STATEMENT OF DONALD W. MURPHY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, CONCERNING S. 1544, TO ESTABLISH THE NORTHERN PLAINS NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA IN THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA.
November 15, 2005
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to present the Department of the Interior’s views on S. 1544, a bill to establish the Northern Plains National Heritage Area in the state of North Dakota.
While the Department appreciates the historic, cultural and natural features of the area, the Department does not support S. 1544 unless it is amended to authorize a feasibility study to determine whether the Northern Plains National Heritage Area in the state of North Dakota meets the criteria to be designated as a National Heritage Area. We caution that our support of an amendment authorizing a study does not necessarily mean that the Department will support designation of this national heritage area. We generally have asked that the Subcommittee defer action on new designations of National Heritage Areas until program legislation discussed further in this testimony is enacted.
Requiring a feasibility study prior to designation is consistent with steps and criteria for the National Heritage Area program that have been informally implemented for many years, identified in testimony by the Department, generally set forth in an Administration legislative proposal sent to Congress last year, and included in S. 243 and H.R. 760, the National Heritage Area Partnership Act.
The steps and criteria have been developed with input from Congress, existing National Heritage Areas, and other experts and are designed to ensure that an area has the resources, local interest, and other qualities that are critical in establishing a successful National Heritage Area. This year, the Administration is working on a similar legislative proposal, and we look forward to continuing to work with Congress on program legislation. We would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership on this issue.
The four critical steps that need to be completed before Congress establishes a National Heritage Area are:
2. public involvement in the feasibility study;
3. demonstration of widespread public support among heritage area residents for the proposed designation; and
4. commitment to the proposal from the appropriate players which may include governments, industry, and private, non-profit organizations, in addition to the local citizenry.
The interim criteria to be considered in conducting the feasibility study include:
(1) An area—
(A) has an assemblage of natural, historic, cultural, educational, scenic, or recreational resources that together are nationally important to the heritage of the United States;
(B) represents distinctive aspects of the heritage of the United States worthy of recognition, conservation, interpretation, and continuing use;
(C) is best managed as such an assemblage through partnerships among public and private entities at the local or regional level;
(D) reflects traditions, customs, beliefs, and folklife that are a valuable part of the heritage of the United States;
(E) provides outstanding opportunities to conserve natural, historical, cultural, or scenic features;
(F) provides outstanding recreational or educational opportunities; and
(G) has resources and traditional uses that have national importance.
(2) Residents, business interests, nonprofit organizations, and governments (including relevant Federal land management agencies) within the proposed area are involved in the planning and have demonstrated significant support through letters and other means for National Heritage Area designation and management.
(3) The local coordinating entity responsible for preparing and implementing the management plan is identified.
(4) The proposed local coordinating entity and units of government supporting the designation are willing and have documented a significant commitment to work in partnership to protect, enhance, interpret, fund, manage, and develop resources within the National Heritage Area.
(5) The proposed local coordinating entity has developed a conceptual financial plan that outlines the roles of all participants (including the Federal Government) in the management of the National Heritage Area.
(6) The proposal is consistent with continued economic activity within the area.
(7) A conceptual boundary map has been developed and is supported by the public and participating Federal agencies.
S. 1544 would establish the Northern Plains National Heritage Area. The core area is approximately 80 miles long, anchored at each end by nationally designated landmarks. Huff Indian Village National Historic Landmark, an ancient Mandan Indian Village is the southern anchor and Big Hidatsa Village National Historic Landmark, an ancient Hidatsa village located within the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic site at Stanton, North Dakota, is the northern anchor. Huff and Menoken National Historic Landmarks are also state historic sites preserved and managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. This area encompasses the ancient homeland of the Mandan and Hidatsa American Indian nations as well as the Menoken Indian Village, an early Indian village site just east of Bismarck, North Dakota, which also bears national historic landmark status.
The bill designates the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, a non-profit corporation established under the laws of the State of North Dakota, as the management entity for the Heritage Area and outlines its duties. It also authorizes the development of a management plan and authorizes the use of Federal funds to develop and implement that plan. Additionally, the Secretary may, at the request of the management entity, provide technical assistance and enter into cooperative agreements with other public and private entities to carry out this purpose.
S. 1544 would protect private property rights by requiring that owners provide, in writing, consent to be included in any request before they are eligible to receive Federal funds from the area. The private property owner in the Heritage Area would not be required to permit public access (including Federal, State, or local government access) to his or her property, or to participate in or be associated with the Heritage Area.
The Northern Plains area is a unique cultural and historic landscape, shaped and influenced by centuries of agricultural tradition. The climate and geography of the Northern Plains shaped and impacted the agricultural life of the first settlers of the Missouri River Valley. In the same way, the first people who settled along the river shaped the cultural and historic landscape.
Long before the Europeans came to the area, Mandan and Hidatsa cultures flourished along the river in North Dakota. These early people thrived for centuries in heavily populated agricultural communities along the fertile floodplains. They also depended on the abundance of fish, game, and other wildlife throughout the prairies. They were later followed by pioneers and homesteaders—generations of farmers and ranchers who continue to cultivate the land and reap the harvest provided by the abundance of the Northern Plains environment.
The villages of these early settlers served as a central hub in a trade network that spanned the continent. The Heart River segment of the Missouri River was the center of the universe for the first people, the Mandans, who constructed their permanent earthlodge villages along the Missouri River and its tributaries. The Lewis and Clark Expedition even benefited from the hospitality and friendship of the Mandan and Hidatsa when they spent the winter along the Garrison Reach near present-day Washburn.
Today, the Mandan language is in danger of extinction with only two conversational speakers able to participate in a preservation project. Therefore, as part of their preservation initiatives within the Northern Plains area, the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation’s language initiative is focusing on preserving and archiving language vocabularies, beginning with the recording of Mandan language materials. It also is supporting the development of instructional materials for Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, French and German language teachers. Language has always been a key element that characterizes and underpins the cultural integrity and unique identity of a people or an ethnic group.
The Department believes that a feasibility study would further examine and define the unique geographical, cultural, and historical resources of the Northern Plains area, ensure widespread public involvement, determine local interest and commitment, and provide other valuable information as to whether the area qualifies for designation as a National Heritage Area.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the Subcommittee may have.