I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3626

To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real 

de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. RODRIGUEZ (for himself, Mr. GONZALEZ, and Mr. DOGGETT) introduced 

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

A BILL

To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El 

Camino Real de los Tejas 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 ‘‘El Camino Real de 

5 los Tejas National Historic Trail Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 

7 Section 5(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 

8 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(23) EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), El Camino Real de los Tejas (The 

3 Royal Road of historic Tejas) National Historic 

4 Trail, a combination of historic routes totaling 

5 2,580 miles in length from the Rio Grande near 

6 Eagle Pass and Laredo, Texas, to Natchitoches, 

7 Louisiana, and including the Old San Antonio 

8 Road, as generally depicted on the maps enti9 tled ‘El Camino Real de los Tejas’, contained in 

10 the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b) 

11 entitled ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility 

12 Study and Environmental Assessment: El Ca13 mino Real de los Tejas, Texas-Louisiana’, dated 

14 July 1998. The National Park Service is au15 thorized to administer designated portions of 

16 this trail system as a national historic trail as 

17 set forth in this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT.—

19 ‘‘(i) PUBLICLY OWNED LANDS.—Con20 gress authorizes the establishment of El 

21 Camino Real de los Tejas national historic 

22 trail and the respective administration on 

23 those portions of the historic trail routes 

24 and related historic sites within publicly 

25 owned lands when such trail related re-
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1 sources meet the purposes of this Act or 

2 certification criteria set by the Secretary of 

3 the Interior per section 3(a)(3) of this Act. 

4 ‘‘(ii) PRIVATELY OWNED LANDS.—

5 Congress authorizes the establishment of 

6 El Camino Real de los Tejas national his7 toric trail and the respective administra8 tion on those portions of the historic trail 

9 routes and related historic sites within pri10 vately owned lands only through the vol11 untary and expressed consent of the owner 

12 and when such trails and sites qualify for 

13 certification as officially established compo14 nents of the national historic trail. The 

15 owner’s approval of a certification agree16 ment satisfies the consent requirement. 

17 Certification agreements are not legally 

18 binding and may be terminated at any 

19 time. Should land ownership change at a 

20 certified site, the certification will cease to 

21 be valid unless the new owner consents to 

22 a new agreement. 

23 ‘‘(C) PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTEC24 TION.—Nothing in this Act or in the establish25 ment of any portion of the national historic 
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1 trail authorizes any person to enter private 

2 property without the consent of the owner. 

3 Nothing in this Act or in the establishment of 

4 any portion of the national historic trail will au5 thorize the Federal Government to restrict pri6 vate property owner’s use or enjoyment of their 

7 property subject to other laws or regulations. 

8 Authorization of El Camino Real de los Tejas 

9 National Historic Trail under this Act does not 

10 itself confer any additional authority to apply 

11 other Federal laws and regulations on non-Fed12 eral lands along the trail. Laws or regulations 

13 requiring public entities and agencies to take 

14 into consideration a national historic trail shall 

15 continue to apply notwithstanding the fore16 going. Notwithstanding section 7(g) of this Act, 

17 the United States is authorized to acquire pri18 vately owned real property or an interest in 

19 such property for purposes of the national his20 toric trail only with the consent of the owner of 

21 such property and shall have no authority to 

22 condemn or otherwise appropriate privately 

23 owned real property or an interest in such prop24 erty for the purposes of El Camino Real de los 

25 Tejas National Historic Trail. 
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1 ‘‘(D) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The 

2 Secretary of the Interior may coordinate with 

3 United States and Mexican public and non4 governmental organizations, academic institu5 tions, and, in consultation with the Secretary of 

6 State, the Government of Mexico and its polit7 ical subdivisions, for the purpose of exchanging 

8 trail information and research, fostering trail 

9 preservation and educational programs, pro10 viding technical assistance, and working to es11 tablish an international historic trail with com12 plementary preservation and education pro13 grams in each nation.’’.

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