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“MONGAUP VISITORS CENTER H.R. 20 AND UPPER DELAWARE CAC, H.R. 54” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E25 on Jan. 7, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MONGAUP VISITORS CENTER H.R. 20 AND UPPER DELAWARE CAC, H.R. 54
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HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 6, 1999
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to introduce two bills--
one to authorize the Mongaup Visitor's Center, H.R. 20 and the other to extend the Upper Delaware Citizen's Advisory Counsel, H.R. 54.
Mr. Speaker, as you may know, in 1978, along with our good friend and colleague, Congressman Joe McDade, I introduced Federal legislation establishing the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
The property proposed as the location of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River's primary visitor facility--the Mongaup Visitor Center--is owned by the State of New York's Department of Environmental Conservation. The property was acquired by the State in 1986 as part of a much larger purchase of a 10,000-acre tract intended to provide habitat for a population of wintering bald eagles. New York State legislation authorizing Federal development of the property as a visitor center by means of a long-term lease was passed in 1993. A legislative support data package was prepared in 1994 for Federal legislation authorizing development of the site, to appropriate funds for development and to increase the Upper Delaware's operational base to provide for year-round operation.
The site for the Mongaup Visitor Center contains abundant natural and cultural resources and this proposal will identify and develop strategies to protect the Mongaup area's natural resources, including: wintering bald eagles; upland forest; hemlock and laurel gorges and steep slopes; riverline and flood plain forest, and a mile or river front with natural sand beaches. The possible presence of prehistoric elements will also be evaluated.
The visitor center will benefit the community in many respects. It will serve as an educational asset, a local museum, a classroom, and meeting place. Bordered by the Delaware River, the Mongaup River, and New York State highway route 97 in the town of Deerpark in Orange County, New York--it is the only center of its kind within an hour's drive from New York City. Both the proposed visitor center Mongaup site and the Upper Delaware valley have enormous unrealized potential to provide both the local and visiting public with an exceptional experience.
I am also introducing a bill, H.R. 54, that will extend the Upper Delaware Citizens Advisory Council for another ten years. The Upper Delaware CAC provides an excellent forum for citizens of the Upper Delaware to have an opportunity to impact and interact with the National Park Service and Department of the Interior.
Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to help pass these two measures which will benefit the State of New York on economic, environmental and educational levels.
H.R. 20
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 ``Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River Mongaup Visitor Center Act of 1999''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Secretary of the Interior approved a management plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, as required by section 704 of Public Law 95-625 (16 U.S.C. 1274 note), on September 29, 1987.
(2) The river management plan called for the development of a primary visitor contact facility located at the southern end of the river corridor.
(3) The river management plan determined that the visitor center would be built and operated by the National Park Service.
(4) The Act that designated the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and the approved river management plan limits the Secretary of the Interior's authority to acquire land within the boundary of the river corridor.
(5) The State of New York authorized on June 21, 1993, a 99-year lease between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the National Park Service for the construction and operation of a visitor center by the Federal Government on State-owned land in the Town of Deerpark, Orange County, New York, in the vicinity of Mongaup, which is the preferred site for the visitor center.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF VISITOR CENTER FOR UPPER DELAWARE
SCENIC AND RECREATIONAL RIVER.
For the purpose of constructing and operating a visitor center for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of the Interior may--
(1) enter into a lease with the State of New York, for a term of 99 years, for State-owned land within the boundaries of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River located at an area known as Mongaup near the confluence of the Mongaup and Upper Delaware Rivers in the State of New York; and
(2) construct and operate such a visitor center on land leased under paragraph (2).
H.R. 54
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION FOR UPPER DELAWARE
CITIZENS ADVISORY COUNCIL
The last sentence of paragraph (1) of section 704(f) of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1274 note) is amended by striking ``20'' and inserting ``30''.
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