II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 734

Entitled ‘‘National Discovery Trails Act of 1999’’.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

Entitled ‘‘National Discovery Trails Act of 1999’’.

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 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.

7 (a)(1) Section 3(a) of the National Trails System Act

8 (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended by inserting after para9 graph (4) the following:

10 ‘‘(5) National discovery trails, established as

11 provided in section 5, which will be extended, contin12 uous, interstate trails so located as to provide for
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1 outstanding outdoor recreation and travel and to

2 connect representative examples of America’s trails

3 and communities. National discovery trails should

4 provide for the conservation and enjoyment of sig5 nificant natural, cultural, and historic resources as6 sociated with each trail and should be so located as

7 to represent metropolitan, urban, rural, and back

8 country regions of the Nation. Any such trail may

9 be designated on federal lands and, with the consent

10 of the owner thereof, on any non federal lands.’’.

11 (2) FEASIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; COOPERATIVE

12 MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Section 5(b) of such Act

13 (16 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the end the

14 following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(12) For purposes of subsection (b), a trail

16 shall not be considered feasible and desirable for

17 designation as a national discovery trail unless it

18 meets all of the following criteria:

19 ‘‘(A) The trail must link one or more areas

20 within the boundaries of a metropolitan area

21 (as those boundaries are determined under sec22 tion 134(c) of title 23, United States Code). It

23 should also join with other trails, connecting

24 the National Trails System to significant recre25 ation and resources areas.
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1 ‘‘(B) The trail must be supported by at

2 least one competent trailwide volunteer-based

3 organization. Each trail should have extensive

4 local and trailwide support by the public, by

5 users groups, and by affected State and local

6 governments.

7 ‘‘(C) The trail must be extended and pass

8 through more than one State. At a minimum,

9 it should be a continuous, walkable route.

10 ‘‘(13) The appropriate Secretary for each na11 tional discovery trail shall administer the trail in co12 operation with at least one competent trailwide vol13 unteer-based organization. Where the designation of

14 discovery trail is aligned with other units of the Na15 tional Trails System, or State or local trails, the des16 ignation of a discovery trail shall not affect the pro17 tections or authorities provided for the other trail

18 or trails, nor shall the designation of a discovery

19 trail diminish the values and significance for which

20 those trails were established.’’.

21 (b) DESIGNATION OF THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY

22 TRAIL AS A NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL.—Section 5(a)

23 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) by re-designating the paragraph relating to

2 the California National Historic Trail as paragraph

3 (18);

4 (2) by re-designating the paragraph relating to

5 the Pony Express National Historic Trail as para6 graph (19);

7 (3) by re-designating the paragraph relating to

8 the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail as

9 paragraph (20); and

10 (4) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(21) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of

12 approximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape

13 Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes

14 National Seashore in California, extending westward

15 through Delaware, Maryland, the District of Colum16 bia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, where near

17 Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern

18 Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,

19 Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the Southern

20 Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,

21 Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin in

22 Denver, Colorado, the route continues through Colo23 rado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The trail is gen24 erally described in Volume 2 of the National Park

25 Service feasibility study dated June 1995 which
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1 shall be on file and available for public inspection in

2 the office of the Director of the National Park Serv3 ice, Department of the Interior, the District of Co4 lumbia. The American Discovery Trail shall be ad5 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior in co6 operation with at least one competent trailwide vol7 unteer-based organization and other affected federal

8 land managing agencies, and state and local govern9 ments, as appropriate. No lands or interests outside

10 the exterior boundaries of federally administered

11 areas may be acquired by the Federal Government

12 solely for the American Discovery Trail. The provi13 sions of sections 7(e), 7(f), and 7(g) shall not apply

14 to the American Discovery Trail.’’.

