I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2249

To establish the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park in the vicinity

of Corinth, Mississippi, and in the State of Tennessee, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 16, 1999

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

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish the Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military

Park in the vicinity of Corinth, Mississippi, and in the

State of Tennessee, 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 ‘‘Corinth Battlefield

5 Preservation Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) in 1996, Congress authorized the establish9 ment and construction of a center—
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1 (A) to facilitate the interpretation of the

2 Siege and Battle of Corinth and other Civil

3 War actions in the area in and around the city

4 of Corinth, Mississippi; and

5 (B) to enhance public understanding of the

6 significance of the Corinth campaign and the

7 Civil War relative to the western theater of op8 erations, in cooperation with—

9 (i) State or local governmental enti10 ties;

11 (ii) private organizations; and

12 (iii) individuals;

13 (2) the Corinth Battlefield was ranked as a pri14 ority 1 battlefield having critical need for coordi15 nated nationwide action by the year 2000 by the

16 Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in its report

17 on Civil War Battlefields of the United States;

18 (3) there is a national interest in protecting and

19 preserving sites of historic significance associated

20 with the Civil War; and

21 (4) the States of Mississippi and Tennessee and

22 their respective local units of government—

23 (A) have the authority to prevent or mini24 mize adverse uses of these historic resources;

25 and
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1 (B) can play a significant role in the pro2 tection of the historic resources related to the

3 Civil War battles fought in the area in and

4 around the city of Corinth.

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

6 (1) to establish the Corinth Unit of the Shiloh

7 National Military Park—

8 (A) in the city of Corinth, Mississippi; and

9 (B) in the State of Tennessee;

10 (2) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to

11 manage, protect, and interpret the resources associ12 ated with the Civil War Siege and the Battle of Cor13 inth that occurred in and around the city of Corinth,

14 in cooperation with—

15 (A) the State of Mississippi;

16 (B) the State of Tennessee;

17 (C) the city of Corinth, Mississippi;

18 (D) other public entities; and

19 (E) the private sector; and

20 (3) to authorize a special resource study to

21 identify other Civil War sites area in and around the

22 city of Corinth that—

23 (A) are consistent with the themes of the

24 Siege and Battle of Corinth;
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1 (B) meet the criteria for designation as a

2 unit of the National Park System; and

3 (C) are considered appropriate for inclu4 sion in the Unit.

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

6 In this Act:

7 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en8 titled ‘‘Corinth Unit’’, numbered 304/80,007, and

9 dated October 1998.

10 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Shiloh

11 National Military Park.

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

13 the Secretary of the Interior.

14 (4) UNIT.—The term ‘‘Unit’’ means the Cor15 inth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park estab16 lished under section 4.

17 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF CORINTH UNIT OF SHILOH NA18 TIONAL MILITARY PARK.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the States

20 of Mississippi and Tennessee the Corinth Unit of the Shi21 loh National Military Park.

22 (b) COMPOSITION OF UNIT.—The Unit shall be com23 prised of—
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1 (1) the tract consisting of approximately 20

2 acres generally depicted as ‘‘Park Boundary’’ on the

3 Map, and containing—

4 (A) the Battery Robinett; and

5 (B) the site of the interpretive center au6 thorized under section 602 of division I of the

7 Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management

8 Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 430f–5); and

9 (2) any additional land that the Secretary de10 termines to be suitable for inclusion in the Unit

11 that—

12 (A) is under the ownership of a public en13 tity or nonprofit organization; and

14 (B) has been identified by the Siege and

15 Battle of Corinth National Historic Landmark

16 Study, dated January 8, 1991.

17 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be on file

18 and available for public inspection in the office of the Di19 rector of the National Park Service.

20 SEC. 5. LAND ACQUISITION.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire land

22 and interests in land within the boundary of the Park as

23 depicted on the Map, by—

24 (1) donation;
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1 (2) purchase with donated or appropriated

2 funds; or

3 (3) exchange.

