[OR_Archaeology] Federal bill includes provisions for archaeological site easements

[Susan White]

FARM BILL INCLUDES PROVISIONS FOR EASEMENTS PROTECTING HISTORIC AND
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE EASEMENTS

Since 2003, approximately 450,000 acres have been protected by
easements on farmland with historic and archaeological significance
including farms near historic battlefield sites, farms adjacent to
centuries old Indian Mounds, and farms that have been in the same family
for several generations. 

This work is thanks to the Farm and Ranchland Land Protection Program
(FRPP) that, since the 2002 Farm Bill, has included historical and
archaeological sites as properties eligible for program funding. The
program provides federal matching dollars for voluntary, in-perpetuity
easements. The result: farmers are protected against property tax
escalation and are able to keep their property in agricultural use
rather than selling their property for commercial development. 

The program relies on:

*	Voluntary participation
*	Listing or eligibility for listing on the National Register of
Historic Places 
*	Fair market valuation of land before and after easement is
determined. State, tribal, local government or a non-governmental
organization with existing farmland protection programs may participate
in supplementing the easement cost. 
*	The owner agreeing to maintain the land's agricultural use and
convey certain rights, title and interest in property to above entities
but retains rights, title, and interest in the easement deed.
*	The owner contributing up to 25% of appraised fair market value
of the easement.
*	Federal share (USDA) being limited to 50% of purchased easement
price.

The program has supported protection of important historic places such
as:

*	The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village (1,700 acres and 19
buildings) National Historic Landmark, New Gloucester, ME
*	Wilson' Creek National Battlefield, (102 acres on the edge of
the battlefield) Springfield, MO
*	eHaan Ranch (4,395 acres.7 historic resources) Menard, MT
*	Dan Fife Farm (179 acres) site of Daniel Webster Homestead,
Merrimack County, NH
*	Aversboro Civil War Battlefield (125 acres) Harnett County, NC
*	Lampert Property (60 acres) adjacent to the Cowee Cherokee
burial mounds, North Western NC
*	Phillips Mill Creek Site, National Historic Landmark, dates back
to 1100 AD, Outside Cherokee, IA 
*	Weikert Farm at Gettysburg Battlefield - (115 acres) -
Gettysburg PA
*	Pritchard-Grim Tract at Kernstown & Payne's Farm Battlefields
(412 acres) Frederick County, VA


HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RULES: WHAT ADVOCATES NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ONE OF THE
MOST POWERFUL COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS

Preservation advocates generally focus their attentions on committees
with jurisdiction over tax incentives and preservation spending. But
many DC lobbyists and other governmental affairs professionals consider
the House Committee on Rules to be one of the most powerful in Congress.
The small committee, now numbering only 13 Representatives, has been
around since 1789 and serves as a clearinghouse or gatekeeper for the
thousands of bills that are reported out of committees each year. The
committee is like an arm of the Speaker of the House because it orders
the sequencing of bills coming to the House floor in keeping with the
Speaker's (and the majority's) priorities.

The House Committee on Rules establishes the rules by which a given
bill will be considered on the House floor. This includes how long a
given bill will be debated and what amendments will be considered. In
the case of the Farm Bill, a very high profile, arduously fought-over
piece of legislation, the committee received over 100 last minute
amendments. Only 31 of these actually made it past the committee's gate.


The rules are different for each piece of legislation, depending on the
given bill's scope and content.
Two members of the current Rules Committee's members are also members
of the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus: Rules Committee
Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Representative Jim McGovern
(D-MA). Other committee members include Representatives:  Alcee Hastings
(D-FL), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Dennie Cardoza (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT),
Kathy Caster (D-FL), Michael Arcuri (D-NY), Betty Sutton (D-OH), David
Dreier (R-CA, Ranking Minority Member), Lincoln Diaz Balart (R-FL), Doc
Hastings (R-WA), Pete Sessions (R-TX).