I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2588 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to carry out a study of the feasibility 

of designating the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic 

Watertrail as a national historic trail. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2005 

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. 

GILCHREST, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MORAN

of Virginia, Mr. GOODE, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. 

HOYER, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. FORBES) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to carry out a study 

of the feasibility of designating the Captain John Smith 

Chesapeake National Historic Watertrail as a national 

historic trail. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Captain John Smith 

5 Chesapeake National Historic Watertrail Study Act of 

6 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) Captain John Smith’s role in the founding 

4 of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English 

5 settlement in North America, and in exploring and 

6 mapping the Chesapeake Bay region during the pe7 riod from 1607 to 1609 marks a defining period in 

8 the history of the United States; 

9 (2) the Captain John Smith Chesapeake Na10 tional Historic Watertrail traces the routes of 

11 Smith’s voyages from Jamestown to explore the 

12 Chesapeake Bay and tributaries of the Chesapeake 

13 Bay, from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay at Cape 

14 Henry to the northern reaches of the Bay at the 

15 mouth of the Susquehanna River, including the Po16 tomac River; and 

17 (3) the designation of the Captain John Smith 

18 Chesapeake National Historic Watertrail would— 

19 (A) serve as a reminder of— 

20 (i) the 400th anniversary of Captain 

21 John Smith’s founding of Jamestown; and 

22 (ii) the series of exploratory voyages 

23 by Smith around the Chesapeake Bay dur24 ing the period from 1607 to 1609; 

25 (B) give recognition to the Native Amer26 ican settlements, culture, and natural history of 
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•HR 2588 IH 

1 the Chesapeake Bay region during the 17th 

2 century; 

3 (C) complement the Chesapeake Bay Gate4 ways and Watertrails Network Initiative; and 

5 (D) provide new opportunities for edu6 cation, recreation, and heritage tourism in the 

7 Chesapeake Bay region. 

8 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF TRAIL FOR STUDY. 

9 Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 

10 U.S.C. 1244(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(43)(A) The Captain John Smith Chesapeake Na13 tional Historic Watertrail, a series of routes extending ap14 proximately 3000 miles along the Chesapeake Bay and the 

15 tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in the States of Vir16 ginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware and the Dis17 trict of Columbia that traces Captain John Smith’s voy18 ages charting the land and waterways of the Chesapeake 

19 Bay and the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. 

20 ‘‘(B) The study shall be conducted in consultation 

21 with Federal, State, regional, and local agencies and rep22 resentatives of the private sector, including the entities re23 sponsible for administering— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and 

25 Watertrails Network authorized under the Chesa-
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•HR 2588 IH 

1 peake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 461 

2 note; Public Law 105–312); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Chesapeake Bay Program authorized 

4 under section 117 of the Federal Water Pollution 

5 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1267).’’. 

Æ