II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1131
To establish the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve in the State
of Georgia, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH25, 2025
Mr. O
SSOFF(for himself and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources
A BILL
To establish the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and
Preserve in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ocmulgee Mounds Na-4
tional Park and Preserve Establishment Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
(1) A
DVISORY COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 8
Council’’ means the Ocmulgee Mounds National 9
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Park and Preserve Advisory Council established 1
under section 5(a). 2
(2) M
AP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en-3
titled ‘‘Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Pre-4
serve Proposed Boundary’’, numbered 363/193026, 5
and dated September 2024. 6
(3) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7
the Secretary of the Interior. 8
(4) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 9
of Georgia. 10
(5) T
RIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 11
Muscogee (Creek) Nation. 12
SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF OCMULGEE MOUNDS NA-13
TIONAL PARK AND ESTABLISHMENT OF 14
OCMULGEE MOUNDS NATIONAL PRESERVE. 15
(a) R
EDESIGNATION OF OCMULGEEMOUNDSNA-16
TIONALPARK; LANDACQUISITION.— 17
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Ocmulgee Mounds Na-18
tional Historical Park designated by section 19
2102(b)(1)(A) of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conserva-20
tion, Management, and Recreation Act (16 U.S.C. 21
410yyy–3(b)(1)(A)) shall be known and designated 22
as the ‘‘Ocmulgee Mounds National Park’’. 23
(2) R
EFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, 24
map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of 25
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•S 1131 IS
the United States to the ‘‘Ocmulgee Mounds Na-1
tional Historical Park’’ shall be considered to be a 2
reference to the ‘‘Ocmulgee Mounds National Park’’. 3
(3) L
AND ACQUISITION FOR OCMULGEE 4
MOUNDS NATIONAL PARK .— 5
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may ac-6
quire land or any interest in land within the 7
area depicted as ‘‘National Park Area’’ on the 8
Map for inclusion in the Ocmulgee Mounds Na-9
tional Park by purchase from a willing seller, 10
donation, or exchange. 11
(B) A
DMINISTRATION.—Any land or inter-12
est in land acquired under subparagraph (A) 13
shall be— 14
(i) incorporated into the Ocmulgee 15
Mounds National Park; and 16
(ii) administered by the Secretary in 17
accordance with section 4. 18
(C) P
ROHIBITION ON USE OF EMINENT 19
DOMAIN.—Nothing in this paragraph authorizes 20
the use of eminent domain to acquire land or 21
an interest in land. 22
(b) E
STABLISHMENT OF OCMULGEEMOUNDSNA-23
TIONALPRESERVE.— 24
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date on 1
which the Secretary publishes in the Federal Reg-2
ister a notice that the Secretary has determined that 3
sufficient land within the area depicted as ‘‘National 4
Preserve Area’’ on the Map has been acquired under 5
paragraph (2) to constitute a manageable unit, there 6
is established the Ocmulgee Mounds National Pre-7
serve in the State as a unit of the National Park 8
System. 9
(2) L
AND ACQUISITION FOR OCMULGEE 10
MOUNDS NATIONAL PRESERVE .— 11
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may ac-12
quire land or any interest in land within the 13
area depicted as ‘‘National Preserve Area’’ on 14
the Map for inclusion in the Ocmulgee Mounds 15
National Preserve by purchase from a willing 16
seller, donation, or exchange. 17
(B) A
DMINISTRATION.—Any land or inter-18
est in land acquired under subparagraph (A) 19
shall be— 20
(i) incorporated into the Ocmulgee 21
Mounds National Preserve; and 22
(ii) administered by the Secretary in 23
accordance with section 4. 24
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(C) PROHIBITION ON USE OF EMINENT 1
DOMAIN.—Nothing in this paragraph authorizes 2
the use of eminent domain to acquire land or 3
an interest in land. 4
(3) B
OUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the 5
Ocmulgee Mounds National Preserve shall reflect 6
the land and interests in land acquired for the 7
Ocmulgee Mounds National Preserve under para-8
graph (2)(A). 9
(c) M
AP.— 10
(1) C
ORRECTIONS.—The Secretary may make 11
technical corrections to the Map. 12
(2) A
VAILABILITY.—The Map shall be on file 13
and available for public inspection in the appropriate 14
offices of the National Park Service. 15
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF OCMULGEE MOUNDS NA-16
TIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Ocmulgee Mounds National 18
Park and the Ocmulgee Mounds National Preserve shall— 19
(1) be administered as a single unit of the Na-20
tional Park System in accordance with— 21
(A) this section; 22
(B) the laws generally applicable to units 23
of the National Park System, including— 24
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(i) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, 1
and sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, 2
and 102101 of title 54, United States 3
Code; and 4
(ii) chapter 3201 of title 54, United 5
States Code; and 6
(C) any management plan developed under 7
subsection (b); and 8
(2) collectively be known and designated as the 9
‘‘Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve’’. 10
(b) M
ANAGEMENTPLAN.— 11
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 12
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 13
consultation with the Advisory Council, shall develop 14
a general management plan for the preservation and 15
use of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and 16
Preserve in accordance with section 100502 of title 17
54, United States Code. 18
(2) C
ULTURAL RESOURCES AND LAND -19
SCAPES.—The general management plan developed 20
under paragraph (1) shall provide for— 21
(A) the interpretation and preservation of 22
cultural resources of the Ocmulgee Mounds Na-23
tional Park and Preserve, including burial 24
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grounds and other sites that are sacred to the 1
Tribe; and 2
(B) an inventory of important cultural 3
landscapes, including flora, that should be pre-4
served, managed, developed, and maintained be-5
cause of the cultural, natural, and public use 6
significance of the cultural landscapes, includ-7
ing to the Tribe. 8
(c) H
UNTING ANDFISHING.— 9
(1) H
UNTING.—The Secretary shall allow hunt-10
ing on land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 11
within the boundaries of the Ocmulgee Mounds Na-12
tional Preserve in accordance with applicable Fed-13
eral and State laws. 14
(2) F
ISHING.—The Secretary shall allow fishing 15
on waters under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 16
within the boundaries of the Ocmulgee Mounds Na-17
tional Park and Preserve in accordance with applica-18
ble Federal and State laws. 19
(3) L
IMITATION.—The Secretary may designate 20
zones in which, and establish periods during which, 21
no hunting, fishing, or both, shall be allowed for rea-22
sons of public safety, administration, fish or wildlife 23
management, or emergencies. 24
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(4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall en-1
sure any regulations prescribing such restrictions 2
under this subsection shall be put into effect only 3
after consultation with the State. 4
(5) P
RIVATE LAND.—Nothing in this subsection 5
prohibits hunting, fishing, or trapping on private 6
land in accordance with applicable State and Federal 7
laws. 8
(6) C
ONGRESSIONAL INTENT .—Nothing in this 9
Act is intended to affect the jurisdiction or respon-10
sibilities of the State with respect to fish and wild-11
life. 12
(d) H
IRINGPREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall es-13
tablish policies to provide a preference for hiring members 14
of the Tribe for positions at the Ocmulgee Mounds Na-15
tional Park and Preserve, consistent with the Indian pref-16
erence policy established by the Secretary of the Interior 17
under section 12 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly 18
known as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’) (48 Stat. 986, 19
chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5116). 20
(e) E
FFECT ONADMINISTRATION OF BONDSWAMP 21
N
ATIONALWILDLIFEREFUGE.— 22
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-23
graph (2), nothing in this Act affects the continued 24
administration of the Bond Swamp National Wildlife 25
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Refuge by the Director of the United States Fish 1
and Wildlife Service as a unit of the National Wild-2
life Refuge System. 3
(2) C
ULTURAL INTERPRETATION ACTIVITIES .— 4
The Director of the National Park Service shall con-5
sult with the Tribe to provide cultural programs and 6
related activities with respect to the Bond Swamp 7
National Wildlife Refuge with the consent of the Di-8
rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-9
ice. 10
(f) T
RIBALCONSULTATION.—Nothing in this Act 11
prevents continued consultation with federally recognized 12
Indian Tribes pursuant to Executive Order 13175 (25 13
U.S.C. 5301 note; relating to consultation and coordina-14
tion with Indian Tribal governments). 15
(g) M
ILITARYOVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act 16
precludes— 17
(1) low-level overflights of military aircraft over 18
the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve; 19
(2) the designation of new units of special use 20
airspace over the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park 21
and Preserve; or 22
(3) the use or establishment of military flight 23
training routes over the Ocmulgee Mounds National 24
Park and Preserve. 25
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(h) SACRED ANDCULTURALSITES.—The Secretary 1
shall ensure the protection of sacred sites and cultural 2
sites within the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Pre-3
serve and provide access to the sites by members of Indian 4
Tribes who have ancestral connections to the Ocmulgee 5
River Corridor, in accordance with Public Law 95–341 6
(commonly known as the ‘‘American Indian Religious 7
Freedom Act’’) (42 U.S.C. 1996 et seq.) and Executive 8
Order 13007 (42 U.S.C. 1996 note; relating to Indian sa-9
cred sites). 10
SEC. 5. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 11
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 12
an advisory council, to be known as the ‘‘Ocmulgee 13
Mounds National Park and Preserve Advisory Council’’. 14
(b) D
UTIES.—The Advisory Council shall— 15
(1) advise the Secretary with respect to the de-16
velopment and implementation of the management 17
plan for the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and 18
Preserve; and 19
(2) not later than 3 years after the date of en-20
actment of this Act, submit to the Secretary rec-21
ommendations regarding how the Secretary would 22
consider and accommodate Tribal interests in the 23
management of the Ocmulgee Mounds National 24
Park and Preserve, including recommendations re-25
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garding how the Secretary and the Tribe may col-1
laborate with respect to land management, species 2
management, and the interpretation of cultural re-3
sources and resources of the Tribe at the Ocmulgee 4
Mounds National Park and Preserve. 5
(c) M
EMBERS.—The Advisory Council shall consist of 6
7 members, to be appointed by the Secretary, as follows: 7
(1) 1 member, who shall be a representative of 8
the applicable National Park Service office. 9
(2) 1 member, who shall be a representative of 10
the applicable United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-11
ice office. 12
(3) 3 members, who shall be representatives of 13
the Tribe. 14
(4) 1 member, who shall be a representative of 15
the State Department of Natural Resources. 16
(5) 1 member, who shall be appointed after con-17
sidering recommendations from the Middle Georgia 18
Regional Commission. 19
(d) A
PPLICABLELAW.—The Advisory Council shall 20
be subject to chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code 21
(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Federal Advisory Com-22
mittee Act’’) (other than section 1013 of that title), and 23
other applicable laws. 24
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(e) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Advisory Council 1
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint-2
ment. 3
(f) Q
UORUM.—A majority of the members of the Ad-4
visory Council (including not fewer than 1 member who 5
is a designated representative of the Tribe) shall con-6
stitute a quorum. 7
(g) F
REQUENCY OF MEETINGS.—The Advisory 8
Council shall meet 2 times per year, or more often as the 9
Chairperson of the Advisory Council determines to be ap-10
propriate. 11
(h) C
HAIRPERSON.—The Advisory Council shall— 12
(1) elect a chairperson of the Advisory Council 13
from among the members of the Advisory Council; 14
and 15
(2) establish any rules and procedures for the 16
Advisory Council that the Advisory Council deter-17
mines to be appropriate. 18
(i) N
OCOMPENSATION.—Members of the Advisory 19
Council shall serve without compensation. 20
SEC. 6. LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST. 21
All right, title, and interest of the United States in 22
and to the approximately 126 acres of land owned in fee 23
by the Tribe are hereby taken into trust for the benefit 24
of the Tribe. Such land— 25
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(1) is part of Indian country (as defined in sec-1
tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code) of the 2
Tribe; and 3
(2) shall be administered in accordance with the 4
laws and regulations generally applicable to property 5
held in trust by the United States for the benefit of 6
an Indian Tribe. 7
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 8
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 9
as are necessary to carry out this Act. 10
Æ
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