Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 120.djvu/1774

 PUBLIC LAW 109–317—OCT. 11, 2006

120 STAT. 1743

Public Law 109–317 109th Congress An Act To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Castle Nugent Farms located on St. Croix, Virgin Islands, as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

Oct. 11, 2006 [H.R. 318]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE STUDY REGARDING CASTLE NUGENT FARMS.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: (1) Castle Nugent Farms, located on the southeastern shore of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, is the largest parcel of privately-held land in the Virgin Islands and has been an operating cattle ranch for 50 years. (2) This land has the largest and healthiest fringing coral reef anywhere in the Virgin Islands. (3) It consists of Caribbean dry forest and pasturelands with considerable cultural resources including both pre-Columbian and post-European settlement. (4) Castle Nugent Farms contains a large historic 17th century Danish estate house that sits on over 4 miles of pristine Caribbean oceanfront property. (5) In addition to being an area for turtle nesting and night heron nesting, it is the home for the Senepol cattle breed, a unique breed of cattle that was developed on St. Croix in the early 1900’s to adapt to the island’s climate. (b) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Interior shall carry out a study regarding the suitability and feasibility of designating Castle Nugent Farms as a unit of the National Park System.

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