II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2749

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘California Trail Inter5 pretive Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
2

•S 2749 IS

1 (1) the nineteenth century westward movement

2 in the United States over the California National

3 Historic Trail, which occurred from 1840 until the

4 completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869,

5 was an important cultural and historical event in—

6 (A) the development of the western land of

7 the United States; and

8 (B) the prevention of colonization of the

9 west coast by Russia and the British Empire;

10 (2) the movement over the California Trail was

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

12 left records or stories of their journeys; and

13 (3) additional recognition and interpretation of

14 the movement over the California Trail is appro15 priate in light of—

16 (A) the national scope of nineteenth cen17 tury westward movement in the United States;

18 and

19 (B) the strong interest expressed by people

20 of the United States in understanding their his21 tory and heritage.

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

23 (1) to recognize the California Trail, including

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

•S 2749 IS

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

2 cultural significance; and

3 (2) to provide the public with an interpretive fa4 cility devoted to the vital role of trails in the West

5 in the development of the United States.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

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

9 Trail’’ means the California National Historic Trail,

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

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

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

13 California Trail Interpretive Center established

14 under section 4(a).

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

16 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di17 rector of the Bureau of Land Management.

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

19 of Nevada.

20 SEC. 4. CALIFORNIA TRAIL INTERPRETIVE CENTER.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur23 poses of section 7(c) of the National Trails System

24 Act (16 U.S.C. 1246(c)), the Secretary may estab25 lish an interpretation center to be known as the
4

•S 2749 IS

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

2 of Elko, Nevada.

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

4 for the purpose of interpreting the history of devel5 opment and use of the California Trail in the set6 tling of the West.

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

8 (a), the Secretary shall—

9 (1) consider the findings of the master plan

10 study for the California Trail Interpretive Center in

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

12 Report 106–99; and

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

14 Center that includes—

15 (A) a detailed description of the design of

16 the Center;

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

18 Center is to be located;

19 (C) a description of the method and esti20 mated cost of acquisition of the site on which

21 the Center is to be located;

22 (D) the estimated cost of construction of

23 the Center;

24 (E) the cost of operation and maintenance

25 of the Center; and
5

•S 2749 IS

1 (F) a description of the manner and extent

2 to which non-Federal entities shall participate

3 in the acquisition and construction of the Cen4 ter.

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

6 the Secretary may—

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

8 construction of the Center by—

9 (A) donation;

10 (B) purchase with donated or appropriated

11 funds; or

12 (C) exchange;

13 (2) provide for local review of and input con14 cerning the development and operation of the Center

15 by the Advisory Board for the National Historic

16 California Emigrant Trails Interpretive Center of

17 the city of Elko, Nevada;

18 (3) periodically prepare a budget and funding

19 request that allows a Federal agency to carry out

20 the maintenance and operation of the Center;

21 (4) enter into a cooperative agreement with—

22 (A) the State, to provide assistance in—

23 (i) removal of snow from roads;

24 (ii) rescue, firefighting, and law en25 forcement services; and
6

•S 2749 IS

1 (iii) coordination of activities of near2 by law enforcement and firefighting de3 partments or agencies; and

4 (B) a Federal, State, or local agency to de5 velop or operate facilities and services to carry

6 out this Act; and

7 (5) notwithstanding any other provision of law,

8 accept donations of funds, property, or services from

9 an individual, foundation, corporation, or public en10 tity to provide a service or facility that is consistent

11 with this Act, as determined by the Secretary, in12 cluding 1-time contributions for the Center (to be

13 payable during construction funding periods for the

14 Center after the date of enactment of this Act)

15 from—

16 (A) the State, in the amount of

17 $3,000,000;

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

19 of $1,000,000; and

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

21 amount of $2,000,000.

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

24 this Act $12,000,000.

Æ