Washington, D.C. -The nation’s leading voice for the national parks, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today praised the U.S. Congress for passing the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 (H.R.146), which included a number of bills important for the protection and interpretation of America’s National Park System, including Martin Van Buren National Historic Site.
“Expanding the boundaries of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is a tremendous victory for the local community and people across the country who care about our nation’s heritage,” said Oliver Spellman of the Northeast Region of the National Parks Conservation Association. “The expansion of this site demonstrates creative planning and collaboration to preserve the region’s historic character in a way that is compatible with modern growth and development.”
With passage of this legislation, visitors will have access to the original Van Buren Farm, which will provide a better understanding of President Van Buren’s life and the role of farming in American history and culture. Additionally, most of the land remains under private management and within the county tax base. This expansion also permanently protects open space in a region where it is quickly disappearing, and the National Park Service will finally be able to build long overdue permanent facilities for staff and visitors to enjoy.
“We applaud Senator Gillibrand for her visionary leadership introducing this bill, and commend Congress for taking this important step to protect and enhance our national treasures for us today and for our children and grandchildren tomorrow,” said Spellman.
The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 contains important bills that:
• Expand the boundaries of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in Kinderhook, N.Y. to protect and interpret the historically significant farmland of the eighth President of the United States.
• Study the possible addition of the Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tenn., to the park system. In 1956, 12 students from Green McAdoo became the first African-Americans to integrate a state-operated school.
• Establish a commemorative trail in upstate New York that connects local and state sites to the Women’s Rights National Historical Park.
• Protect the cultural, ecological and scenic integrity of the Little River Canyon National Preserve in Alabama and Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas from adjacent development by adjusting the boundary.
• Offer wilderness protection to remarkable landscapes within Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park in California, and Zion National Park in Utah.
• Authorize the creation of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail in the Pacific Northwest—the first national geologic trail in the National Park System.
• Designate the Amargosa River as Wild and Scenic, providing much-needed protection for water resources at Death Valley National Park in California.
• Protect our nation’s irreplaceable fossil record and ensure that fossils from public lands are available for educational and scientific research by codifying the existing practice of requiring that vertebrate fossils and other rare and scientifically-significant fossils be collected only by qualified researchers who obtain a permit. The bill toughens penalties on the illegal collection of fossils on federal lands, including national parks such as Badlands in South Dakota and Petrified Forest in Arizona.
“Bipartisan support in the Congress has ensured that many of our national parks will be enhanced and preserved for our children and grandchildren,” said NPCA President Tom Kiernan.
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