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Managing America: Public Land

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Week Ending July 13, 2006

H.R.2121 To modify a land grant patent issued by the Secretary of the Interior.

Patent Number 61-2000-0007, issued by the Secretary of the Interior to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, Chippewa County, Michigan, pursuant to section 5505 of division A of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-516) is amended in paragraph 6, under the heading `SUBJECT ALSO TO THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS' by striking `Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan of October 1992, or a gift shop' and inserting `Human Use/Natural Resource Plan for Whitefish Point, dated December 2002, permitted as the intent of Congress'.

The bill was described by the bill sponsor:

" The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Since 1992, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has operated the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum to educate the public about shipwrecks in the region.

   The museum provides exhibits on several shipwrecks in the area, including an in-depth exhibit on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was lost with her entire crew of 29 men near Whitefish Point, Michigan on November 10, 1975. Among the items on display is a 200-pound bronze bell recovered from the wreckage in 1995 as a memorial to her lost crew.

   In 2002, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Audubon Society, and the local community, finalized a new management plan to improve the experience at the museum.

   The new management plan, which was signed and agreed upon by all the parties, will allow the Historical Society to expand the museum exhibits while addressing concerns about parking and access to surrounding wildlife areas.

   However, because the original land grant patent references the previous management plan, legislation to amend the patent is necessary before the new management plan can be implemented. In response, I've introduced this legislation, H.R. 2121, to amend the land grant patent to allow the new plan to be implemented."

Sponsor:  Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI-1^st)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote July 10, 2007

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

Earmark Certification:   Not applicable to this bill.

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