5.

1 ulations of the Secretary pursuant to this section shall be

2 put into effect only after consultation with the Arkansas

3 Fish and Game Commission.

4

SEC. 4. In order to alleviate the immediate real estate 5 tax losses sustained by counties as a result of any acquisi6 tion by the United States of property within the Buffalo 7 National River, the Secretary shall, as soon as practicable 8 after the end of the first fiscal year in which such property 9 has been acquired and as soon as practicable after the end 10 of each of the four succeeding fiscal years, make payments 11 to the county in which such property lies in an amount equal 12 to the taxes last assessed and levied on the property prior 13 to its acquisition by the United States. Funds for such 14 payments are hereby authorized to be appropriated from 15 the general fund of the Treasury.

16

SEC. 5. The Federal Power Commission shall not license 17 the construction of any dam,, water conduit, reservoir, power18 house, transmission line, or other project works under the 19 Federal Power Act (41 Stat. 1063), as amended (16 20 U.S.C. 791a et seq.), on or directly affecting the Buffalo 21 National River and no department or agency of the United 22 States shall assist by loan, grant, license, or otherwise in 23 the construction of any water resources project that would 24 have a direct and adverse effect on the values for which

6

1 such river was established, as determined by the Secretary. 2 Nothing contained in the foregoing sentence, however, shall 3 preclude licensing of, or assistance to, developments below 4 or above the Buffalo National River or on any stream 5 tributary thereto which will not invade the area or unreason6 ably diminish the scenic, recreational, and fish and wildlife 7 values present in the area on the date of approval of this 8 Act, No department or agency of the United States shall

9

recommend authorization of any water resources project

10 that would have a direct and adverse effect on the values for

11

:

which such river was established, as determined by the 12 Secretary, or request appropriations to begin construction 13 of any such project, whether heretofore or hereafter au14 thorized, without advising the Secretary in writing of its 15 intention so to do at least sixty days in advance, and without specifically reporting to the Congress in writing at the 17: time it makes its recommendation or request in what respect

16

18

19

construction of such project would be in conflict with the purposes of this Act and would affect the national river and 20 the values to be protected by it under this Act.

SEC. 6. The Secretary shall administer, protect, and develop the Buffalo National River in accordance with the

provisions of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), as amended and supplemented; except

that any other statutory authority available to the Secretary

7

1 for the conservation and management of natural resources

2

may

be utilized to the extent he finds such authority will

3 further the purposes of this Act.

4 SEC. 7. There are authorized to be appropriated not

5 to exceed $16,115,000 for acquisition of land and not to

6 exceed $12,102,000 for the development of the area as 7 provided for in this Act.

72-466 - 72 - 2

92D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

H. R. 9119

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 15, 1971

Mr. ALEXANDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of the Buffalo National River

1

in the State of Arkansas, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That for the purposes of conserving and interpreting an 4 area containing unique scenic and scientific features, and pre5 serving as a free-flowing stream an important segment of 6 the Buffalo River in Arkansas for the benefit and enjoyment 7 of present and future generations, the Secretary of the In8 terior (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") may 9 establish and administer the Buffalo National River. The

10 boundaries of the national river shall be as generally depicted on the drawing entitled "Proposed Buffalo National River"

11

I-0

2

1 numbered NR-BUF-7103 and dated December 1967, which 2 shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 3 offices of the National Park Service, Department of the 4 Interior. The Secretary may revise the boundaries of the 5 national river from time to time, but the total acreage 6 within such boundaries shall not exceed ninety-five thousand 7 seven hundred and thirty acres.

8 SEC. 2. (a) Within the boundaries of the Buffalo Na9 tional River, the Secretary may acquire lands and waters or 10 interests therein by donation, purchase with donated or 11 appropriated funds, or exchange, except that lands owned 12 by the State of Arkansas or a political subdivision thereof

13

may be acquired only by donation. When an individual tract 14 of land is only partly within the boundaries of the national 15 river, the Secretary may acquire all of the tract by any of 16 the above methods in order to avoid the payment of severance 17 costs. Land so acquired outside of the boundaries of the na18 tional river may be exchanged by the Secretary for non19 Federal lands within the national river boundaries, and any

20

20

portion of the land not utilized for such exchanges may be 21 disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Federal

Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat.

377; 40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.), as amended. With the concur

rence of the agency having custody thereof, any Federal

property within the boundaries of the national river may be