II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1725

To amend the National Trails System Act to create a third category of

long-distance trails to be known as national discovery trails and to

authorize the American Discovery Trail as the first national discovery

trail, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 2, 1996

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. SIMON, Mr. ROTH, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr.

KERREY, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. EXON, Mr.

HARKIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. BRYAN, and Mr. JEFFORDS) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the National Trails System Act to create a third

category of long-distance trails to be known as national

discovery trails and to authorize the American Discovery

Trail as the first national discovery trail, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Discovery

5 Trails Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

2 Section 2(b) of the National Trails System Act (16

3 U.S.C. 1241(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘recreation, sce4 nic and historic’’ and inserting ‘‘recreation, scenic, his5 toric, and discovery’’.

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS.

7 Section 3(a) of the National Trails System Act (16

8 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended—

9 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para10 graph (5); and

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘(4) National discovery trails, established by

14 section 5(a), which shall—

15 ‘‘(A) be extended, continuous, interstate

16 trails;

17 ‘‘(B) be located so as to—

18 ‘‘(i) provide for outstanding outdoor

19 recreation and travel; and

20 ‘‘(ii) represent metropolitan, urban,

21 rural, and back-country regions of the

22 United States;

23 ‘‘(C) connect representative examples of

24 United States trails and communities; and

25 ‘‘(D) provide for the conservation and en26 joyment of significant natural, cultural, and his-
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1 toric resources associated with each trail cor2 ridor.’’.

3 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY

4 TRAIL AS A NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL.

5 (a) DESCRIPTION.—Section 5(a) of the National

6 Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended by

7 adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(20) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of ap9 proximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape Henlopen

10 State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore

11 in California, traveling through Delaware, Maryland, the

12 District of Columbia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio,

13 near Cincinnati splitting into the Northern Midwest route

14 through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colo15 rado and the Southern Midwest route through Indiana,

16 Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, rejoining in Den17 ver, and continuing through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and

18 California. The trail is generally described in volume 2 of

19 the National Park Service feasibility study dated June

20 1995, which shall be on file and available for public inspec21 tion in the office of the Director of the National Park

22 Service. The trail shall be administered by the Secretary

23 of the Interior in cooperation with a nonprofit organiza24 tion and other affected land managing agencies. The trail

25 shall not be subject to section 5(d), 7(a)(2), 7(e), or 7(f).’’.
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1 (b) PLAN FOR NEW NATIONAL DISCOVERY

2 TRAILS.—Section 5(e) of the National Trails System Act

3 (16 U.S.C. 1244(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘Continental

4 Divide’’ and all that follows through ‘‘as part of the sys5 tem’’ and inserting ‘‘Continental Divide National Scenic

6 Trail or the North Country National Scenic Trail, or a

7 national discovery trail, except for the American Discovery

8 Trail, as part of the system’’.

9 (c) PLAN FOR THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL.—

10 Section 5 of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C.

11 1244) is amended by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(g) PLAN FOR THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL.—

13 Not later than 3 full fiscal years after the date of enact14 ment of this subsection, the responsible nonprofit organi15 zation for the American Discovery Trail established by

16 subsection (a)(20) shall, after consultation with the Sec17 retary of the Interior, other affected land managing agen18 cies, the Governors of affected States, county and local

19 political jurisdictions, and local organizations maintaining

20 component trails, submit to the Committee on Resources

21 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

22 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, a com23 prehensive plan for the protection, management, develop24 ment, and use of the trail, not to conflict with any agency

25 direction, including—
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1 ‘‘(1) specific objectives and practices to be ob2 served in the administration and management of the

3 trail, including—

4 ‘‘(A) the identification of all significant

5 natural, historical, and cultural resources to be

6 preserved;

7 ‘‘(B) model agreements necessary for joint

8 trail administration among interested parties;

9 ‘‘(C) an identified carrying capacity of the

10 trail; and

11 ‘‘(D) an implementation plan;

12 ‘‘(2) a 10-year trail corridor protection plan to

13 preserve the values for which the trail was estab14 lished and recognized by the United States;

15 ‘‘(3) general and site-specific development

16 plans, including anticipated costs; and

17 ‘‘(4) the process to be followed by the nonprofit

18 organization in partnership with the Secretary of the

19 Interior to implement the trail markers described in

20 section 7(c) to conform to approved trail logo or em21 blem requirements.’’.

22 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION.

23 Section 7 of the National Trails System Act (16

24 U.S.C. 1246) is amended by adding at the end the follow25 ing:
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1 ‘‘(l) NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS.—The Secretary

2 charged with the overall administration of a trail under

3 section 5(a) shall administer a national discovery trail in

4 cooperation with a nonprofit organization.’’.

5 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

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

7 U.S.C. 1244) is amended—

8 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND

9 NATIONAL HISTORICAL’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL

10 HISTORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’; and

11 (2) in the second sentence of subsection (a), by

12 striking ‘‘National Scenic and National Historic

13 Trails’’ and inserting ‘‘national scenic, national his14 toric, and national discovery trails’’.

15 (b) The National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241

16 et seq.) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘scenic and national historic’’

18 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘scenic, national

19 historic, and national discovery’’;

20 (2) by striking ‘‘scenic or national historic’’

21 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘scenic, national

22 historic, or national discovery’’; and
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1 (3) by striking ‘‘scenic, or national historic’’

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘scenic, national

3 historic, or national discovery’’.

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