II

Calendar No. 886

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2749

[Report No. 106–441]

To establish the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko, Nevada, to

facilitate the interpretation of the history of development and use of

trails in the settling of the western portion of the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 19, 2000

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

SEPTEMBER 29, 2000

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2000, by Mr. MURKOWSKI, without amendment

A BILL

To establish the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko,

Nevada, to facilitate the interpretation of the history

of development and use of trails in the settling of the

western portion of the United States.

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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S 2749 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘California Trail Inter3 pretive Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) the nineteenth century westward movement

7 in the United States over the California National

8 Historic Trail, which occurred from 1840 until the

9 completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869,

10 was an important cultural and historical event in—

11 (A) the development of the western land of

12 the United States; and

13 (B) the prevention of colonization of the

14 west coast by Russia and the British Empire;

15 (2) the movement over the California Trail was

16 completed by over 300,000 settlers, many of whom

17 left records or stories of their journeys; and

18 (3) additional recognition and interpretation of

19 the movement over the California Trail is appro20 priate in light of—

21 (A) the national scope of nineteenth cen22 tury westward movement in the United States;

23 and

24 (B) the strong interest expressed by people

25 of the United States in understanding their his26 tory and heritage.
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S 2749 RS

1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

2 (1) to recognize the California Trail, including

3 the Hastings Cutoff and the trail of the ill-fated

4 Donner-Reed Party, for its national, historical, and

5 cultural significance; and

6 (2) to provide the public with an interpretive fa7 cility devoted to the vital role of trails in the West

8 in the development of the United States.

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) CALIFORNIA TRAIL.—The term ‘‘California

12 Trail’’ means the California National Historic Trail,

13 established under section 5(a)(18) of the National

14 Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)(18)).

15 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the

16 California Trail Interpretive Center established

17 under section 4(a).

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

19 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di20 rector of the Bureau of Land Management.

21 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

22 of Nevada.

23 SEC. 4. CALIFORNIA TRAIL INTERPRETIVE CENTER.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
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S 2749 RS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur2 poses of section 7(c) of the National Trails System

3 Act (16 U.S.C. 1246(c)), the Secretary may estab4 lish an interpretation center to be known as the

5 ‘‘California Trail Interpretive Center’’, near the city

6 of Elko, Nevada.

7 (2) PURPOSE.—The Center shall be established

8 for the purpose of interpreting the history of devel9 opment and use of the California Trail in the set10 tling of the West.

11 (b) MASTER PLAN STUDY.—To carry out subsection

12 (a), the Secretary shall—

13 (1) consider the findings of the master plan

14 study for the California Trail Interpretive Center in

15 Elko, Nevada, as authorized by page 15 of Senate

16 Report 106–99; and

17 (2) initiate a plan for the development of the

18 Center that includes—

19 (A) a detailed description of the design of

20 the Center;

21 (B) a description of the site on which the

22 Center is to be located;

23 (C) a description of the method and esti24 mated cost of acquisition of the site on which

25 the Center is to be located;
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1 (D) the estimated cost of construction of

2 the Center;

3 (E) the cost of operation and maintenance

4 of the Center; and

5 (F) a description of the manner and extent

6 to which non-Federal entities shall participate

7 in the acquisition and construction of the Cen8 ter.

9 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—To carry out subsection (a),

10 the Secretary may—

11 (1) acquire land and interests in land for the

12 construction of the Center by—

13 (A) donation;

14 (B) purchase with donated or appropriated

15 funds; or

16 (C) exchange;

17 (2) provide for local review of and input con18 cerning the development and operation of the Center

19 by the Advisory Board for the National Historic

20 California Emigrant Trails Interpretive Center of

21 the city of Elko, Nevada;

22 (3) periodically prepare a budget and funding

23 request that allows a Federal agency to carry out

24 the maintenance and operation of the Center;

25 (4) enter into a cooperative agreement with—
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1 (A) the State, to provide assistance in—

2 (i) removal of snow from roads;

3 (ii) rescue, firefighting, and law en4 forcement services; and

5 (iii) coordination of activities of near6 by law enforcement and firefighting de7 partments or agencies; and

8 (B) a Federal, State, or local agency to de9 velop or operate facilities and services to carry

10 out this Act; and

11 (5) notwithstanding any other provision of law,

12 accept donations of funds, property, or services from

13 an individual, foundation, corporation, or public en14 tity to provide a service or facility that is consistent

15 with this Act, as determined by the Secretary, in16 cluding 1-time contributions for the Center (to be

17 payable during construction funding periods for the

18 Center after the date of enactment of this Act)

19 from—

20 (A) the State, in the amount of

21 $3,000,000;

22 (B) Elko County, Nevada, in the amount

23 of $1,000,000; and

24 (C) the city of Elko, Nevada, in the

25 amount of $2,000,000.
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

3 this Act $12,000,000.
Calendar No. 886

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2749

[Report No. 106–441]

A BILL

To establish the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko, Nevada, to facilitate the interpretation of the history of development and use of

trails in the settling of the western portion of theUnited States.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2000

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of

September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2000,without amendment