I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 803

To establish the Hudson River Artists National Historical Park in the State

of New York, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1993

Mr. SOLOMON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the Hudson River Artists National Historical

Park in the State of New York, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hudson River Artists

5 National Historical Park Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act:

8 (1) HUDSON RIVER ARTISTS.—The term ‘‘Hud9 son River artists’’ means artists who belonged to the
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1 Hudson River School of Landscape Painting de2 scribed in section 3(a)(1).

3 (2) HUDSON RIVER VALLEY REGION.—The

4 term ‘‘Hudson River Valley region’’ means the coun5 ties of Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange,

6 Saratoga, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, Rensselaer,

7 Washington, Bronx, New York, and Westchester in

8 the State of New York.

9 (3) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Hud10 son River Artists National Historical Park estab11 lished pursuant to section 4(b).

12 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

13 the Secretary of the Interior.

14 (5) SITE.—The term ‘‘Site’’ means the Thomas

15 Cole National Historic Site established by section

16 4(a).

17 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

18 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

19 (1) the Hudson River School of Landscape

20 Painting was inspired by Thomas Cole and was

21 characterized by a group of 19th century landscape

22 artists who recorded and celebrated the landscape

23 and wilderness of America, particularly the Hudson

24 River Valley region in the State of New York;
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1 (2) Thomas Cole and his student Frederic

2 Church have been recognized as America’s most

3 prominent landscape and allegorical painters in the

4 mid-19th century;

5 (3) the Thomas Cole House in Greene County,

6 New York, and the Olana State Historic Site, in the

7 home and studio of Frederic Church in Columbia

8 County, New York, are listed on the National Reg9 ister of Historic Places and are designated as Na10 tional Historic Landmarks;

11 (4) within a 15-mile area of the Thomas Cole

12 House, an area that forms a key part of the rich

13 cultural and natural heritage in the Hudson River

14 Valley region, significant landscapes and scenes

15 painted by the Hudson River artists survive intact;

16 (5) collectively, these resources described in

17 paragraphs (3) and (4) provide—

18 (A) opportunities for illustrating and inter19 preting cultural themes of the heritage of the

20 United States; and

21 (B) unique opportunities for education,

22 public use, and enjoyment; and

23 (6) New York State has established the Hudson

24 River Valley Greenway to promote the preservation,
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1 public use, and enjoyment of the natural and cul2 tural resources of the Hudson River Valley region.

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

4 (1) to preserve and interpret for the benefit, in5 spiration, and education of the people of the United

6 States significant places illustrative and representa7 tive of the legacy of the Hudson River artists;

8 (2) to help maintain the integrity of setting in

9 the Hudson River Valley region that inspired artistic

10 expression;

11 (3) through cooperative management, to coordi12 nate the interpretive, preservation, and recreational

13 efforts of Federal, State, and other entities in the

14 Hudson River Valley region in order to enhance op15 portunities for education, public use, and enjoyment;

16 and

17 (4) to broaden public understanding of the

18 Hudson River Valley region and its role in American

19 prehistory, history, and culture.

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SITE AND PARK.

21 (a) THOMAS COLE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE.—

22 There is established, as a unit of the National Park Sys23 tem, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site—

24 (1) consisting of the home and studio of Thom25 as Cole, which is comprised of the 3.4 acre site and
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1 improvements on the site that are located at 218

2 Spring Street, Village of Catskill, State of New

3 York; and

4 (2) as generally depicted on the map entitled

5 ‘‘Thomas Cole National Historic Site Boundary

6 Map’’, and dated llllllllllll.

7 (b) HUDSON RIVER ARTISTS NATIONAL HISTORICAL

8 PARK.—

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—At such time as the

10 Secretary determines that sufficient lands, improve11 ments, and interests in lands and improvements

12 have been acquired, or at such time as the Secretary

13 has entered into cooperative agreements satisfying

14 the interpretive, preservation, and historical objec15 tives of this Act, the Secretary may establish the

16 Hudson River Artists National Historical Park in

17 the State of New York by publication in the Federal

18 Register of—

19 (A) notice of the establishment; and

20 (B) a detailed description or map setting

21 forth the lands and improvements included in

22 the Park.

23 (2) INCLUDED LANDS.—The Park shall consist

24 of—

25 (A) the Site; and
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1 (B) the approximately 19,471 acres of

2 lands and improvements on the lands that

3 are—

4 (i) owned by the State of New York;

5 (ii) managed as the Kaaterskill Wild

6 Forest, North Mountain Wild Forest,

7 Blackhead Range Wild Forest, North/

8 South Lake Intensive Use Area, Rogers Is9 land Wildlife Management Area, and Rog10 ers Island Overlook Scenic Area;

11 (iii) under the jurisdiction of the De12 partment of Environmental Conservation

13 of the State of New York; and

14 (iv) generally depicted on a map enti15 tled ‘‘Land Inventory Map, Hudson River

16 Artists National Historical Park’’, and

17 dated llllllllllll.

18 (c) MAPS.—The maps referred to in this section shall

19 be on file and available for public inspection in appropriate

20 offices of the National Park Service of the Department

21 of the Interior.

22 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY

23 AND SERVICES.

24 (a) REAL PROPERTY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may ac2 quire—

3 (A) by donation only, the lands and im4 provements described in section 4(b)(2)(B); and

5 (B) such lands and improvements in Cats6 kill, New York, as are necessary for the man7 agement and operation of the Site.

