THE DAILY KERNEL

H. R. 6305 was reviewed this morning by the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. I listened to the hearing via audio webcast from the subcommittee website.

Initial discussion was directed towards the renaming of the “Golden Gate National Recreation Area” to the Golden Gate National Park. There seemed to be a lot of support for this idea. But the idea goes even further:

We would then recommend including in the same section of the park’s law, a separate provision stating that Golden Gate National Park, Muir Woods National Monument, Ft. Point National Historic Site, and the Presidio, each of which have their own governing laws, shall collectively be known as the Golden Gate National Parks.  Finally, we would recommend the Secretary be given the authority to use this collective name for public relations and other administrative purposes, similar to how we use the name and reference similar groupings of park resources such as the National Parks of New York Harbor, or Redwood National and State Parks.   

The current version of the bill, H.R. 6305 also contains “Technical Corrections” to the Presidio Trust Act. 

Craig Middleton, Executive Director of the Presidio Trust, left the Main Post Meeting last night at around 9:30 p.m. PST, caught the red eye for Washington D.C., and provided testimony at the subcommittee hearing this morning. The hearing began at 7:00 a.m. PST. I salute you, Craig. 

Daniel Wenk, Deputy Director of the National Park Service also provided comments on the entire bill and specifically the Presidio Trust technical corrections, as well. 

The Trust and Park Service are trying to work out funding for law enforcement at the Presidio, as the costs are increasing.

With regard to expanding the role of the Trust in interpretive services and education the Park Service welcomed the Trust’s assistance. The Park Service wishes to retain overall responsibility for oversight of the programs and wanted all programs to be conducted in accordance with National Park Service Standards for interpretation and education.

The Park Service also wanted to retain jurisidiction of Building 102 until a mutually agreeable alternate site is selected. The Park Service wishes for the Presidio to be retained within the National Park system. The NPS was supportive of Fort Scott Task Force and wanted to ensure that the Park Service’s interests were represented on the Task Force.

When asked about the Park Service requests, Craig Middleton seemed to indicate that these items could be worked out. He did indicate that he would like clarification on the National Park Service Standards for Interpretation and Education.

–Doug Kern

Tags: Craig Middleton, Legislation, National Park Service, Presidio Trust, Presidio Trust Act

Tags: Legislation by Doug
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As I mentioned in this post, the Trust is seeking to change the Presidio Trust Act on a variety of issues, noted in the proposed legislation as “Technical Corrections.” I pointed out that as of July 7th, H.R. 6305, was not calendared for discussion. Today, the 9th, I find that the bill was on the calendar for July 8th, 2008.  

???

The bill is now on the subcommittee calendar for July 15th, 2008. H.R. 6305 is currently the last item of eight bills to be discussed. According to the Subcommittee website today, the hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. (EST), is located in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building and will be webcast live on the Committee’s Web site at

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov

I have not located any archives of previous webcasts to verify what may have happened yesterday in subcommittee on this item. I have not yet located where there may be any meeting minutes or discussion recorded.

I’ll be watching beginning at 7:00 a.m. next Tuesday morning, following our all-night marathon meeting this coming Monday with the Trust Board regarding the Main Post SEIS.

–Doug Kern

 

Tags: Legislation, Presidio Trust Act

Tags: Legislation by Doug
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Amy Meyer, one of the original members of the Presidio Trust Board, recalled for us recently the findings of the Presidio Trust Act.

Any consideration of a complex and controversial Presidio proposal such as the Main Post SEIS should be informed by the legislation that actually created the Presidio Trust.

From the Presidio Trust Act. [Emphasis is mine. -ed.]

SEC. 101.  FINDINGS. 

The Congress finds that— 
(1) the Presidio, located amidst the incomparable scenic splendor of the Golden Gate, is one of America’s great natural historic sites; 
(2) the Presidio was the oldest continuously operating military post in the Nation dating from 1776, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962; 
(3) preservation of the cultural and historic integrity of the Presidio for public use recognizes its significant role in the history of the United States; 
(4) the Presidio, in its entirety, is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in accordance with Public Law 92-589; 
(5) as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Presidio’s significant natural, historic, scenic, cultural, and recreational resources must be managed in a manner which is consistent with sound principles of land use planning and management, and which protects the Presidio from development and uses which would destroy the scenic beauty and historic and natural character of the area and cultural and recreational resources; 
(6) removal and/or replacement of some structures within the Presidio must be considered as a management option in the administration of the Presidio; and 
(7) the Presidio will be managed through an innovative public/private partnership that minimizes cost to the United States Treasury and makes efficient use of private sector resources. 

Does it get any simpler than that?

–Doug Kern

Tags: Legislation, main post, SEIS

Tags: New Construction by Doug
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The Trust is adding interpretation and educational programming to its real estate development purpose.

While you were away, Speaker Pelosi introduced H. R. 6305 (enter bill number) to the House of Representatives on June 19, 2008. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources. On June 25, 2008 the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. As of this posting the bill does not appear to have been calendared for discussion. 

I had heard that the Golden Gate National Recreation Area wanted to change its name to Golden Gate National Parks. This has been floating around for some time. Sec. 2 of this bill does deal with that change. 

In addition, there are items in the bill that modify the current version of the Presidio Trust Act.  Sec. 3, “Presidio Trust Technical Corrections,”

• “…the Trust shall provide interpretive services, visitor orientation and educational programs within the Presidio.” 
• Building 102 will no longer be the visitor center. Another site will be selected.
• Funding for law enforcement will be appropriated rather than paid for out of Presidio Trust proceeds.
• The Trust will no longer lease properties to tenants that contribute to the general objectives of the General Management Plan for the Presidio, but rather lease properties that contribute to the Presidio Trust Management Plan and “tenants that provide high quality public programming.”
• The Presidio will no longer revert back to the General Services Administration if it does not meet financial goals.

A new Sec. 108 creates a twelve person advisory task force to “provide expertise and advice to the Board of Directors regarding the preservation and reuse of Fort Scott.” The 12 members are nominated by the Chairman of the Presidio Trust, and appointed by a majority vote of the Trust Board. The Task Force will serve for two years.

 

–Doug Kern

Tags: Legislation, Nancy Pelosi, Presidio Trust

Tags: Milestone by Doug
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