Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski today won Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approval for a bill to preserve historic lighthouses nationwide. The bill provides an opportunity for lighthouse friends groups to receive at no cost surplus historic lighthouses, to ensure the maintenance and preservation of these structures. It is my intent that these friends groups, with existing leases, are to be given preference in the selection process, said Murkowski. The bill, besides giving lighthouse friends groups first dibs to participate in the takeover of properties, calls for the lighthouses to revert to the national government if preservation efforts by local groups ever fail.
Lighthouses are among the most romantic reminders of our country s maritime heritage.
Marking dangerous areas, these structures played a vital role in supporting this nation s maritime transportation and commerce. My legislation pays tribute to this legacy and establishes a process, which will ensure the protection and maintenance of these historic lighthouses so that future generations will be able to appreciate these treasured landmarks, said Murkowski, who introduced this bill this spring in conjunction with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. The bill, slightly different from a Murkowski measure that passed the Senate in 1998, would allow for the sale of surplus lighthouses when no entity steps forward to help preserve the structure. But it earmarks any profits from such a sale by the General Services Administration to the National Maritime Heritage Grant Program. The program, within the National Park Service since its creation in 1994, has been awaiting funding to provide grants for maritime heritage preservation and education projects.