Title 16 › CHAPTER 1 — NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › SUBCHAPTER LIX–QQ — HARRIET TUBMAN UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK › § 410sss
Creates the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland and sets rules for its boundaries, land buying, and how it will be run. The law defines four terms: "historical park" means the Harriet Tubman park created here; "map" means the map titled "Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, Proposed Boundary and Authorized Acquisition Areas", numbered T20/80,001A, dated March 2014; "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior; and "State" means Maryland. The park covers the area shown as the park boundary on that map, and the Secretary can add nearby lands shown as "Authorized Acquisition Areas" only by buying from willing sellers, accepting donations, or trading for land. The Secretary may not use condemnation to take land. When land is added, the park boundary will be changed to include it. The map will be available for public viewing. The park’s purpose is to protect and explain the places tied to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. The Secretary will run the new park together with the part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument that the Park Service manages, following this law, Presidential Proclamation Number 8943, and normal National Park Service laws. Within one year after December 19, 2014, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must agree on how the Park Service can do archaeological work and public interpretation inside Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge where it relates to Harriet Tubman, consistent with refuge rules. The Secretary can give tours outside the park in three Maryland counties, make agreements with state and local groups, schools, nonprofits, and private people to restore, study, or interpret sites (if there is reasonable public access), and work with the State to build and run a joint visitor center on State land. Federal money for such projects may not pay more than 50 percent of the total cost. The Secretary must make a general management plan within three years after funds are provided, consult the State, hold at least one public meeting, publish a draft online, and coordinate with the Blackwater Refuge, the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Full Legal Text
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 410sss
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110