Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage Area Study Authorization Act
Bill: S.4225 | Sponsor: Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood (D-NH)
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage Area Study Authorization Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating the boundaries of the Canterbury Shaker Village National Historic Landmark located in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, as a National Heritage Area, to be known as the Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage Area.

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess 
 the suitability and feasibility of designating the Canterbury Shaker 
        Village National Heritage Area, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Canterbury Shaker Village National 
Heritage Area Study Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Canterbury Shaker Village, which was established in 
        1792, has played a prominent role in the history of the United 
        Society of Believers, commonly known as the ``Shakers'', which 
        was the longest-lived and most successful of the several 
        utopian experiments of the 19th century in the United States;
            (2) the advent and growth of the Shaker movement was a 
        significant component of a transformational religious and 
        social fervor in the United States--
                    (A) which is known as the ``Second Great 
                Awakening''; and
                    (B) that led to the development of a number of 
                churches and sects that diversified and enriched the 
                society of the United States;
            (3) the Shakers--
                    (A) were a communal and celibate religious group 
                that saw work, music, and dance as worship;
                    (B) practiced equality of the sexes, pacifism, and 
                technological invention; and
                    (C) by withdrawing from the larger society, 
                developed a refined and aesthetically significant 
                expression of architecture, decorative arts, and 
                utilitarian objects that are now known and studied 
                throughout the world;
            (4) Canterbury Shaker Village played an increasingly 
        important role in the Shaker movement, eventually becoming the 
        home of the Shaker Central Ministry, which supervised the 
        consolidation at Canterbury Shaker Village of other Shaker 
        settlements as the other settlements declined and closed during 
        the 20th century, preserving and distilling remnants of the 
        societies at a single site;
            (5) Canterbury Shaker Village was the only Shaker community 
        to deliberately transform the community from a religious 
        society to a nonprofit museum, Canterbury Shaker Village, Inc., 
        to which, in 1969, Canterbury Shaker Village conveyed the land, 
        buildings, furnishings, and archives of Canterbury Shaker 
        Village as an intact legacy;
            (6) in 1992, in recognition of the historical significance 
        and physical integrity of Canterbury Shaker Village, Canterbury 
        Shaker Village was designated as a National Historic Landmark;
            (7) as of the date of enactment of this Act, Canterbury 
        Shaker Village includes--
                    (A) approximately 700 acres of land;
                    (B) 25 buildings; and
                    (C) extensive and verified archaeological 
                resources, gardens, orchards, a community cemetery, 
                miles of roadways, stone culverts and walls, and a 
                chain of manmade ponds that have powered a range of 
                industries, including some industries that derived from 
                the inventions of the Shakers; and
            (8) Canterbury Shaker Village has been the beneficiary of 
        years of concentrated surveying, mapping, photographic 
        recordation, archaeological investigation, and documentary 
        research and writing that--
                    (A) reflect a fascination on the part of the 
                outside world with Canterbury Shaker Village that began 
                in the early 1800s;
                    (B) are scholarly and popular in nature; and
                    (C) have defined a cultural landscape and a 
                historical legacy that is of national significance and 
                high educational and aesthetic value to the people of 
                the United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Heritage area.--The term ``Heritage Area'' means the 
        Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage Area.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of New 
        Hampshire.
            (4) Study area.--The term ``study area'' means the 
        geographic boundaries of the Canterbury Shaker Village National 
        Historic Landmark located in Merrimack County, New Hampshire.

SEC. 4. STUDY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with State and 
local historic preservation officers, State and local historical 
societies, State and local tourism offices, and other appropriate 
organizations and governmental agencies, shall conduct a study to 
assess the suitability and feasibility of designating the study area as 
a National Heritage Area, to be known as the ``Canterbury Shaker 
Village National Heritage Area''.
    (b) Requirements.--The study shall include analysis, documentation, 
and determinations on whether the study area--
            (1) has an assemblage of natural, historic, and cultural 
        resources that--
                    (A) represent distinctive aspects of the heritage 
                of the United States;
                    (B) are worthy of recognition, conservation, 
                interpretation, and continuing use; and
                    (C) would be best managed--
                            (i) through partnerships among public and 
                        private entities; and
                            (ii) by linking diverse and sometimes 
                        noncontiguous resources and active communities;
            (2) reflects traditions, customs, beliefs, and folklife 
        that are a valuable part of the story of the United States;
            (3) provides outstanding opportunities--
                    (A) to conserve natural, historic, cultural, or 
                scenic features; and
                    (B) for recreation and education;
            (4) contains resources that--
                    (A) are important to any identified themes of the 
                study area; and
                    (B) retain a degree of integrity capable of 
                supporting interpretation;
            (5) includes residents, business interests, nonprofit 
        organizations, and State and local governments that--
                    (A) are involved in the planning of the Heritage 
                Area;
                    (B) have developed a conceptual financial plan that 
                outlines the roles of all participants in the Heritage 
                Area, including the Federal Government; and
                    (C) have demonstrated support for the designation 
                of the Heritage Area;
            (6) has a potential management entity to work in 
        partnership with the individuals and entities described in 
        paragraph (5) to develop the Heritage Area while encouraging 
        State and local economic activity; and
            (7) has a conceptual boundary map that is supported by the 
        public.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are first made 
available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report 
that describes--
            (1) the findings of the study under section 4; and
            (2) any conclusions and recommendations of the Secretary.
                                 <all>