15 (c) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

16 PLAN.—Section 5 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244) is further

17 amended by adding at the end the following new sub18 section:

19 ‘‘(g) Within three complete fiscal years after the date

20 of enactment of any law designating a national discovery

21 trail, the administering Federal agency shall, in coopera22 tion with at least one competent trailwide volunteer-based

23 organization, submit a comprehensive plan for the protec24 tion, management, development, and use of the federal

25 portions of the trail, and provide technical assistance to
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1 states and local units of government and private land2 owners, as requested, for non-federal portions of the trail,

3 to the Committee on Resources of the United States

4 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy

5 and Natural Resources of the United States Senate. The

6 responsible Secretary shall ensure that the comprehensive

7 plan for the entire trail does not conflict with existing

8 agency direction and that the volunteer-based organization

9 shall consult with the affected land managing agencies, the

10 Governors of the affected States, affected county and local

11 political jurisdictions, and local organizations maintaining

12 components of the trail. Components of the comprehensive

13 plan include—

14 ‘‘(1) policies and practices to be observed in the

15 administration and management of the trail, includ16 ing the identification of all significant natural, his17 torical, and cultural resources to be preserved, model

18 agreements necessary for joint trail administration

19 among and between interested parties, and an iden20 tified carrying capacity for critical segments of the

21 trail and a plan for their implementation where ap22 propriate;

23 ‘‘(2) general and site-specific trail-related devel24 opment including costs; and
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1 ‘‘(3) the process to be followed by the volunteer2 based organization, in cooperation with the appro3 priate Secretary, to implement the trail marking au4 thorities in section 7(c) conforming to approved trail

5 logo or emblem requirements.’’. Nothing in this Act

6 may be construed to impose or permit the imposition

7 of any landowner on the use of any non-federal

8 lands without the consent of the owner thereof. Nei9 ther the designation of a National Discovery Trail

10 nor any plan relating thereto shall affect or be con11 sidered in the granting or denial of a right of way

12 or any conditions relating thereto.’’.

13 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

14 The National Trails System Act is amended—

15 (1) in section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1241(b)), by

16 striking ‘‘scenic and historic’’ and inserting ‘‘scenic,

17 historic, and discovery’’;

18 (2) in the section heading to section 5 (16

19 U.S.C. 1244), by striking ‘‘AND NATIONAL

20 HISTORIC’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL HIS21 TORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’;

22 (3) in section 5(a) (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)), in the

23 matter preceding paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and national historic’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘, national historic, and national dis3 covery’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘and National Historic’’

5 and inserting ‘‘, National Historic, and Na6 tional Discovery’’;

7 (4) in section 5(b) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)), in the

8 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or na9 tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or

10 national discovery’’;

11 (5) in section 5(b)(3) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)(3)),

12 by striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘,

13 national historic, or national discovery’’;

14 (6) in section 7(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1246(a)(2)),

15 by striking ‘‘and national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘,

16 national historic, and national discovery’’;

17 (7) in section 7(b) (16 U.S.C. 1246(b)), by

18 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ each place such term

19 appears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or na20 tional discovery’’;

21 (8) in section 7(c) (16 U.S.C. 1246(c))—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘scenic or national his23 toric’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sce24 nic, national historic, or national discovery’’;
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1 (B) in the second proviso, by striking ‘‘sce2 nic, or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘scenic,

3 national historic, or national discovery’’; and

4 (C) by striking ‘‘, and national historic’’

5 and inserting ‘‘, national historic, and national

6 discovery’’;

7 (9) in section 7(d) (16 U.S.C. 1246(d)), by

8 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘na9 tional historic, or national discovery’’;

10 (10) in section 7(e) (16 U.S.C. 1246(e)), by

11 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ each place such term

12 appears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or na13 tional discovery’’;

14 (11) in section 7(f)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1246(f)(2)),

15 by striking ‘‘National Scenic or Historic’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘national scenic, historic, or discovery trail’’;

17 (12) in section 7(h)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1246(h)(1)),

18 by striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘na19 tional historic, or national discovery’’; and

20 (13) in section 7(i) (16 U.S.C. 1246(i)), by

21 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘na22 tional historic, or national discovery’’.

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