4 (b) EXCEPTION.—Land may be acquired only by do5 nation from—

6 (1) the State of Mississippi (including a polit7 ical subdivision of the State);

8 (2) the State of Tennessee (including a political

9 subdivision of the State); or

10 (3) the organization known as ‘‘Friends of the

11 Siege and Battle of Corinth’’.

12 SEC. 6. PARK MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.

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

14 the Unit in accordance with this Act and the laws gen15 erally applicable to units of the National Park System,

16 including—

17 (1) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a Na18 tional Park Service, and for other purposes’’, ap19 proved August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and

20 (2) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the

21 preservation of historic American sites, buildings,

22 objects, and antiquities of national significance, and

23 for other purposes’’, approved August 21, 1935 (16

24 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).
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1 (b) DUTIES.—In accordance with section 602 of divi2 sion I of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Manage3 ment Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 430f–5), the Secretary

4 shall—

5 (1) commemorate and interpret, for the benefit

6 of visitors and the general public, the Siege and Bat7 tle of Corinth and other Civil War actions in the

8 area in and around the city of Corinth within the

9 larger context of the Civil War and American his10 tory, including the significance of the Civil War

11 Siege and Battle of Corinth in 1862 in relation to

12 other operations in the western theater of the Civil

13 War; and

14 (2) identify and preserve surviving features

15 from the Civil War era in the area in and around

16 the city of Corinth, including both military and civil17 ian themes that include—

18 (A) the role of railroads in the Civil War;

19 (B) the story of the Corinth contraband

20 camp; and

21 (C) the development of field fortifications

22 as a tactic of war.

23 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry this Act, the Sec2 retary may enter into cooperative agreements with

3 entities in the public and private sectors, including—

4 (A) colleges and universities;

5 (B) historical societies;

6 (C) State and local agencies; and

7 (D) nonprofit organizations.

8 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To develop coop9 erative land use strategies and conduct activities

10 that facilitate the conservation of the historic, cul11 tural, natural, and scenic resources of the Unit, the

12 Secretary may provide technical assistance, to the

13 extent that a recipient of technical assistance is en14 gaged in the protection, interpretation, or commemo15 ration of historically significant Civil War resources

16 in the area in and around the city of Corinth, to—

17 (A) the State of Mississippi (including a

18 political subdivision of the State);

19 (B) the State of Tennessee (including a

20 political subdivision of the State);

21 (C) a governmental entity;

22 (D) a nonprofit organization; and

23 (E) a private property owner.
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1 (d) RESOURCES OUTSIDE THE UNIT.—Nothing in

2 subsection (c)(2) authorizes the Secretary to own or man3 age any resource outside the Unit.

4 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—To determine whether certain ad6 ditional properties are appropriate for inclusion in the

7 Unit, the Secretary shall conduct a special resource study

8 of land in and around the city of Corinth, Mississippi, and

9 nearby areas in the State of Tennessee that—

10 (1) have a relationship to the Civil War Siege

11 and Battle of Corinth in 1862; and

12 (2) are under the ownership of—

13 (A) the State of Mississippi (including a

14 political subdivision of the State);

15 (B) the State of Tennessee (including a

16 political subdivision of the State);

17 (C) a nonprofit organization; or

18 (D) a private person.

19 (b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The study shall—

20 (1) identify the full range of resources and his21 toric themes associated with the Civil War Siege and

22 Battle of Corinth in 1862, including the relationship

23 of the campaign to other operations in the western

24 theater of the Civil War that occurred in—
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1 (A) the area in and around the city of Cor2 inth; and

3 (B) the State of Tennessee;

4 (2) identify alternatives for preserving features

5 from the Civil War era in the area in and around

6 the city of Corinth, including both military and civil7 ian themes involving—

8 (A) the role of the railroad in the Civil

9 War;

10 (B) the story of the Corinth contraband

11 camp; and

12 (C) the development of field fortifications

13 as a tactic of war;

14 (3) identify potential partners that might sup15 port efforts by the Secretary to carry out this Act,

16 including—

17 (A) State entities and their political sub18 divisions;

19 (B) historical societies and commissions;

20 (C) civic groups; and

21 (D) nonprofit organizations;

22 (4) identify alternatives to avoid land use con23 flicts; and
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1 (5) include cost estimates for any necessary ac2 tivity associated with the alternatives identified

3 under this subsection, including—

4 (A) acquisition;

5 (B) development;

6 (C) interpretation;

7 (D) operation; and

8 (E) maintenance.

9 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year and 180 days

10 after the date on which funds are made available to carry

11 out this section, the Secretary shall submit a report de12 scribing the findings of the study under subsection (a)

13 to—

14 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re15 sources of the Senate; and

16 (2) the Committee on Resources of the House

17 of Representatives.

18 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

20 as are necessary to carry out this Act, including

21 $3,000,000 for the construction of an interpretive center

22 under section 602(d) of division I of the Omnibus Parks

23 and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C.

24 430f–5(d)).

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