II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1596 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the Gold Hill Ranch 

in Coloma, California. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2009 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the 

Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, California. 

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 ‘‘Gold Hill-Wakamatsu 

5 Preservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, California, 

9 was the location of the founding of the Wakamatsu 

10 Tea and Silk Farm Colony in 1869; 


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1 (2) the Ranch is— 

2 (A) the oldest property in North America 

3 to be associated with Japanese immigration; 

4 and 

5 (B) the only property associated with the 

6 immigration of samurai following the Meiji Res7 toration; 

8 (3) the Ranch includes— 

9 (A) an 1860s home that was occupied by 

10 the Wakamatsu settlers; 

11 (B) mulberry trees planted by the silk 

12 farmers; and 

13 (C) the grave stone of Okei Ito, which is 

14 the oldest Japanese immigrant grave in the 

15 United States; and 

16 (4) a variety of non-Federal funds have been 

17 obligated with respect to the acquisition and restora18 tion of the Ranch, including— 

19 (A) $485,000 from the Farm and Ranch20 land Protection Program and $515,000 from 

21 private donations to be applied toward acquisi22 tion of the Ranch; and 

23 (B) $483,750 from the California Cultural 

24 and Historical Endowment to be applied toward 

25 restoration of the Graner farmhouse. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en4 titled ‘‘Gold Hill-Wakamatsu Site’’ and dated May 

5 7, 2009. 

6 (2) RANCH.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Ranch’’ 

8 means the Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, Cali9 fornia (El Dorado County Assessor’s Parcel No. 

10 089–010–06), comprising approximately 272 

11 acres, which is more particularly described as 

the SW1⁄4 and the SW 1⁄2 of the SE 1 12 ⁄4 of Sec. 

29 and the N1⁄2NE1 13 ⁄4 of Sec. 32, T. 11 N., R. 

14 10 E., of El Dorado County, California. 

15 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Ranch’’ ex16 cludes the small inholding of the Gold Trail 

17 School District, as depicted on the map. 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di20 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 

21 SEC. 4. ACQUISITION OF GOLD HILL RANCH, COLOMA, 

22 CALIFORNIA. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Sec24 retary may acquire the Ranch in exchange for consider25 ation in an amount not to exceed $3,290,000. 


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1 (b) LIMITATION ON ACQUISITION.—The acquisition 

2 of the Ranch under subsection (a) shall only be from will3 ing sellers and not through eminent domain. 

4 (c) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—For the con5 sideration required under subsection (a), the American 

6 River Conservancy and the Gold Hill Wakamatsu Colony 

7 Foundation shall contribute any private funds or State or 

8 Federal grants received by the Conservancy and the Foun9 dation for the acquisition of the Ranch. 

10 (d) VISITOR CENTER.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—On acquisition of the 

12 Wakamatsu Colony site, the Secretary may work 

13 with the American River Conservancy and the Gold 

14 Hill Wakamatsu Colony Foundation to design and 

15 develop a visitor center that provides for the inter16 pretation of— 

17 (A) the Wakamatsu Colony; 

18 (B) early pioneer history; and 

19 (C) the contribution of traditional Japa20 nese crops and practices to the extensive agri21 cultural economy of the State of California. 

22 (2) COSTS.—To the maximum extent prac23 ticable, the costs of constructing the visitor center 

24 and conducting restoration activities at the Ranch 

25 shall be leveraged by amounts received by the AmerVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:15 Aug 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1596.IS S1596

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1 ican River Conservancy and the Gold Hill 

2 Wakamatsu Colony Foundation in the form of pri3 vate funds and State or Federal grants provided for 

4 those purposes. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec7 essary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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