I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1641 

To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for a study of the 

Cascadia Marine Trail. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. DICKS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for 

a study of the Cascadia Marine 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Cascadia Marine Trail Study Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 

7 (1) The Cascadia Marine Trail stretches from 

8 near the State capitol of Olympia north to the Cana9 dian border. 


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1 (2) The Cascadia Marine Trail was designated 

2 a National Recreation Trail in 1994. 

3 (3) The Cascadia Marine Trail’s ‘‘theme is to 

4 honor and preserve 5,000 years of marine travel’’. 

5 (4) The Cascadia Marine Trail was granted Na6 tional Millennium Trail status by the White House 

7 in 1999. 

8 (5) The Cascadia Marine Trail designated by 

9 American Canoe Association as a ACA-Rec10 ommended Water Trail in 2005. 

11 (6) The Cascadia Marine Trail is specifically 

12 designed for use by nonmotorized, beachable boats 

13 and no reservations are required at 90 percent of 

14 sites. 

15 (7) The goal of Cascadia Marine Trail is to 

16 have a site every 5 to 8 miles along Puget Sound for 

17 the comfort and safety of recreational kayakers, row18 ers, canoeists, and small-boat sailors. 

19 (8) The Cascadia Marine Trail hosts an entirely 

20 public network of waterways and shorelines includ21 ing salt and fresh water areas in a vital estuarine 

22 environment. 

23 (9) The marine mammals protected by the Ma24 rine Mammal Protection Act, including seals, otters, 

25 porpoise, and whales (including 3 pods of resident 


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1 Orca whales) are residents throughout the range of 

2 the Cascadia Marine Trail. 

3 (10) The area of Puget Sound estuary, where 

4 water that falls on the Cascade and Olympic Moun5 tains flows to meet the marine waters of the Sound 

6 land and water, is 2,458 square miles, and has ap7 proximately 2,500 miles of marine shorelines. 

8 (11) Approximately 10,000 rivers and streams 

9 flow into Puget Sound. 

10 (12) Puget Sound is home to a diverse popu11 lation of fish and wildlife including 200 species of 

12 marine fish, 26 species of marine mammals, 625 

13 species of marine seaweeds and sea grasses, 200 spe14 cies of marine birds, and at least 3,000 species of 

15 invertebrates. 

16 (13) The Puget Sound area is home to approxi17 mately 3,500,000 people. 

18 (14) Fifteen Indian tribes in the region have 

19 historically relied upon marine travel in non20 motorized vessels and continue to engage in cul21 turally relevant canoe travel through the Puget 

22 Sound. 

23 (15) Puget Sound is home to important com24 mercial and economic activity and the annual num25 ber of cargo vessels in the Sound in 2006 was 2,451 


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1 and the number of boats registered to residents liv2 ing on or near Puget Sound was 168,374 in 2003. 

3 (16) There are many recreational activities on 

4 Puget Sound and 35 State parks are located on 

5 Puget Sound. 

6 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF TRAIL FOR STUDY. 

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

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

10 ‘‘(ll) Cascadia Marine Trail, a series of water trail 

11 routes encompassing approximately 2,300 miles of shore12 line in the State of Washington, extending from Point 

13 Roberts near the Canadian border to the southern reach 

14 of Puget Sound near Olympia. In conducting the study, 

15 the Secretary shall coordinate with State and local govern16 ments and private entities, and may study connections to 

17 nearby sites of recreational, scenic, or historic significance 

18 that are not connected by the Cascadia Marine Trail.’’. 

Æ 


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