I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2384 

To adjust the boundary of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2005 

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

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To adjust the boundary of Martin Van Buren National 

Historic Site, 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 ‘‘Martin Van Buren Na5 tional Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this Act: 

8 (1) HISTORIC SITE.—The term ‘‘historic site’’ 

9 means the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site 
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1 in the State of New York, as authorized by Public 

2 Law 93–486 on October 26, 1974. 

3 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en4 titled ‘‘Boundary Map, Martin Van Buren National 

5 Historic Site,’’ numbered ‘‘460/80801’’ and dated 

6 ‘‘January 2005’’. 

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

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

11 (1) the historic site was established to preserve 

12 and interpret the landscape, structures, and collec13 tions of ‘‘Lindenwald,’’ in Kinderhook, New York, 

14 owned by Martin Van Buren, the eighth President 

15 of the United States (1837–1841) from 1839 to his 

16 death in 1862; 

17 (2) the current boundary, encompassing about 

18 39 acres of land, does not adequately protect natural 

19 and cultural resources that contribute to the signifi20 cance of the historic site; 

21 (3) the conservation easements acquired to pre22 serve the historic site’s key agricultural views no 

23 longer offer adequate protection for those views; 

24 (4) administrative buildings and facilities re25 quired for future operations of the historic site may 
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1 not be suitable to be developed within its boundaries 

2 due to impacts on historic or scenic resources; and 

3 (5) a boundary study prepared by the National 

4 Park Service in 2003 identifies about 331 acres of 

5 lands that, if acquired, would help protect the agri6 cultural character and the quality of the historic set7 ting of the historic site and increase opportunities 

8 for interpretation and education there. 

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

10 (1) to protect the remaining contributing re11 sources significant to the historic site; 

12 (2) to preserve a more accurate portrayal of 

13 Van Buren’s Lindenwald by reuniting remaining ag14 ricultural lands associated with the house through 

15 their acquisition from willing sellers; 

16 (3) to enhance the interpretation of Van 

17 Buren’s broader political and agrarian beliefs by en18 abling public access to key historic agricultural re19 sources and to protect scenic values associated with 

20 the historic site; and 

21 (4) to enable the National Park Service to es22 tablish administrative facilities to serve the historic 

23 site that do not intrude upon the historic site’s re24 sources or scenic values. 
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1 SEC. 4. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS TO THE HISTORIC SITE. 

2 (a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Effective on the date 

3 of enactment of this Act, the boundary of the historic site 

4 is adjusted to include approximately 261 acres of land 

5 identified as the ‘‘Proposed Park Additions,’’ as generally 

6 depicted on the map. 

7 (b) FUTURE ACQUISITIONS.—The Secretary may ac8 quire approximately 70 acres of land and interests in land 

9 outside the boundary of the historic site identified as ‘‘53– 

10 1–17.2’’ and ‘‘53–1-19.111,’’ which are the Columbia 

11 County, New York, tax map numbers for those lands, as 

12 generally depicted on the map. 

13 (c) LANDS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.—In 

14 order to preserve the historic site’s resources and scenic 

15 values, the Secretary may acquire land or interests in land 

16 outside the boundary of the historic site necessary for ad17 ministrative, maintenance, curatorial, or other park pur18 poses. 

19 (d) ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 

20 acquire the lands and interests in lands referred to this 

21 section from a willing seller by donation, purchase with 

22 donated or appropriated funds, or exchange. 

23 (e) REVISION OF BOUNDARY.—Upon acquisition of 

24 any land referred to in subsections (b) and (c), the bound25 ary of the historic site shall be revised to include the ac26 quired land. 
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1 (f) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map shall be on file 

2 and available for public inspection in the appropriate of3 fices of the National Park Service. 

4 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—Land acquired for the his5 toric site by this section shall be administered as part of 

6 the historic site in accordance with applicable laws and 

7 regulations. 

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

10 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

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