Sponsor
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Representative · D-DC
Representative · D-DC
The bill expands preservation, interpretation, and coordinated management of Civil War defenses—improving public access and local heritage opportunities—while creating modest to significant federal and local costs and raising property‑rights, administrative, and interpretation risks.
Visitors, students, and local communities gain clearer, expanded preservation, interpretation, and public access to Civil War defenses when the sites are designated and managed as a National Historical Park.
National Park Service coordination improves conservation, consistent maintenance, and visitor access across multiple fortifications and affiliated sites.
Local governments, nonprofits, and private owners can use cooperative agreements and technical assistance to preserve and interpret sites while retaining ownership and benefiting from federal expertise.
Taxpayers could face increased federal spending for establishing, operating, mapping, maintaining, and potentially purchasing properties for the new Park.
Property owners and local planners may see limits on land use, added oversight, or pressure to enter cooperative agreements or sell, affecting private property rights and privacy.
Local governments and partner organizations may incur new management requirements, resource commitments, or modest costs to participate in agreements, consultations, or affiliated-site stewardship.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates the Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical Park, lists included sites and eligible local affiliates, allows voluntary purchases and partnerships, and requires a one‑year interpretive study.
Official title: To designate the Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical Park comprised of certain National Park System lands, and by affiliation and cooperative agreements other historically significant resources, located in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland, that were part of the Civil War defenses of Washington and related to the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, to study ways in which the Civil War history of both the North and South can be assembled, arrayed, and conveyed for the benefit of the public, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 6, 2026 by Eleanor Holmes Norton · Last progress July 6, 2026
Designates and establishes the Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical Park by renaming the existing site, adding specified federally owned forts and affiliated areas, and authorizing cooperative agreements with locally or privately owned sites in D.C., northern Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to seek voluntary donations or purchases from willing sellers (no condemnation), consult with local officials and the public, provide technical assistance, accept donations, and produce a one-year report with recommendations on cost‑effective ways to interpret and present Civil War history.