups. 

1 
16 

The visitor center for the Monument opened in February 2010, and is located on the first floor of 

the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway. The visitor center exhibits are divided into 

four main topics. The central theme speaks to the experiences, rituals, and customs of the people 

who used the burial ground. Another area explores the science behind the analysis of the buried 

remains. A third exhibit area addresses the nature of slavery and the lives of those enslaved. 

The fourth area examines the activism throughout the New York community that brought the 

burial ground to the attention of the world and led to its preservation. 

This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to acquire or lease property for the 

Museum that is located adjacent to the Monument or in any other area of the National Landmark, 

and to plan, design, and construct the Museum at that location. The Monument would be 

expanded to incorporate the Museum property, which would nearly double the size of the 

Monument and require the acquisition or lease of property in a very expensive and complex real 

estate market. Given ample opportunities for programmatic relationships with the institutions 

named in this bill, the need for the acquisition of land and the development of a costly new 

facility is not clear. 

S. 391 would direct the Secretary to operate the museum in consultation with the bill's proposed 

Advisory Council and to assume responsibility for the accession, preservation, restoration, and 

maintenance of a museum collection. While the National Park Service (NPS) does retain, 

manage, and curate museum collections, the operation of museums is not part of our normal 

administrative model. Typically, the NPS has collection repositories that are research-focused 

but do not function as traditional museums. NPS exhibit spaces are generally interpretive in 

nature and have few museum objects on display. This is in part because exhibits with 

accessioned museum objects on display require investment in substantively higher levels of 

physical security and environmental standards. Such exhibits also require access to professional 

curatorial staff, which is not available in the NPS workforce. These variables would make it 

very difficult for NPS to operate or provide supp01t to a museum facility like one that is 

proposed in this bill. 

It is not clear how this museum will relate to or be distinguished trom the National Museum of 

African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, DC. The bill provides broad 

outlines of subjects that the NMAAHC already includes in their exhibits and directs an 

association between the NMAAHC and the Museum. This direction has the potential for overlap 

between the two sites and may be redundant in the representation of certain subjects. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee may have. 

2 
17 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 841, TO DESIGNATE THE NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL 

AND MUSEUM IN COLUMBUS, OHIO. 

July 19,2017 

Chainnan Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 841, a bill to designate the 

Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio as the National Veterans Memorial and 

Museum. 

The Department of the Interior (Department) defers to the Department of Veterans Affairs for a 

position on S. 841 since the purpose of the legislation is to confer a title on a memorial and 

museum designed to honor veterans. The memorial is located at a site that is not under the 

jurisdiction of the Department, and this bill does not provide for any management or funding by 

the National Park Service. 

The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation broke ground on the Veterans Memorial 

and Museum in December 2015. It is being built with support from the State of Ohio, Franklin 

County, and private individuals, foundations, and corporations. The museum will become the 

only one of its kind that exists for the exclusive purpose of interpreting the collective experience 

of veterans of the United States across all eras, conflicts, and branches of the military. It is 

expected to open in the summer of2018. 

We are concerned that this legislation proposes the use of the title "national" which could create 

an expectation among the general public that the memorial and museum has an affiliation with 

the National Park Service, or at least some connection to the Federal government. This is not the 

first time the issue of a "national" designation for a non-federal entity has arisen, nor is it likely 

to be the last. The Department respectfully encourages the committee to be thoughtful and 

judicious in any decision as to whether an entity that has no association with the Federal 

government should have a "national" title conferred by Congress. 

Chainnan Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer questions you or 

other members of the subcommittee may have. 
18 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 926, A BILL TO AUTHORIZE THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR 

MEMORIAL FOUNDATION TO ESTABLISH THE NATIONAL GLOBAL WAR ON 

TERRORISM MEMORIAL AS A COMMEMORATIVE WORK IN THE DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

July 19,2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 926, a bill to authorize the 

Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation to establish the National Global War on Terrorism 

Memorial as a commemorative work in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 

The Department supports S. 926, as we believe it is important to commemorate the sacrifices 

made by Members of the Armed Forces who have fought and died in the Global War on Terror. 

Although the subject matter of the proposed memorial is not consistent with the Commemorative 

Works Act, we believe that in this case exempting the memorial from time-period requirements 

for commemorative works, as this bill does, is appropriate. 

S. 926 would authorize the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation (Foundation) to establish 

the National Global War on Terrorism Memorial (Memorial) as a commemorative work, on 

Federal land in the District of Columbia. This Memorial would commemorate and honor the 

members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in support of the Global War on Terror. 

This bill also prohibits the use of federal funds to establish this Memorial and directs the 

Foundation to be solely responsible for accepting contributions for, and paying the expenses of, 

the establishment of the Memorial. Once the memorial is completed, the National Park Service 

will be responsible for its operation. The annual cost of such operation has not been determined 

but, as with other recent memorials, would be estimated during the design process, should the 

memorial be authorized. The Foundation is a 50l(c)(3) corporation organized under the laws of 

the State of Pennsylvania whose mission is to establish a national memorial to this conflict. 

After September 11,2001, when the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda initiated a series offour 

coordinated terrorist attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people, President 

George W. Bush declared a worldwide "war on terror." The initial objectives of the Global War 

on Terror included defeating the terrorists responsible for the September II attacks, battling 

terrorists and dismantling their organizations, and defending U.S. citizens at home and abroad. 

The War on Terror includes conflicts in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom and 

Operation Freedom's Sentinel) and in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Inherent 

Resolve, and Operation New Dawn) as well as conflicts throughout the Middle East, Asia, 

Europe, North America, and Africa. In recent years, the fight against the Islamic terrorist 

organization ISIS has been included in the Global War on Terror. 
19 

The Department notes that Section 3(b) of this bill requires the establishment of the Memorial to 

generally comply with Chapter 89 of Title 40, United States Code, commonly known as the 

"Commemorative Works Act" (CWA). The CW A provides a process for the establishment of 

new memorials on certain Federal lands within the District of Columbia. However, the bill 

exempts the Memorial from the sections of the CW A that require the passage of specific periods 

of time before a commemorative work may be established. In the case of military conflicts, the 

period is ten years. 

On October 4, 2016. the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (Commission) 

reviewed the previous House version of this bill, H.R. 5999, which was introduced in the 114'h 

Congress. On November 29,2016, the Commission reported to the House Natural Resources 

Committee that the Global War on Terror was a subject deserving of commemoration, either 

now or in the future, but that a proposal for commemorating a conflict that had not yet ended was 

inconsistent with the CWA. However, the Commission also recognized that the nature of 

warfare has changed since the CW A became law, and that modem conflicts may not have 

distinct end dates, making it difficult for memorials to these conflicts to comply with the waiting 

period requirements of the CWA. 

The Department supports the concept of a waiting period prescribed by the CWA, as it allows for 

fuller understanding of the importance of a particular military conflict or other event in the long 

continuum of our nation's history. However, the waiting period that commences upon the 

conclusion of the Global War on Terror may not even begin for many years or decades. This is 

a situation where we believe it is appropriate to waive the waiting period so as to not delay the 

commemoration of the brave men and women who fought and died many years ago. along with 

those who continue to fight and die on our behalf today, in the long-lasting War on Terror. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee may have. 

2 
20 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 1073, TO AUTHORIZE ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO 

CONVEY CERTAIN PROPERTY THAT WAS FORMERLY PART OF SANTA ROSA 

ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT AND THAT WAS CONVEYED 

TO ESCAMBIA COUNTY SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON USE AND 

RECONVEYANCE. 

July 19,2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's position on S. 1073, to authorize 

Escambia County, Florida, to convey certain property that was formerly part of Santa Rosa 

Island National Monument and that was conveyed to Escambia County subject to restrictions on 

use and reconveyance. 

The Department supports S. 1073. 

S. 1073 would provide authority to Escambia County to convey property, subject to certain 

conditions, that it received from the Federal government in 1947. The bill is intended to resolve 

a longstanding land use issue for the county, which the Department supports. 

S. 1073 would supersede the Act of July 30, 1946, which deauthorized the Santa Rosa Island 

National Monument in the State of Florida and authorized the transfer of the Federal lands 

administered by the Department of the Interior to Escambia County. The Act of 1946 placed 

restrictions on the use of the lands, specifying that they must be used for purposes deemed in the 

public interest, and that they may not be conveyed by Escambia County except to the Federal 

government or the State of Florida. Pursuant to the 1946 Act, on January 15, 1947, the lands on 

Santa Rosa Island were transferred to Escambia County. In 1971, the Gulf Islands National 

Seashore was established, and the boundary of the National Seashore includes all of Santa Rosa 

Island. 

S. I 073 pertains to those portions of Santa Rosa Island within the boundary of, but not owned or 

managed by, Gulf Islands National Seashore: a nine-mile segment in Escambia County known as 

Pensacola Beach and a four-mile segment in Santa Rosa County known as Navarre Beach. In 

1956, Escambia County leased Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County. The State of Florida 

modified the county boundaries in 1991, placing Navarre Beach within the jurisdiction of Santa 

Rosa County. However, the Navarre Beach lands remained in Escambia County ownership due 

to the restrictions on reconveyance contained in the 1946 Act. 

Communities have been developed at Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach under leases granted 

by the counties. These are primarily comprised of privately owned residential structures. The 

developed lands within these communities do not retain any of the natural character and public 

access that existed at the time of their conveyance from the Federal government. The National 
21 

Park Service has no concerns with these developed lands being conveyed into private ownership, 

thus allowing the counties the benefit of having the lands on the tax rolls and allowing the 

federal government the benefit of any profits from the conveyances. 

Escambia County and Santa Rosa County have also elected to protect certain lands within 

Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach from development. Through the efforts of the county 

commissions, these undeveloped portions of Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach have been 

excluded from commercial or residential development, and remain today in their pristine, 

natural, condition, providing vital wildlife habitat, guaranteed public access, and outstanding 

opportunities for public recreation. We support and appreciate the continued efforts of the 

counties to preserve this wildlife habitat and the recreation opportunities it provides, as many of 

these undeveloped lands directly adjoin lands owned and managed by Gulf Islands National 

Seashore, and strongly support maintaining these protections in perpetuity. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions that 

you or other members of the subcommittee might have. 

2 
22 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 1202, TO MODIFY THE BOUNDARY OF LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 

HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES . 

. July 19, 2017 

Chainnan Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the 

opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 1202, a bill to modify the 

boundary of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in Arkansas, and for other 

purposes. 

The Department supports enactment of this bill. 

S. 1202 would amend Public Law 105-356, which established Little Rock Central High School 

National Historic Site by modifying the park's boundary and expanding the park's authority to 

enter into cooperative agreements. The proposed boundary modification, which is consistent with 

the park's General Management Plan (2002), would include seven privately owned residences on 

South Park Street, consisting of 1.4 7 acres, within the boundary of the national historic site. The 

cooperative agreement authority provided by the bill would allow the National Park Service (NPS) 

to give financial and technical aid to the property owners within the area added to the boundary to 

preserve the facades and maintain the ambience of the 1957 historic scene. NPS' ability to provide 

financial and or technical assistance is subject to the availability of appropriations and must be 

balanced with other competing priorities. The NPS has no plans to purchase these properties. Thus, 

S.l202 would help preserve the historic scene without adding any new structures to the NPS asset 

inventory and would not add to the NPS deferred maintenance backlog. 

Little Rock Central High School and the surrounding neighborhood stand as a testament to the 

effort to end racially segregated public schools in the United States. The area provided the setting 

for one of the most prominent examples of brave individuals who struggled to implement the 

Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. The admission of nine black 

students to Central High School in 1957 drew national and international attention, and was the first 

fundamental test of the nation's resolve to enforce black civil rights in the face of significant public 

defiance. 

In recognition of the importance of Central High School in the history of the United States, the site 

was designated by the Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark in 1982, and in 

1998, it was established by Congress as Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, a 

unit of the National Park System to be administered by the NPS in partnership with Little Rock 

School District and the City of Little Rock. In 1996, the surrounding neighborhood, including 

seven privately owned houses on the east side of South Park Street, was listed on the National 

Register of Historic Places as Central High School Neighborhood Historic District. The 

designation recognized the neighborhood's association with the significant events of 1957 and the 

architectural characteristics and qualities that remain relatively unchanged from that period. 
23 

Images of the South Park Street properties are inextricably associated with the 1957 events. As 

images of the Little Rock Nine, crowds of protestors, public, and National Guardsmen appeared 

in newspapers across the nation and were broadcast live through the emerging media of television, 

the neighborhood became as recognizable as the high school itself. Because South Park Street in 

front of Central High School retains a high degree of historical integrity, this legislation would 

provide a unique opportunity to preserve a setting that will allow visitors to more accurately 

visualize the events that occurred there in 1957 when the Little Rock Nine attempted to attend 

Central High School. 

This bill would authorize the National Park Service to enter into cooperative agreements with 

private property owners of the South Street properties. This authority would allow the NPS to use 

the park's operational funds to mark, interpret, improve, restore, and provide technical assistance 

for the preservation and interpretation of the properties. It would also allow the NPS to assist the 

homeowners in applying for federal grants. The cooperative agreements would include a provision 

specifying that no changes or alterations shall be made to the exterior of the properties, except by 

mutual agreement, in order preserve the historic character of the properties. 

All the property owners and several community members have expressed their support for this 

proposal, including the Central High Neighborhood, Inc., and Preserve Arkansas. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee may have. 

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24 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 1403, TO AMEND THE PUBLIC LAND CORPS ACT OF 1993 TO 

ESTABLISH THE 218T CENTURY CONSERVATION SERVICE CORPS TO PLACE 

YOUTH AND VETERANS IN NATIONAL SERVICE POSITIONS TO CONSERVE, 

RESTORE, AND ENHANCE THE GREAT OUTDOORS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

July 19,2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 1403, to amend the Public 

Lands Corps Act of 1993 to establish the 21 '

1 Century Conservation Service Corps to place youth 

and veterans in national service positions to conserve, restore, and enhance the great outdoors of 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

The Department recommends that Congress defer action on S. 1403 until we have an opportunity 

to review all of the Department's youth programs and determine the most cost-effective strategies 

for engaging children, youth, and young adults in our nation's great outdoors. This legislation 

would officially rename the Public Lands Corps as the 21'1 Century Conservation Service Corps, 

expand the participation of veterans of the U.S armed forces in the corps, increase the number of 

Federal agencies that are able to use the program, and authorize a program specifically for Indian 

youth to carry out projects on tribal lands. 

The Department's land management bureaus, along with the U.S. Forest Service, have 

established successful public-private partnership programs using the authority of the Public 

Lands Service Corps. Informally, the agencies identify these arrangements as 21" Century 

Service Corps or "21 CSC" partnerships, so we believe that converting the Public Lands Corps 

Act authorities to 21" Century Service Corps authorities in statute is appropriate. In addition, a 

new identity for the program seems appropriate in light of the bill's highlighting of veterans as 

an eligible group of participants and the extension of the program to multiple Federal agencies 

beyond the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture. 

In the Department of the Interior, using the authority of the Public Lands Corps Act, the Bureau 

of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), the Bureau oflndian Affairs 

(BIA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS), have collaborated with youth conservation corps on 21CSC projects 

all across the country. These projects, which are undertaken through the use of cooperative 

agreements, have ranged from trail maintenance to watershed restoration, historic preservation to 

forest regeneration, and invasive species removal to front-line services for visitors. The projects 

have decreased the land management agencies' maintenance backlogs and helped to fill critical 

staffing gaps. They have also given many young people, including youth from underserved 

communities and veterans, opportunities to gain in-demand skills for success in the 21" century 

workplace. Through these partnerships, the bureaus have been able to generate an interest among 

1 
25 

young people in pursuing careers in public land management, which is an increasingly important 

aspect of the program as growing numbers of Federal employees become eligible for retirement. 

A few specific examples of public-private partnerships help illustrate the success of the 21 CSC 

partnerships: 

In Maryland, the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center and a partner organization, 

Conservation Legacy recently piloted the Traditional Trades Youth Initiative to provide a 

structured, experiential training opportunity to young adults in traditional construction trades 

(carpentry, masonry, and woodcrafting). Participants work closely alongside experienced 

craftspeople, serving as assistants or apprentice level trades workers to learn preservation trades 

skills while completing projects within parks, such as restoring historic windows and replacing a 

shingle roof on a barn at Gettysburg National Military Park. 

In Oregon and California, the Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) built on a long-standing 

partnership with the BLM and FWS to expand its internship program and improve outreach to 

underserved communities, including Native American and Hispanic youth. The combination of 

KBO's established long-term monitoring program and an intensive bird banding training 

curriculum foster the integration of youth engagement and professional training. The internships 

have provided opportunities for training and practical experience in bird monitoring techniques; 

learning through a well-rounded curriculum in field biology; and attaining bird bander 

certification through the North American Banding Council. 

In Arizona, the Conservation Legacy organization worked with the BIA to lead an eight-person 

Native American youth crew in completion of natural resource conservation projects on the 

Navajo Nation. The crew consisted of local area high school students and two adult crew leaders. 

During the four-week program the crew restored and stabilized Hubble Wash, maintained trails, 

and repaired and constructed wildlife fencing. 

In New Mexico, the Talking Talons Youth Leadership, in partnership with the Valle de Oro 

National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), the Bureau of Reclamation, the New Mexico State Land 

Office, Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District, the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring 

Program, Amigos Bravos, Friends of the Valle de Oro, and Friends of the Sandia Mountains 

provided approximately 560 hours of paid employment for urban and minority youth in 

conservation work that benefited the public lands and the mission of the Valle de Oro NWR, 

BOR, and the State of New Mexico. In addition to receiving in-depth education and training in 

diverse aspects of environmental restoration, monitoring, and stewardship, crew members 

conducted surface and groundwater quality monitoring and removed invasive vegetation on 80 

acres on the refuge and adjacent Federal and state lands. 

And, in Maine, the Friends of Acadia hired young people to work on projects with the NPS in 

Acadia National Park, including engaging the public in raptor viewing opportunities and working 

on a trail crew mediating trail issues. Many of the youth work experiences occured in accessible, 

highly visited areas, such as Sieur de Monts Springs. 

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26 

S. 1403 would increase the number of Federal departments and agencies authorized to partner 

with conservation organizations to support and carry out 21 CSC projects. In addition to the 

Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, the authorities could be used by the Departments of 

Transportation, Labor, Energy, Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Commerce; the Environmental 

Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Corporation for National and 

Community Service, the Arrny Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, and any other agencies as designated by the President. The bill would give participating 

agencies flexibility to support 21 CSC projects in a manner consistent with each agency's mission 

and resources, while seeking to minimize the duplication of a specific project by another agency. 

Authorizing these entities to carry out project directly with other agencies would relieve the 

administrative burden on the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, which currently serve 

as sponsoring entities for 21CSC projects carried out by Federal entities outside of those two 

departments. The bill would also require participating agencies to report to Congress to ensure 

21 CSC activities are carried out in a cost-effective manner. 

This bill delineates the categories of projects that could be conducted through a cooperative 

agreement between an agency and a partner. While the projects are focused on the full range of 

activities that constitute conservation, restoration and management of public lands and waters, 

the list includes work that would be conducted primarily inside, such as service in a science, 

policy, or program internship, which has a clear benefit for natural, cultural, or historic resources 

or treasures, including interpretation and education services. This will make clear to agencies that 

manage almost any kind of work related to conservation or restoration that they have the ability 

to use this program, even if those agencies are not considered land management agencies. 

