Policy Update Sep 4, 2018

Position on H.R. 5420 & H.R. 6678

NPCA submitted the following positions to the House Natural Resources Committee ahead of a markup scheduled for September 5, 2018.

H.R. 5420: FDR Historic Preservation Act – Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site is one of the great destinations within New York State and the National Park System. NPCA strongly supports the addition of the Morgan Property adjacent to the entrance; this addition will allow it to be protected in perpetuity and enhance connections to the Vanderbilt National Historical Site to the north of the FDR National Historic Site.

H.R. 6678: Claude Moore Farm Land Conveyance Act – NPCA opposes this bill because it inappropriately conveys National Park Service property within the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP) from the National Park Service to the Friends of the Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run, Inc. As with many of our national park sites, NPCA supports the continuance of an official, legal cooperative agreement between NPS and the friends group so visitors may enjoy the living history museum. However, NPCA contends that this site of the GWMP should remain part of the GWMP allowing all laws, rules, and regulations applicable to national parks to remain applicable to the site. If this bill were to become law, it would set a dangerous precedent for friends groups across the National Park System, allowing private entities to be granted ownership over a national park site without any input or agreement with the National Park Service or Department of the Interior.