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Federal Lands and Related Resources: Overview and Selected Issues for the 116th Congress [Updated March 18, 2019]
From the Document: "The Property Clause in the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, §3, clause 2) grants Congress the authority to acquire, dispose of, and manage federal property. The 116th Congress faces multiple policy issues related to federal lands and natural resources. These issues include how much and which land the government should own and how lands and resources should be used and managed. These issues affect local communities, industries, ecosystems, and the nation. [...] This report introduces some of the broad themes and issues Congress has considered when addressing federal land policy and resource management. These include questions about the extent and location of the federal estate. For example, typically Congress considers both measures to authorize and fund the acquisition of additional lands and measures to convey some land out of federal ownership or management. Other issues for Congress include whether certain lands or resources should have additional protections, for example, through resignation as wilderness or national monuments, or protection of endangered species and their habitat."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Hoover, Katie; Comay, Laura B.; Crafton, R. Eliot . . .
2019-03-18
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National Trails System: A Brief Overview [Updated June 10, 2019]
From the Summary: "The National Trails System was created in 1968 by the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. §§1241-1251). The system includes four types of trails: (1) national scenic trails (NSTs), which display significant physical characteristics of U.S. regions; (2) national historic trails (NHTs), which follow travel routes of national historical significance; (3) national recreation trails (NRTs), which provide outdoor recreation accessible to urban areas; and (4) connecting or side trails, which provide access to the other types of trails. As defined in the act, NSTs and NHTs are longdistance trails designated by acts of Congress. NRTs and connecting and side trails may be designated by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture with the consent of the federal agency, state, or political subdivision with jurisdiction over the lands involved."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.; Johnson, Sandra
2019-06-10
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Department of the Interior (DOI) Law Enforcement Programs [December 22, 2020]
From the Overview: "As of November 2020, the Department of the Interior (DOI) employed nearly 3,400 law enforcement officers (LEOs) assigned to seven distinct organizational units within five DOI bureaus. These seven units are the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); Bureau of Reclamation (BOR); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS's) Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and Division of Refuge Law Enforcement (REF); National Park Service (NPS); and U.S. Park Police (USPP) within NPS. DOI's law enforcement contingent is the fourth-largest among executive branch departments, after the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Veterans Affairs. Law enforcement on lands owned and administered by the federal government is of perennial interest to Congress. This includes issues related to funding, jurisdictional disputes between federal and nonfederal law enforcement agencies, and more recent concerns around excessive force and police-community relations."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.
2020-12-22
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Federal Role in Historic Preservation: An Overview [July 8, 2019]
From the Document: "A variety of federal government, state government, and private programs support historic preservation in the United States. This report provides an overview of the federal role in historic preservation, including background and funding information for some of the major preservation grants, programs, and entities authorized by Congress. Starting in the early 20th century, Congress has passed several laws that have established a framework for federal historic preservation activities. The most comprehensive of these statutes is the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA; P.L. 89-665). NHPA created a grants program for state historic preservation, established the federal National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and the procedures by which historic properties are placed on the Register, funded the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), established the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and designated a process for federal agencies to follow when their projects may affect a historic property. Congress has amended and expanded NHPA multiple times since its passage, most recently in 2016."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.
2019-07-08
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Heritage Areas: Background, Proposals, and Current Issues [Updated July 22, 2019]
From the Summary: "Over more than 30 years, Congress has established 55 national heritage areas (NHAs) to commemorate, conserve, and promote important natural, scenic, historic, cultural, and recreational resources. NHAs are partnerships among the National Park Service (NPS), states, and local communities, in which the NPS supports state and local conservation through federal recognition, seed money, and technical assistance. Unlike lands within the National Park System, which are federally owned and managed, lands within heritage areas typically remain in state, local, or private ownership or a combination thereof. Supporters of heritage areas argue that NHAs protect lands and traditions and promote tourism and community revitalization. Opponents, however, contend that NHAs may be burdensome or costly and may lead to federal control over nonfederal lands."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.; Comay, Laura B.
2019-07-22
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Federal Conservation Corps Programs: Options for Congress in Response to COVID-19 [September 3, 2020]
From the Introduction: "In light of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic's severe impact on the U.S. labor force, some Members of Congress and other stakeholders have expressed interest in job creation and training programs that may provide work relief to unemployed Americans. In particular, some stakeholders have turned their attention to existing and proposed programs modeled, in part, after the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was a federal work relief program operating from 1933 to 1943 that put 3 million unemployed young men to work on projects aimed at the 'conservation and development of the natural resources of the United States.' Although the CCC program ended more than 70 years ago, the program has inspired other federal programs, such as the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) and the Public Lands Corps (PLC). These two programs are the primary federal job corps initiatives whose missions, similar to the CCC, include enhancing and maintaining America's federal and nonfederal lands and waterways. However, both the YCC and the PLC differ from the original CCC model in key ways. For example, whereas the CCC was a sweeping, federally managed and administered job relief program, the YCC and the PLC are comparatively smaller in scale and operate primarily through cooperative agreements between federal agencies and locally based corps organizations."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.
2020-09-03
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Confederate Symbols: Relation to Federal Lands and Programs [Updated July 28, 2020]
From the Introduction: "The iconography of the Confederate states in the U.S. Civil War is a contested part of American historical memory. [...] Congress is considering the role of Confederate symbols on federal lands and in federal programs. While no comprehensive inventory of such symbols exists, numerous federal agencies administer assets or fund activities in which Confederate memorials and references to Confederate history are present. The National Park Service (NPS, within the Department of the Interior), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of the Army within the Department of Defense (DOD) all administer national cemeteries that may display the Confederate flag at certain times. [...] This report focuses primarily on Confederate symbols administered by three federal entities-- NPS, VA, and DOD. Each of these entities manages multiple sites or programs that involve Confederate symbols. The report begins with a discussion of recent legislative proposals, and then discusses the agencies' current policies with respect to Confederate symbols, along with issues for Congress."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Comay, Laura B.; DeSantis, Mark K.; Salazar, Heather M. . . .
