Air Force memorial gets new home—at no cost to taxpayers
S. 1876 — Stratton Ridge Air Force Memorial Act · Filed by Thom Tillis (R-NC) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced May 22, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to allow relocation of a memorial honoring nine Air Force crew members who died in a 1982 plane crash from private land to a rest area in North Carolina's Nantahala National Forest. The memorial can be moved with the landowner's consent and approval from state and federal highway authorities, but no federal funds may be used—the requesting party must pay all costs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to permit relocation of a specific military memorial from private to public land, with clear cost and approval conditions. It is a straightforward commemorative and administrative measure.
What the text implies
- The bill requires the requesting party to bear all costs, including environmental analysis and special use authorization processing—this shifts administrative burden and expense to private parties seeking to honor the fallen, potentially creating a barrier to memorial installation on public lands.
- The Secretary retains broad discretion to impose 'any terms and conditions' deemed appropriate, including prevention of memorial expansion—this grants significant regulatory control over a private commemorative effort with minimal legislative guardrails.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill enables a private memorial to a fallen military crew to be relocated to a public rest area at no cost to taxpayers, with appropriate environmental and site review. Citizens gain a dignified public space to honor the fallen without public expense.
Named in the bill
Secretary of Agriculture, Nantahala National Forest, Cherokee National Forest, Cherohala Skyway, Graham County, North Carolina, North Carolina Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Air Force
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- May 22, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 22, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry”
- Oct 21, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,284 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Air Force memorial gets new home—at no cost to taxpayers” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s1876 Report an error
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