I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1521

To preserve and protect archaeological sites and historical resources of the

central Mississippi Valley through the establishment of the Mississippi

Valley National Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System

on former Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

Mr. BERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To preserve and protect archaeological sites and historical

resources of the central Mississippi Valley through the

establishment of the Mississippi Valley National Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System on

former Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Mississippi Valley National Historical Park Act of

6 1999’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Mississippi Valley National Historical Park, Blytheville, Arkansas.

Sec. 4. Transfer of jurisdiction, Eaker Air Force Base, for historical park.

Sec. 5. Acquisition of Chickasawba Mound for inclusion in historical park.

Sec. 6. Administration of historical park.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds the following:

5 (1) The central and lower Mississippi Valley re6 gion contained the highest population levels and the

7 most complex Native American societies north of

8 Mexico before the arrival of European peoples in the

9 16th century.

10 (2) In addition, the Mississippi Valley has also

11 hosted Spanish, French, English, and ultimately

12 American societies at different times in the last 450

13 years.

14 (3) Blytheville, Arkansas, is centrally located in

15 the Mississippi Valley region.

16 (4) Former Eaker Air Force Base, which is lo17 cated outside of Blytheville, Arkansas, in the central

18 Mississippi Valley region, is the site of 14 archae19 ological sites associated with Native Americans.

20 (5) Because of its value in illustrating and in21 terpreting the heritage of the United States, the

22 largest of these archaeological sites, was recognized
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1 by the National Park Service as a National Historic

2 Landmark in 1996.

3 (6) Another archaeological site outside of

4 Blytheville, Arkansas, the Chickasawba Mound, was

5 placed on the National Register of Historic Places in

6 1984 because of its historic and archaeological re7 sources.

8 (7) These previous actions by the Department

9 of the Interior recognize that these archaeological

10 sites are likely to benefit, educate, and inspire

11 present and future generations of Americans, but no

12 unified heritage park for the central Mississippi Val13 ley region exists within the National Park Service.

14 (8) Blytheville, Arkansas, also possesses many

15 other regionally and nationally significant natural,

16 seismic, cultural, and recreational resources associ17 ated with the heritage of the central Mississippi Val18 ley region.

19 (9) The sites and resources associated with the

20 heritage of the central Mississippi Valley region re21 quire recognition through the establishment of a na22 tional historical park for the central Mississippi Val23 ley region as a unit of the National Park System.

24 (10) As a result of the closing of Eaker Air

25 Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas, pursuant to the
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1 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990,

2 Federal land and facilities are readily available for

3 the establishment of a national historical park for

4 the central Mississippi Valley region to protect the

5 archaeological sites located on the former military

6 installation, as well as to preserve, maintain, and in7 terpret the natural, seismic, cultural, and rec8 reational heritage of the central Mississippi Valley

9 region for the benefit, education, and inspiration of

10 present and future generations of Americans.

11 SEC. 3. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK,

12 BLYTHEVILLE, ARKANSAS.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to preserve for the

14 benefit and inspiration of the people of the United States

15 as a national historical park certain properties in Blythe16 ville, Arkansas, and its vicinity associated with the archae17 ological, natural, seismic, cultural, and recreational herit18 age of the Mississippi Valley region, there is established

19 as a unit of the National Park System the Mississippi Val20 ley National Historical Park in the State of Arkansas.

21 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The historical park shall consist

22 of approximately 570 acres, including the real property

23 transferred to the National Park Service at former Eaker

24 Air Force Base under section 4 and the parcel of real

25 property containing the archaeological site known as the
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1 Chickasawba Mound and authorized for acquisition under

2 section 5. The boundaries of the historical park shall also

3 include all property authorized to be acquired for inclusion

4 in the park by any law enacted after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act.

6 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION, EAKER AIR FORCE

7 BASE, FOR HISTORICAL PARK.

8 (a) TRANSFER OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES.—The

9 Secretary of Defense shall transfer, without reimburse10 ment, to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary

11 of the Interior the parcels of real property (including im12 provements thereon) located at former Eaker Air Force

13 Base, Blytheville, Arkansas, consisting of the archae14 ological sites depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Arkansas

15 Aeroplex Archaeological Sites’’.

16 (b) VISITOR AND ADMINISTRATIVE SITES.—

17 (1) TRANSFER REQUIRED.—To preserve the

18 historical character and landscape of the main fea19 tures of the historical park, the Secretary of Defense

20 also shall transfer, without reimbursement, to the

21 administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the

22 Interior an additional parcel of real property at

23 former Eaker Air Force Base for the development of

24 visitor, administrative, museum, curatorial, and

25 maintenance facilities for the historical park.
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1 (2) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—The parcel trans2 ferred under this subsection may not exceed 15

3 acres.

4 (3) SELECTION.—The parcel to be transferred

5 under this subsection shall be jointly selected by the

6 Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Inte7 rior.

8 (c) USE OF LAND.—The Secretary of the Interior

9 shall use the real property transferred under this section

10 as part of the historical park.

11 (d) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The exact acreage and

12 legal description of the real property to be transferred

13 under this section shall be determined by a survey satis14 factory to the Secretary of Defense. The cost of the survey

15 shall be borne by the Secretary of the Interior.

16 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF CHICKASAWBA MOUND FOR IN17 CLUSION IN HISTORICAL PARK.

18 The Secretary of the Interior may acquire for inclu19 sion in the historical park, by donation or exchange, the

20 archaeological site known as the Chickasawba Mound,

21 which was placed on the National Register of Historic

22 Places in 1984.

23 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF HISTORICAL PARK.

24 (a) APPLICABLE LAWS.—The Secretary of the Inte25 rior shall administer the historical park in accordance with
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1 this Act and the laws generally applicable to units of the

2 National Park System, including the Act of August 25,

3 1916 (commonly known as the National Park Service Or4 ganic Act; 16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), and the Act of August

5 21, 1935 (commonly known as the Historic Sites, Build6 ings, and Antiquities Act; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

7 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—

8 (1) AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of the Inte9 rior may consult and enter into cooperative agree10 ments with interested entities and individuals to pro11 vide for the preservation, development, interpreta12 tion, and use of the historical park.

13 (2) CONDITIONS.—Any payment made by the

14 Secretary pursuant to such a cooperative agreement

15 shall be subject to an agreement that conversion,

16 use, or disposal of the project assisted under the co17 operative agreement for purposes contrary to the

18 purposes of the historical park, as determined by the

19 Secretary, shall result in a right of the United

20 States to reimbursement of all funds made available

21 to such project or the proportion of the increased

22 value of the project attributable to such finds as de23 termined at the time of such conversion, use, or dis24 posal, whichever is greater.
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1 (c) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.—Subject to

2 sections 4 and 5, the Secretary of the Interior may ac3 quire, within the boundaries of the historical park, real

4 property with appropriated or donated funds, by donation,

5 or by exchange for inclusion in the historical park.

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