2020-07-28
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American Battlefield Protection Program [Updated April 2, 2020]
From the Document: "The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) promotes the preservation of significant sites where historic battles were fought on American soil. Initiated by the Secretary of the Interior in 1991, the program was officially authorized by Congress in 1996 in the American Battlefield Protection Act (P.L. 104-333; 54 U.S.C. §§308101-308103) and is currently administered by the National Park Service (NPS). For most of its existence, the ABPP comprised two distinct competitive grant programs: the Battlefield Planning Grant Program and the Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant Program. The 116th Congress authorized two new grant programs in 2019, bringing the total number of ABPP grant programs to four (see 'New ABPP Grant Programs')."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.
2020-04-02
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Removal of Nazi Symbols and Inscriptions on Headstones of Prisoners of War in VA National Cemeteries [June 26, 2020]
From the Overview: "On May 12, 2020, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation's Founder and President, Michael L. Weinstein, called on Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), Robert Wilkie, to immediately remove three World War II-era headstones located in two VA national cemeteries. These prisoner-of-war (POW) headstones each bear the Iron Cross insignia, representing a Prussian and German military honor that included a swastika when awarded by Nazi Germany. Two of these headstones also have a German-language inscription that translates to 'He died far from his home for Führer, people and Fatherland.'"
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Salazar, Heather M.; DeSantis, Mark K.; Torreon, Barbara Salazar . . .
2020-06-26
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Effect of COVID-19 on Federal Land Revenues [July 13, 2020]
From the Summary: "Four major federal land management agencies administer 606 million acres (95%) of the federal land in the United States (approximately 640 million acres). These agencies are the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS) in the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Forest Service (FS) in the Department of Agriculture. In addition, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in DOI, manages access to approximately 1.7 billion offshore acres in federal waters on the U.S. outer continental shelf. The agencies administer their lands for a variety of purposes, primarily related to conservation, recreation, and development of natural resources. This report focuses on the potential impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on certain revenue-generating activities, federal payment and revenue-sharing programs, and federal assistance programs administered by these resource-managing agencies."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Hardy Vincent, Carol; Comay, Laura B.; Crafton, R. Eliot . . .
2020-07-13
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Qatar: Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy [Updated June 13, 2019]
From the Document: "The State of Qatar has employed its ample financial resources to exert regional influence separate from and independent of Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman), an alliance of six Gulf monarchies. Qatar has intervened in several regional conflicts, including in Syria and Libya, and has engaged both Sunni Islamist and Iran-backed Shiite groups in Lebanon, Sudan, the Gaza Strip, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Qatar has maintained consistent dialogue with Iran while also supporting U.S. and GCC efforts to limit Iran's regional influence."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
DeSantis, Mark K.; Johnson, Sandra
2019-06-13
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Removal of Nazi Symbols and Inscriptions on Headstones of Prisoners of War in VA National Cemeteries [Updated February 12, 2021]
From the Overview: "During World War II, hundreds of thousands of German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) were held in the United States at various military installations. During this time, the U.S. military standardized gravestones for its servicemembers but not for POWs. Under article 120 of the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the United States must 'ensure that prisoners of war who have died in captivity are honourably buried ... and that their graves are respected, suitably maintained and marked so as to be found at any time.' [...] In 2020, three of these POW headstones became a topic of controversy. [...] On May 12, 2020, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation's Founder and President, Michael L. Weinstein, called on then-Secretary of VA [Department of Veterans Affairs], Robert Wilkie, to immediately remove the three World War II-era headstones located in the two VA national cemeteries. VA said it appears that these three headstones are the only ones bearing a swastika or a Nazi Germany-related inscription, and proceeded with the Section 106 Review process under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). On December 23, 2020, the VA cemetery director and workers at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery removed and replaced the two controversial headstones. As of February 2021, it is unknown whether the third headstone, located in Utah, has been removed or replaced."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Salazar, Heather M.; DeSantis, Mark K.; Torreon, Barbara Salazar . . .
2021-02-12
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Climate Change Adaptation: Department of the Interior [February 25, 2021]
From the Introduction: "This report does not analyze climate change science, the causes of multidecadal climate change, or the experienced or projected effects of climate change. Rather, this report describes activities related to climate change adaptation within the Department of the Interior (DOI). The information in this report reflects the state of climate change adaptation activities within DOI and its agencies as of the end of 2020 and does not address activities undertaken under the Biden Administration. Climate change adaptation activities described herein have been implemented both through administrative actions (e.g., executive and secretarial orders and actions taken within agencies' discretion under existing statutory authorities) and pursuant to statutory requirements. This report provides an overview of selected DOI departmental and agency policies, programs, and actions (herein collectively referred to as 'activities') aimed at adapting to experienced and projected effects of climate change. This report focuses on activities related to 'adaptation' to climate change rather than activities related to the 'mitigation' of climate change. For the purposes of this report, 'adaptation' includes activities undertaken to adjust to and prepare for, including through research, the experienced or projected effects of climate change; 'mitigation' includes activities directed at reducing the magnitude of climate change."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Crafton, R. Eliot; Comay, Laura B.; DeSantis, Mark K. . . .
2021-02-25
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