S. 1403 also establishes a 21 CSC specifically for Indian youth to participate in projects on tribal 

lands. This program would be administered through a cooperative agreement with a tribal agency 

or a 21 CSC organization. Guidelines for this program would be issued by the Secretary of the 

Interior within 18 months of enactment ofthe bill. 

This bill maintains two changes to the Public Lands Corps Act that were passed by Congress in 

December 2016 as part of the NPS Centennial Act: one providing an upper age limit of30 for 

participants (raised from 25), and the other providing a two-year period of eligibility for noncompetitive Federal hiring for participants (increased from a period of 120 days) who complete 

the requirements of the program. These provisions both increase the pool of potential participants 

and the opportunities for participants who have developed the skills the agencies need to move 

into permanent Federal positions. 

In addition to these changes, the lower end of the age limit for participation would be reduced 

from 16 to 15. 2ICSC organizations would be encouraged to select veterans of age 35 or younger 

for projects to focus on training young people, but veterans would not have any age limit for 

participation. 

S. 1403 would reduce the cost-share requirement for 21 CSC projects from 25 percent to I 0 

percent, while resource assistants participating through 21 CSC organizations would still require 

a 25 percent cost-share. The Department supports the cost-share requirement reduction for 

21 CSC projects, which would enable a greater range of organizations such as smaller, 

3 
27 

community-based organizations that draw from low-income and rural populations to participate 

in the 2ICSC. 

If the committee acts on S. 1403, we recommend an amendment to Section 12. This section 

retains existing law that allows land management agencies to use direct hire authority to hire 

former resource assistants who have completed "a rigorous undergraduate or graduate summer 

internship" and extends that authority to other agencies, we suggest amending this section. As 

currently written, Section 12 would eliminate the reference to the National Park Service Business 

Plan Internship as an example of the kind of internship that meets the definition of "rigorous." 

We think that keeping that phrase in law would maintain the Business Plan Internship as a 

benchmark for the types of internships that are sufficiently rigorous for interns to be hired by 

agencies without going through the competitive hiring process. Without maintaining that 

benchmark, agencies will have a more difficult time determining what internships meet the 

definition of"rigorous." We would be pleased to provide language to amend this section. Finally, 

as the Department reviews this legislation more thoroughly and considers it in the context of 

other programs aimed at youth engagement, we may want to suggest additional amendments. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee may have. 

4 
28 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 1438, TO REDESIGNATE JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION 

MEMORIAL IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI AS GATEWAY ARCH NATIONAL 

PARK. 

July 19,2017 

Chainnan Daines, Ranking Member Hirano, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 1438, a bill to redesignate 

the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in the State of Missouri as the "Gateway Arch 

National Park." 

The Department of the Interior supports renaming the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial to 

highlight its iconic feature, the Gateway Arch. However, we recommend designating the site as 

a national monument, to be known as "Gateway Arch National Monument," rather than a 

national park, in order to be more consistent with National Park Service naming conventions. 

The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting 

point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was designated as a national memorial by Executive 

Order 7523, on December 21, 1935. The 91-acre park was established to commemorate the 

Louisiana Purchase, and the subsequent westward movement of American explorers and 

pioneers. This site played an important part in our nation's debate over slavery, as the Dred 

Scott case was heard in the Old Courthouse, now included in the memorial's boundaries. The 

Gateway Arch, designed by world-famous Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947, 

and completed in 1965, is the world-recognized symbol of St. Louis, much as the Statue of 

Liberty National Monument serves that purpose for New York City. The name Jefferson 

National Expansion Memorial does not readily identify where the memorial is located or the fact 

that the key feature of the park is the Gateway Arch. Using "Gateway Arch" in the name of the 

site would make the name immediately recognizable to all citizens and future visitors to St. 

Louis. 

The proposal to rename Jefferson National Expansion Memorial as Gateway Arch National Park 

is supported by the partners in the City Arch River 2015 alliance, a public- private partnership 

founded in 2009 to support and coordinate the project to connect, invigorate and expand the arch 

grounds. The partners that make up the alliance are Jefferson National Parks Association, Bistate Development, Great Rivers Greenway, Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and the City of St. 

Louis. After a year of extensive research and public scoping, one of the partners, the 

CityArchRiver Foundation, changed its name to Gateway Arch Park Foundation, a reflection of 

how immediately identifiable the name "Gateway Arch" is for the site. 

Although we would welcome using the tenn "Gateway Arch" in the name of the Jefferson 

National Expansion Memorial, the National Park Service strives to provide consistency in the 

naming of park units. To better align with the standard nomenclature for units of the National 
29 

Park System, we recommend that Congress redesignate the unit as "Gateway Arch National 

Monument." National parks contain a variety of resources and encompass large land or water 

areas to help provide adequate protection of the resources. The existing 59 designated national 

parks protect at a minimum thousands of acres each, and some span millions of acres. At only 

91 federal acres, we believe that the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is too small and 

limited in the range of resources the site protects and interprets to be called a national park. 

Since it is a site similar to the Statue of Liberty National Monument, in its iconic status and small 

land area, we believe that a more fitting name for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 

would be "Gateway Arch National Monument." 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer questions you or 

other members of the subcommittee may have. 
30 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 1459, TO ESTABLISH FORT SUMTER AND FORT MOULTRIE 

NATIONAL PARK IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, AND FOR OTHER 

PURPOSES. 

July 19, 2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, 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 

S. 1459, to establish Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Park in the State of South Carolina, 

and for other purposes. 

The Department of the Interior supports this legislation with amendments described later in this 

statement. Notably, and as discussed in more detail below, we recommend using the name 

"Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park." 

S. 1459 would redesignate Fort Sumter in a way that would provide well deserved recognition of 

Fort Moultrie. Although Fort Sumter is the more commonly recognized fort in Charleston 

Harbor, Fort Moultrie is of great national importance as it is the only site in the National Park 

System that preserves the history of the Nation's coastal defense system from 1776 through 

1947. The bill would also address a longstanding administrative need by officially establishing a 

boundary and management authority for this unit of the National Park System. The boundary 

would include not only Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, but also the Sullivan's Island Life Saving 

Station Historic District, which is also managed by the National Park Service as part of the park. 

These resources are associated with important aspects of American history, including the 

Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the development of the United States coastal defense 

system from 1776 to 194 7. 

Fort Moultrie interprets coastal fortifications and defense from 1776 to 1947, focusing on the 

national response to continuing changes in international military technology and the simultaneous 

growth of the United States' place in world affairs and its concepts of national defense. 

Located adjacent to historic Fort Moultrie, Battery Jasper, constructed circa 1899, is part of the 

Endicott Period System of national coastal defense. Located adjacent to Battery Jasper, 

Construction 230, constructed circa 1944, is an underground bunker from the World War II era. 

Fort Sumter was designated as a national monument and transferred to the Secretary of the 

Interior from the Secretary of the Army in 1948, by an act of Congress. Authority to administer 

the site as part of the National Park System was provided in the same law. In contrast, Fort 

Moultrie, Battery Jasper, Construction 230 (a WWII bunker currently used as a maintenance 

facility), and the U.S. Coast Guard Life Saving Station were conveyed from the State of South 

Carolina to the Federal government in 1961 under authority of the 1935 Historic Sites Act, but 

no boundaries were established and no directives were given to the National Park Service for 
31 

managing it. At the time of the conveyance, the Secretary of the Interior did not issue the proper 

papers to formally include this property within the park boundary. These three structures are 

listed as contributing features of a National Register Property. As a result, the National Park 

Service has been managing Fort Moultrie without clear management authority or established 

boundaries for nearly 60 years. 

Although we would welcome including "Fort Moultrie" in the name of the site, the National Park 

Service strives to provide consistency in the naming of park units. To better align with the 

standard nomenclature for units of the National Park System, we recommend that Congress 

redesignate the unit as a national historical park rather than a national park. Generally, a national 

park contains a variety of resources and encompasses large land or water areas to help provide 

adequate protection of the resources. 

The existing 59 designated national parks protect, at a minimum, thousands of acres each and 

some span millions of acres. At approximately 235 acres, we believe Fort Sumter and Fort 

Moultrie are too small and limited in the range of resources the sites protect and interpret to be 

called a national park. We believe that a more fitting name for the park unit would be "Fort 

Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park." 

Additionally, the National Park Service would support the inclusion oflanguage providing the 

Secretary of the Interior with land acquisition authority within the redesignated boundary of the 

park. Such authority to acquire lands is common in other national park service units and 

provides willing sellers of non-federal land within the boundary the opportunity to sell or donate 

their lands to the federal government. Such an arrangement benefits both the private landowner, 

who may be interested in selling or donating the land for financial reasons or an interest in 

furthering the park's ability to tell its story to the public, as well as the park and its visitors. 

Although the owners of private land within the park's boundary may not have any interest in 

selling their land at the current time, this authority provides them with the flexibility to make that 

decision in the future if circumstances change. Before the NPS would seek to acquire any 

property, whether by purchase, donation, or exchange, we would take into consideration the 

condition of any structures on the property that would add to the NPS's deferred maintenance 

backlog. Any funding to purchase land would still be subject to future appropriations from 

Congress. 

Finally, we would request a technical edit to the map reference, in order to substitute a more upto-date legislative map. We would be happy to work with the sponsor and the committee to 

develop amendments to address these points. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee may have. 
32 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT VOGEL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE 

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, 

CONCERNING S. 1522, A BILL TO ESTABLISH AN EVERY KID OUTDOORS 

PROGRAM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

July 19, 2017 

Chainnan Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's views on S. 1522, a bill to establish an 

Every Kid Outdoors program, and for other purposes. 

The Department recommends that Congress defer action on S. 1522 until we have an opportunity 

to review all of the Department's youth programs and determine the most cost-effective 

strategies for engaging children, youth, and young adults in our nation's great outdoors. 

S. 1522 would establish in statute a program based on the administratively established "Every 

Kid in a Park," which was an initiative launched during the National Park Service's Centennial 

in 2016 as one way to connect with and create the next generation of park visitors. To date, 

Every Kid in a Park has reached over 350,000 fourth graders across the country and has provided 

an outdoor classroom for teachers and students across our 417 national park sites and other 

public lands. 

S. 1522 would build upon Every Kid in a Park and continue to nurture and create future 

generations of stewards as they learn about their environment and conservation all while 

enjoying and recreating in America's great outdoors. 

S. 1522 would direct seven specified bureaus in four agencies to jointly establish the Every Kid 

Outdoors program to provide any United States fourth grader with a pass to gain free access to 

publicly accessible Federal lands and waters. The bureaus that would establish and administer 

the program would be the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau 

of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The student would 

request a pass which allows the student and accompanying individuals free entry to applicable 

Federal lands and waters managed by the above-listed agencies. The pass would be valid from 

September 1 to August 31 of the following year, and would require the student to be present at 

time of entry for the pass to be honored. 

S. 1522 would require the agencies to collaborate with state park systems interested in adopting a 

complimentary Every Kid Outdoors state park pass. It would also require the agencies to 

develop and maintain an official Every Kid Outdoors website that would contain essential 

program information. All the participating agencies would be authorized to provide a variety of 

visitor services in support of the Every Kid Outdoors program. 
33 

The bill would require the agencies to jointly develop an annual report, to be submitted to 

Congress, describing the implementation and execution of the program in addition to capturing 

statistical data such as the number and the geographical distribution of students who participated 

in the program, and the number of passes obtained and redeemed. If the bill were enacted, 

execution of its requirements would be subject to the availability of appropriations and would 

need to be balanced with other competing priorities. 

In developing the Every Kid in a Park program, the Department focused on children 10 years of 

age--the age of most fourth graders-based on research that indicated children ages 9-ll are at a 

unique developmental stage in their learning where they begin to understand how the world 

around them works in more concrete ways. At this stage, they are highly receptive to new ideas 

and most likely to hold positive attitudes towards nature and the environment. By targeting this 

age group year after year, the program aims to ensure every child in the United States has the 

opportunity to visit their Federal lands and waters by the time he or she is II years old, thereby 

establishing a lifelong connection to enjoy and protect our American outdoor heritage. 

If the committee acts on this bill, we recommend that the committee amend the bill in several 

areas: to include home-schooled students; to better define "access" to public lands; and to allow 

coordination with the Department of Education. We would be happy to work with the sponsors 

and the committee on language for these amendments. 

Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you 

or other members of the subcommittee might have. 

2 
34 

Senator DAINES. Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Vogel. I will 

start off with some questions here. 

Like I mentioned in my opening testimony, I agree with Senator 

Ernst and Ranking Member Hirono and the other 19 co-sponsors 

of Senate bill 926. It is important we commemorate the ongoing 

sacrifices being made by those who have given so much, many the 

ultimate sacrifice, in the global war on terror. 

One of the key discussions I think we do need to have with this 

legislation is the unique nature of the global war on terror itself. 

I think we can all agree that the nature of modern warfare has 

changed so that it can be difficult to figure out how to commemorate a conflict that has lasted nearly two decades at this point 

without, truly, a clear end in sight. Certainly, a different set of circumstances than a building say, that would be the World War II 

or the Martin Luther King Memorial. 

Setting aside the exemptions that this legislation would require 

from the Commemorative Works Act for a moment, does the NPS 

have any specific suggestions as to how we might proceed in terms 

of the process for this memorial which faces some unique challenges? How might we appropriately approach that? 

Let me throw something out. For example, would NPS accept the 

current definition of global war on terror as defined in the legislation or would you wish to defer to the Department of Defense 

(DoD) on that issue? If you agree to waive the waiting period requirement do you anticipate this hitting a problematic precedent in 

relation to other proposed commemorative works? 

Mr. VOGEL. Well, Mr. Chairman, the Department does value and 

support, in general, the waiting period for commemorative works as 

established in the Commemorative Works Act in 1986. However, I 

think that we might all agree that the nature of military conflict 

has changed in the last 30 years and the Department recognizes 

that the global war on terror really does not conform to how military conflicts were once understood. 

While the nation hopes, of course, for a clear end to this ongoing 

war, it is apparent that it’s not going to end soon and that a sustained and potentially war effort remains ahead of us. So it would 

not do justice to those who served and died in a conflict that started almost 16 years ago, to wait for decades to honor their service. 

I think we do recognize the unique nature of this while we still 

very much support the overall time restrictions in the Commemorative Works Act. I think we would recognize that this is a unique 

situation. 

Senator DAINES. In terms of perhaps deferring to DoD on this 

issue, is that something that we might pursue, do you suggest, to 

define the global war on terror? 

Mr. VOGEL. I think we certainly would work with the Department of Defense on defining that and we’ve done some initial work 

and again, I think we recognize that it’s gone on for at least 16 

years, but we would work with them to identify the key five operations that we’ve already identified related to the global war on 

terror. 

Senator DAINES. Mr. Vogel, I want to shift gears and talk about 

Senate bill 391. As written this would add a museum in lower 

Manhattan to the existing African Burial Ground National Monu-
35 

ment. The Monument as it exists today includes an outdoor site 

that commemorates and interprets the large gravesite as well as a 

visitor center in the nearby General Services Administration 

(GSA)-owned building that interprets the site further and provides 

a comprehensive story of enslaved persons in New York history. 

The question is this: do you consider the current outdoor site and 

the visitor’s center for the current African Burial Ground National 

Monument as insufficient to tell the story behind the significance? 

Mr. VOGEL. I think at the current time we do feel that it is sufficient and I think we are willing to consider the proposed legislation 

in the future, but we need to do some initial planning. 

We certainly have our new African American Museum here in 

Washington, DC, that tells some of the same stories. And I think 

we need to go through a complete planning process to determine, 

fully, what this additional proposal would be like. 

Senator DAINES. Do you believe, or I should say, does the NPS 

believe that the site’s purpose should be expanded in scope? 

Mr. VOGEL. I think at the current time we feel that the current 

scope is adequate to telling this very important story to our nation. 

Senator DAINES. My last question, then I am going to turn the 

gavel over to Senator Hirono here as we have a vote that has been 

called. 

Senate bill 391 proposed a partnership between the Smithsonian, 

the NPS and GSA. Is there anything preventing the NPS from entering such a partnership if it was an interest to the U.S. without 

the passage of S. 391? 

Mr. VOGEL. There is nothing that would prohibit us from doing 

that. 

Senator DAINES. So, said another way, doesn’t the NPS already 

have the authority to enter into partnerships with other units of 

government and/or non-profit organizations? 

Mr. VOGEL. We indeed do have the authority. In fact, we work 

with both of those organizations in a number of ways in cooperative 

agreements. 

Senator DAINES. Thank you, Mr. Vogel. 

I will turn the gavel here over to Senator Hirono. 

Senator HIRONO [presiding]. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Vogel, thank you very much for supporting 7 of the 12 bills 

that are on the agenda today. 

With regard to your position or the Department’s position to 

defer action on two of these bills, S. 1403 and S. 1522, both having 

to do with youth programs and supporting youth engagement in 

our parks, are you undergoing such a review now, and what is the 

timeframe? With regard to both of these bills, are you reviewing 

the programs that are encompassed in these bills? Are you doing 

a review of these programs, and what are you focusing on in your 

review of these youth programs? 

Mr. VOGEL. Well, we are not undergoing a formal review of either program, so we can’t give you any exact timeframe. But certainly with the change in Administration, it’s a normal process for 

us to want to look at these programs and to get a full extent of 

what they currently are and what are the most cost-efficient and 

effective ways to provide services to our youth. 
36 

We’ve had, as the testimony indicates, we’ve had great success 

with the Every Kid in a Park Program and, of course, that is still 

continuing through the end of August. And we’ve had great support 

with our Corps Network. And so, we’re hopeful that we will still 

have robust youth programming in the Department of the Interior. 

I think we just need a little bit more time to fully vet the existing 

programs and to figure out our approach in the future. 

Senator HIRONO. Do you have a list of all of the existing programs that impact youth in our country with regard to your mission? 

Mr. VOGEL. I do not have that with me. We certainly have a wide 

variety of incredible programs. 

Senator HIRONO. Could you provide the Committee with such a 

list? 

Mr. VOGEL. Absolutely. 

Senator HIRONO. Of course, to the extent that you can coordinate 

with other departments, for example, the Department of Education, 

with your review, I hope you will undergo that because I think that 

these programs have proven themselves to be worthy of support 

and that you do undergo the review in an expeditious way so that 

these programs can be continued. And while you are at it, will you 

coordinate with other departments that would have an interest in 

supporting our young people’s experiences? 

Mr. VOGEL. Yes, Senator, in fact we are definitely planning on 

engaging with the Department of Education on these efforts. 

Senator HIRONO. Also, with regard to S. 1403, I think you should 

consult with The Corps Network. That is another group. 

