Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve Act
This bill designates the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as a combined unit called the Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve, split into two components: the Apostle Islands National Park (the core area) and the Apostle Islands National Preserve (an adjacent portion). It sets boundaries based on specific maps and directs the National Park Service to administer the area as a single unit under general National Park System laws, while preserving certain pre-existing rights and practices (notably hunting, trapping, and fishing) within the Preserve and in line with applicable treaty, statute, and executive order rights. The act also preserves tribal rights and references to the prior lakeshore map, and it requires interpretive features at visitor centers to explain the area’s history and the act itself. In short, the bill changes the designation and administrative framework, clarifies boundaries, maintains certain traditional activities in the Preserve (and under tribal/separate authorities for the Park), and preserves tribal and private land rights consistent with existing laws.
Key Points
- 1Redesignation: Converts the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into a two-part designation—Apostle Islands National Park and Apostle Islands National Preserve—operating as a single unit of the National Park System.
- 2Boundaries: The National Park boundary is defined by a specified map labeled “Apostle Islands National Park Proposed Boundary,” and the National Preserve boundary is defined by a separate map labeled “Apostle Islands National Preserve Proposed Boundary.”
- 3Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping:
- 4- National Park area: Hunting and trapping are prohibited except as permitted by treaty, statute, or executive order relating to a Tribe.
- 5- National Preserve area: Hunting and trapping are allowed and administered in the same manner as before the act, subject to applicable laws, including the provisions of Public Law 91-424; fishing is also regulated in both areas as it was prior to enactment.
- 6Tribal Rights: The act preserves treaty and reserved rights related to hunting, trapping, and fishing, and clarifies that nothing in the act diminishes those rights on tribal lands or in areas governed by tribal authority.
- 7Map, References, and Interpretive Features: The act relies on a dated map for boundary references; it requires interpretive signage at principal visitor centers detailing regional history and a copy of the act.