II
Calendar No. 511
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1348
[Report No. 103–305]
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 14 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 7), 1993
Received; read twice and referred to to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources
JULY 7, 1994
Reported, under authority of the order of the Senate of June 27 (legislative
day, June 7), 1994, by Mr. JOHNSTON, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
AN ACT
To establish the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
National Heritage Corridor in the State of Connecticut,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Quinebaug and
Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor Act
of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that:
(1) The Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
in the State of Connecticut is one of the last un-
spoiled and undeveloped areas in the Northeastern
United States and has remained largely intact, in-
cluding important aboriginal archaeological sites, ex-
cellent water quality, beautiful rural landscapes,
architecturally significant mill structures and mill
villages, and large acreage of parks and other per-
manent open space.
(2) The State of Connecticut ranks last among
the 50 States in the amount of federally protected
park and open space lands within its borders and
lags far behind the other northeastern States in the
amount of land set-aside for public recreation.
(3) The beautiful rural landscapes, scenic vistas
and excellent water quality of the Quinebaug and
Shetucket Rivers contain significant undeveloped
recreational opportunities for people throughout the
United States.
(4) The Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
is within a 2-hour drive of the major metropolitan
areas of New York City, Hartford, Providence,
Worcester, Springfield, and Boston. With the Presi-
dent’s Commission on Americans Outdoors reporting
that Americans are taking shorter ‘‘closer-to-home’’
vacations, the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Val-
ley represents important close-by recreational oppor-
tunities for significant population.
(5) The existing mill sites and other structures
throughout the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers
Valley were instrumental in the development of the
industrial revolution.
(6) The Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
contains a vast number of discovered and unre-
covered Native American and colonial archaeological
sites significant to the history of North America and
the United States.
(7) The Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
represents one of the last traditional upland farming
and mill village communities in the northeastern
United States.
(8) The Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
played a nationally significant role in the cultural
evolution of the prewar colonial period. Leading the
transformation from Puritan to Yankee, the ‘‘Great
Awakening’’ religious revival and early political de-
velopment leading up to and during the War of
Independence.
(9) Many local, regional and State agencies,
businesses, and private citizens and the New Eng-
land Governors’ Conference have expressed an over-
whelming desire to combine forces: to work coopera-
tively to preserve and enhance resources region-wide
and better plan for the future.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUINEBAUG AND SHETUCKET
RIVERS VALLEY NATIONAL HERITAGE COR-
RIDOR; PURPOSE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established in
the State of Connecticut the Quinebaug and Shetucket
Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro-
vide a management framework to assist the State of Con-
necticut, its units of local and regional government and
citizens in the development and implementation of inte-
grated cultural, historical, and recreational land resource
management programs in order to retain, enhance, and
interpret the significant features of the lands, water, and
structures of the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley
in the State of Connecticut.
SEC. 4. BOUNDARIES AND ADMINISTRATION.
(a) BOUNDARIES.—The Boundaries of the Corridor
shall include the towns of Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury,
Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Franklin, Griswold, Hamp-
ton, Killingly, Lebanon, Lisbon, Mansfield, Norwich,
Plainfield, Pomfret, Preston, Putnam, Scotland, Sprague,
Sterling, Thompson, Voluntown, Windham, and Wood-
stock. As soon as practical after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in
the Federal Register a detailed description and map of
boundaries established under this subsection.
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Corridor shall be admin-
istered in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 5. QUINEBAUG AND SHETUCKET RIVERS VALLEY NA-
TIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR COMMISSION.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established
within the Department of the Interior the Quinebaug and
Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor Com-
mission (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’).
The Commission shall assist appropriate Federal, State,
regional planning organizations, and local authorities in
the development and implementation of an integrated re-
source management plan for the lands and water as speci-
fied in section 3.
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com-
prised of 19 members appointed not later than 6 months
after the date of enactment of this Act as follows:
(1) The Director of the National Park Service
ex officio (or his delegate).