S. 1522, again, which authorizes the Every Kid Outdoors Program, builds on the Department’s Every Kid in a Park initiative 

that was put in place a few years ago. My understanding is that 

the Department’s initiative was very popular and was considered 

to be successful in introducing fourth graders to our national parks 

and other public lands. As I said, I hope that since this program 

has proven itself that the deference of support for this program, I 

hope, is something that is going to be resolved. We would like to 

have these programs continue expeditiously. 

Can you comment on the National Park Service’s experience with 

the Every Kid in a Park initiative and from your perspective how 

effective was this program in introducing our young people to our 

parks? 

Mr. VOGEL. From my perspective it’s been a very effective program and we’ve reached hundreds of thousands of young people in 

the fourth grade in not only engaging the students, but bringing 

their families along with them to learn about our national parks. 

And again, I think the Department indicates that it’s been very 

successful, but we, again, would like to, again, do a full assessment 

of the program and perhaps add language, again, for the Secretary 

of Education to collaborate with the other secretaries involved and 

perhaps include homeschooled students in the language and to better define the access to public lands and waters. So I think we 

want to just defer that until we have a little bit more time to assess the program. 

Senator HIRONO. You indicated that this is a normal kind of an 

assessment that all of the departments are doing with regard to on-
37 

going programs. I do not know where the review of your youth programs falls within the purview of all the other programs that you 

are reviewing. So where does it fall in terms of your priority for review? 

Mr. VOGEL. I really don’t have a timeframe. Again, we haven’t 

undergone a formal review process. I would hope that it would be 

an expeditious review, but I don’t have a timeframe for that. I 

apologize. 

Senator HIRONO. Are you going to be developing a timeframe? 

Mr. VOGEL. Yes, we will. 

Senator HIRONO. And when you do that could you let—— 

Mr. VOGEL. We, of course, will let you know. 

Senator HIRONO. ——our Committee know so that we can make 

sure that we are on the same page? 

My time is up. 

Senator Heinrich. 

Senator HEINRICH [presiding]. Thank you. 

I think our Ranking Member has been very diplomatic in her 

language around this. I would hope that we could do more than 

hope. 

You said this is a very effective program. I want to speak, not 

just to S. 1522 but also to S. 1403, because the bill introduced by 

Senators McCain, Bennet and Udall to establish the 21st Century 

Conservation Service Corps as well as the Every Kid Outdoors Act 

have a long history of success. 

You said Every Kid Outdoors is a very effective program, and we 

have had great success. So why should we put these programs in 

jeopardy while investing precious National Park Service resources 

and money into another bureaucratic review? 

Mr. VOGEL. Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that the programs 

are in jeopardy. I think that the hearing came up on fairly short 

notice and the Department has just asked for additional time to review so that we could come up with a formal position on it. 

Senator HEINRICH. How much time do you need? 

Mr. VOGEL. I can’t answer that, but I would think that we would 

be trying to do it expeditiously. And I certainly can provide a timeframe to—— 

Senator HEINRICH. Mr. Vogel, what does that mean, expeditiously? Are we talking about a few days, a few weeks, a few 

months? If you are going to ask for time you should know how 

much you need. 

Mr. VOGEL. I would think it would take several months to complete the review looking at all of the other programs that we’re currently under review on. We certainly can provide a clearer timeframe. 

Senator HEINRICH. So I know we have a vote on the Floor. There 

are a number of points I was going to make; however, I think I am 

going to wrap up my comments and say that on behalf of those of 

us who have worked on these issues that government can always 

find a reason not to do something and they can always find a reason to do the bureaucratic thing. I would hope that we would take 

this opportunity rather to do the right thing. I hope the Committee 

will choose not to defer these bills. 
38 

I want to commend Senators McCain, Bennet and Udall on their 

work on the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps bill; I want 

to commend Senator Alexander on his work with me on Every Kid 

Outdoors; and I hope this Committee will move expeditiously, as 

well as being willing to work with you on actual underlying criticisms of these legislations. 

Senator Portman, ready to take the baton? 

Senator PORTMAN. Yes. 

Senator HEINRICH. Yes. 

Senator PORTMAN [presiding]. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it. 

First of all, thank you for being here, Mr. Vogel. 

As you know, I have been focused on the backlog of the Park 

Service for some time and we have been able to help in small ways 

with the Centennial Initiative which we got passed at the end of 

last year, I think at five o’clock in the morning. We are looking forward to proactive implementation of that legislation, including getting more public-private partnership dollars in both for the Park 

Service directly and for the Foundation which can then help on the 

backlog. 

I want to talk to you about another issue as well and that is new 

legislation, the National Park Service Legacy Act that Senator 

Warren and I have introduced. Do you support that? 

Mr. VOGEL. Well, I think that we very much appreciate your interest in deferred maintenance and we share your concern that it’s 

a significant issue for us. And I think that we would just respectfully request a little additional time to figure out our position on 

that. 

Senator PORTMAN. It would be a huge shot in the arm for the 

Park Service. The number that I hear most frequently is $12 billion 

which is a big number, eye-popping really. Senator Warren and I 

think that this is a way for us to go beyond what we were able to 

do in the Centennial Initiative and really provide the Park Service 

the ability to deal with the backlog. 

Let me ask you about another issue. As you may know, in Columbus, Ohio, there is a National Veterans Memorial being designed right now. I have been there. I have seen the site. It is spectacular, and it is a classic example of a public-private partnership, 

heavy on the private side. In fact, $75 million has already been 

contributed from private foundations, individuals and corporations 

to make this museum a reality. 

What it does is it holds up the veteran, in every respect. It is a 

beautiful design, but once the interior is completed and the exhibits 

are there I think it will be something that will be able to both 

honor and connect us to veterans but also inspire and educate 

Americans to the importance of service and the sacrifice that our 

veterans have made will be highlighted. 

I am really excited about it and we are home, in Ohio, to the 

sixth largest veteran population in the country. In fact, Columbus 

was the birthplace of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the first organization to represent all U.S. veterans who fought overseas. We are 

also home to a lot of military bases, as you know, including Wright 

Patterson Air Force Base which is the largest logistical base in the 
39 

country. So we think we are well situated to be able to have this 

museum there. 

I noticed in your testimony you expressed some concerns about 

designating this as a national museum. Let me ask you one question, again, having worked on your backlog for years now, going 

back to my days at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

Does the National Park Service intend to create a new unit of the 

National Park Service, similar to the veteran’s museum being built 

in Columbus, that will honor the lives and history of our nation’s 

veterans? 

Mr. VOGEL. We do not, and it certainly seems like an incredible 

and worthwhile endeavor. I think we would just defer to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since it really doesn’t use any 

of our lands and have direct involvement with the National Park 

Service. It does sound like a very worthwhile endeavor. 

Senator PORTMAN. Well, I appreciate your saying that. I would 

just hope that, at the very least, the Park Service would not stand 

in the way of us raising private dollars to be able to do such a worthy mission, as you have talked about. We would appreciate your 

not making it more difficult for us to designate this as a national 

museum and to get this legislation that we have completed. 

So I thank you for that comment and I thank you for your willingness to be helpful in honoring our veterans and also your work 

with us on the appropriate way to deal with the backlog, in addition to what we were able to do in the Centennial Act. 

I am told that this hearing is now going to be in recess until Senator Daines returns. I do not have a gavel, so I will take Senator 

Hoeven’s nameplate. 

We are officially in recess until the return of the Chairman. 

Thank you, Mr. Vogel. 

[RECESS.] 

Senator KING [presiding]. ——there seems to be no real, serious 

effort to coordinate the way these things work together. In fact, I 

was in a hearing before coming here with the proposed Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Office. I suggested, perhaps, the 

Intelligence community could design a schedule for us so that we 

do not have so many conflicts. 

Mr. VOGEL. That’s perfectly alright. 

Senator KING. I appreciate your being here. I look forward to 

working with you. 

I think there are several provisions of the Acadia bill that are 

important to discuss. One is the worming and clamming issue. 

There was worming and clamming in that intertidal zone long before anybody ever thought of Acadia National Park. We have to get 

that worked out because it is a traditional and important business 

for people in that region. I understand the Park Service concern 

about the breadth of the language, so I will look forward to working with you on that. Secretary Zinke has given me his commitment to work with us on this issue, and I hope we can get it resolved in this bill. If you want to state your concerns for the record, 

I think that might be helpful. 

Mr. VOGEL. Absolutely. 

We do support, with conditions, permitting the long tradition of 

harvesting of clams and worms at Acadia, but only if such har-
40 

vesting can be kept at the minimum levels in which it occurs now 

and where the activity occurs, as it does now, by non-mechanized 

means and in small numbers of locations. 

However, the language of Section 8 extends authority for harvesting far beyond what is needed to allow traditional harvesting 

of clams and worms. So we do have some concerns about expanding 

the harvesting to other marine organisms or to aqua culture activity and believe that not only should intertidal harvesting be limited 

to clams and worms, using non-mechanized methods, but considering the 3.3 million visitors coming to Acadia last year and the 

sensitive nature of the intertidal area, that these activities should 

be subject to those regulations and rules that the Secretary deems 

necessary to protect the important park resources and, of course, 

the safety of our park visitors. 

Senator KING. Well, I think that you use the term minimum or 

minimal. I think we would prefer the use of the term traditional. 

Mr. VOGEL. Yes. 

Senator KING. The idea, I think, as we all agree is to allow traditional clamming, worming, and periwinkles, as has been used. The 

discussion is about mechanized and about other types of marine organisms, perhaps seaweed and those kinds of things. So we will follow up on those discussions and work with you, but I hope that it 

is the position of the Department that the traditional uses are to 

be allowed. 

Mr. VOGEL. Very much so, Senator. 

Senator KING. Thank you. 

There was one part of the testimony that puzzled me a little bit. In 1986, there was a provision in the statute to transfer $350,000 

from the Park Service to the local communities to participate in 

waste disposal. The idea was to create a waste facility. That is no 

longer the case, but they are now talking about a transfer station 

and here you mentioned 3.3 million visitors—that is a lot of waste. 

For some reason the Department has never made that transfer. 

We should have put interest in that bill in 1986, but is there some 

reason? This is a funding requirement in the law, and I hope we 

can work with the Department to see that this transfer is made, 

subject to appropriations. 

Mr. VOGEL. My understanding is, indeed, it was authorized but 

it was never funded. And I guess the facility wasn’t fully brought 

into operation. 

We do pay a tipping fee to the local municipality for all of the 

waste generated by park visitors. The Department really doesn’t 

believe that this type of subsidy for municipal waste disposal is an 

appropriate use of federal funds, so we do oppose that section. 

Senator KING. But I presume since it has already been authorized in law, if it’s appropriated you would spend it according to the 

appropriation? 

Mr. VOGEL. I believe we would have to, yes, sir. 

Senator KING. Thank you. That was the right answer. I appreciate your testimony. 

There is one other area of discussion and that is you are requesting greater authority for boundary transfers. I think the problem 

that we have with that is that that is, sort of, what got us into this 

in the first place in terms of the communities not being involved 
41 

in the enlargement of the park. That is the sensitivity in the area, 

and I think that is a provision that, perhaps, should be in different 

legislation or there should be a different way to approach it, but 

I am reluctant to include that here because that would take us 

back into the problem that brought about the 1986 legislation— 

that is the expansion of the park without authorization of Congress. 

Mr. VOGEL. I think we would be happy to work with you and the 

Committee on that, Senator. Our goal is in the small boundary adjustment, authority would, of course, require us to work with the 

local communities and, of course, give notification to Congress. 

We find throughout the Park Service that we frequently have 

some odd situations of a few acres here or there that are irregular 

or someone builds a garage inadvertently and we discover 10 years 

later that it’s on federal property. And so, it gives us some leeway 

to adjust the boundaries. And we, in no way, are intending to do 

that without consulting with the local community or Congress. 

Senator KING. Well, we will have to discuss that position further 

with the Department. 

Mr. VOGEL. Certainly. 

Senator KING. There is a famous story about the man who lived 

on the Maine-New Hampshire border, and he was 80 years old. 

They resurveyed and found out that all these years he had been 

in New Hampshire. They asked him what he felt about that new 

survey and he said, ‘‘I’m really delighted because I don’t think I 

could have taken another one of those Maine winters.’’ 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. VOGEL. I like that story. 

Senator KING. Thank you, Mr. Vogel. 

Senator DAINES [presiding]. Thank you, Senator King. 

Mr. Vogel, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, there is a veteran’s crew working in Glacier National Park as we speak, as well 

as several other Veteran Corps working around the country, mostly 

on Forest Service land. The Montana Conservation Corps has done 

some great work in our state. 

I am interested in learning more about how this legislation 

might help veterans and other young people. In Montana, we have 

one of the highest per capita veteran populations in the United 

States. So how might this help veterans, other young people and 

expand employment opportunities while also doing something very 

important, and that is reducing the threat of wildfires. Can you expand upon how the National Park Service might use this legislation to pair those opportunities? 

Mr. VOGEL. Well, I think we have used this authority and should 

the Department decide to continue with it, I think there’s a number of ways that we could partner, continue to partner and expand 

our involvement with veterans in all sorts of ways and certainly in 

wildfire remediation. 

As we’ve all discussed here we have enormous maintenance 

projects and backlogs, and we have successfully used these corps to 

help us in our critical work there in a cost-efficient way and in a 

way that provides important skills to members of the crews. In 

backlog maintenance and providing more recreation and access to 

our park lands and certainly can be useful in our rural workforce 
42 

development too. So I think we’ve had some great successes in the 

past. 

Senator DAINES. To follow up, we have focused a great amount 

on this Committee on the—there are two words that I hear a lot 

as relates to our national parks as I travel to our national parks. 

I have one of the park season passes there in my pickup back 

home. We are passionate about our parks, and we get to them a 

lot. But it is the words ‘‘deferred maintenance.’’ It is not the most 

exciting topic to talk about, but arguably it is one of the critical 

issues facing our national parks today. We have this huge backlog 

in the National Park Service. 

While a big portion of that can be attributed to roads, there is 

still a significant amount that can be accounted for in general infrastructure, trails and overall preservation. And corps, like the 

Montana Conservation Corps in my home state, have partnered 

with concessionaries to leverage private-public funds to try to accomplish some of these projects while providing essential workplace 

skills to young adults at the same time. I will tell you, nothing is 

better training than just doing hard work which is part of the process. 

Can you talk more about how this legislation might help the National Park Service and the existing corps facilitate more backlog 

and maintenance projects generally getting accomplished? And the 

follow-up is, do you feel that this legislation might, even in a minor 

way, work toward stretching the NPS budget a bit further or contributing to reducing the deferred maintenance backlog? 

Mr. VOGEL. Well, certainly if we continue with this program, I 

think we would want to make sure that it’s an incredibly cost-efficient program. And I think it could be, certainly using young people and engaging people that are part-time employees is an incredibly effective way that can provide critical job training and helping 

us in our myriad of projects throughout the country in deferred 

maintenance. So I think if we continue the program, that’s part of 

the evaluation that we want to do is find out, you know, the most 

cost-effective, efficient way to continue the programs. But certainly, 

use of young people and job corps would be one way that we have 

been very effective in making cost-effective inroads into our deferred maintenance. 

Senator DAINES. Last question and then I am going to turn to 

a second round here for the other members. 

As our military continues to protect us from ever-changing global 

risks, we are united across all 50 states, across the aisle, supporting our veterans who have shared in sacrificing for the freedoms that we all enjoy here today and we take them for granted, 

frankly. 

I think Senate bill 355 is well-intended, but I want to make sure 

we do not create any additional administrative burdens for veterans or create an unnecessary cost in this process. I know some 

changes have been made to the language in the legislation this last 

Congress, but here is the question. What would currently prohibit 

a disabled veteran from obtaining a free access pass? 

Mr. VOGEL. There, in our opinion, really is nothing that would 

prohibit anyone from getting the pass now. And so, again, that’s 
43 

some of our questions. We just want to clarify it. We certainly are 

very supportive of veterans having—— 

Senator DAINES. So the question then is, how would the bill provide additional benefits to the existing access pass for a disabled 

veteran? 

Mr. VOGEL. I guess that’s our question. We would like to evaluate the bill further and work with the Committee for some clarification on it to make sure that we are able to truly define disabled 

veterans and certainly wouldn’t want a veteran to arrive at an entrance station and have to provide some paperwork which they 

might not have with them and somehow deny them access. So we 

would like to work with the Committee to clarify that. 

Senator DAINES. Do you think—and this is my last question, 

then I will be done. 

Would implementing this legislation require additional funding 

or staff in your agency? 

Mr. VOGEL. I don’t think so. I’d have to defer on that a little bit. 

I can get you an answer. 

Senator DAINES. Okay. 

Thank you. 

Ranking Member Hirono. 

Senator HIRONO [presiding]. Let me just follow up on S. 355, the 

veteran passes. 

Currently anyone with a permanent disability, as I understand 

it, can get a pass to go to our national parks—those with a permanent disability or total disability. What is the criteria that already 

exists? 

Mr. VOGEL. Really anyone that has a permanent disability can 

get a park access pass today. 

Senator HIRONO. My question is what constitutes permanent disability? 

Mr. VOGEL. I think that is part of the clarification that we would 

like to follow in this. We, generally, are not asking people to provide identification at an entrance station as to, you know, what 

their disability is. 

Senator HIRONO. You are confusing me. 

So people, who are not necessarily a veteran, but people with 

permanent disabilities can already get free passes to our national 

parks? 

Mr. VOGEL. That is correct. 

Senator HIRONO. And you already have some kind of process for 

this to occur? 

Mr. VOGEL. Yes, we do. 

Senator HIRONO. There should be a definition that you have for 

what constitutes permanent disability that is showing that someone has to provide in order to get a free pass. 

What we are doing with this bill is basically to open the opportunity for people with less than 100 percent disability. This is why 

I do need to get clarification on the necessity for this bill. We are 

not looking to just those veterans who have 100 percent permanent 

disability. We need to get to a certain level of disability. 

As we implement something like this, I would think that you 

would want to figure out ways to work with the VA so that when 
44 

they get their ratings for their level of disability, it could be that 

they would just automatically get a free pass from you all. 

There are some things that need to be worked out, and I would 

want to be working with you on how to get this clarified because 

I do see a need for this bill. 

Mr. VOGEL. Indeed, Senator. 

And our guidance comes from the Rehabilitation Act. Our intent 

is not to keep any veterans with any disability from having free access to the parks. So we would just like to work with you and the 

Committee to clarify that. I think we have a mutual goal of providing free access to our disabled veterans. 

Senator HIRONO. Getting back to the youth programs, Senator 

Heinrich said that I was very tactful in my questioning of you, but 

I do not want my tactfulness to be interpreted as somehow being 

really benign about giving you a timeframe that could result in 

nothing happening with these kinds of programs. 

I would ask you to have a sense of purpose and urgency about 

supporting these programs. I think it is really critical that the 

young people in our country have the experience of being in our national parks. There are a lot of cultural aspects to this, and you are 

creating another generation of people who are going to be very supportive of our parks, and I think that is critical. So, there is a sense 

of purpose and urgency there. 

