Date: 1991-11-05
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 2927 to establish the Salt River National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve. at St. Croix. VI. The legislation before us. Mr. Speaker. marks the culmination of years of effort to save Salt River Bay. beginning In 1958. when the Virgin Islands Legislature voted to purchase 50 acres of the area. including the 5 acres of beach where Admiral Christopher Columbuson his second voyage to the New Worldanchored his 17 ships and sent some of his men to investigate an Indian village that was visible on the western side of the bay. I was a member of the Virgin Islands In 1958. Mr. Speaker. and was proud to cosponsor the original legislation that began the process to save the area. The Columbus Landing at Salt River. Mr. Speaker. is the only placeon what was to later become United States Territorywhere Columbus party is known to have set foot. There is no disputing that the fleet. after leaving Salt River. passed by St. Thomas and possibly the British Virgin Islands. and that they eventually stopped in Puerto Rico. but exactly where Is not known. The other interesting historical feature of Salt River is that it is a microcosm of the entire history of early European colonization of the Caribbean. The Spanish. British. French. Dutch. and the Knights of Malta all had settlements there. And. indeed. the success and failure of each of these settlements mirrored the turbulence of the wars and conflicts that swept across Europe at the time. As a result. you had the Spanish in 1650. attacking and driving out the English who had established a settlement at Salt River in 1647. and who where. themselves. attacked and driven out by the French later that same year. In addition to its rich historical and cultural resources. Salt River also has a wealth of natural and environmental treasures. These include the largest remaining mangrove forest in the Virgin Islands and a variety of tropical marine and terrestrial ecosystems. This will truly be a remarkable park. Mr. Speaker. for it will combine an ecological treasure chest with a window on human history that may go back as far as 2000 BC. or even earlier. No less Important to passage of this bill. Mr. Speaker. is the intent for there to be an unprecedented degree of Federal and local cooperation in the preservation and management of the site. To that end. I have Included in the legislation a provision to establish a 10member advisory commission to make recommendations on how all the lands within the park will be jointly managed. and to also in the development of the general management plan. There are three other national park units already in the Virgin Islands. Mr. Speaker. and it saddens me to say that the Park Service has sought little inputif anyfrom the people of the Virgin Islands in the management of those other units. This bill will establish a new relationship. a thoroughly reasoned attempt to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Mr. Speaker. on the question of returning the boundaries to the alternative C boundary. it is our former colleague. the Secretary of the Interior. the Honorable Manuel Lujan. who after visiting Salt River. recommended that we increase the boundary of the park to what is in the bill before us. One of the most important reasons for including this additional acreage within the boundary is so that the Park Service can offer tax incentives to the owners of these dwellings. as inducements of them to donate their property to the park. These incentives. Mr. Speaker. would not be available if the property were not within the boundary of the park.