Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens tribal sovereignty, protects cultural and natural resources, and can boost local economies through National Park designation, but it increases federal spending and administrative complexity while shifting local tax/regulatory authority and creating potential jurisdictional and land‑use conflicts.
Indigenous tribal communities and tribal-lands residents gain stronger legal recognition, federal trust status for ~126 acres, clearer criminal-jurisdiction rules, and formal tribal seats on the advisory council, boosting tribal sovereignty, access to federal programs, and co‑management influence.
Local and regional economies (especially rural communities) stand to benefit from creation of a National Park and Preserve through increased tourism and federal conservation investment.
Tribal members gain prioritized hiring for Park jobs and related employment opportunities, improving local job access for the Tribe.
Taxpayers and federal budgets face increased and open‑ended costs because the bill permits federal acquisition and ongoing management spending without dollar caps or tight fiscal-year guidance.
Local governments and homeowners may lose property-tax revenue, permitting authority, and some regulatory control when land is taken into federal trust or acquired for the park.
Private landowners near the park risk land‑use restrictions, acquisition pressure, and delays in resolving protections because park/preserve establishment depends on sufficient land acquisition before formal protections and benefits begin.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Renames the park, creates an adjacent preserve, allows willing‑seller land acquisitions, places 126 acres of tribal land into trust, and requires a management plan and advisory council.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Thomas Jonathan Ossoff · Last progress March 25, 2025
Renames the existing Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park as Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and creates an adjacent Ocmulgee Mounds National Preserve to be administered together as a single National Park Service unit. The Secretary of the Interior may acquire land within the mapped boundary from willing sellers (no eminent domain) to form the park and preserve; the preserve becomes effective when enough land is acquired and a Federal Register notice is published. The bill also places about 126 acres of Tribe-owned fee land into trust for the Tribe, establishes an advisory council with Tribal representation, requires a general management plan within three years, allows hunting and fishing on preserve lands consistent with law, mandates tribal consultation and protection of sacred sites, and authorizes such sums as necessary to implement the Act.