Mr. VOGEL. Indeed. 

Senator HIRONO. Thank you. 

Senator Alexander. 

Senator ALEXANDER [presiding]. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator Daines went to vote. 

Senator King, have you had an opportunity to ask questions? 

Welcome, I am glad you are here. 

Mr. VOGEL. Thank you. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Thanks for staying until I could get here. 

I was talking with some Senators from the Committee on the 

Floor of the Senate as we voted and it seems like the thrust of the 

discussion is that these two programs, the Every Kid Outdoors and 

the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act, both seem like 

good ideas to the Park Service. Is that right? 

Mr. VOGEL. I think they have historically proven to be a benefit 

to the Service. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Right. 

But the question is how best to implement them, right? 

Mr. VOGEL. Yes. 

Senator ALEXANDER. I have a couple of suggestions about that. 

It boils down to this—red teams and pilot programs. And let me 

say what I mean by that. At Oak Ridge we have a huge facility 

called the Uranium Processing Facility which was going out of control in terms of spending. It is eventually going to cost $6.5 billion, 

but Senator Feinstein and I asked the Department to create a red 

team to take a look at how to bring the spending under control. 

They asked the head of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to do 

it. He got 14 or 15 people around the country who knew what they 

were talking about. They met for about two and a half months and 

came back with a recommendation that basically solved the problem. 
45 

We asked them to do it again with a red team on the MOX facility in South Carolina, and they came back with a recommendation 

in about two and a half months that, in my view, would solve the 

problem, although the problem is not yet solved. 

My point is the normal government way of solving problems 

takes a long time, but in those examples they were able to move 

quickly, like within two or three months. 

Why not ask the Secretary to appoint a red team, somebody who 

knows a lot about parks, conservation service, these programs, assemble a group of 12 or 15 people informally, to take a look at it 

and recommend what to do and get it done in say, 90 days? Would 

that work? 

Mr. VOGEL. I would be more than happy to take your recommendation back to the Secretary, and I feel comfortable in saying that he is committed to doing an expeditious review of this and 

that we could hopefully, soon, provide a formal position on this. 

Senator ALEXANDER. The other thing you might consider are pilot 

programs. Typically in government, if McDonald’s wants to introduce a new gravy, it doesn’t introduce it everywhere in the country. 

It tries it out in Pittsburgh for a while to see whether people like 

it or not. 

These are not brand new ideas or ideas you know a lot about. 

The questions just are how best to implement them—with a new 

Administration, decision-making may take a while. Maybe the red 

team could say why don’t we start out with these five, you know, 

let’s start out in five different places. 

Let’s go to the Smokies, for example, where fourth graders can 

already get in free because there is no entrance requirement. But 

let’s expand the Conservation Corps there, operate it for a year and 

see how it works before we try it everywhere else, or let’s go to Yellowstone and do it. 

So my suggestion is, since it has broad, bipartisan support and 

since these are two ideas that make obvious good sense to everybody, that maybe a red team type of review that could be done in 

90 days and to begin with some action rather than waiting to decide how to apply every single place in the United States, might 

be a sensible way to get started. What about that? 

Mr. VOGEL. It sounds like an interesting approach and I, again, 

would be happy to take that back to the Secretary and see if we 

could make that happen. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Well, I would appreciate your doing that because I know the Secretary is action-oriented and sometimes it 

takes doing things a little bit differently to get that kind of result. 

I grew up, basically, in the national parks and I live within two 

miles of the Great Smokies, and my whole life has changed because 

of it. In scouting we went there every weekend, so I still go there 

a lot and I see on a regular basis what volunteers can do. We could 

not keep our trails in good shape and the park in good shape. We 

have retired people from Florida who come and spend the summer 

in the Smokies and do all this hard work and then they go back 

home. They love to do it, and it does not cost us anything. 

I would appreciate your taking back to the Secretary the suggestion of, number one, red teams, and number two, pilot programs 

and broad, bipartisan support for both these ideas. 
46 

Mr. VOGEL. Thank you. I will, Senator. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Are there further comments by the Senators? 

Senator King. 

Senator KING. I think my only comment is we love what you do. 

The national parks are one of the greatest aspects of this country, 

and they mean so much to so many people. 

I just want to express my thanks to the Department and to the 

National Park Service for the great work that you do, representing 

the country beautifully all across America. So would you please 

take that back to the—— 

Mr. VOGEL. I certainly will, and thank you very much for your 

continued support of our national parks. 

Senator KING. Thank you. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Senator Hirono, any further comment? 

Senator HIRONO. And my thanks—— 

Mr. VOGEL. Thank you. 

Senator HIRONO. Our parks provide opportunities for being with 

nature to everyone in our country. So as we say in Hawaii, Mahalo. 

Mr. VOGEL. Thank you. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Thank you, Senator Hirono. 

Thank you, Mr. Vogel, for your work for our country—— 

Mr. VOGEL. Thank you. 

Senator ALEXANDER. ——and on America’s best idea. 

The record will remain open for 10 days so that the Senators and 

others can submit information, if they wish. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m. the hearing was adjourned.] 
(47) 

APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED 
48 

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

July 19,2017 Hearing: Pending Legislation 

Questions for the Record Submitted to Mr. Robert Vogel 

Questions from Chairman Lisa Murkowski 

Question 1: During the hearing, a question was posed regarding S. 355, the ''Wounded Veterans 

Recreation Act of2017." Subcommittee Chairman Daines asked if anything would currently 

prohibit a disabled veteran from obtaining a free Access pass, to which you responded, "nothing 

now." Please describe, in detail, the current process for any disabled veteran interested in 

obtaining an Access pass. 

Answer: 

A disabled veteran may obtain an Access Pass one of two ways: either at a Federal recreation site 

where entrance or standard amenity fees are charged, or through the mai I. 

Regardless of whether the pass is obtained on site or by mail, the applicant must have 

identification to verify that he or she is aU .S. citizen or permanent resident, which could 

include: 

• a U.S. State- or Territory-issued Driver's License, Identification or Birth Certificate; 

• a U.S. Passport or Passport Card; or 

• a Permanent Resident Card (Green Card). 

The applicant must also have documentation that he or she has a permanent disability, which 

could include: 

• a statement signed by a licensed physician attesting that they have a permanent physical, 

mental, or sensory impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, 

and stating the nature of the impairment; or, 

• a document issued by a Federal agency, such as the Veteran's Administration, which 

attests that they have been medically determined to be eligible to receive Federal benetlts 

as a result of blindness or permanent disability. Other acceptable Federal agency 

documents include proof of receipt of Social Security Disability Income or Supplemental 

Security Income; or, 

• a document issued by a state agency such as the vocational rehabilitation agency, which 

attests that they have been medically determined to be eligible to receive vocational 

rehabilitation agency benefits or services as a result of medically determined blindness or 

permanent disability. Note: a state motor vehicle department disability sticker, license 

plate or hang tag is not considered acceptable documentation. 

To obtain an Access Pass through the mail, the applicant must complete an application, provide a 

photocopy of proof of citizenship or residency and documentation of disability, and pay a$ 10 

processing fee. 

To obtain an Access Pass at a Federal recreation site, no application form or processing fee is 

necessary. When the disabled individual arrives at the recreation site, the Federal employee 
49 

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

July 19,2017 Hearing: Pending Legislation 

Questions for the Record Submitted to Mr. Robert Vogel 

selling the pass will verify the individuars documentation of disability and citizenship or legal 

residency. 

If the individual claims eligibility for the Access pass, but cannot produce the documentation 

outlined above, the applicant must read, sign, and date a Statement of Disability form in the 

presence of the Federal employee issuing the pass. If the applicant cannot read and/or sign the 

statement, someone else may read, date, and sign the statement on the applicant's behalf and in 

presence of the applicant and the Federal employee issuing the pass. 

The Federal employee issuing the Interagency Access Pass does not evaluate whether the 

applicant is permanently disabled; the employee only assesses whether adequate documentation, 

or a signature on the Statement of Disability form, has been provided by the applicant. 

Question 2: Regarding S. 391, if the proposed Museum were to become a unit of the National 

Park Service, what do you project the annual operating costs to be for the NPS? Does the NPS 

have the funds within its current budget to cover these costs? 

Answer: Based on the current annual operating budget for the visitor center and the needs of the 

existing site, we estimate that annual operating costs for the park with the addition of the 

proposed Museum could range from $3 million to $3.5 million per year. The current annual 

operating budget for the park is $1.98 million. The NPS does not have funds within its current 

budget to cover either the one-time establishment cost or the recurring annual costs associated 

with the proposed Museum. 

Question 3: Regarding S. 391, do you expect that the expansion and addition of a Museum 

would add to the NPS deferred maintenance backlog? If so, by how much? 

Answer: The expansion of the site with the addition of a Museum would not directly add to the 

NPS deferred maintenance backlog. However, the significant costs to establish the Museum 

would draw funding away from existing park and regional needs, including deferred 

maintenance, which would result in an increased maintenance backlog for the NPS. 

We are unable to quantify how much the NPS deferred maintenance backlog would increase if 

funding was directed to establishing and operating the proposed Museum. However, it is evident 

that establishing the Museum would entail a significant cost due to the lack of available space 

close to the existing site and the nature of the highly competitive and expensive real estate 

market in New York City. In addition to the cost of acquiring property, the new structure itself 

would be expensive to build and operate, and over time it could contribute significantly to the 

deferred maintenance backlog. Comparable NPS sites that include museums have current 

replacement values for those museums ranging from $27 million (Independence National 

Historical Park), to $33.4 million (Springfield Armory National Historic Site), to $37.5 million 

2 
50 

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

July 19,2017 Hearing: Pending Legislation 

Questions for the Record Submitted to Mr. Robert Vogel 

(Liberty Island Visitor Center Museum). We anticipate that establishing the proposed Museum, 

and either relocating or combining the exiting visitor center with the new facility, would be even 

higher than the cost of replacing these sites, given construction costs in New York City. 

Question 4: Please provide an estimate of the annual costs associated with the existing "Every 

Kid in a Park" program. Do you expect the current language inS. 1522 to closely reflect the 

program costs of "Every Kid in a Park"? Please explain. 

Answer: The cost for the first year of the "Every Kid in a Park" program (2015-2016 school 

year) was roughly $1 million. That figure includes one-time startup costs. The cost of the 

second and subsequent years is estimated at about $400,000 a year. These costs include 

dedicated program support, printing the fourth-grade passes, and website support. The "Every 

Kid Outdoors" program authorized by S. 1522 closely tracks the current "Every Kid in a Park" 

program. We would expect the annual operating costs to follow the same trend; however, the 

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would provide an official estimate on the bill. 

Questions from Senator Martin Heinrich 

Question 1: In your written and oral testimony, you recommended that action on my bill to 

establish the Every Kid Outdoors program, as well as Sens. McCain's bill to establish the 21st 

Century Conservation Service Corps be deferred until the Department of the Interior could 

conduct a review of all the Department's youth programs. Since both these programs are ongoing 

programs that are proven successes, why spend department resources on a bureaucratic review? 

How long will a review take? 

Answer: The National Park Service is the lead agency for the "Every Kid in a Park" program 

and it also makes the most use of the authority under the Public Lands Corps Act of any of 

Interior's bureaus. Therefore, the Department would like to wait until a new National Park 

Service Director is on board before determining how these two programs fit into the 

Department's strategy for engaging youth and whether new legislation is needed. 

Question 2: In testimony before the committee, you noted that the Every Kid in a Park program 

will continue through August. What about the rising class of fourth graders? Will they be able to 

participate in this program without Congressional action? 

Answer: The Department plans to continue the "Every Kid in a Park" program for the 2017-

2018 school year that began September I, so the current class of fourth graders will be able to 

participate in the program. No additional authority is needed from Congress to operate this 

program. 

3 
51 

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee ou National Parks 

July 19, 2017 Hearing: Pending Legislation 

Questions for the Record Submitted to Mr. Robert Vogel 

Question from Senator Mazie K. Hirono 

Question: As mentioned during the hearing, I request that you provide to the Committee a list 

of all of the Department's youth programs. 

Answer: The requested list is attached. 

4 
52 

Department of the Interior Youth Programs 

Introduction 

Youth programs within the bureaus ofthe Department ofthe Interior include a wide range of 

opportunities and activities. For younger participants, the programs tend to focus on education. 

For older participants, the programs tend to focus on service projects, internships, and job skills. 

The list below includes the national or regional youth programs. Programs that are specific to an 

individual park, refuge or other public land unit are not included. 

Multiple Bureaus 

Programs with internships/employment opportunities: 

Partnership Youth Emplovment- Public Land Corps (PLC): Using the Public Land Corp Act 

authority, the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of 

Reclamation (BOR), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) partner with service 

organizations to provide work opportunities for youth and veterans, ages 16-30. Hundreds of 

individual projects on public lands involving facilities maintenance, visitor services, and 

resources management are completed each year through this program. 

Youth Conservation Corns (YCC): This is a summer youth employment program that engages 

young people ages 15-18 in meaningful work experiences in national parks, forests, wildlife 

refuges, fish hatcheries, and other public lands while developing an ethic of environmental 

stewardship and civic responsibility. Most YCC opportunities are non-residential programs. 

YCC members work on a variety of projects including building trails, maintaining fences, 

cleaning up campgrounds, improving wildlife habitat, environmental education planning and 

teaching, stream restoration, and historic building preservation. 

Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative (II C) Program: This program involves collaboration 

among six national parks (Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Great Basin, Parashant, Pipe Spring and 

Zion), four national forests and BLM lands in the southern Utah region. Through a partnership 

with Southern Utah University, young people are hired locally to participate in YCC crews, PLC 

crews, and in internships ranging from front line visitor services and interpretative programs to 

complex research projects. 

Developing the Next Generation of Conservationists Program: This partnership program 

leverages funding from BLM, BOR, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and other 

partners to engage hundreds of youth each year in conservation projects. 

Pathways Temporary/Seasonal Youth Employment Programs: Youth fill a variety of positions at 

all bureaus. The Pathways program is a government-wide hiring authority. 

Programs focused on education and without internships/employment opportunities: 
53 

Every Kid in a Park (EKIP): Through this program, the NPS, U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Army 

Corps of Engineers, BLM, USFWS, BOR, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) provide fourth-grade students and their families with free admission to 

national parks and other federal lands and waters for a full year. The EKIP pass is valid at more 

than 2,000 federally managed sites. 

Hands on the Land (HOL): "America's largest classroom," HOL is a national network of field 

classrooms that connects students, teachers, families, and volunteers to public lands and 

waterways across America. The program brings classroom learning to life through hands-on 

experiences in natural, historical, and archaeological settings. Students are also exposed to 

careers in natural resources. HOL was formed in 1999 by Partners in Resource Education, an 

alliance of five federal agencies (BLM, USFWS, NPS, USFS, and NOAA) with initial funding 

from the Environmental Protection Agency. The National Environmental Education Foundation, 

a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress in 1990, provides the coordination of the agency 

alliance, with the Environmental Protection Agency continuing to provide technical assistance 

and advice. 

Student Leadership and Environmental Education Partnerships: Land management bureaus 

partner with organizations to focus on the importance of the outdoors, increase environmental 

literacy, and offer the opportunity to lead community natural and cultural resource stewardship 

on public lands. Examples of partnerships between the NPS and youth organization include those 

with the Girl Scouts of America, the Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, 

and the YMCA. 

National Park Service 

Programs with internships/employment opportunities: 

The NPS offers internships and other short-term opportunities for students and recent graduates 

that provide training across many NPS units and offices. These opportunities include: 

• Cultural Resources Diversity Internships 

• Historic Preservation Training Internships 

• Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic 

American Landscapes Survey Summer Employment 

• Business Management Plan Internships 

• Community Volunteer Ambassadors 

• New Leaders in Community Conservation Assistance 

• Community Assistance Fellows 

• Geoscientists-in-the-Parks 

• Mosaics in Science Internships 

• Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps 

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities Internship Program 

• Latino Heritage Internship Program 

• National Park Service Academy 

2 
54 

• National Scenic and Historic Trails Young Adult Internships 

• Wild Scenic River Explorers and Managers 

• Historic Preservation Training Center Traditional Trades Apprenticeships 

• Northwest Youth Corps American Sign Language Internships 

• Hawaiian Youth Ranger Program 

• Asian Pacific American Legacy Internships 

• Groundwork USA Corps Experience 

• Urban Archeology Corps 

• Pro Ranger Program 

Programs focused on education and without internships/employment opportunities: 

Junior Rangers: Many national parks offer young visitors the opportunity to join the National 

Park Service "family" as Junior Rangers. Interested youth complete a series of activities during a 

park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger badge 

and Junior Ranger certificate. Junior Rangers are typically between the ages of 5 to 13, although 

people of all ages can participate. 

Web Rangers: WebRangers offers a fun, free online opportunity for young people to connect 

with their national parks. This online extension of the Junior Ranger program is designed to give 

all children, anywhere in the world, access to the National Park System. The program offers 

more than 70 different games and activities that teach kids interesting facts about everything 

from various NPS ranger uniforms, signal flags, water quality, animal behaviors, and many 

different famous Americans. 

Outdoor Nation Campus Outdoor Ambassadors: College students increase active outdoor 

recreation participation among young adults by leading campus outdoor clubs, spearheading 

social media campaigns, and coordinating six student outings per year each, at least two of which 

visit NPS units. College outing clubs also nurture the development of high school outdoor clubs 

in racially diverse communities. These youth-led clubs provide opportunities in skill building, 

leadership development, service to community, and exposure to the NPS system. 

Bureau of l-and Management 

Programs with internships/employment opportunities: 

Direct Hiring Authority for Resource Assistant Internship Program: Rigorous summer internship 

program for current college students or recent graduates, with particular attention to ethnically 

and racially diverse populations, directed toward hard-to-fill and high-demand occupational 

series. Conducted in partnership with institutions of higher education and their representative 

associations and non-profit organizations. 

Executive Orders Program: Program to establish and implement partnerships with organizations 

associated with underrepresented groups (minorities, women, disabled individuals), to perform 

various work projects and provide employment opportunities on BLM lands. 

3 
55 

Project Archaeology: National heritage education program developed in the early 1990s by BLM 

for educators and their students for three purposes: to develop awareness of our nation's diverse 

and fragile archaeological sites, to instill a sense of personal responsibility for stewardship of 

these sites, and to enhance science literacy and cultural understanding through the study of 

archaeology. Project Archaeology is a joint program of Montana State University and BLM. 

Programs focused on education and without internships/employment opportunities: 

Junior Ranger Education and Engagement: Young people pursue healthy recreational activities, 

spend time with friends and family, nurture their curiosity about the natural world, discover clues 

to our country's past, and participate in service projects on millions of acres ofBLM public 

lands. Through the Junior Ranger program, the BLM and local community partners expand on 

these activities to engage the next generation of conservation stewards and leaders. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Programs with internships/employment opportunities: 

Volunteer Service Program: Student volunteers work in nearly all branches of the agency, and 

extend the USFWS capacity to provide quality experiences to the many millions of visitors to 

USFWS lands each year. 

