BLM Eastern States John D. Dingell, Jr. Act Designations
On March 12, 2019, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act became Public Law 116-9. This bill set forth provisions regarding various programs, projects, activities, and studies for the management and conservation of natural resources on federal lands. Specifically, the bill addresses, among other matters: land conveyances, exchanges, acquisitions, withdrawals, and transfers; national parks, monuments, memorials, wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, historic and heritage sites, and other conservation and recreation areas; wildlife conservation; helium extraction; small miner waivers of claim maintenance fees; wildland fire operations; the release of certain federal reversionary land interests; boundary adjustments; the Denali National Park and Preserve natural gas pipeline; fees for medical services in units of the National Park System; funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund; recreational activities on federal or nonfederal lands; a national volcano early warning and monitoring system; federal reclamation projects; and search-and recovery-missions. In addition, the bill reauthorizes the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation Program and the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program.
The BLM Eastern States is responsible for executing actions to achieve results in accordance with Sections 1009 and 2107 of the bill.
Section 1009, Lake Bistineau Land Title Stability (Louisiana): Directs the BLM to convey certain federal lands in the State of Louisiana, including mineral interests, to identified claimants who have had possession of the land and held it in good faith, and whom the act requires the BLM to identify for the issuance of land patents to each. As a condition of the conveyance, however, the BLM shall recover from the state of Louisiana all costs it incurred, prior to making the conveyance of omitted land to claimants.
Section 2107, Voyageurs National Park Boundary Adjustment (Minnesota): The BLM Eastern States transferred certain BLM public lands, totaling approximately 70 acres, to the National Park Service for addition to Voyageurs National Park.