8 (2) STATE LANDS.—Lands and improvements

9 owned by the State of New York may be acquired

10 by the Secretary only by transfer at no cost to the

11 Federal Government.

12 (b) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—For the purposes of the

13 Park, the Secretary may acquire historic objects and arti14 facts and other personal property associated with and ap15 propriate for the interpretation of the Park.

16 (c) OTHER PROPERTY, FUNDS, AND SERVICES.—For

17 the purpose of carrying out this Act, the Secretary may—

18 (1) enter into cooperative agreements with—

19 (A) the Office of Parks, Recreation and

20 Historic Preservation of the State of New York;

21 (B) the Department of Environmental

22 Conservation of the State of New York; and

23 (C) other appropriate State, county, and

24 local entities and individuals, including—

25 (i) the Thomas Cole Foundation;
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1 (ii) the Greene County Historical So2 ciety;

3 (iii) the Hudson River Valley Green4 way Council; and

5 (iv) other private museums and insti6 tutions; and

7 (2) accept donated funds, property, and serv8 ices.

9 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF PARK.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer

11 the Park in accordance with—

12 (1) this Act; and

13 (2) all laws generally applicable to national his14 toric sites, including the Acts entitled—

15 (A) ‘‘An Act to establish a National Park

16 Service, and for other purposes’’, approved Au17 gust 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and

18 (B) ‘‘An Act to provide for the preserva19 tion of historic American sites, buildings, ob20 jects, and antiquities of national significance,

21 and for other purposes’’, approved August 21,

22 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

23 (b) PRESERVATION AND INTERPRETATION.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), in

25 administering the Park, the Secretary shall—
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1 (A) preserve and interpret the Site;

2 (B) preserve and perpetuate knowledge

3 and understanding, and provide for public un4 derstanding and enjoyment, of the lives and

5 works of the Hudson River artists; and

6 (C) provide assistance to public and pri7 vate entities in the interpretation of the Hudson

8 River artists, their houses and studios, and the

9 vistas depicted by the artists throughout the

10 Hudson River Valley region.

11 (2) STATE PROPERTIES.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

13 take no action with respect to the lands and

14 structures owned by the State of New York

15 within the boundaries of the Park except

16 through cooperative agreements in accordance

17 with subsection (c).

18 (B) STATE FOREST PRESERVE.—With re19 gard to lands within the State Forest Preserve,

20 the provisions of a cooperative agreement as de21 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be in strict

22 conformance with the pertinent provisions of

23 the Constitution of the State of New York.

24 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH NEW YORK

25 AND OTHER ENTITIES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—To further the pur3 poses of this Act, the Secretary may consult

4 with and enter into cooperative agreements with

5 the State of New York and other public and

6 private entities.

7 (B) PURPOSES OF AGREEMENTS.—Each

8 agreement shall—

9 (i) facilitate the development, presen10 tation, and funding of art exhibits, resident

11 artist programs, and other appropriate ac12 tivities related to the preservation, inter13 pretation, development, and use of the

14 Park; and

15 (ii) encourage an appreciation of the

16 scenic and artistic tradition inspired by the

17 Hudson River artists.

18 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Through

19 agreements, the Secretary may provide tech20 nical assistance to cooperating entities de21 scribed in subparagraph (A) for the marking,

22 interpretation, restoration, preservation, or in23 terpretation of any property listed in section 4.

24 (D) INTERPRETATION AGREEMENTS.—The

25 Secretary may enter into additional cooperative
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1 agreements to plan and coordinate the interpre2 tation of the cultural and natural history of the

3 Hudson River Valley region, which provides the

4 context for the work of the Hudson River art5 ists.

6 (2) LIBRARY AGREEMENT.—The Secretary may

7 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Greene

8 County Historical Society to provide for the estab9 lishment of a library and research center at the Site.

10 (d) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of

12 the second fiscal year that begins after the establish13 ment of the Park, the Secretary shall submit to the

14 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the

15 Senate and the Committee on Interior and Insular

16 Affairs of the House of Representatives a general

17 management plan for the Site and the Park.

18 (2) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the plan,

19 the Secretary, acting through the Director of the

20 National Park Service, shall consult with advisors

21 (including representatives of cooperating entities de22 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(A), representatives of

23 local and municipal interests, nationally recognized

24 historians, scholars, and other experts) concerning

25 the interpretation, preservation, and visitation of,
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1 and other issues pertaining to, the Park and other

2 sites of related historical or scenic significance in the

3 Hudson River Valley region.

4 (3) STATUTORY AUTHORITIES.—The plan shall

5 be prepared in accordance with—

6 (A) this subsection;

7 (B) section 12(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An

8 Act to improve the administration of the na9 tional park system by the Secretary of the Inte10 rior, and to clarify the authorities applicable to

11 the system, and for other purposes’’, approved

12 August 18, 1970 (16 U.S.C. 1a–7); and

13 (C) other applicable law.

14 (4) CONTENTS.—The plan shall include—

15 (A) recommendations and cost estimates

16 for the identification, marking, interpretation,

17 and preservation of properties and landscapes

18 associated with the Hudson River artists and

19 located throughout the Hudson River Valley re20 gion (to be carried out through cooperative

21 agreements and other means considered appro22 priate and practicable);

23 (B) recommendations on ways to broaden

24 public understanding of the Hudson River Val-
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1 ley region and its role in American prehistory,

2 history, and culture; and

3 (C) recommendations on ways to foster rel4 evant public education, resource preservation,

5 and appropriate levels of regional tourism.

6 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

8 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

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