Programs focused on education and without internships/employment opportunities: 

Junior Duck Stamp Conservation Program: Teaches wetlands and waterfowl conservation to k12 students. The educational program concludes with a national art work contest. 

Schoolyard Habitat Program: The program establishes schoolyard wildlife habitats in urban and 

rural communities, which are used as multi-disciplinary outdoor learning classrooms to enhance 

student environmental stewardship. 

Youth Recreation Program: State fish and wildlife agencies receive funds through USFWS to 

directly engage youth and/or their educators in fishing, stewardship, and hunter safety and ethics 

related classes and events. 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Programs with internships/employment opportunities: 

National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) Cooperative Summer Field Training 

Program: Nominated undergraduate students are hired as interns to work on research projects 

mostly in the field or laboratory, for 12 weeks. 

Student Interns in Support of Native American Relations (SlSNAR): Provides student interns 

work opportunities on current USGS projects directly related to, and preferably on, Native 

American tribal lands, assisting Tribes with natural resource research issues including water, 

hazards, fish and wildlife, and climate change. These mutually beneficial projects also serve to 

build upon or create new relationships with Native American Tribes. 

4 
56 

June 23, 2017 

Dear Chairwoman Murkowski and Ranking Member Cantwell: 

We write to express our support for further consideration ofS.355, Wounded Veterans Recreation Act of2016, by 

the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. S.355 allows free access to disabled veterans to our national parks 

and other federal lands. 

In addition to physical injuries, veterans often deal with mental health issues resulting from military service. Our 

public lands can provide a place of respite for our military transitioning back to civilian lite from participating in 

outdoor recreation activities to contributing in volunteer opportunities. By providing free access to our national 

parks and other federal lands to our nation's disabled veterans, the federal government is giving back in a small 

way to these individuals and their families who have made huge sacrifices for our country. 

The America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass is currently made available at no 

charge to, and for the lifetime of, any U.S. citizen or person domiciled in the United States who has been 

medically determined to be permanently disabled. S.355 amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act 

to require the pass also be made available at no charge to, and for the lifetime of, any veteran with a serviceconnected disability. While the National Park Service broadly interprets those that have been medically 

determined to be permanently disabled, the additional authority to provide the pass to any veteran with a serviceconnected disability provides certainty for our injured veterans. The coalition supports expansion of the pass at no 

charge for our disabled veterans beyond the statutory definition of being permanently disabled. 

We further encourage the Committee to work with the Appropriations Committee to enhance operation and 

construction accounts to provide the necessary accommodations for visitors with disabilities to our federal lands. 

We sincerely hope the Committee moves this legislation forward to ensure more of our veterans have free access 

year round to our national parks and other federal lands. 

Thank you for considering our views. 

Sincerely, 

Aquanauts Adaptive Aquatics 

Big Bend Conservancy 

Coalition to Protect America's National Parks 

The Corps Network 

Friends of Acadia 

National Tour Association 

North Carolina Outward Bound School- Veterans Program 

Public Lands Alliance 

Southeast Tourism Society 

National Parks Conservation Association 

United States Tour Operators Association 

Western National Parks Association 

The Wilderness Society 

Regan C. Turner- The Mission Continues, West Region 

777 6th Street, NW, Suite 700 ! wa~hlngton, t>C 20001-3723 
57 

THE AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS MEMORIAL 

April17, 2017 

The Honorable Steve Daines 

Chairman 

Senate Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

United States Senate 

320 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Mazie Hlrono 

Ranking Member 

Senate Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

United States Senate 

730 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

CORNISH, NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Dear Chairman Daines and Ranking Member Hirono: 

RE:S.312 

I am writing on behalf of the Salnt-Gaudens Memorial to strongly urge consideration and passage of S. 

312, which calls for the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site to be re-designated as the Saint-Gaudens 

National Historical Park. 

The Saint-Gaudens Memorial is a supporting organization to the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in 

Cornish, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1919 to preserve the former home, studio, gardens, and 

collections of the great American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907). Its Trustees were the 

original owners of what is now the historic site and their mandate was to create a "living memorial" to 

Saint-Gaudens. He was at the center of the Cornish Art Colony at the turn of the twentieth century which 

not only included fine artists such as Maxfield Parrish; but also writers and dramatists such as Percy 

MacKaye; dancers and actors such as Isadora Duncan and Ethel Barrymore; and public servants, including 

Judge Learned Hand and President Woodrow Wilson. An important part of Saint-Gaudens' legacy is the 

rich cross-fertilization of arts and ideas that he helped to foster here. 

In the 1940s, following traditions from Saint-Gaudens' day, the Memorial established a summer concert 

series (which has included the re-creation of two historic masques), and in the early 1950s began a 

schedule of contemporary art exhibitions featuring regional, national, and international artists. Both 

programs continue to flourish to this day. 

In 1965, the Memorial gifted the property, historic structures and extensive collection of art to the federal 

government for creation of the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, while continuing to provide the site 

with financial and administrative support, advocacy advice, and ongoing public arts programming. In 1998 

the Memorial purchased the adjacent Slow-Me-Down Farm property, with its strong ties to the Cornish 

Colony. The Memorial held and maintained this property until 2010 when it was accepted by the federal 

government for inclusion within the boundaries of the historic site. 

34 SOUTH HIGHLAND AVENUE OSSINING, NY 10562 (914) 944-1608 SGMEMORIAL@AOL.COM 
58 

Saint-Gaudens Memorial RE: S. 312 Page 2. 

Not only are a variety of arts traditional to this place, but the park is working with multiple non-profit and 

community partners to develop additional arts programming for the public at Blow-Me-Down Farm. This 

new property includes more than 42 acres and nine historic structures which offer the potential for a great 

expansion of artistic programming. Some of these programs by park partners include opera and other 

musical events; a lunch and arts program for seniors in the community; and more contemporary and 

historical exhibitions, including those of works by members of the Cornish Colony. All of these programs 

have received strong support from the local community. 

We believe the name "Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park" most clearly states what the park 

represents now, and to an even greater extent what the park and its partners are planning and doing 

together here for our public In the coming years. This place is more than a 'historic site', a title that 

suggests to most people the idea of a single building, or place such as a battlefield. National Historic Sites 

are generally only a few acres in size with discrete boundaries and a single narrative. It may also convey 

the idea that this place reflects a particular moment in history and a single mission, not one of many 

Interrelated stories where hands-on creative activities continue to happen throughout the season. 

A name that designates this extraordinary place more broadly as a "National Historical Park" would 

communicate much more clearly to the public what this property Is, namely 190-acres that include more 

than one mission focus and overlapping historic stories, as well as multiple historic buildings, a vast 

collection of American art, a variety of arts-related activities, and inspiring vistas, landscapes, and trails. 

The Saint-Gaudens Memorial believes that this proposed name change will help attract more interest in 

the park and facilitate fundraising for capital improvements and programs. As one of the partners who will 

be fundraising for capital improvements at Blow-Me-Down Farm, the clear identification as a National Park 

with a core arts mission will be crucial to our success. 

The "National Historical Park" designation is a better indicator of our efforts to broaden the park's focus 

and to continue the Memorial's legislated mission as a "living memorial" to Augustus Saint-Gaudens and 

members of the Cornish Colony. Thank you very much for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Byron 

~~ 

Bell 

President of the Board of Trustees 

cc: Senator Jeanne Shaheen 

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee 

Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
59 

Senator Roy Blunt 

Statement for Legislative Hearing Record 

Energy and Natural Resources Committee 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

S. 1438, Redesignate Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in the State of Missouri as the 

"Gateway Arch National Park" 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for your 

consideration of the bill I have introduced to redesignate the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial as 

the "Gateway Arch National Park". 

Originally established in 1935, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is located near the starting 

point of Lewis and Clark's expedition to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase and our nation's westward 

growth. The site also recognizes our nation's debate over slavery as the Dred Scott case was heard in the 

Old Courthouse which is located in the park's boundaries. 

The Gateway Arch is one of our nation's most iconic landmarks. The Arch is known throughout the 

world as a symbol of American ingenuity and westward expansion. Despite this widespread recognition, 

many people are unaware that the Gateway Arch is part of the National Park System as a feature within 

the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. 

The Gateway Arch, completed in 1965, was the vision of renowned architect Eero Saarinen who sought to 

celebrate St. Louis' role as the "Gateway to the west." At the time of the Jefferson National Expansion 

Memorial establishment and designation, the Gateway Arch had yet to be conceived. 

Today, the Gateway Arch is the most recognizable feature of the park. 

The Gateway Arch is the world's tallest arch, our nation's tallest memorial, and Missouri's tallest 

accessible building. 

The Gateway Arch visitor's center and the Museum of Westward Expansion are located directly 

underground. 

It is the Gateway Arch that brings millions of visitors every year to the park. 

The park has undergone significant changes since its inception, culminating in a recent public-private 

partnership effort to renovate the Gateway Arch grounds and its surroundings. As a result, this unique 

urban site will be even more accessible to visitors and improve the National Park Service's ability to 

interpret and share the important history that is preserved there. 

Colleagues, I have introduced this bill to rename and grant the Gateway Arch and surrounding area its 

proper recognition as part of the National Park System. 

J request that information from individuals from Missouri be submitted to the record. 

I appreciate your consideration and support of this bill. 
60 

May 16,2017 

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton 

ATTN: Lisa Harst 

124 Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Senator Cotton, 

On behalf of the Central High Neighborhood, Inc. (CHNI), I would like to express support for 

your proposed legislation that would move the boundary of the little Rock Central High School 

National Historic Site to include seven properties across the street from the high school. 

CHNI is proud to support this initiative, which would recognize the historical significance of 

seven homes located on the 1400 and 1500 blocks of Park Street. The boundary adjustment 

encourages proper care and preservation of these homes by allowing property owners, on a 

case by case basis, to enter into cooperative agreements with the National Park Service. 

CHNI understands that property owners will maintain rightful ownership and that the Park 

Service has no intention to purchase the homes neither now, nor in the future. 

CHNI would like to thank you for your work on this very important issue and hopes you will 

remain engaged with us as your bill advances through the legislative process. 

Sincerely, 

Whitney Patterson, President 

on behalf of Central High Neighborhood,lnc. 
61 

June 16, 2017 

Senator Roy Blunt 

260 Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Senator Blunt, 

As the CityArchRiver Alliance, our organizations care deeply about the future of the Gateway Arch and 

its surroundings. We write to you in full support of changing the name of the Jefferson National 

Expansion Memorial to Gateway Arch National Park. 

This alliance of the City of St. louis, Bi-State Development Agency, Great Rivers Greenway, Jefferson 

National Parks Association, and Gateway Arch Park Foundation has worked in partnership with the 

National Park Service to implement a $380 million public-private renovation of the Arch grounds and its 

surroundings. This alliance will continue its partnership into the future to ensure that this National Park 

remains a world-class destination for generations to come. 

The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (JNEM) was named and created as a National Park in 1935. 

The JNEM name came far before the design for what would become the Gateway Arch was selected in 

1947. As we know now, the Gateway Arch is the undeniable icon and identifier of this park and of St. 

louis to the entire world. 

The Gateway Arch is an international icon known by many. But very few people are aware of the park's 

official name or that the Gateway Arch sits in a National Park. By changing the park's name to Gateway 

Arch National Park, the icon and park are better connected to how it is identified and brings attention to 

the fact it is an urban National Park- one of the few in America. Gateway Arch National Park also does 

not lose any of the connection to the park's mission of commemorating westward expansion. 

We appreciate your support in helping provide a name for this park that is consistent with how it is 

identified around the world and brings attention to the fact that we have one of the few urban National 

Parks in the country right here in St. louis. 

Sincerely, 

~~--- Jefferson National Parks Eric Moraczewski 

Association Executive Director 

Gateway Arch Park 

lyda Krewson ~-t(..i~ Foundation 

Mayor 

City of St. Louis 

Susan Trautman ~~ 

~~ CEO 

Great Rivers Greenway John Nations 

David Grove President and CEO 

President and CEO INA;· Bi-State Development 

Agency 
62 

July 18, 2017 

The Honorable Lisa Murkowski 

Chairwoman 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

United States Senate 

304 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

The Honorable Maria Cantwell 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

United States Senate 

304 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Columbus Downtown Development Corporation 

Dear Chairwoman Murkowski and Ranking Member Cantwell: 

I am writing on behalf of the Columbus Downtown Development ( CDDC) to ask 

you to supportS. 841, which would designate the Veterans Memorial & Museum 

being built in Columbus, Ohio as THE National Veterans Memorial & Museum. 

This institution will serve as a civic landmark to honor, connect, inspire and 

educate visitors about the service and sacrifice of all our nation's service men and 

women. The creation of this institution will have a profound, lasting impact and 

will help instill a deeper meaning of the freedoms we all enjoy. 

CDDC serves as the project manager for the National Veterans Memorial & 

Museum (NVMM) -leading the design, construction, exhibit development and 

fundraising campaign. CDDC, a private, non-profit development organization, has 

a successful track-record of creating award-winning civic projects in the heart of 

Ohio's capital city. Under the leadership of CDDC, Downtown Columbus has 

experienced a renaissance, seeing almost $4 billion in public/private sector 

investment since 2000. 

When NVMM opens in 2018, it will be the crown jewel of Downtown Columbus, 

providing world·class exhibits and programming about the veteran experience. 

CDDC has raised more than $75 million to date and continues efforts to raise 

additional funds from around the country. In order for CDDC to continue to be 

successful, it is vital to have this national designation. 

I urge you to support this important legislation. Our 22 million living veterans 

deserve a national museum to call home. Thank you for your consideration. 

?!fJ!vJ~ President & CEO 

150 S. Front Street, Suite 210 

Columbus, Ohio 43215 

T: 614.545.4700 I F: 614.545.4702 

CDDC Board Members 

GuyV.Worley 

President & CEO 

Columbu<; Downtown Development Corporation 

Michael G. Morris, Chair 

Past Chairman of th€ Board 

Amerkan Electric Power 

Stephen D. Ste!nour, Vice Chair 

Chairman & CEO 

Huntington Bancshares 

Dav!d P. Blom, Treasurer 

President & CEO 

OhioHea!th 

Alex Shumate, Secretary 

Managing Partner, North America 

Squire Patton Boggs 

Nicholas K. Akins 

Chairman, President & CEO 

American Electric Power 

Russell ?.Austin 

SeniorVke ?resident, Genera! Counsel & 

Secretary 

BatteUe 

GeorgeS. Barrett 

Chairman & CEO 

Cardinal Health 

Dr. Michael Drake 

President 

The Ohio State University 

Joseph Hamrock 

President & C€0 

NiSource, tnc. 

Nancy Kramer 

Founder & Ch~irman, R~:>soorce/Ammlrati 

Chief Evangelist, IBM iX 

Melissa Ingwersen 

President, Central Ohio Market 

KeySank 

Jordan A. Mtller 

CEO & President 

Fifth Third Ba.nk, Central Ohio 

Stephen S. Rasmussen 

CEO 

Nationwide 

Bruce: A. Soli 

Senior Vice President & Counsel 

Limited Brands 

Abigail S. Wexner 

Chairman & CEO 

Whitebarn Associates 

INWW.Co!umbusDDC.com 

www.NationaiVMM.org 

wwv.t.Co!umbusCommons.org 
63 

Senator Tom Cotton- Statement for the Record 

Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources' Committee on National Parks 

July 19,2017 

This September will mark the 60th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine-the nine AfricanAmerican students who enrolled in the then-all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957. 

Ask anybody who lived through the crisis, and they'll tell you they remember it vividly. They 

may not have been there in person. But they remember the photos-those searing images of an 

angry mob, the stoic students, and the bayoneted troops, all gathered at a high school--of all 

places. Perhaps the most searing image is of Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine, who was then 

only 15 years old. She didn't get word that the other students were going as a group, so she went 

alone, in a simple black-and-white dress she'd made just for the occasion. The mob baited her, 

menaced her, cursed her-some even threatened to lynch her. She later said of her walk to the 

school's entrance: "It was the longest block I ever walked in my whole life." 

We preserve historic battlefields like Yorktown and Gettysburg because we want our children to 

know what it took to gain and keep our freedom-the sacrifices made, the hardships endured. 

But equally important is preserving historic sites like Central High-where our citizens began 

the long road to freedom from oppression and intolerance. 

That's why we made Central High School an historic site years ago-though with one oversight. 

Across the street from the school stands seven homes, their exteriors in many of the pictures that 

are now so famous. There has long been a movement to preserve those exteriors so that future 

generations will be able to see Central High exactly as it looked when the Little Rock Nine 

arrived for school. 

That's why I am proud to have introduced legislation with three of my colleagues-the senior 

senator of Vermont, Senator Pat Leahy; Congressman French Hill of Little Rock; and civil-rights 

legend, Congressman John Lewis-to do just tl1at. My bill would move the boundary of the 

Central High School historic site to include the seven homes and add a total of 1.47 acres to the 

28.88-acre site. This bill would encourage the property owners and the National Park Service 

(NPS) to work together to preserve the exterior of the homes through NPS-initiated cooperative 

agreements. 

Ownership status of the properties would not change as a result of this legislation. My bill would 

simply allow the Park Service to establish cooperative agreements with the homeowners and use 

federally authorized park funding and park staff to work on the properties. 

There is widespread agreement in the community-and in our state-that this site is not just a 

part of Arkansas's history; it's part of our national heritage. Our legislation has received 

enthusiastic support from the homeowners, as well as the Central High neighborhood association 

and my state's historic-preservation-advocacy group, Preserve Arkansas. 

I think it's of the highest importance that we preserve the story of the Little Rock Nine and share 

it with our kids. It's a reminder of the courage shown by nine young Arkansans, who helped our 

state and our nation overcome deep-seated prejudices by appealing to the better angels of our 

nature. As Billy Graham said during the crisis: "There is no color line in heaven." It was a hardwon lesson, and one I think we should do everything we can to pass on to the next generation. 
64 

JONIK. ERNST 

IOWA ARMED SEFMCES 

AGRICUt TUAE. NUTRITION AND FOR£STRY 

ENV1RONMENT 

AND PUBLIC WOfiKS 

SMALL BUSINESS 

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

July 19,2017 

The Honorable Lisa Murkowski 

Chainnan 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

304 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Maria Cantwell 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

304 Diri<sen Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Chainnan Murkowski and Ranking Member Cantwell: 

On April25, 2017, I introduced S, 926, the Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act along with 

Senator Manchin. This bill would authorize the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation to 

establish tbe National Global War on Terrorism Memorial as a commemorative wori< in the District 

of Columbia. In just a short while, this bill has garnered strong bipartisan support from twenty of our 

colleagues here in the Senate, many of whom are members of this committee. It's also worth noting 

that tbe companion bill has over 140 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. 

This legislation sends a signal to those who have served and those who continue to serve in the 

Global War on Terror. As a veteran of the Global War on Terror, I saw firsthand these brave men and 

women defending our nation. I saw young men and women leaving their regular lives behind to 

ensure we at home were able to sleep safely at night. Now, many of those men and women are old 

enough to have their own children deployed in the name of this war. They, too, fight to defend us 

from an enemy that is ever present and threatens our security here at home. 

