Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that includes provisions that could mean the most significant National Park System expansion in decades.  If passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law, the legislation will carry with it the establishment of seven new National Park units, the expansion of nine national park sites, and the extension of 15 National Heritage Areas, effectively shaking loose a five-year stalemate on public lands measures in Congress.

National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), numerous local communities, local businesses, and scientists have spent years advocating for many of the new and expanded parks included in this legislation.

“If signed into law, this legislation will protect places taken right out of the pages of our history and science books,” said Clark Bunting, President and CEO of National Parks Conservation Association.  “From the sites associated with the Manhattan Project to the legacy of Harriet Tubman in New York and Maryland to the North Fork Watershed in Montana and Ice Age fossils in Nevada, these are stories that deserve to be told in the name of strengthening our country’s best idea.  And these are places that deserve to be preserved for all Americans to experience.”

Many of the proposed new and expanded national park sites would further diversify the National Park System, including the Tule Springs site which is less than 30 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip and would offer a significant opportunity for an urban community to visit a fossil-rich national park.  Many will permanently protect places that played key roles in our nation’s history, including the historic Gettysburg train station where President Abraham Lincoln arrived to deliver his seminal Gettysburg Address.  And many of these sites would provide visitors with a richer adventure, including the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve where the watershed and marble caves will be protected.

This public lands package is monumental in terms of expanding our national park system, however NPCA remains mindful that it is not perfect.

“While this legislation includes two dozen bills that will enhance our national heritage and highlight our collective history, from innovation to science and nature, it also includes provisions that could harm our natural resources.  It is those provisions that are of concern to us, both as park advocates and as conservationists.  However, the gains we make for our parks, their communities and their visitors will have lasting effects for our nation,” said Theresa Pierno, Chief Operating Officer, National Parks Conservation Association.

 

National Parks Package of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

 

New National Park Units

1. Blackstone (RI)

2. Coltsville (CT)

3. Harriet Tubman (NY)

4. Manhattan Project (WA, TN, NM)

5. Valles Caldera (NM)

6. Tule Springs (NV)

7. World War I Memorial in Pershing Park (DC)

 

Park Expansions

1. Apostle Islands (WI)

2. First State (DE)

3. Gettysburg (PA)

4. Harriet Tubman (MD)

5. Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson Great Falls (NJ)

6. Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve (OR)

7. San Antonio Mission (TX )

8. Vicksburg (MS)

9. Lower East Side Tenement (NY)

 

Special Resource Studies

1. Lower Mississippi (LA)

2. Buffalo Soldiers

3. Rota, Commonwealth of Lower Mariana Islands

4. Prison Ship Martyrs (Brooklyn, NY)

5. Flushing Remonstrance (NY)

6. West Hunter Street Baptist Church (Atlanta, GA)

7. Mill Springs Battlefield (KY)

8. New Philadelphia (IL)

 

National Heritage Area Reauthorization

The authority to continue funding 15 National Heritage Areas that had a sunset will now be extended

through September 30, 2021.

1. Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (PA)

2. National Coal Heritage Area (WV)

3. Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area (PA)

4. Essex National Heritage Area (MA)

5. Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area (IA)

6. Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area (OH)

7. Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area (NY)

8. Motor Cities National Heritage Area Partnership (MI)

9. Lackawanna Heritage Valley & State Heritage Area (PA)

10. Wheeling National Heritage Area (WV)

11. Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (AZ)

12. Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (NY)

13. Schuykill River Valley National Heritage Area (PA)

14. Quinebaug & Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor (CT & MA)

15. John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (MA & RI)

 

Mineral Withdrawal around national park

North Fork Watershed Protection Act (MT)

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