I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2741

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funds to the Palisades

Interstate Park Commission for acquisition of lands in the Sterling

Forest area of the New York/New Jersey Highlands Region.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 26, 1993

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funds

to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission for acquisition of lands in the Sterling Forest area of the New

York/New Jersey Highlands Region.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that:

5 (1) By Interstate Compact (Chapter 170 of the

6 Laws of 1937 of the State of New York; Chapter

7 148 of the Laws of 1937 of the State of New Jer8 sey) and by Resolution of the 75th Congress (H.J.
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1 Resolution 445), the Palisades Interstate Park Com2 mission was formed in 1937.

3 (2) The Palisades Interstate Park Commission

4 is the only interstate park management agency in

5 the United States and is responsible for the manage6 ment of 23 parks and historic sites in New York and

7 New Jersey, consisting of 82,000 acres. More than

8 8,000,000 national and international visitors per

9 year seek outdoor recreational opportunities in the

10 Palisades Park System. The management of these

11 sites is consistent with standards maintained by the

12 National Park Service.

13 (3) Sterling Forest is a biologically diverse

14 17,500 acre corporate-owned open space property on

15 the New York/New Jersey border. The property is a

16 highly significant watershed area for northern New

17 Jersey, and an important outdoor recreational asset

18 in the Northeastern United States. Clean drinking

19 water flows from the property into a reservoir sys20 tem which serves 25 percent of the population of the

21 State of New Jersey. Twenty-seven rare and endan22 gered wildlife species have been identified at Sterling

23 Forest by The Nature Conservancy. The land sup24 ports a mixed hardwood forest, wetlands, lakes, gla-
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1 ciated valleys and ridge lines, and is strategically lo2 cated on a north-south wildlife migratory route.

3 (4) The Appalachian Trail, administered by the

4 National Park Service, passes through Sterling For5 est. Sterling Forest shares a common boundary with

6 the 51,680 acre Harriman/Bear Mountain State

7 Parks in which the first segment of the Appalachian

8 Trail was constructed in 1923. If protected, Sterling

9 Forest would greatly enhance the Appalachian Trail

10 and would become the largest park created in the

11 Northeastern United States since World War II.

12 (5) Sterling Forest is located in the most dense13 ly populated metropolitan region in the United

14 States, and is a very critical open space buffer for

15 a large urban population. A 14 percent growth rate

16 is projected for the region in the next 20 years.

17 (6) Lands held and managed by the Palisades

18 Interstate Park Commission in the State of New

19 York traditionally remain on the tax rolls. Taxes are

20 paid by the State.

21 (7) Stewardship and management costs for

22 lands in the Palisades Park System traditionally are

23 paid by the States of New York and New Jersey.

24 (8) The Palisades Interstate Park Commission

25 is committed to a willing seller—willing buyer trans-
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1 action with the corporate owners of Sterling Forest.

2 Use of eminent domain authority is not anticipated,

3 nor would it be acceptable to the Palisades Inter4 state Park Commission.

5 (9) In establishing the Federal Agencies Pro6 gram for the Land and Water Conservation Fund,

7 the Congress specified the need to address the in8 creasing demand for the creation of recreation areas

9 of national significance easily accessible to large cen10 ters of the population, and to provide a partial basis

11 for financing the extension of Federal recreational

12 facilities in the East and Midwest.

13 (10) Given the nationally significant watershed,

14 outdoor recreational, and wildlife attributes of Ster15 ling Forest, the demand for park open space in the

16 Northeastern United States, the lack of open space

17 in the densely populated New York-New Jersey-Con18 necticut Tri-State Region, and the presence of a

19 willing seller and a federally chartered interstate

20 park management agency, there is clear Federal in21 terest in acquiring land in Sterling Forest for per22 manent protection of watershed, recreational, and

23 wild flora and fauna open space.
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION.

2 (a) FUNDING.—In order to enhance protection of wa3 tershed, outdoor recreational, wildlife habitat, and Appa4 lachian Trail values in the Sterling Forest area of the New

5 York/New Jersey Highlands Region, there is hereby au6 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior

7 for transfer to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission

8 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’)

9 for fiscal year 1995 not more than $35,000,000 to be used

10 by the Commission for purposes of acquiring an undevel11 oped, open space tract of land presently owned by the

12 Sterling Forest Corporation. Such sums shall remain

13 available for expenditure through fiscal year 1999.

14 (b) PROPERTY TAXES.—Nothing in this Act shall be

15 construed to authorize the United States Government, or

16 relieve the Commission and the State of New York of any

17 obligation otherwise imposed under New York State law,

18 to pay property taxes or provide for the costs of steward19 ship and management of any lands located in the State

20 of New York which may be acquired through this author21 ization.

22 (c) MANAGEMENT.—The Commission shall hold and

23 manage all property acquired with funds made available

24 under this Act for the purposes referred to in subsection

25 (a).

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