What makes this commemorative wori< different from others that have come before this committee is 

the fact that the War on Terror is still ongoing. I am well aware that the Commemorative Works Act 

(CWA) requires that at least ten years elapse from the end of a war or conflict until such event can be 

commemorated. However, I'm also keenly aware that if we were to wait that long, a 40-year-old 

servicemember who deployed in 200 I would be approaching sixty· five years of age. The longer we wait, the greater the chance that our first veterans of the Global War on Terror will not be witnesses 

to a National Memorial dedicated to tbeir service and sacrifice. It is my hope that the discussion 

today will revolve around why it is necessary and appropriate for a time-period exemption from the 

CWA be granted, so all those who have served in our nation's longest war, and their families, be 

given the opportunity to heal, honor, and remember. 
65 

explore 

June 23,2017 

Honorable Roy Blunt 

U.S. Senator 

260 Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Senator Blunt, 

As you know, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial {JNEM) was named and created as a National 

Park in 1935, long before the Gateway Arch was designed and selected in 1947. 

The Gateway Arch is an international icon known around the globe and a unique identifier for St. louis. 

But few people are aware of the JNEM name or that the Gateway Arch sits in a National Park. By 

changing the park's name to Gateway Arch National Park, the icon and park are better identified as 

connected and the fact that they are part of our system of national parks - one of the few in urban 

America- will be realized. As the Gateway Arch National Park, the connection to the park's mission of 

commemorating westward expansion is not lost. 

As a champion of the tourism industry, we appreciate your support in helping provide a name for this 

park that is consistent with how it is identified around the world, which will help us identify St. Louis as a 

destination for international and national visitors. 

President 
66 

Testimony for: 

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

National Parks Subcommittee, 

19 July 2017 

S. 926 (Senator Joni Ernst), "Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act" 

Written Testimony of: 

Andrew J. Brennan 

Executive Director 

Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation 

100 M Street SE, Suite 200 

Washington DC, 2003 

On behalf of the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation, and the more 

than 20 national Veteran Service Organizations that have endorsed this bill, I want 

to thank you for accommodating a hearing amidst a very busy legislative schedule. I 

serve as the Executive Director of the nonprofit leading these efforts, and while I 

have a deep passion for this memorial becoming a reality, I am not unlike the nearly 

3 million Americans who served abroad in support of this war over the last 16 years 

of sustained combat. 

I do not claim to be an expert in the academic fields of history or sociology, 

but I do consider myself a student of both when it comes to Memorials, and l will 

rely on them today as I humbly request your support of this bill and its swift 

movement out of committee and onto the Senate floor. 

One of the most common questions I receive from office staffers, committee 

staffers, and Senators themselves revolve around the question of "How do we 

memorialize a war with no end in sight?" The common push back is that there exists 

no precedent in American history for starting work on a memorial when a war is 

still ongoing. However, that is not the case if I may bring your attention to the 

National Civil War Monument, known as Battle Monument, as a prime example. 

While Battle Monument clearly predates the process provided by the 1986 

Commemorative Works Act, its foundation began in 1863 in the midst ofthe Civil 

War, when a young West Point Lieutenant, H. C. Hasbrouck, devised an idea for a 

memorial to honor the men who had died fighting alongside him in battle. The men 

serving in the Regular Army wanted so much to honor their brothers lost thus far in 

the war, that they raised the money for the memorial in one single month by way of 

a scaled rate based on rank; $24 for a Major General down to $1 for each enlisted 

man. 
67 

The curious, and somewhat ironic part of this historic vignette is that despite 

the memorial being entirely funded by the men themselves during the war, the 

monument ended up not being built and dedicated until May of 1897 at West Point, 

32 years after the war ended. The reason: political and bureaucratic infighting. 

Many of the Veterans who attended the 1897 ceremony were infirmed and greatly 

advanced in years at its dedication, not unlike the situation we witnessed and 

continue to witness with our National World War II Memorial. 

The second very recent vignette resides with our closest ally in the Global 

War on Terrorism; Great Britain. Their own SAS Operators earlier this month 

engaged ISIS fighters in hand-to-hand combat after being almost overrun during an 

ambush during intense fighting in Mosul, Iraq. This event occurred nearly four 

months after Great Britain dedicated a memorial for our ongoing war. Great Britain 

did not just approve a memorial, and they did not start work on a process to 

eventually build a memorial; as a nation they collectively recognized the need and 

benefits that come from memorializing the service and sacrifice of their citizens and 

soldiers, and they went ahead and dedicated it. 

This event was attended by the Queen, the Royal Family, many Veterans and 

family members of their fallen. Lord Stirrup who served as Chief of Defence Staff 

from 2006-2010 said the following at the dedication: 

"Literally hundreds of thousands of British military personnel and UK civilian 

citizens served this country in all sorts of various ways in support of those 

campaigns and we felt that it was extremely important that the way they had 

conducted themselves, carried out their duties and the service they had given to the 

nation was honoured and commemorated. So the memorial is exactly that, it's to 

commemorate duty and service, it's not about the campaigns themselves per se, it's 

about those principles which are important in any civilised society and have always 

been an integral part of who and what we regard ourselves to be as a nation." 

As a student of history, I inherently know and understand the unquantifiable 

value that the Vietnam Wall brought to a generation of Veterans that were not 

welcomed home with ticker tape parades. Their memorial served as a validation of 

their service, which they did not feel from their countrymen upon coming home. 

Korea was our forgotten war, and their memorial also brought a great deal of 

appreciation for their service. While the World War II generation was welcomed 

home as victors with ticker tape parades, their memorial, 59 years later, still had an 

immense impact on those who were alive to see it. It also has impacted the family 

members of those from the Greatest Generation, who more often than not never 

spoke of the war, yet the National World War II Memorial gave these Veterans a 

license to open up about the war. It sparked conversations and the preservation of 

valuable oral histories that would have very likely been lost otherwise. The National 

Desert Storm War Memorial will do much the same for another generation of 

Veterans who were welcomed home as victors. 
68 

I have made this Memorial endeavor my personal mission over the last three 

years. It has certainly not been easy for my team and I, but I would like to share with 

you what gets me out of bed every morning to work diligently at this. As a Captain 

returning home from Afghanistan, I had the privilege of being the senior ranking 

officer of our deployment flight home, and led a portion of my battalion into our 

aircraft hangar amidst a loud and thunderous applause from close friends and 

family. It was both a real and symbolic echo in that hangar due to the applause, 

because those there at the ceremony already understood the cost. They were the 

families and friends already close to our Nation's 1% who serve in uniform. It is a 

scene known and understood only by those who have witnessed it, and it is largely 

unknown by our citizenry. But I have this picture in my mind's eye that in summer 

2024, when the National Global War on Terrorism Memorial is dedicated in our 

Nation's Capitol, a returning flight of troops from Fort Drum or Camp Lejeune will 

not land at their base of origin. Instead, that flight lands at Dulles or Reagan 

International, and that unit gets on a bus, and is welcomed home in a public fashion 

at their National Memorial. At that event, you may very well witness a now 63-yearold Veteran who seized the first airfield in Kandahar Afghanistan in 2001 reach his 

hand out and welcome home the 19-year-old Specialist who just finished doing their 

first duty abroad in support of our National interests and hear what is 23 years 

removed, a common saying from the Vietnam Era: "Welcome Home". 

The last thing I would like to leave the committee with is this. The American 

people, as represented by our elected officials, have become quite comfortable with 

the idea of asking our all-volunteer force and their families to courageously continue 

to engage an ever-changing enemy in an ambiguous multi-generational war that has 

now spanned 16 years and will continue into the future. I humbly ask each of you on 

this committee to exercise the same courage in approving a memorial for those who 

have served, are serving today, and will serve in the future. Help this generation of 

warriors and their families Heal, Honor, and Remember, as we Educate our civilian 

counterparts about what service and duty entails in the 21st century. Please support 

the passage ofS. 926. 

Thank you and I welcome any questions you may have. 
69 

July 25, 2017 

The Honorable Lisa Murkowski 

U.S. Senate 

304 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairman Murkowski: 

GOT YOUR SIX 

In the military, "got your six' means "I've got your back.' As a coalition, Got Your 6 works to integrate that 

commitment of support into popular culture, engage veterans and civilians together to foster 

understanding, and empower veterans to lead in their communities. While we work to promote these 

goals across all generations of veterans, Got Your 6 is proud to support the Global War on Terror 

Memorial Foundation and the Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act as a meaningful way to honor 

the sacrifices of post-9111 veterans and better connect the American public to the nation's longest 

conflicts. 

Got Your 6 strongly supports the Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act as a necessary step to 

overcome the beuratracitic hurdles to establishing the Global War on Terror Memorial. The bill would 

allow the Global War on Terror Memorial to be exempt from current antiquated regulations governing 

memorial development, which we believe is appropriate given the unique and long lasting nature of the 

conflicts covered by the Global War on Terror. The bill would also designate the Global War on Terror 

Memorial Foundation as the only non-profit authorized to to lead in the creation of the memorial. The 

foundation has already proven to be well organized, well led, and committed to accomplishing their 

mission. Got Your 6 believes they are fully empowered to lead this endeavor. 

Speaking more broadly to our support of the creation of the Global War on Terror Memorial, we believe it 

will serve as a powerful tool to help bridge the ever widening military-civilian divide. Memorials provide 

opportunities for the public to connect and learn about the service of veterans. They also provide veterans 

with a space to honor the sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and reflect on their own 

service. Providing a shared space will help empower all generations of veterans, especially those who 

have served post 9/11, while re-assuring future generations of warriors that our great nation will always 

have "their six' once they return home. 

If you have any additional questions please contact Lauren Augustine, laugustine@gotvour6.org. 

Sincerely, 

William J. Rausch 

Executive Director 

GotYour6 
70 

July 13, 2017 

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA 

The Honorable Usa Murkowski 

Chairman 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

304 Dirksen Senate Building 

United States Senate 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

The Honorable Maria Cantwell 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

304 Dirksen Senate Building 

United States Senate 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Cantwell: 

On behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (lAVA) and our more than 425,000 members 

I would like to express our strong support for the Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act (S. 926). 

As of July 12, 2017, 6,911 service members have given their lives for our nation in Iraq, Afghanistan, 

and other Post-9/11 conflicts. The time has come for our nation to honor the sacrifice of these fallen 

troops, veterans of those conflicts, and their families with a memorial in Washington, DC. A memorial 

gives veterans, families, and the nation a place to gather and reflect on the heroism of our military 

and the sacrifices made. 

A new generation of veterans should not wait many years to see a memorial established, as those 

who served in Vietnam, Korea, and Wortd War II were forced to do. lAVA urges Congress to swiflly 

pass this legislation into law. 

If you have any questions, please f-1 free to contact me at: thomas@iava.org. 

Sincerely, 

Tom Porter 

Legislative Director 

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America 

777 North Capitol St NE 

Washington, DC 20002 
71 

July 17,2017 

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

304 Dirksen Senate Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairman Daines and Ranking Member Hirono: 

Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) and Friends of Acadia (FOA) would like to provide the 

following comments on S. 257, the Acadia National Park Boundary Clarification Act. 

MCHT and FOA have enjoyed a long and proud tradition of working closely with the National Park 

Service in suppmt of Acadia National Park. Friends of Acadia has contributed more than $25.6 

million to Acadia National Park since 1986 to support infrastructure and natural resources restoration 

projects, volunteerism, internships, and cooperative projects like the Island Explorer bus system. 

Maine Coast Heritage Trust is the preeminent land conservation on the coast of Maine and has 

helped Acadia secure more than 25 inholdings that Congress intended to be included in the park 

when Acadia's boundaries were set by Congress in 1986. 

The park, which just completed its centennial celebration, welcomes millions of people each year 

from around the country and around the world. S.257 will strengthen the park's ability to operate in 

the future as a member of the local community. Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Friends of Acadia 

would like to offer the following comments and suggestions for your consideration. 

First, we support the bill's central focus, an effort to confirm the addition of recently donated land on 

the Schoodic Peninsula, while clarifying the role of the 1986legislation that defined the park's 

boundary. The Schoodic expansion has improved Acadia National Park and greatly expanded visitor 

experiences. At the same time, we support the boundary defined by Congress in 1986 and believe all 

future additions to the park outside this boundary (except de minimis ones as discussed below) 

should be pre-approved by Congress. 

We also support Section 3(b) of the bill that states that the Secretary of the Interior may conduct 

exchanges for land and interests of land within the legislated boundaries of the park in accordance 

with 54 U.S.C. Section 102901. The land protection program at Acadia National Park has always 

been focused on receiving donations of or purchasing private properties within the legislated 

boundaries of the park as they are offered by willing sellers. This improves the park's management 

efficiencies by providing greater continuity among park lands and wildlife habitats, as well as 

reducing the boundaries with private properties that must be maintained or patrolled. 

In addition to this, we recommend that the bill be amended to also allow de minimis boundary 

changes for the park, as authorized by 54 U.S.C. Section I 00506. Because Acadia National Park was 
72 

founded mostly through the donation of private property about a century ago, the park is a patchwork 

of public lands intettwined with private property, and it is not uncommon for minor issues to emerge 

with abutters along the park's boundary. These small encroachments or areas where the boundary 

does not quite match ownership patterns create problems for both landowners and the Park. Under 

the current bill language, Acadia would be unable to work directly with landowners to resolve these 

types of issues. We support amending the current bill to give Acadia the ability to be a good 

neighbor with abutting private landowners, by allowing minor boundary adjustments impacting 

fewer than 10 acres. 

We are concerned about Section 4 ofS.257 which requires a $350K appropriation to a "regional 

consortium ... for the purpose of improving the management of the disposal and recycling of solid 

waste." Carving this funding out of Acadia National Park's operating budget as appropriated by 

Congress would be devastating to park operations here. The park annually spends about $1 million 

from its Congressionally-designated operating funds for the seasonal workforce, so a $350K loss 

would mean the park would have to scale back seasonal operations by a third. 

We are supportive of Section 8 of the bill concerning continuation of traditional uses, but we 

recommend that the language be revised to more accurately reflect what those traditional uses have 

been. The current draft which relies on Maine statutory language is broader than tradition by 

including marine activities such as aquaculture leasing, rockweed harvesting, and other potential 

future harvesting activities. We encourage you to limit the language in a way that reflects actual 

traditional harvesting activities, commercial and non-commercial, of clams, mussels, worms, and 

periwinkles. These are the species that have been traditionally harvested in the park and we agree 

harvesting of these species using traditional methods should continue to be allowed in the future. 

This position was also supported unanimously and communicated to the Secretary of the Interior, the 

Director of the National Park Service, and the Maine Congressional delegation by the Acadia 

National Park Advisory Commission, an advisory committee comprised of citizen representatives 

from the towns surrounding the park. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide comments on this bill. Please do not hesitate to 

contact us with any follow-up questions. 

~·\ ~ b\,ct:)Q"" 

Tim Glidden, President 

Maine Coast Heritage Trust 

1 Bowdoin Mill Island, Suite 201 

Topsham, ME 04086 

(207) 729-7366 

www.mcht.org 

Cc Senator Angus King 

Senator Susan Collins 

Representative Bruce Poliquin 

Representative Chellie Pingree 

2 

David MacDonald, President 

Friends of Acadia 

43 Cottage Street, P.O. Box 45 

Bar Harbor, ME 04609 

(207) 288-3340 

www.friendsofacadia.org 
73 

Senator Joe Manchin III 

Statement for the Record 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks 

Hearing on Various National Park Service-Related Bills 

Wednesday, July 19,2017 

I am honored to have introduced S. 926, the Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act, with 

Senator Ernst of Iowa. S. 926 simply provides authorization to the Global War on Terror 

Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in honor of the members of the armed services 

who fought in support of the Global War on Terrorism. This bill does not authorize any federal 

funds to pay for the establishment of the memorial; it is merely the first but necessary step 

toward constructing a memorial for the Global War on Terror. 

Since Senator Ernst and I first introduced this bill, it has received bipartisan support with 19 

additional Senators cosponsoring-including four other members of the Energy and Natural 

Resources Committee. An identical house companion bill (H.R. 873) has 159 cosponsors. 

As a nation, we continue to remember and mourn the tragic events of September 11, 200 l. That 

day changed our way of life forever. On September 14, 2001, both chambers of Congress voted 

to approve the use of military force, three days after the atrocities committed against our 

nation. Since that day, the brave men and women of our Armed Forces have taken up arms to 

defend our nation and our allies without hesitation and without wavering. These patriots and 

their families gave and will continue to give selflessly. 

Many of these warriors sacrificed their lives and many others returned home with both visible 

and invisible wounds. This memorial must move forward as soon as possible to honor these 

brave men and women, and it must remain open for to honor future warfighters of this enduring 

mission. America's sons and daughters are still at war across the globe and we owe them the 

opportunity to tell their stories to the visitors of our nation's capital. As members of Congress, 

we must honor our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines through the approval of the National 

Global War on Terrorism Memorial. 

This legislation has received the support of many Veterans Services Organizations including: 

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US (VFW), Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans Of America 

(lAVA), Wounded Warrior Project, The Military Order of the Purple Heart, American Veterans 

(AMVETS), American Goldstar Mothers, Student Veterans of America, The Green Beret 

Foundation, Team Rubicon, The Mission Continues, Team Red White and Blue, Travis Manion 

Foundation, Got Your Six, Warrior Expeditions, Union Veteran Council ofthe AFL-CIO, and 

Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors (TAPS). 

I urge my colleagues to support S. 926 and move it forward through the Senate Committee on 

Energy & Natural Resources as expeditiously as possible. 
74 

:~i LASHlNGTON HERITAGE HOUSE 

F::r;;; ~~tlk:la McGraw (mpata@att.net) 

To: mpata@att.net; 

Date: Salulday, March 25, 2017 9:13AM 

WASHINGTON HERITAGE HOUSE 

1421 S. PARK STREET 

LITI'LE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72202 

(1411, 1417, 1501, etc. Palk Street) 

MARCH 25, 2017 

TO WHOM fT MAY CONCERN: 

CfTY OFFICIALS 

DEAR SIR, MADAM: ~· 

Print 

We, the owners of the properties, addresses listed above, located direclly across Palk Street in li'ont of 

the famous and renowned educational facility. lltlle Rock Central High School, wish to express our 

gratitude and appreciation of aB that }Ou do for our nelghbolhood, our city. and our state, partiC\darly in 

learning that the National Palk Sei"Jice wishes to eJCpand their boundaries to include our seven houses. I 

is our belief that our houses add to the beauty and dignity of the structural and environmental beauty, 

dignity, and grece to this area of lltlle Rock, 

In that we are greaUy interested in the continuous celebrated dignity of this site, we are very supporliw of 

direction to eJCpand upon this historic city developrnant, and we appi9Ciate our being Included in this 

significant Idea. Please continue to keep us abreast of new dellelopments and Ideas which we Intend to 

implement as wished by the city ollicials, and Intend to seek funding to make this dream of our 

foreparents to come true. 

Thanks again for including us, and please take care of }OurSelves and our city. 

