American Sovereignty and Monterey Historic Military Site Study Act

This Act may be cited as the “American Sovereignty and Monterey Historic Military Site Study Act”.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Lower Presidio Historic Park was a center of indigenous culture and a hub for trading throughout the Americas for thousands of years prior to European and American exploration.

(2) The Esselen were the first peoples of the land, followed by the Rumsen, who collectively stewarded the land for over 12,000 years.

(3) Middens from the indigenous Esselen and Rumsen peoples represent the earliest fisheries of abalone, collected and traded across the continent for food, decoration, clothing, and cultural identity.

(4) The Lower Presidio Historic Park hill was a Tribal Village and present Monterey was the Tribal Area of Achasta.

(5) The site served as burial grounds for the Esselen and Rumsen people who continue to celebrate and host cultural gatherings at the park today.

(6) Lower Presidio Historic Park was originally explored in 1542 by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and the Monterey Bay was named as Bay of Pines and claimed for New Spain.

(7) The site was explored by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 and renamed Monterey Bay after Gaspar de Zúñiga Acevedo y Fonseca, the Viceroy of New Spain and Count of Monterrey.

(8) Lower Presidio Historic Park was the site of the first Catholic Mass by Father Junípero Serra and Don Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira on June 3, 1770, marking the founding of the Presidio of Monterey and the beginning of the Spanish occupation of Alta California.

(9) From 1777 to 1849, Monterey served as the capital of Alta California, with the Royal Presidio of Monterey serving as the seat of government.

(10) Beginning in 1792, the Spanish fort “El Castillo de Monterey” was built at Lower Presidio Historic Park to prevent intrusion from European, Russian, British, and Indigenous forces.

(11) The site was the location of the only land and sea battle on the west coast when Argentinian Privateer Hippolyte Bouchard, sailing for Argentina, landed in 1818 and raided Monterey.

(12) El Castillo de Monterey assisted in the 1836 overthrow of Mexican Governor Nicolás Rodríguez by American Isaac Graham and Californio Juan Bautista Alvarado, which led to the “Graham Affair” of 1840.

(13) The site was the location of the attempted 1842 seizure of Alta California for the United States by Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, the Commander of the United States Navy Pacific Squadron, aboard USS United States, USS Cyane, USS Yorktown, USS Dale, and USS Shark.

(14) On July 7, 1846, Commodore John Drake Sloat of the United States Navy, along with 165 sailors and 85 marines, seized Alta California for the United States from USS Savannah, USS Cyane, and USS Levant. The brave soldiers, sailors, and marines who raised the American flag at Monterey opened California to American settlement, enterprise, and prosperity.

(15) The site was home to the first major United States Army fort on the west coast, initially called the Monterey Redoubt, then Fort Stockton, and later Fort Mervine. The fort was built by the United States Army, and among those involved in its construction were future Civil War generals Edward Otho Cresap Ord, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Henry Wager Halleck.

(16) The site was later designated as the Monterey Military Reservation and selected as the location for an expanded military base following the annexation of the Philippine Islands in 1901. The site was renamed Ord Barracks in 1903.

(17) The segregated 9th Calvary Regiment, better known as the Buffalo Soldiers, served at Ord Barracks between 1902 and 1904. The Buffalo Soldiers arrived after service in Cuba and the Philippines and departed Monterey in 1904 to become the first park rangers at Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks, marking the site as a starting point along the historic California Buffalo Soldiers Trail.

(18) In 1904, War Department General Order 142 redesignated Ord Barracks, including Lower Presidio Historic Park, as the Presidio of Monterey to preserve the memory of the original Spanish Royal Presidio of Monterey.

(19) In 1910, veterans of the Mexican-American War unveiled the Sloat Monument at Lower Presidio Historic Park to recognize their contributions.

(20) In 1924, the United States Army assisted to fight the Associated Oil fire that threatened to burn down fisheries industries at Cannery Row and Fisherman’s Wharf. Private Eustace Watkins of Battery E., 76th Field Artillery Regiment and Private John Bolio of Headquarter Troop, 11th Cavalry Regiment from the Presidio lost their lives putting out the fire.

(21) In 1946, the Military Intelligence Service Language School was established at the Presidio. It was renamed the Defense Language Institute in 1963. The Defense Language Institute trains American military personnel in critical foreign languages, directly supporting United States national security, military superiority, and the protection of American interests worldwide.

(22) In 1992, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary was established and protects nationally significant cultural, archeological, and historic resources. Hundreds of shipwrecks have occurred in the sanctuary and were a result of the significant maritime exploration and commerce that historically occurred in the region, including at Lower Presidio Historic Park.

(23) Lower Presidio Historic Park is located within the U.S. Army Garrison Presidio of Monterey, which has operated as an active United States military installation since 1846, and has been open to the public under a lease agreement with the City of Monterey since 1996.

(24) This site deserves to be designated as a unit of the National Park System as a National Historic Park due to its unparalleled significance in recognizing the contributions of Indigenous cultures, establishing American sovereignty on the west coast, demonstrating American military strength, and preserving the legacy of the brave American patriots who secured California for the United States of America.

In this Act:

(1) Secretary.— The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.

(2) Study area.— The term study area means Lower Presidio Historic Park in Monterey, California.

(a) In general.— The Secretary shall conduct a special resource study of the study area.

(b) Contents.— In conducting the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

(1) evaluate the national significance of the study area;

(2) determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the study area as a unit of the National Park System;

(3) consider other alternatives for preservation, protection, and interpretation of the study area by the Federal Government, State or local government entities, Tribes, or private and nonprofit organizations;

(4) consult with interested Federal agencies, State or local governmental entities, Tribes, private and nonprofit organizations, or any other interested individuals; and

(5) identify cost estimates for any Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance associated with the alternatives described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(c) Applicable Law.— The study required under subsection (a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 100507 of title 54, United States Code.

(d) Report.— Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are first made available to carry out the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that describes—

(1) the results of the study; and

(2) any conclusions and recommendations of the Secretary.