49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 109–549 

TO AMEND THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT TO UPDATE THE FEASIBILITY AND SUITABILITY STUDY ORIGINALLY PREPARED FOR THE 

TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL AND PROVIDE FOR THE INCLUSION OF NEW TRAIL SEGMENTS, LAND COMPONENTS, AND CAMPGROUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT TRAIL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

JULY 10, 2006.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3085] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 3085) to amend the National Trails System Act to update the 

feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for the Trail of 

Tears National Historic Trail and provide for the inclusion of new 

trail segments, land components, and campgrounds associated with 

that trail, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that 

the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. REVISION OF FEASIBILITY AND SUITABILITY STUDY OF TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL. 

Section 5(a)(16) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)(16)) is 

amended— 

(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘subsections’’ and inserting ‘‘sections’’; 

and 

(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

‘‘(C) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete the remaining criteria and submit to Congress 

a study regarding the feasibility and suitability of designating, as additional components of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, the following routes and land 

components by which the Cherokee Nation was removed to Oklahoma: 

‘‘(i) The Benge and Bell routes. 

‘‘(ii) The land components of the designated water routes in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. 

‘‘(iii) The routes from the collection forts in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to the emigration depots. 


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‘‘(iv) The related campgrounds located along the routes and land components 

described in clauses (i) through (iii).’’. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3085 is to amend the National Trails System 

Act to update the feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and provide for 

the inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds associated with that trail, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Congress designated the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in 

1987. The trail encompasses the primary water route and northern 

land route used during the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation 

from its homelands in the southeastern United States to presentday Oklahoma. H.R. 3085 would direct the Secretary of the Interior 

to study the feasibility and suitability of adding various land routes 

and sites to the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, including 

the popular Bell and Benge routes. As ordered reported, the bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit the report to Congress within six months of the date of enactment of this legislation. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3085 was introduced on June 28, 2005, by Congressman 

Zach Wamp (R–TN). The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks. On April 27, 2006, the Subcommittee held a hearing 

on the bill. On June 21, 2006, the Full Resources Committee met 

to consider the bill, at which time the Subcommittee on National 

Parks was discharged from further consideration of the bill by 

unanimous consent. Congressman Stevan Pearce (R–NM) offered 

an amendment in the nature of a substitute to expedite the time 

line for study to be completed as well as eliminate the Secretarial 

authority to designate additional segments to the Trail of Tears 

National Historic Trail. The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United 

States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 


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308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. The bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 3085—A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to update the feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for 

the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and provide for the 

inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds associated with the trail 

H.R. 3085 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to complete, over six months, a feasibility study for designating certain 

routes as components of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. 

Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates 

that carrying out the required work would cost less than $100,000 

over the next year. Enacting H.R. 3085 would not affect direct 

spending or revenues. 

H.R. 3085 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

On January 12, 2006, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

3085, as introduced in the House of Representatives on June 28, 

2005. The estimated cost of implementing the committee-approved 

version of the legislation is lower than the estimated cost for the 

introduced version of H.R. 3085 because the earlier version (as introduced in the House) would direct the NPS to designate as a component of the historic trail any studied segments that it might 

deem appropriate, without further Congressional authorization. 

Also, the introduced version of H.R. 3085 would provide three years 

for the required studies rather than six months. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 


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SECTION 5 OF THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT 

NATIONAL SCENIC AND NATIONAL HISTORICAL TRAILS

SEC. 5. (a) National scenic and national historic trails shall be 

authorized and designated only by Act of Congress. There are hereby established the following National Scenic and National Historic 

Trails: 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(16)(A) * * * 

(B) In carrying out his responsibilities pursuant to øsubsections¿ 

sections 5(f) and 7(c) of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

give careful consideration to the establishment of appropriate interpretive sites for the Trail of Tears in the vicinity of Hopkinsville, 

Kentucky, Fort Smith, Arkansas, Trail of Tears State Park, Missouri, and Tahlequah, Oklahoma. 

(C) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 

Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete the remaining criteria and submit to Congress a study regarding the feasibility and 

suitability of designating, as additional components of the Trail of 

Tears National Historic Trail, the following routes and land components by which the Cherokee Nation was removed to Oklahoma: 

(i) The Benge and Bell routes. 

(ii) The land components of the designated water routes in 

Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. 

(iii) The routes from the collection forts in Alabama, Georgia, 

North Carolina, and Tennessee to the emigration depots. 

(iv) The related campgrounds located along the routes and 

land components described in clauses (i) through (iii). 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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