Love and Deep Appreciation For AU That 'lbu Do: 

Sincerely, , .2__ .. 

Dr.PalriclaWashlngtonMcGra~~ 

Mrs. GreceBiagdon $~ ~ 

Other Concerned Owners 
75 

NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL & MUSEUM 

Veterans Advisory 

Committee Members 

Dennis Laich, Major General 

Army (Ret), Chairman 

AI Burzynski, Army, 

Communications SubCommittee Chairman 

Burt Logan, Army, Interior SubCommittee Chairman 

Peter Mansoor, Ph.D., 

Army, Exterior Sub-Committee 

Chairman 

Earl Bailey, Marine Corps (Ret.) 

Sam Beall, Army 

Susan Bogan, Army Family 

Paul Craft, Colonel Army 

National Guard {Ret.) 

Shawn Delgado, Marine Corps 

(Ret.) 

Russ Goodwin, Navy 

Joe Jennings, Army 

Patrick Malay, Colonel Marine 

Corps (Ret.) 

Jim McClaugherty, Colonel Air 

Force (Ret.) 

warren Motts, Army 

Richard Reynolds, Lieutenant 

General Air Force (Ret.) 

Alex Rozanski, Marine Corps, 

Army National Guard 

Tim Shigley, Air Force (Ret.) 

Karen Roddy-Spikes, Captain 

Army 

Chip Tansill, Colonel Army (Ret.) 

Fred weed, Army 

Honor I Connect I Inspire I Educate 

July 18, 2017 

The Honorable Lisa Murkowski 

chairwoman 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

United States Senate 

304 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

The Honorable Maria Cantwell 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

United States Senate 

304 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairwoman Murkowski and Ranking Member Cantwell: 

I am writing on behalf of the National Veterans Memorial & Museum (NVMM) 

Veterans Advisory Committee to ask you to supportS. 841, which would designate 

the Veterans Memorial & Museum being built in Columbus, Ohio as THE National 

Veterans Memorial and Museum. 

There is no single comprehensive monument or museum dedicated to all branches 

of the military and all eras of war that share the veteran's experience in our 

country. With almost 22 million veterans alive today, we are creating a place where 

we can honor the sacrifice and celebrate the service of our veterans. 

It began with an idea from our founding chairman, the late Senator John Glenn 

(1921-2016), Colonel, USMC (Ret.). He believed there was no greater calling than to 

inspire young people. Thanks to his leadership, a committee of veterans was put 

together to provide feedback and recommendations to the architects and 

designers of the facility with the goal of creating a world-class, state-of-the·art 

representation of the contributions and sacrifices made by military veterans and 

their families, and educating and inspiring the public about veterans and military 

affairs. 

The Veterans Advisory Committee developed the pillars on which NVMM's mission 

and goals are based. Those pillars are: HONOR Americans' contributions through 

military service; CONNECT civilians with veterans and their military experience; 

INSPIRE visitors to serve their community and nation as citizens; and EDUCATE 

schoolchildren about the history and value of service via an interactive permanent 

exhibition. 

300 W Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 1 NationaiVMM.org 
76 

NVMM is scheduled to open to the public in summer 2018. The museum will present the veteran experience 

through the lens of personal stories and life-changing experiences from which visitors will be inspired to 

learn more about our country's history and actively engage in their own communities as informed citizens. 

After raising more than $75 million to construct the facility, the NVMM leadership team is working to fund an 

Endowment with the goal of offering free admission to veterans. A critical component to raising the 

necessary funds to accomplish free admission is to receive a national designation for our institution. 

The creation of this institution will have a profound, lasting impact on every American and will help instill a 

deeper meaning to the freedoms we all enjoy. 

Very Respectfully, 

Maj:f.:dn~::. US Army (Ret.) 

chairman 

Veterans Advisory Committee 

National veterans Memorial & Museum 

300 W Broad street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 I NationaiVMM.org 
77 

Testimony prepared for the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources' 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

Ms. Jackie Ostfeld 

Founder and Chair, Outdoors Alliance for Kids 

Wednesday, July 19, 2017 

Dear Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and Members of the Subcommittee, 

On behalf of the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, a national strategic partnership of nearly 100 businesses and 

organizations representing more than 60 million Americans, I write in support of S. 1522, the Every Kid 

Outdoors Act, and thank the National Parks Subcommittee for holding a hearing to advance this critical 

bipartisan legislation. We urge the Subcommittee to take prompt action to approve this legislation and send it 

to the full Committee. 

The Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK) is vitally concerned with the growing divide between children and the 

outdoors. Our children's lives are out of balance. Today's young people are growing up inside, spending less 

time in nature than any generation in history, with profound consequences for their physical and mental health. 

Our nation's network of protected lands, waters, and shores are special places where our children can play 

and get active, learn about America's history, culture, and ecology, and develop an ethic of stewardship 

towards America's great outdoors. 

The indoor and sedentary lifestyles of our children are contributing to a national health crisis. The Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to 

vigorous physical activity each day, yet nearly three-quarters of all youth do not meet these basic guidelines. 

Nearly one in three children is overweight or obese, and we are seeing more and more kids develop what were 

once adult-onset-only chronic diseases. More than twenty percent, or $190.2 billion, of annual medical 

spending in the United States is on health care costs of obesity-related illness. Childhood obesity alone costs 

our country $14 billion in direct medical expenses. 

At the same time, America's great outdoors drive an $887 billion economy, supporting more than seven million 

jobs across our nation. The outdoor recreation economy generates nearly $125 billion in tax revenue ($65.3 

billion federally; $59.2 billion in state and local tax revenue); this federal tax revenue alone is enough to pay for 

more than six million critical jobs from firefighters to police officers to teachers. 

The Every Kid Outdoors Act would codify the highly successful Every Kid in a Park program that is introducing 

young children to the outdoors and leveraging private sector investments in our kids. The Act would help to 

ensure that America's children have opportunities to get active, healthy and outdoors, which is critical to the 

health and wellness of our kids, communities,and the economy. The Every Kid in a Park program has proven a 

cost-effective common sense solution to improve our children's health, support long-term economic 

investment, and introduce a new generation to the beauty and wonder of America's public lands, waters, and 

shores. 

In the program's first year, over two million fourth graders downloaded the Every Kid in a Park pass. In 

addition, over the first two years, nearly $5 million in private funding has been leveraged to support 

transportation costs for children from Title 1 schools across America. Members of OAK have stepped up to 
78 

support the program by providing transportation grants and delivering high quality programming to kids, many 

of whom were visiting a park for the first time. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke even credited the Every Kid in a 

Park program as one of the reasons for the surge in visitation to our National Parks during the centennial year 

of the National Park Service. Several Governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, have seen the long-term 

potential of the Every Kid in a Park program and are accepting the passes in their state park systems. Nevada 

took it a step further and recently passed a law to give free entry to all of it's fifth graders to state parks. 

The program is making a difference in the lives of our children and we are already hearing from rising fourth 

graders who are excited to get their pass. Ben T. from Arlington, VA, has this to say: "I hope to visit 

Shenandoah National Park, as well as places not too far away like Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. But, I'd 

REALLY like to see someplace like Yellowstone or Denali! I'm looking forward to having my own park pass." 

The Every Kid Outdoors Act has momentum and is supported by dozens of groups from all sectors, including 

the Outdoors Alliance For Kids and the following OAK members: Alliance for Childhood, American Heart 

Association, Children & Nature Network, Girl Scouts of the USA, National Park Trust, National Recreation and 

Park Association, National Wildlife Federation, NatureBridge, North American Association for Environmental 

Education, Outdoor Industry Association, Sierra Club, The Corps Network, The Wilderness Society, Trust for 

Public Land, and the YMCA of the USA. 

The Outdoors Alliance for Kids is happy to see this bipartisan legislation advance in committee, and we urge 

the committee to report favorably on S. 1522 so that all children have the opportunity to visit the parks and 

public lands that make America great. 

Sincerely, 

~ o~1{JJ 

Jackie Ostfeld 

Founder and Chair 

Outdoors Alliance for Kids 

202-548-6584 I contact@outdoorsallianceforkids.org 
79 

Board of Directors 

Jodi Barnes, Ph.D., 

President 

Bra!y. President--

Sarah Hansen, VP of 

oe,·eiopment 

Courtney Crouch, Ill, 

Y'reasurer 

Jamie Brandon, Ph.D .. 

Secretary 

Sammy Angel 

Steve Cole, Ph.D. 

Mason Ellrs. AlA 

Jill Judy 

Eclward Salo, PI1.D. 

W. Chris Sheppard, AlA 

Blake J. Wintery. Ph.D. 

Chris W. White 

Ex-Officio 

Marian Boyd 

Ruth A Hawkins, Ph.D. 

Stacy Hurst 

Honorable Mark Martin 

Carl H. Miller, Jr. 

Cheri NichOls 

Greg Phrllips 

Debbie Shea 

David Ware. Ph.D. 

Charles Witsell, Jr .. FAIA 

~ ~PRESERVE 

-------mtorr,JYdtvtl(Jp,revi~alizr 

~ARKANSAS 

May4,2017 

Ms. Lisa B. Harst 

Legislative Assistant 

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton 

124 Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Ms. Harst. 

My name is Rachel Patton, and I am the executive director of Preserve 

Arkansas, Arkansas's statewide historic preservation advocacy group. On 

behalf of our board of directors, I am writing to support the proposed 

expansion of the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site 

boundary to include the seven homes across the street from the high 

school. This simple boundary adjustment will encourage the preservation 

of the seven historic homes in the 1400 and 1500 blocks of Park Street 

and allow homeowners, on a case by case basis, to enter cooperative 

agreements with the National Park Service while retaining private 

property ownership. 

We feel that this is an important step in the right direction for the Central 

High School Neighborhood Historic District as a whole. Please let me 

know if I may provide further assistance with this initiative. 

Sincerely, 

Mt~uJ(-\lt-tu~ 

Rachel Patton 

Executive Director 

501.372.4757 I P.O. BOX 305 I UTILE ROCf(, AR 72203·0305 
80 

ri PUBLIC 

I~ LANDS I_ ALLIANCE CONNECT • STRENGTHEN • REPRESENT 

STATEMENT ON S. 1403, THE 21ST CENTURY CONSERVATION CORPS ACT OF 2017, 

AND S. 1522, EVERY KID OUTDOORS ACT 

July 18, 2017 

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks 

304 Dirksen Senate Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairman Daines and Ranking Member Hirano: 

The Public Lands Alliance (PLA) commends the Subcommittee on National Parks for considering 

two valuable, bipartisan bills: S. 1403, the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act of 2017, and S. 

1522, the Every Kid Outdoors Act. These bills encourage greater stewardship of America's parks, 

forests, refuges, conservation areas and other public lands by enabling land managers and partners to 

engage more powerfully with youth and veterans. PLA urges their speedy passage by the Senate. 

PLA represents more than 120 nonprofit public lands partners operating in every U.S. state, 

territory, and the District of Columbia. PLA members serve more than 600 public lands sites and 

collectively contribute over $250 million annually to their benefit. Standing side by side with land 

managers and with local communities, PLA members not only see the value of youth and veterans 

connecting with their public lands, also marshal private resources to create these opportunities. 

S. 1522, Every Kid Outdoors Act 

Since 2015, nonprofit organizations have provided substantial funding to transport 4'h 

graders to federally managed public lands through the Every Kid in A Park program. Once on 

a public land, these students benefit from interpretive and educational programs that many 

2401 Blueridge Avenue, Suite 303 1 Silver Spring, MD 20902 1 301.946.9475 
81 

I 2 I 

nonprofit organizations conduct or provide critical funding to operate. PlA supports the 

continuation of these initiatives through the Every Kid Outdoors Act, codifying recent 

successes and adopting a new moniker that reflects the multiagency scope of the program. 

S. 1403, the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act of 2017 

The goal of the 21st Century Conservation Corps (21CSC) is to place youth and veterans in 

the United States in national service positions to protect, restore, and enhance the great 

outdoors. PlA endorses the long-term authorization of 21CSC to tackle public lands 

infrastructure issues, increase stewardship opportunities for young people and veterans, and 

demonstrate the value of private-public partnerships to accomplishing goals. 

Together, these bills ensure that a ladder of progressive engagement exists between young people 

and their public lands, as well as provide our fighting men and women greater opportunities to 

continue their service to our nation and connect with the outdoors. Nonprofit public lands partners 

are eager to assist their land management agencies to attract private resources to invest in these 

programs. 

PlA appreciates your steadfast commitment to enhancing America's public lands and the experience 

of their hundreds of millions of visitors. These bills embody that commitment. 

Sincerely, 

Dan Puskar 

Executive Director 

cc: The Honorable Lisa Murkowski 

The Honorable Maria Cantwell 
82 

SANTA ROSA COUNTY 

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 

SAM PARKER, District 1 

ROSERT A. "BOB'" COt£. Df$trlct Z 

W. D. "'DDN" SAlTER, District J 

ROB WIWAMSON, Dfstrk:t4 

tL LAN£ tYNCHARD. District 5 

Administrative Offices I 6495 Caroline Street, Suite M I Milton, Florida 32570-4592 TONY GOMIWON; County Administrator ROY V, ANDREWS,. County Attorney 

JAYNE BEU. OMB Director 

April 24, 2017 

The Honorable Marco Rubio 

United States Senate 

700 South Palafox Street, Suite 12S 

Pensacola, FL 32502 

Dear Senator Rubio, 

At the April 24, 2017 meeting, the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners 

approved the Santa Rosa Island draft bill language regarding conveyance of 

certain property that was formerly part of Santa Rosa Island National Monument. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is anything else you may need from 

the Board regarding this matter. 
83 

Statement for the Hearing Record: Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) 

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks 

Hearing on National Parks Legislation 

llS'h Congress 

July 19,2017 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono and Members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources 

Subcommittee on National Parks: 

Thank you for holding this hearing today to review legislation critical to the preservation of our public 

lands and the historic and cultural resources of the Nation. I am pleased that the Subcommittee has decided 

to focus on two of my bills during today's hearing: the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park Redesignation Act (S.312) and the Wounded Veterans Recreation Act (S.355). In addition to my statement, 

I would also ask that the Subcommittee include in the hearing record letters I have received in support of 

S.312 and S.355, as well as information describing the works of famed sculptor and artist Augustus SaintGaudens. 

My first bill, S.312, would redesignate the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New 

Hampshire as the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park. The effort to re-designate this important site is 

strongly supported by the site's non-profit operating partner group, the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, by the 

Cornish community, and by the entire New Hampshire delegation, including Senator Maggie Hassan who 

is a cosponsor of my legislation. 

Authorized in 1964, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site preserves the home and artwork of Augustus 

Saint-Gaudens, the foremost American sculptor of the late 19'h century. During his career, Saint-Gaudens 

created over 150 works of art, ranging from exquisitely carved cameos to heroic-sized public monuments. 

Many of the works, including the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in Boston and the Standing and Seated 

Abraham Lincoln monuments in Chicago, commemorate heroes of the Civil War. 

In addition to the Saint-Gaudens estate, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site also includes the Blow-MeDown Farm, which was donated by the Saint-Gaudens Memorial in 2010. The farm is historically 

significant for its association with the Cornish Art Colony, one of the earliest examples of an unplanned 

artist colony in the United States. From 1895 through World War I, the Cornish Art Colony was home to 

more than 100 artists, sculptors, writers, poets, musicians and politicians. The colony's central figure was 

Augustus Saint-Gaudens. 

The addition of Blow-Me-Down Farm, which includes over 42 acres, nine historic structures, agricultural 

fields and more than a quarter mile of frontage along the Connecticut River, has dramatically broadened 

the utilization of the grounds. While once a site solely featuring exhibitions of the great sculptor, SaintGaudens National Historic Site now includes constantly rotating contemporary and historical exhibitions, 

a summer concert series, hands-on workshops, lectures, artist-in-residence programs and educational 

opportunities relating to Saint-Gaudens, the Cornish Colony of artists that formed around him, as well as 

the arts generally. 
84 

The ever-expanding uses of the grounds now exceed the present designation as an historic site, so this is 

no longer the most appropriate or useful classification for this significant area. National Park System units 

designated as national historic sites are generally only a few acres in size, with discrete boundaries, and 

feature a single building. By contrast, the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site encompasses 190 acres 

and is composed of two non-contiguous units with broader historical contexts. My legislation, the SaintGaudens National Historical Park Re-designation Act, would incorporate the word "park" into the name 

of the unit to more appropriately describe the size and resource diversity found at this site. 

In the past decade, the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site has expanded to include overlapping stories 

of historically significant artists, as well as multiple historic buildings, a vast collection of American art, 

a variety of arts-related activities, landscapes and trails. This park is about much more than history; it is 

also about celebrating the creation and exhibition of contemporary art. The new name proposed in my 

legislation will reflect this broader scope and purpose. 

My second bill, the Wounded Veterans Recreation Act, would provide veterans living with serviceconnected disabilities free, lifetime access to enjoy our national parks and other federal lands, thereby 

giving military men and women the opportunity to enjoy the American land they fought and sacrificed to 

protect. This bipartisan legislation, which I introduced with Senator Collins, is also cosponsored by several 

members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. 

As we all know, national parks and public lands protect the best of our natural and cultural heritage. These 

protected areas attract millions of visitors annually, help protect America's unique wildlife and majestic 

forests, and contribute to our economic and social wellbeing. Although their primary purpose is 

conservation, federal lands also deliver invaluable mental, physical and societal health benefits to 

Americans. For our veterans, access to national parks and federal recreation sites is also vital to 

rehabilitation. 

For many veterans, the transition back to civilian life is often difficult. In addition to coping with physical 

injuries, veterans often must deal with mental health issues, including depression, trauma, anxiety and 

post-traumatic stress disorder. Public lands provide much-needed respite for military families and allow 

for non-traditional methods of recovery, such as nature-based recreation, to help veterans cope with 

transition. In fact, a 2013 study from the University of Michigan found that veterans participating in 

extended outdoor recreation activities showed signs of improved mental health, with those experiencing 

the most severe on-going health issues benefiting the most. 

Given the numerous benefits, it is essential that military men and women who have fought and sacrificed 

to protect America be allowed to more easily access our nation's parks and recreational lands. 

Unfortunately, the relevant federal agencies do not offer a pass specifically for veterans. 

Under current law, a lifetime America the Beautiful-the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands 

Pass (Lands Pass) is available to any U.S. citizen "who has been medically detennined to be pennanently 

disabled" (16 U.SC. 6804). The definition includes "a physical or mental impainnent that substantially 

limits one or more major life activities of such individual."( 42 U.S.C. 121 02). Major life activities include: 

caring for oneself, perfonning manual tasks, seeing, hearing, speaking and breathing. This definition sets 

a relatively high bar for qualification. 

2 
85 

The National Park Service currently interprets that authority to include certain disabled veterans. 

However, there are significant differences between the statutory definitions for 'permanently disabled' 

among civilians and veterans with service-connected injuries under Title 38. Lack of statutory guidance 

has required the agency to make broad judgements about eligibility for veterans. 

