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 acquisi-
tion of lands in the Sterling Forest area of the New
York/New Jersey Highlands Region.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that:
(1) By Interstate Compact (Chapter 170 of the
Laws of 1937 of the State of New York; Chapter
148 of the Laws of 1937 of the State of New Jer-
sey) and by Resolution of the 75th Congress (H.J.
Resolution 445), the Palisades Interstate Park Com-
mission was formed in 1937.
(2) The Palisades Interstate Park Commission
is the only interstate park management agency in
the United States and is responsible for the manage-
ment of 23 parks and historic sites in New York and
New Jersey, consisting of 82,000 acres. More than
8,000,000 national and international visitors per
year seek outdoor recreational opportunities in the
Palisades Park System. The management of these
sites is consistent with standards maintained by the
National Park Service.
(3) Sterling Forest is a biologically diverse
17,500 acre corporate-owned open space property on
the New York/New Jersey border. The property is a
highly significant watershed area for northern New
Jersey, and an important outdoor recreational asset
in the Northeastern United States. Clean drinking
water flows from the property into a reservoir sys-
tem which serves 25 percent of the population of the
State of New Jersey. Twenty-seven rare and endan-
gered wildlife species have been identified at Sterling
Forest by The Nature Conservancy. The land sup-
ports a mixed hardwood forest, wetlands, lakes, gla-
ciated valleys and ridge lines, and is strategically lo-
cated on a north-south wildlife migratory route.
(4) The Appalachian Trail, administered by the
National Park Service, passes through Sterling For-
est. Sterling Forest shares a common boundary with
the 51,680 acre Harriman/Bear Mountain State
Parks in which the first segment of the Appalachian
Trail was constructed in 1923. If protected, Sterling
Forest would greatly enhance the Appalachian Trail
and would become the largest park created in the
Northeastern United States since World War II.
(5) Sterling Forest is located in the most dense-
ly populated metropolitan region in the United
States, and is a very critical open space buffer for
a large urban population. A 14 percent growth rate
is projected for the region in the next 20 years.
(6) Lands held and managed by the Palisades
Interstate Park Commission in the State of New
York traditionally remain on the tax rolls. Taxes are
paid by the State.
(7) Stewardship and management costs for
lands in the Palisades Park System traditionally are
paid by the States of New York and New Jersey.
(8) The Palisades Interstate Park Commission
is committed to a willing seller—willing buyer trans-
action with the corporate owners of Sterling Forest.
Use of eminent domain authority is not anticipated,
nor would it be acceptable to the Palisades Inter-
state Park Commission.
(9) In establishing the Federal Agencies Pro-
gram for the Land and Water Conservation Fund,
the Congress specified the need to address the in-
creasing demand for the creation of recreation areas
of national significance easily accessible to large cen-
ters of the population, and to provide a partial basis
for financing the extension of Federal recreational
facilities in the East and Midwest.
(10) Given the nationally significant watershed,
outdoor recreational, and wildlife attributes of Ster-
ling Forest, the demand for park open space in the
Northeastern United States, the lack of open space
in the densely populated New York-New Jersey-Con-
necticut Tri-State Region, and the presence of a
willing seller and a federally chartered interstate
park management agency, there is clear Federal in-
terest in acquiring land in Sterling Forest for per-
manent protection of watershed, recreational, and
wild flora and fauna open space.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION.
(a) FUNDING.—In order to enhance protection of wa-
tershed, outdoor recreational, wildlife habitat, and Appa-
lachian Trail values in the Sterling Forest area of the New
York/New Jersey Highlands Region, there is hereby au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior
for transfer to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
(hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’)
for fiscal year 1995 not more than $35,000,000 to be used
by the Commission for purposes of acquiring an undevel-
oped, open space tract of land presently owned by the
Sterling Forest Corporation. Such sums shall remain
available for expenditure through fiscal year 1999.
(b) PROPERTY TAXES.—Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to authorize the United States Government, or
relieve the Commission and the State of New York of any
obligation otherwise imposed under New York State law,
to pay property taxes or provide for the costs of steward-
ship and management of any lands located in the State
of New York which may be acquired through this author-
ization.
(c) MANAGEMENT.—The Commission shall hold and
manage all property acquired with funds made available
under this Act for the purposes referred to in subsection
(a).
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