El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail Act

Summary: Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer the trail.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) encourage volunteer groups to develop and maintain the trail; and (2) consult with affected Federal, State, local governmental, and tribal agencies in its administration. Authorizes the Secretary to coordinate trail activities and programs with the Government of Mexico and Mexican non-governmental organizations and academic institutions.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro 
National Historic Trail Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road of the 
        Interior), served as the primary route between the colonial 
        Spanish capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial 
        capitals at San Juan de Los Caballeros (1598-1600), San Gabriel 
        (1600-1609) and then Santa Fe (1610-1821).
            (2) The portion of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that 
        resided in what is now the United States extended between El 
        Paso, Texas and present San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, a distance 
        of 404 miles;
            (3) El Camino Real is a symbol of the cultural interaction 
        between nations and ethnic groups and of the commercial 
        exchange that made possible the development and growth of the 
        borderland;
            (4) American Indian groups, especially the Pueblo Indians 
        of the Rio Grande, developed trails for trade long before 
        Europeans arrived;
            (5) In 1598, Juan de Onate led a Spanish military 
        expedition along those trails to establish the northern portion 
        of El Camino Real;
            (6) During the Mexican National Period and part of the U.S. 
        Territorial Period, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro 
        facilitated the emigration of people to New Mexico and other 
        areas that would become the United States;
            (7) The exploration, conquest, colonization, settlement, 
        religious conversion, and military occupation of a large area 
        of the borderlands was made possible by this route, whose 
        historical period extended from 1598 to 1882;
            (8) American Indians, European emigrants, miners, ranchers, 
        soldiers, and missionaries used El Camino Real during the 
        historic development of the borderlands. These travelers 
        promoted cultural interaction among Spaniards, other Europeans, 
        American Indians, Mexicans, and Americans;
            (9) El Camino Real fostered the spread of Catholicism, 
        mining, an extensive network of commerce, and ethnic and 
        cultural traditions including music, folklore, medicine, foods, 
        architecture, language, place names, irrigation systems, and 
        Spanish law.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 5(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by designating the paragraphs relating to the 
        California National Historic Trail, the Pony Express National 
        Historic Trail, and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic 
        Trail as paragraphs (18), (19), and (20), respectively; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(21) El camino real de tierra adentro.--
            ``(A) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road of 
        the Interior) National Historic Trail, a 404 mile long trail 
        from the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas to San Juan Pueblo, New 
        Mexico, as generally depicted on the maps entitled `United 
        States Route: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro', contained in 
        the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b) entitled 
        `National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental 
        Assessment: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Texas-New 
        Mexico', dated March 1997.
            ``(B) Map.--A map generally depicting the trail shall be on 
        file and available for public inspection in the Office of the 
        National Park Service, Department of Interior.
            ``(C) Administration.--The trail shall be administered by 
        the Secretary of the Interior.
            ``(D) Land acquisition.--No lands or interests therein 
        outside the exterior boundaries of any federally administered 
        area may be acquired by the Federal Government for El Camino 
        Real de Tierra Adentro.
            ``(E) Volunteer groups; consultation.--The Secretary of the 
        Interior shall--
                    ``(i) encourage volunteer trail groups to 
                participate in the development and maintenance of the 
                trail; and
                    ``(ii) consult with other affected Federal, State, 
                local governmental, and tribal agencies in the 
                administration of the trail.
            ``(F) Coordination of activities.--The Secretary of the 
        Interior may coordinate with United States and Mexican public 
        and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and, 
        in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Government of 
        Mexico and its political subdivisions, for the purpose of 
        exchanging trail information and research, fostering trail 
        preservation and educational programs, providing technical 
        assistance, and working to establish an international historic 
        trail with complementary preservation and education programs in 
        each nation.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 18, 2000.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.