II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 845 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 

Received 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish in the 

Federal Register a strategy to significantly increase the 

role of volunteers and partners in National Forest System trail maintenance, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. National forest system trails volunteer and partnership strategy. 

Sec. 5. Priority trail maintenance program. 

Sec. 6. Cooperative agreements. 

Sec. 7. Stewardship credits for outfitters and guides. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The National Forest System features a 

9 world-class trail system with over 157,000 miles of 

10 trails that provide world-class opportunities for hik11 ing, horseback riding, hunting, mountain bicycling, 

12 motorized vehicles, and other outdoor activities. 

13 (2) According to the Government Accountability 

14 Office, the Forest Service is only able to maintain 

15 about one-quarter of National Forest System trails 

16 to the agency standard, and the agency faces a trail 

17 maintenance backlog of $314 million, and an addi18 tional backlog of $210 million in annual mainte19 nance, capital improvements, and operations. 

20 (3) The lack of maintenance on National Forest 

21 System trails threatens access to public lands, and 

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1 en public safety, and increase future maintenance 

2 costs. 

3 (4) Federal budget limitations require solutions 

4 to National Forest System trail maintenance issues 

5 that make more efficient use of existing resources. 

6 (5) Volunteers, partners, and outfitters and 

7 guides play an important role in maintaining Na8 tional Forest System trails, and a comprehensive 

9 strategy is needed to ensure that volunteers and 

10 partners are used as effectively as possible. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT.—The term ‘‘Ad14 ministrative Unit’’ means a national forest or na15 tional grassland. 

16 (2) OUTFITTER OR GUIDE.—The term ‘‘out17 fitter or guide’’ means an individual, organization, 

18 or business who provides outfitting or guiding serv19 ices, as defined in section 251.51 of title 36, Code 

20 of Federal Regulations. 

21 (3) PARTNER.—The term ‘‘partner’’ means a 

22 non-Federal entity that engages in a partnership. 

23 (4) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘partnership’’ 

24 means arrangements between the Department of Ag25 riculture or the Forest Service and a non-Federal 


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1 entity that are voluntary, mutually beneficial, and 

2 entered into for the purpose of mutually agreed-upon 

3 objectives. 

4 (5) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 

5 means a well-defined region on National Forest Sys6 tem land selected by the Secretary under section 

7 5(a). 

8 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

10 (7) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘strategy’’ means 

11 the National Forest System Trails Volunteer and 

12 Partnership Strategy authorized by section 4(a). 

13 (8) TRAIL MAINTENANCE.—The term ‘‘trail 

14 maintenance’’ means any activity to maintain the 

15 usability and sustainability of trails within the Na16 tional Forest System, including— 

17 (A) ensuring trails are passable by the 

18 users for which they are managed; 

19 (B) preventing environmental damage re20 sulting from trail deterioration; 

21 (C) protecting public safety; and 

22 (D) averting future deferred maintenance 

23 costs. 

24 (9) VOLUNTEER.—The term ‘‘volunteer’’ means 

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1 retary without compensation under the Volunteers in 

2 the National Forests Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 558a 

3 et seq.). 

4 SEC. 4. NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM TRAILS VOLUNTEER 

5 AND PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pub8 lish in the Federal Register a strategy to significantly in9 crease the role of volunteers and partners in trail mainte10 nance. 

11 (b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—The strategy required 

12 by subsection (a) shall— 

13 (1) augment and support the capabilities of 

14 Federal employees to carry out or contribute to trail 

15 maintenance; 

16 (2) provide meaningful opportunities for volun17 teers and partners to carry out trail maintenance in 

18 each region of the Forest Service; 

19 (3) address the barriers to increased vol20 unteerism and partnerships in trail maintenance 

21 identified by volunteers, partners, and others; 

22 (4) prioritize increased volunteerism and part23 nerships in trail maintenance in those regions with 

24 the most severe trail maintenance needs, and where 


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1 trail maintenance backlogs are jeopardizing access to 

2 National Forest lands; and 

3 (5) aim to increase trail maintenance by volun4 teers and partners by 100 percent by the date that 

5 is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

6 Act. 

7 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—As a component of 

8 the strategy, the Secretary shall study opportunities to im9 prove trail maintenance by addressing opportunities to use 

10 fire crews in trail maintenance activities in a manner that 

11 does not jeopardize firefighting capabilities, public safety, 

12 or resource protection. Upon a determination that trail 

13 maintenance would be advanced by use of fire crews in 

14 trail maintenance, the Secretary shall incorporate these 

15 proposals into the strategy, subject to such terms and con16 ditions as the Secretary determines to be necessary. 

17 (d) VOLUNTEER LIABILITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Volunteers 

19 in the National Forests Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

20 558c) is amended by adding at the end the following 

21 new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(e) For the purposes of subsections (b), (c), and (d), 

23 the term ‘volunteer’ includes a person providing volunteer 

24 services to the Secretary who— 


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1 ‘‘(1) is recruited, trained, and supported by a 

2 cooperator under a mutual benefit agreement with 

3 the Secretary; and 

4 ‘‘(2) performs such volunteer services under the 

5 supervision of the cooperator as directed by the Sec6 retary in the mutual benefit agreement, including di7 rection that specifies— 

8 ‘‘(A) the volunteer services to be performed 

9 by the volunteers and the supervision to be pro10 vided by the cooperator; 

11 ‘‘(B) the applicable project safety stand12 ards and protocols to be adhered to by the vol13 unteers and enforced by the cooperator; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the on-site visits to be made by the 

15 Secretary, when feasible, to verify that volun16 teers are performing the volunteer services and 

17 the cooperator is providing the supervision 

18 agreed upon.’’. 

