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Managing America: U.S. Land

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Week Ending January 15, 2010

HR 4474 To establish the Castle Nugent National Historic Site at St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, and for other purposes.

This bill was preceded by HR 3726 that failed to muster the 2/3rd vote it needed last week.

The bill establishes the Castle Nugent National Historic Site on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The effort is to preserve, protect, and interpret a Caribbean cultural landscape panning over 300 years, The Congressional Research Service concluded. The site contains archeological resources, mangrove forests, endangered sea turtle nesting beaches, a barrier coral reef system among other natural features.

The historic site consists of the approximately 2,900 acres of land extending from Lowrys Hill and Laprey Valley to the Caribbean Sea and from Manchenil Bay to Great Pond, along with associated submerged lands to the three-mile territorial limit. The Castle Nugent Farms area is located on the arid southeastern shore of the island of St. Croix. Historic resources include the remnants of small Danish cotton, sugar, indigo, and cattle plantations, including slave quarters and a sugar mill. Pre-Columbian archaeological sites also exist on the property. The Castle Nugent Farms cattle ranch is one of the oldest in the West Indies, and is home to Senepol cattle, a unique breed developed on St. Croix for adaptation to the dry climate and poor forage found there.

The Secretary of Interior is directed to produce a general management plan for the site. The Secretary is authorized to lease lands within the boundary of the site to the University of Virgin Islands so it may continue breeding Senepol cattle.

Sponsor:  Rep. Donna Christensen (VI)

Vote: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 241 - 173 (Roll no. 10).

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3726 would cost $26 million over the next five years, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, mostly to acquire about half of the total acreage. Currently the NPS estimates that the entire parcel (2,900 acres of nonsubmerged land) has a value of about $45 million and would take 10 years to acquire.”

Earmark Certification:  H.R. 3726 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule XXI.

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