Introduced on January 15, 2013 Public Law Pub.L. 113–131 | Number of Co-Sponsors 0 | |
 | ||
Full title To provide for the conveyance of certain cemeteries that are located on National Forest System land in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. Introduced in 113th United States Congress Sponsored by Rep. Kristi L. Noem (R, SD-0) | ||
The Black Hills Cemetery Act (H
Contents
Background
There are nine specific cemeteries listed in the bill that are currently cared for by local community groups. The bill is designed to transfer ownership of the cemetery land to those groups. The House of Representatives in the 112th United States Congress passed H
One of the cemeteries was started in the mid-1870s and ran out of space in 2008. The bill would expand that cemetery.
Provisions/Elements of the bill
This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.
The Black Hills Cemetery Act would direct the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to convey, to the local communities in South Dakota that are currently managing specified community cemeteries, all interest of the United States in the parcels of National Forest System land that contain the cemeteries. The Act would also direct the Department of Agriculture to convey up to an additional two acres adjoining each cemetery to ensure that such conveyances include unmarked gravesites and allow for the expansion of those cemeteries.
The Act would specify three requirements. First, each such conveyance would be subject to the condition that the recipient accept the conveyed real property in the condition it is in at the time of conveyance. Second, the conveyed lands must continue to be used in the same manner and for the same purposes as they were used immediately before their conveyance. Finally, the recipients of the parcels of the real property conveyed under this Act must bear the cost of the survey for their particular parcel.
Procedural history
The Black Hills Cemetery Act H
The Black Hill Cemetery Act was received in the Senate on May 7, 2013 and referred to the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Senate voted on July 9, 2014 to pass the bill by unanimous consent. The bill was then signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 25, 2014.
Debate
Supporters argued that it would be easier to care for the cemeteries if they were owned and managed by the local community instead of the U.S. Forest Service. Supporters also argued that it was important to expand the cemeteries by two acres so that locals could be buried there. One resident said that it was because "families who have guild homes, had kids, grew up here, falling in love with the hills like we have and i hope one day in the distant future to call this my final resting place because this is home."