19 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Not later 

20 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act, the Secretary shall adopt regulations imple22 menting this section. These regulations shall ensure 

23 that the financial risk from claims or liability associ24 ated with volunteers undertaking trail maintenance 

25 is shared by all administrative units. 


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1 (e) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall develop the 

2 strategy in consultation with volunteer and partner trail 

3 maintenance organizations, a broad array of outdoor 

4 recreation stakeholders, and other relevant stakeholders. 

5 (f) VOLUNTEER AND PARTNERSHIP COORDINA6 TION.—The Secretary shall require each administrative 

7 unit to develop a volunteer and partner coordination im8 plementation plan for the strategy which clearly defines 

9 roles and responsibilities for the administrative unit and 

10 district staff, and includes strategies to ensure sufficient 

11 coordination, assistance, and support for volunteers and 

12 partners to improve trail maintenance. 

13 (g) REPORT.— 

14 (1) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall prepare a 

15 report on— 

16 (A) the effectiveness of the strategy in ad17 dressing the trail maintenance backlog; 

18 (B) the increase in volunteerism and part19 nership efforts on trail maintenance as a result 

20 of the strategy; 

21 (C) the miles of National Forest System 

22 trails maintained by volunteers and partners, 

23 and the approximate value of the volunteer and 

24 partnership efforts; 


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1 (D) the status of the stewardship credits 

2 for outfitters and guides pilot program de3 scribed in section 7 that includes the number of 

4 participating sites, total amount of the credits 

5 offered, estimated value of trail maintenance 

6 performed, and suggestions for revising the pro7 gram; and 

8 (E) recommendations for further increas9 ing volunteerism and partnerships in trail main10 tenance. 

11 (2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 3 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

13 shall submit the report required by paragraph (1) 

14 to— 

15 (A) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri16 tion, and Forestry and the Committee on En17 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and 

18 (B) the Committee on Agriculture and the 

19 Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

20 of Representatives. 

21 SEC. 5. PRIORITY TRAIL MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. 

22 (a) SELECTION.—In accordance with subsections (b) 

23 and (c), not later than 6 months after the date of the en24 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall seVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Sep 30, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H845.RDS H845

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1 lect no fewer than 9 and no more than 15 priority areas 

2 for increased trail maintenance accomplishments. 

3 (b) CRITERIA.—Priority areas shall include a well-de4 fined region on National Forest System land where the 

5 lack of trail maintenance has— 

6 (1) reduced access to public land; 

7 (2) led to an increase, or risk of increase, in 

8 harm to natural resources; 

9 (3) jeopardized public safety; 

10 (4) resulted in trails being impassible by the in11 tended managed users; or 

12 (5) increased future deferred trail maintenance 

13 costs. 

14 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In selecting priority areas, the 

15 Secretary shall— 

16 (1) consider any public input on priority areas 

17 received within 3 months of the date of enactment 

18 of this Act; 

19 (2) consider the range of trail users (including 

20 motorized and non-motorized trail users); and 

21 (3) include at least one priority area in each re22 gion of the United States Forest Service. 

23 (d) INCREASED TRAIL MAINTENANCE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 6 months of the se25 lection of priority areas under subsection (a), and in 


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1 accordance with paragraph (2), the Secretary shall 

2 develop an approach to substantially increase trail 

3 maintenance accomplishments within each priority 

4 area. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—In developing the approach 

6 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

7 (A) consider any public input on trail 

8 maintenance priorities and needs within any 

9 priority area; 

10 (B) consider the costs and benefits of in11 creased trail maintenance within each priority 

12 area; and 

13 (C) incorporate partners and volunteers in 

14 the trail maintenance. 

15 (3) REQUIRED TRAIL MAINTENANCE.—Utilizing 

16 the approach developed under paragraph (1), the 

17 Secretary shall substantially increase trail mainte18 nance within each priority area. 

19 (e) COORDINATION.—The regional volunteer and 

20 partnership coordinators may be responsible for assisting 

21 partner organizations in developing and implementing vol22 unteer and partnership projects to increase trail mainte23 nance within priority areas. 

24 (f) REVISION.—The Secretary shall periodically re25 view the priority areas to determine whether revisions are 


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1 necessary and may revise the priority areas, including the 

2 selection of new priority areas or removal of existing pri3 ority areas, at his sole discretion. 

4 SEC. 6. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter into a 

6 cooperative agreement with any State, tribal, local govern7 mental, and private entity to carry out this Act. 

8 (b) CONTENTS.—Cooperative agreements authorized 

9 under this section may— 

10 (1) improve trail maintenance in a priority 

11 area; 

12 (2) implement the strategy; or 

13 (3) advance trail maintenance in a manner 

14 deemed appropriate by the Secretary. 

15 SEC. 7. STEWARDSHIP CREDITS FOR OUTFITTERS AND 

16 GUIDES. 

17 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Within 1 year after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, in accordance with this section, 

19 the Secretary shall establish a pilot program on not less 

20 than 20 administrative units to offset all or part of the 

21 land use fee for an outfitting and guiding permit by the 

22 cost of the work performed by the permit holder to con23 struct, improve, or maintain National Forest System 

24 trails, trailheads, or developed sites that support public 

25 use under terms established by the Secretary. 


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1 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In establishing 

2 the pilot program authorized by subsection (a), the Sec3 retary shall— 

4 (1) select administrative units where the pilot 

5 program will improve trail maintenance; and 

6 (2) establish appropriate terms and conditions, 

7 including meeting National Quality Standards for 

8 Trails and the Trail Management Objectives identi9 fied for the trail. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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