16 U.S.C. § 3197 — Revenue-producing visitor services

Page 2265 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 3198 carrying out such purpose may enter into agreements permitting the Secretary to use such land for such purposes; (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary, under such terms and con- ditions as he determines are reasonable, may lease or acquire by purchase, donation, ex- change, or any other method (except con- demnation) real property (other than Federal land), office space, housing, and other nec- essary facilities which the Secretary deter- mines to be suitable for carrying out such pur- poses; and (3) the Secretary may construct, operate, and maintain such permanent and temporary buildings and facilities as he deems appro- priate on land which is within, or in the vicin- ity of, any conservation system unit and with respect to which the Secretary has acquired authority under this subsection to use the property for the purpose of establishing an ad- ministrative site or visitor facility under sub- section (a), except that the Secretary may not begin construction of buildings and facilities on land not owned by the United States until the owner of such land has entered into an agreement with the Secretary, the terms of which assure the continued use of such build- ings and facilities in furtherance of the pur- poses of this Act. (Pub. L. 96–487, title XIII, § 1306, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2479.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in subsecs. (a)(1) and (b)(3), is Pub. L. 96–487, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2371, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3101 of this title and Tables. § 3197. Revenue-producing visitor services (a) Continuation of existing visitor services Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary, under such terms and conditions as he determines are reasonable, shall permit any persons who, on or before January 1, 1979, were engaged in adequately providing any type of visitor service within any area established as or added to a conservation system unit to con- tinue providing such type of service and similar types of visitor services within such area if such service or services are consistent with the pur- poses for which such unit is established or ex- panded. (b) Preference Notwithstanding provisions of law other than those contained in subsection (a), in selecting persons to provide (and in contracting for the provision of) any type of visitor service for any conservation system unit, except sport fishing and hunting guiding activities, the Secretary— (1) shall give preference to the Native Cor- porations which the Secretary determines are most directly affected by the establishment or expansion of such unit by or under the provi- sions of this Act; (2) shall give preference to persons whom he determines, by rule, are local residents; and (3) shall, consistent with the provisions of this section, offer to Cook Inlet Region, Incor- porated, in cooperation with Village Corpora- tions within the Cook Inlet Region when ap- propriate, the right of first refusal to provide new revenue producing visitor services within the Kenai National Moose Range or that por- tion of the Lake Clark National Park and Pre- serve within the boundaries of the Cook Inlet Region that right to remain open for a period of ninety days as agreed to in paragraph VIII of the document referred to in section 12 of the Act of January 2, 1976 (Public Law 94–204). (c) ‘‘Visitor service’’ defined As used in this section, the term ‘‘visitor serv- ice’’ means any service made available for a fee or charge to persons who visit a conservation system unit, including such services as pro- viding food, accommodations, transportation, tours, and guides excepting the guiding of sport hunting and fishing. Nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of the Federal Gov- ernment or the State of Alaska to license and regulate transportation services. (Pub. L. 96–487, title XIII, § 1307, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2479; Pub. L. 105–333, § 10, Oct. 31, 1998, 112 Stat. 3134.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in subsecs. (b)(1) and (c), is Pub. L. 96–487, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2371, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. For com- plete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3101 of this title and Tables. Section 12 of the Act of January 2, 1976 (Public Law 94–204), referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is section 12 of Pub. L. 94–204, Jan. 2, 1976, 89 Stat. 1150, which is set out as a note under section 1611 of Title 43, Public Lands. AMENDMENTS 1998—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 105–333 substituted ‘‘Na- tive Corporations’’ for ‘‘Native Corporation’’ and ‘‘are most directly affected’’ for ‘‘is most directly affected’’. § 3198. Local hire (a) Program After consultation with the Office of Per- sonnel Management, the Secretary shall estab- lish an excepted service appointment authority, under which any individual who, by reason of having lived or worked in or near public lands, has special knowledge or expertise concerning the natural or cultural resources of public lands and the management thereof (as determined by the Secretary) shall be considered for selection for any position within public lands without re- gard to— (1) any provision of the civil service laws or regulations thereunder which require min- imum periods of formal training or experience, (2) any such provision which provides an em- ployment preference to any other class of ap- plicant is such selection, and (3) any numerical limitation on personnel otherwise applicable. Individuals appointed under this subsection shall not be taken into account in applying any personnel limitation described in paragraph (3).