As a result, it is unclear to what degree disabled veterans can access the program. For example, many 

veterans are initially diagnosed with a service-connected injury but given a disability rating of zero. The 

diagnosis serves as recognition by the Department of Veterans Affairs that the veteran was injured while 

serving in the military though the severity does not yet merit disability payments. Many veterans receive 

this initial diagnosis and are later awarded a higher rating as the injury worsens over time. 

My legislation clarifies the current statutory language to ensure that all wounded veterans are eligible for 

free, lifetime access to America's outdoor recreational treasures. Specifically, the Wounded Veterans 

Recreation Act would amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to make the Lands Pass 

available, without cost, to a veteran with a service-connected disability. This legislation has received broad 

support from veteran and conservation groups, including the Vet Voice Foundation, the Sierra Club 

Military Outdoors, the Wilderness Society and the National Parks Conservation Association. 

We owe it to our returning servicemen and women to do all we can to help them recover from the pain 

and suffering experienced in war. This legislation will honor the service of our veterans who have all 

earned the right to free, lifetime access to our national treasures. 

Again, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of my bills. !look forward to working 

with the Committee to advance these pieces of legislation. 

3 
86 

Addendum: Information Regarding the Influence of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and the 

Cornish Art Colony 

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) 

August Saint-Gaudens is widely regarded as one of the greatest American sculptors in history. His 

work resides in over 500 locations worldwide and with each commission, he further defined the 

American Renaissance and pushed the bounds of what could be done in sculpture. His magnificent 

ability to channel the elegance and realism of the Italian Renaissance, in order to capture the 

powerful spirit of Civil War heroes, catapulted him and his work to success-success that he used 

to cultivate America's artistic scene and change American sculpture permanently. 

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was born in 1848 in Dublin, Ireland to a French father and Irish mother. 

A few months after he was born, his family immigrated to the United States in order to escape 

famine and settled in New York City. After discovering his passion for art, he trained at Cooper 

Union, the National Academy of Design, and later in Paris, where he was one of the first Americans 

to study sculpture at the acclaimed Ecole des Beaux-Arts. During his time in Europe, he was heavily 

influenced by Italian Renaissance artists; this lively, naturalistic style defined his career. 

In 1875, Saint-Gaudens moved to New York City and received the commission for one ofhis most 

important works, the Admiral David Farragut. Admiral Farragut's career was decorated by 

military victories, and with his craft, Saint-Gaudens was fully able to capture his spirit. The statue 

was lauded for its realism and precision; this statue signified Saint-Gaudens's· and subsequently 

American sculptors'- departure from neoclassical styles to embrace the style of the French Ecole 

des Beaux-Arts. 

In the late 1880s and 1890s, after his first public success with the Farragut monument, Augustus 

Saint-Gaudens worked on several other statues, including twenty public commissions, funerary 

monuments and personal projects. Earlier projects included reredos for Cornelius Vanderbilt's 

New York mansion and The Puritan, a monument which still stands in Merrick Park in Springfield, 

Massachusetts. Saint-Gaudens also cast a winged, ethereal female who appeared in three different 

works (most notably, the Amor Caritas memorial) and became one of the most recognized art 

figures of the time period. 

Some of the Saint-Gaudens most renowned sculptures include the Standing Lincoln for Lincoln 

Park, Chicago (1884-1887); Adams Monument for Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. 

(1886-1891 ); the nude Diana ( 1886-1891 ), for Madison Square Park, New York; and the Robert 

Gould Shaw Memorial (1897) for Beacon Street, Massachusetts. The Standing Lincoln is 

considered one of the most important sculptures of the president from the nineteenth century; 

because of its excellence, it has been replicated many times, particularly for diplomatic purposes. 

The Adams Monument was created as a memorial for a woman who committed suicide but this 

personal monument become widely known and replicated because of its emotional power. Diana, 

stood atop Madison Square Garden when it was the second tallest building in New York City and, 

notably was the first statue lit with electricity at night. Finally, the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial 

was dedicated to the 54'" Massachusetts Regiment and their commander, drawing acclaim for its 

accurate depictions of the African American soldiers and its masterful combination of realism and 

religious imagery. Each of these sculptures further distinguished Saint-Gaudens as the best 

sculptor of his time as the statues both defined and became a part of American history. 
87 

Figure 1. Shows examples ofSaint-Gaudens sculptures. (A) Saint-Gaudcn·s created his first full-length sculpture, Hiawatha, in 

1875 while in Rome. It currently resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (B) The Adams .Monumenl 

idea of nirvana; Saint-Gaudens was able craft both a deeply personal and monumental memorial that has 

tourists to visit Rock Creek Cemetery. (C) Saint-Gaudens created the bronze Admiral Farragut Monument and Stanford 

White built the granite base. It represents Farragut in a naval uniform, wielding binoculars and a S\vord. This monument is 

currently located in Madison Square Park in New York City. 
88 

Figure 2. Shows 
89 

In addition to the commissions and statues he created, Saint-Gaudens was also engaged in the 

greater art community during the 1890s. He took on private students, supported the American 

Academy in Rome, cofounded the Society of American Artists and taught at the Arts Students 

League of New York. He also engaged with other artists, joining the McKim, Mead and White 

architectural firm to collaborate on several monuments and decorative sculptures. A notable 

contribution to the art community was his founding of the Cornish Art Colony. His arrival in 

Cornish, New Hampshire marked the beginning of the colony, one of the earliest of its kind in the 

United States. 

Augustus Saint-Gaudens first came to Cornish in 1885 after being persuaded by Charles 

Cotesworth Beaman, Jr., a successful New York lawyer and patron of the arts. Beaman was able 

to convince Saint-Gaudens to come to Cornish because he promised him a plethora of "Lincolnshaped men" to model for his Standing Lincoln. He went on to settle in Cornish, sparking the 

beginning of the Cornish Art Community in the small town. Saint-Gaudens rented a house on 

Beaman's property which he later bought in 1891. He named the property "Blow-Me-Down Farm" 

or "Aspet'', after the French village in which his father was born. Once he arrived, other artists 

quickly followed. 

The first group of artists to immigrate to the Cornish Art Colony were the painters George de 

Forest Brush and Thomas Dewing, who were attracted by the area's beautiful landscapes. Other 

prominent art figures, such as painter Henry 0. Walker, painter and etcher Stephen Parrish, and 

illustrator and painter Maxfield all joined the Cornish Art Colony and settled in New Hampshire 

during the 1890s. Moreover, artists like sculptor Daniel Chester French, painter John White 

Alexander and sculptor Paul Manship would venture to the small town during the summers. 

President Woodrow Wilson also spent a summer in the colony after converting Winston 

Churchill's "Harlakenden House" into a summer White House. As the colony grew, Cornish, New 

Hampshire was increasingly seen as a place of collaboration and intellectual stimulation. By 1905, 

there were nearly forty families that resided in the colony permanently or seasonally. 

Between 1895 and 1925, nearly 100 artists, sculptors, writers, designers and politicians came to 

Cornish. The artists stimulated the local town, bringing economic growth, patronizing local 

markets and creating commercial enterprises in a place where the agriculture economy was 

struggling. Furthermore, the Cornish Art Colony promoted cultural interest. In the town of 

Cornish, the artists supported local libraries, drama productions and participated in town 

beautification projects. Discussion was stimulated by the creation of the Mothers' and Daughters' 

Club in Plainfield, New Hampshire, the first club of its kind in New Hampshire and one of the first 

in the United States. Members of the Cornish Art Colony often engaged with the local community 

and lent their talent to the town as architects. For instance, Charles Platt built dwellings in the 

community that combined Italian inspirations with the spirit of America. 

When Saint-Gaudens died on August 3, 1907, the Cornish Art Colony began its decline as he was 

no longer there to draw in new artists. However, the impact of Saint-Gaudens and the Cornish Art 

Colony can still be seen in New Hampshire to this day. In 1966, the property of Augustus SaintGaudens was designated as a national historic site unit in the National Parks System, preserving 

his talent, spirit and contribution to America and il' art culture. 

4 
90 

Figure 3. Various \Yorks from artists that resided in the Cornish Art Colony. 

James Earle Fraser 

(1876-!953), 

vvriter and 

photographer 
91 
92 

July 19, 2017 

The Honorable Steve Daines 

Chairman 

~&}SIERRA 

WCLUB 

Senate Subcommittee on National Parks 

302 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Mazie Hirano 

Ranking Member 

Senate Subcommittee on National Parks 

730 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirano, and Members of the Subcommittee, 

On behalf of the Sierra Club's 3 million members and supporters, I write to thank the National Parks 

Subcommittee for considering S. 1522, the Every Kid Outdoors Act, and S. 1403, the 21st Century 

Conservation Service Corps Act, and to urge you to support and advance these important and bipartisan bills 

which would ensure our children, youth, and young veterans have opportunities to experience America's great 

outdoors. I respectfully request that the following testimony be including the July 19, 2017, hearing record. 

Our children's lives are out of balance. Today's young people spend less time outdoors than any generation in 

history. In fact, the average young American is spending more than fifty hours a week on electronic media and 

just minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play. The indoor and sedentary lifestyles of our children and youth 

are contributing to a national health crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that 

children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, yet nearly 

three-quarters of all youth do not meet these basic guidelines. Nearly one in three children is overweight or 

obese, and we are seeing more and more kids develop what were once adult-onset-only chronic diseases. 

These medical expenses are bankrupting our country. More than twenty percent, or $190.2 billion, of annual 

medical spending in the United States is on health care costs of obesity-related illness. Childhood obesity 

alone costs our country $14 billion in direct medical expenses. 

At the same time, America's great outdoors drive an $887 billion economy, supporting more than seven million 

jobs across our nation. The outdoor recreation economy generates nearly $125 billion in tax revenue ($65.3 

billion federally; $59.2 billion in state and local tax revenue); this federal tax revenue alone is enough to pay for 

more than six million critical jobs from firefighters to police officers to teachers. 

The Every Kid Outdoors and the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Acts would codify two highly 

successful programs that are not only getting our kids and youth active and outdoors, but preparing them to be 

environmental stewards of tomorrow. 
93 

Every Kid Outdoors Act S. 1522 

The Every Kid Outdoors Act would codify the highly successful Every Kid in a Park program that is 

encouraging children from urban to rural America to get outdoors where they can be active and develop 

lifelong habits that improve their health and ensure they are prepared to be the next generation of 

environmental stewards. The Every Kid in a Park program has proven a cost-effective common sense solution 

to improve our children's health, support long-term economic investment, and introduce a new generation to 

the beauty and wonder of America's public lands, waters, and shores. 

In the program's first year, over two million fourth graders downloaded the Every Kid in a Park pass. In 

addition, over the first two years, nearly $5 million in private funding has been leveraged to support 

transportation costs for children from Title 1 schools across America. The private sector has stepped up to 

support the program by providing transportation grants and delivering high quality programming to kids, many 

of whom were visiting a park for the first time. For example, Sierra Club expanded our outings offerings to 

connect fourth graders from the San Gabriel Valley to the San Gabriel Mountains in their backyard. 

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke even credited the Every Kid in a Park program as one of the reasons for the 

surge in visitation to our National Parks during the centennial year of the National Park Service. Several 

Governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, have seen the long-term potential of the Every Kid in a Park 

program and are accepting the passes in their state park systems. Nevada took it a step further and recently 

passed a law to give free entry to all of it's fifth graders to state parks. 

The new school year starts next month, and rising 3rd graders are anxious to get their Every Kid in a Park 

pass. BenT. from Arlington, VA, has this to say: "I hope to visit Shenandoah National Park, as well as places 

not too far away like Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. But, I'd REALLY like to see someplace like Yellowstone or 

Denali! I'm looking forward to having my own park pass." 

21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act S. 1403 

The 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21 CSC) Act codifies another highly successful program that 

reaches older youth and young veterans with work opportunities to address mission-critical maintenance 

projects on our public lands and waters. The 21 CSC is a public-private partnership that engages more than 

25,000 returning veterans and young Americans each year to strengthen America's infrastructure, boost local 

economies, and protect our nation's public lands and waters. 

America's public lands and waters have a combined maintenance backlog of over $18 million. The legislation 

would expand the use of highly trained conservation and service corps on federal lands and waters, whittling 

away this maintenance backlog while providing skill building and employment opportunities for youth and 

veterans. Additionally, the legislation would impose no new costs to taxpayers, but rather rely on existing 

appropriations and leverage public-private partnerships in ways that get more done with less. Conservation 

Corps serve critical functions including fighting wildfires, building trails, and removing invasive species. 

In addition to the maintenance backlog, the National Park Service is expecting half of all of its employees in 

leadership positions to retire any day now. Employees in our parks and public lands are aging, and there is a 

critical need to ensure the generation coming up behind them has the skills necessary to become the next 

generation of land managers. 
94 

I understand the the National Park Service intends to recommend deferred action on both of these bipartisan 

bills. It is my testimony that a delay is unnecessary and will only create uncertainty for our children, youth, 

veterans, and our land management units. Both of these programs have incredible momentum and are 

leveraging substantial private investments to provide critical opportunities that improve the health of our kids, 

communities, economy, and our planet. I urge the Subcommittee to reject the National Park Service's 

recommendation and move quickly to report S. 1522 and S. 1403 favorable to the full committee. 

Sincerely, 

~o.,~J 

Jackie Ostfeld 

Associate Director, Outdoors Campaign 

Sierra Club 
95 

July 11,2017 

The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen 

United States Senator 

506 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Senator, 

VET 

FOUNDATION 

The Vet Voice Foundation is a non-profit organization with a national network of nearly 500,000 

Veterans, active-military and their families, dedicated to engaging in issues of civic importance, 

particularly in conservation. We are writing to express our support for your bill, the Wounded 

Warrior Recreation Amendment, which would provide less than I 00% service connected 

disabled Veterans, with a free pass to our national parks. Passing this bill wilt mean access for all 

veterans to over 2000 national parks, as well as covering their entrance fees. 

Veterans have an important relationship with public lands. As a matter of heritage, we see these 

parks and public lands as a part of the homeland we defended while in uniform. And in that 

sense, a part of the stewardship of invaluable cultural, biological, and scientific resources. We 

need them to ensure continued recreational access and enjoyment; to benefit our economy; and to 

ensure that future generations can enjoy these lands as we do today. 

Perhaps more importantly for us, this is about protecting the Veterans and active duty military 

who find that public lands offer places to recuperate from the stresses of overseas service (such 

as PTSD), and to reconnect with family and friends, adequately reintegrating into civilian life 

after completing overseas missions. Our Veterans, need this amendment. 
96 

We are committed to doing what we can to preserve and protect, by wholly endorsing the 

Wounded Warrior Recreation Amendment. Please know that the Vet Voice Foundation will 

continue to offer our unfailing support to your efforts, and continue to make our voices heard for 

passage. Thank you so much for focusing your attention on creating greater access for our public 

lands. 

Sincerely, 

Steve Dunwoody 

California Director 

The Vet Voice Foundation 

cc: 

The Honorable Sally Jewell, Secretary, Department of Interior 

The Honorable Christy Goldfuss,Managing Director, Council on Environmental Quality 
97 

----THE----

WILDERNESS 

-S 0 C IE T YJuly 19, 2017 

The Honorable Steve Daines, Chairman 

Senate Subcommittee on National Parks 

302 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Mazie Hirano, Ranking Member 

Senate Subcommittee on National Parks 

730 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirano, and members of the Subcommittee: 

On behalf of The Wilderness Society's more than one million members and supporters from 

across the country, I write to thank the National Parks Subcommittee for its consideration of S. 

1522, the Every Kid Outdoors Act, and S. 1403, the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act, 

and to express strong support for both of these important and bipartisan bills. I respectfully 

request that the following testimony be included in the July 19, 2017 hearing record. 

Everv Kid Outdoors Act 

It is well-established that America's youth spend less time outdoors than ever before. On 

average, they spend over 40 hours a week in front of screens and just minutes a day in 

unstructured outdoor play. The rise of sedentary lifestyles and screen-time among children is a 

major factor in the health crisis facing our youth, with nearly one in three children now 

overweight or obese. Time spent outdoors has profound positive impacts on physical and 

mental health, and boosts academic performance. Yet, kids face many barriers to accessing our 

parks. 

The Every Kid Outdoors (EKO) Act would codify and make permanent the highly effective, bipartisan Every Kid in a Park program. This program provides free one-year National Park passes 

to fourth graders and their families. The Act would help tackle one of the most significant 

barriers to access-- the cost of entry. In doing so, it would provide fourth graders and their 

families with valuable opportunities to experience America's outdoors. 

We understand that the National Park Service is recommending that the Committee defer action 

on S. 1522 until the Department of the Interior has an opportunity to review the program to 

determine if it is cost effective. No such delay is necessary. In the first two years of the Every Kid 

in a Park program, the initiative has clearly demonstrated its value. In year one, fourth graders 

downloaded over two million park passes. In the first two years, the program leveraged nearly 

$5 million in private funding to support transportation costs for children in historically 

underserved schools. As a result, hundreds ofthousands of young people experienced America's 

parks and historic sites, many of them for the first time. 

The Every Kid program is a low-cost, high reward way to help ensure our kids can learn about 

our unique history and experience our public lands, waters, and shores. For these reasons, the 

1615 M Street NW, Washington DC 20036 1 ph 202 833-2300 1 wllderne ... org 

J(J(I%p.>!~I·GOOM.lmcr!ilwr 
98 

TWS EKO 21CSCA Testimony 

Pagel 

Wilderness Society urges the Subcommittee to reject the NPS recommendation and move 

quickly to reportS. 1522 favorably to the full committee. 

21't Century Conservation Service Corps Act 

America's land and water management agencies have a combined a maintenance backlog of 

more than $18.6 billion. The 21" Century Conservation Service Corps Act (21CSCA) is part of the 

solution. 21CSCA would expand the use of conservation and service corps on federal lands and 

waters, thereby helping to address the maintenance backlog and providing young people and 

veterans with valuable work and personal growth experiences that prepare them for a wide 

range of careers later in life. 

21CSCA would impose no new costs on taxpayers. Instead, it would rely on existing agency 

appropriations, leveraging them through flexible public-private partnerships in a way that gets 

more work done with less resources. Corps members fulfill mission-critical functions, building 

trails, fighting wildfires, managing habitat and maintaining other park and public land facilities. 

In doing so, conservation corps increase public access for hunting, fishing and other recreation 

activities, which helps drive the $887 billion outdoor recreation economy. 

As with EKO, we understand that the National Park Service is recommending that the 

Committee defer action on S. 1403. Again, no delay is necessary. America's conservation and 

service corps have been providing high quality, cost-effective service to America's public land 

and water management agencies for decades, and producing better-skilled and more prepared 

job candidates for America's diverse workforce. There is no reason to postpone action on the 

bill. We urge the Subcommittee to reject the NPS recommendation and move quickly to report 

5. 1403 favorably to the full committee. 

Conclusion 

Thank you for your consideration ofthis testimony. 

Paul Sanford 

National Director of Recreation Policy 

The Wilderness Society 

paul sanford@tws.org I 202.429.2615 

0