HLS 23RS-887 ENGROSSED 2023 Regular Session HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 42 BY REPRESENTATIVE CORMIER PARKS: Memorializes congress to establish Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish as a national park 1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION 2To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to establish 3 Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish as a national park. 4 WHEREAS, on August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the "Organic 5Act" creating the National Park Service, a federal bureau in the Department of the Interior 6responsible for maintaining national parks and monuments; and 7 WHEREAS, today, the National Park Service manages four hundred individual units 8which cover more than eighty-five million acres in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, 9and US territories; and 10 WHEREAS, the National Park System also includes more than one hundred fifty 11related areas and numerous programs that assist in conserving the nation's natural and 12cultural heritage; and 13 WHEREAS, Fort Jackson is situated thirty-two nautical miles from the Gulf of 14Mexico and sixty-five miles in a southeasterly direction from New Orleans on the west bank 15of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish and possesses nationally significant natural 16and cultural resources; and 17 WHEREAS, construction of Fort Jackson was begun in 1822 upon the 18recommendation of its namesake General Andrew Jackson who recognized the need for 19additional fortifications to protect the mouth of the Mississippi River from attack; and 20 WHEREAS, the construction of star-shaped Fort Jackson was completed in 1832, 21and the fort was readied for service during the Mexican War in 1846; and Page 1 of 2 HLS 23RS-887 ENGROSSED HCR NO. 42 1 WHEREAS, in April of 1862, Fort Jackson was the site of an important battle of the 2Civil War, sustaining days of shelling as Confederate troops fought, to prevent Union forces 3from reaching New Orleans; and 4 WHEREAS, Fort Jackson was donated to Plaquemines Parish in 1960 and since that 5time the parish and its people have invested in the conservation and renovation of the fort, 6which efforts have made it one of the principal historical attractions in the region. 7 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby 8memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to establish 9Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish as a national park. 10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the 11presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the 12United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation. DIGEST The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)] HCR 42 Engrossed 2023 Regular Session Cormier Memorializes congress to take such actions as are necessary to establish Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish as a national park. Page 2 of 2