I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 413 
To establish the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom 
National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 26, 2005 
Mr. RYUN of Kansas (for himself, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, and 
Mr. MOORE of Kansas) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To establish the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle 
for Freedom National Heritage Area, 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 ‘‘Bleeding Kansas Na-
tional Heritage Area Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage 
Area is a cohesive assemblage of natural, historic, 
cultural, and recreational resources that—
(A) together represent distinctive aspects 
of American heritage worthy of recognition, 
conservation, interpretation, and continuing 
use; 
(B) are best managed through partner-
ships between private and public entities; 
(C) will build upon the Kansas rural devel-
opment policy and the new homestead act to 
recognize inherent strengths of small towns and 
rural 
communities—close-knit 
communities, 
strong local business networks, and a tradition 
of entrepreneurial creativity. 
(2) The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage 
Area reflects traditions, customs, beliefs, folk life, or 
some combination thereof, that are a valuable part 
of the heritage of the United States. 
(3) The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage 
Area provides outstanding opportunities to conserve 
natural, cultural, or historic features, or some com-
bination thereof. 
(4) The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage 
Area provides outstanding recreational and interpre-
tive opportunities. 
(5) The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage 
Area has an identifiable theme, and resources impor-
tant to the theme retain integrity capable of sup-
porting interpretation. 
(6) Residents, nonprofit organizations, other 
private entities, and units of local government 
throughout the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage 
Area demonstrate support for designation of the 
Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area as a na-
tional heritage area and for management of the 
Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area as appro-
priate for such designation. 
(7) Capturing these interconnected stories 
through partnerships with National Park Service 
sites, Kansas State Historical Society sites, local or-
ganizations, and citizens will augment the story op-
portunities within the prospective boundary for the 
educational and recreational benefit of this and fu-
ture generations of Americans. 
(8) Communities throughout this region know 
the value of their Bleeding Kansas legacy, but re-
quire expansion of the existing cooperative frame-
work to achieve key preservation, education, and 
other significant goals by working more closely to-
gether. 
(9) The State of Kansas officially recognized 
the national significance of the Bleeding Kansas
story when it designated the heritage area develop-
ment as a significant strategic goal within the state-
wide economic development plan. 
(10) Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance is a 
nonprofit corporation created for the purposes of 
preserving, interpreting, developing, promoting and, 
making available to the public the story and re-
sources related to the story of Bleeding Kansas and 
the Enduring Struggle for Freedom. 
(11) Territorial Kansas Heritage alliance has 
completed a study that— 
(A) describes in detail the role, operation, 
financing, and functions of Territorial Kansas 
Heritage Alliance, the management entity; and 
(B) provides adequate assurances that 
Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, the man-
agement entity, is likely to have the financial 
resources necessary to implement the manage-
ment plan for the Heritage Area, including re-
sources to meet matching requirement for 
grants. 
(12) There are at least 7 National Historic 
Landmarks, 32 National Register properties, 3 Kan-
sas Register properties, and 7 properties listed on 
the National Underground Railroad Network to
Freedom that contribute to the Heritage Area as 
well as other significant properties that have not 
been designated at this time. 
(13) There is an interest in interpreting all 
sides of the Bleeding Kansas story that requires fur-
ther work with several counties in Missouri inter-
ested in joining the area. 
(14) In 2004, the State of Kansas commemo-
rated the Sesquicentennial of the signing of the 
Kansas-Nebraska Act, opening the territory to set-
tlement. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol-
lows: 
(1) To designate a region in eastern Kansas 
and western Missouri containing nationally impor-
tant natural, historic, and cultural resources and 
recreational and educational opportunities that are 
geographically assembled and thematically related as 
areas that provide unique frameworks for under-
standing the great and diverse character of the 
United States and the development of communities 
and their surroundings as the Bleeding Kansas Na-
tional Heritage Area. 
(2) To strengthen, complement, and support 
the Fort Scott, Brown v. Board of Education,