Calendar No. 349

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1069

[Report No. 105–177]

A BILL

Entitled the ‘‘National Discovery Trails Act of

1997’’.

APRIL 29, 1998

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 349

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1069

[Report No. 105–177]

Entitled the ‘‘National Discovery Trails Act of 1997’’.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 25, 1997

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. HATCH, Ms. MOSELEYBRAUN, Mr. ROBB, Mr. REED, Mr. ROTH, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. REID,

Mr. BIDEN, Mr. KERREY, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. SARBANES, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Energy and Natural Resources

APRIL 29, 1998

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

Entitled the ‘‘National Discovery Trails Act of 1997’’.

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 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.

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

3 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph

4 (4) the following:

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

6 provided in section 5, which will be extended, contin7 uous, interstate trails so located as to provide for

8 outstanding outdoor recreation and travel and to

9 connect representative examples of America’s trails

10 and communities. National discovery trails should

11 provide for the conservation and enjoyment of sig12 nificant natural, cultural, and historic resources as13 sociated with each trail and should be so located as

14 to represent metropolitan, urban, rural, and back

15 country regions of the Nation.’’. Any such trail may

16 be designated on federal lands and, with the consent

17 of the owner thereof, on any non federal lands: Pro18 vided, That such consent may be revoked at any

19 time. The Congress does not intend for the estab20 lishment of a National Discovery Trail to lead to the

21 creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones ad22 jacent to a National Discovery Trail. The fact that

23 there may be activities or uses on lands adjacent to

24 the trail that would not be permitted on the trail

25 shall not preclude such activities or uses on such
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1 lands adjacent to the trail to the extent consistent

2 with other applicable law.

3 (2) FEASIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; COOPERATIVE

4 MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Section 5 of such Act (16

5 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing new subsection:

7 ‘‘(g)(1) For purposes of subsection (b), a trail shall

8 not be considered feasible and desirable for designation

9 as a national discovery trail unless it meets all of the fol10 lowing criteria:

11 ‘‘(A) the trail must link one or more areas with12 in the boundaries of a metropolitan area (as those

13 boundaries are determined under section 134(c) of

14 title 23, United States Code). It should also join

15 with other trails, connecting the National Trails Sys16 tem to significant recreation and resources areas.

17 ‘‘(B) The trail must be supported by a com18 petent trailwide nonprofit organization. Each trail

19 should have extensive local and trailwide support by

20 the public, by user groups, and by affected State

21 and local governments.

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

23 through more than one State. At a minimum, it

24 should be a continuous, walkable route not including
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1 any non-federal property for which the owner had

2 not provided consent for inclusion and use.

3 ‘‘(2) The appropriate Secretary for each national dis4 covery trail shall administer the trail in cooperation with

5 a competent trailwide nonprofit organization.’’.

6 (b) DESIGNATION OF THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY

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

8 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended—

9 (1) by re-designating the paragraph relating to

10 the California National Historic Trail as paragraph

11 (18);

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

13 the Pony Express National Historic Trail as para14 graph (19); and

15 (3) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(20) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of

17 approximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape

18 Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes

19 National Seashore in California, extending westward

20 through Delaware, Maryland, the District of Colum21 bia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, where near

22 Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern

23 Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,

24 Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the Southern

25 Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
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1 Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin in

2 Denver, Colorado, the route continues through Colo3 rado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The trail is gen4 erally described in Volume 2 of the National Park

5 Service feasibility study dated June 1995 which

6 shall be on file and available for public inspection in

7 the office of the Director of the National Park Serv8 ice, Department of the Interior, the District of Co9 lumbia. The American Discovery Trail shall be ad10 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior in co11 operation with a competent trailwide nonprofit orga12 nization and other affected land managing agencies.

13 No lands or interests outside the exterior boundaries

14 of federally administered areas may be acquired by

15 the Federal Government solely for the American

16 Discovery Trail. This trail is specifically exempted

17 from the provisions of sections 7(e), 7(f), and 7(g).’’

18 (c) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

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

20 amended by adding at the end the following new sub21 section:

22 ‘‘(h) Within three complete fiscal years after the date

23 of enactment of any law designating a national discovery

24 trail, the administering Federal agency shall, in coopera25 tion with a comprehensive plan for the protection, man-
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1 agement, development, and use of the federal portions of

2 the trail, and provide technical assistance to states and

3 local units of government and private landowners, as re4 quested, for non-federal portions of the trail, to the Com5 mittee on Resources of the United States House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural

7 Resources of the United States Senate. The Secretary

8 shall ensure that the comprehensive plan for the entire

9 trail does not conflict with any existing agency direction

10 and that the nonprofit organization consults with affected

11 land managing agencies, the Governors of the affected

12 States, county and local political jurisdictions, and local

13 organizations maintaining components of the trail. Man14 datory components of the comprehensive plan include—

15 ‘‘(1) specific objectives and practices to be ob16 served in the administration and management of the

17 trail, including the identification of all significant

18 natural, historical, and cultural resources to be pre19 served, model agreements necessary for joint trail

20 administration among and between interested par21 ties, and an identified carrying capacity of the trail

22 and a plan for its implementation;

23 ‘‘(2) general and site-specific development plans

24 including anticipated costs; and
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1 ‘‘(3) the process to be followed by the nonprofit

2 organization, in cooperation with the appropriate

3 Secretary, to implement the trial marking authori4 ties in section 7(c) conforming to approved trail logo

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

6 be construed to impose or permit the imposition of

7 any landowner on the use of any non federal lands

8 without the consent of the owner thereof, which con9 sent may be revoked at any time. Neither the des10 ignation of a National Discovery Trail nor any plan

11 relating thereto shall affect or be considered in the

12 granting or denial of a right of way or any condi13 tions relating thereto.

14 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

15 The National Trails System Act is amended—

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

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

18 historic, and discovery’’;

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

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

21 HISTORIC’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL HIS22 TORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’;

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

24 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’’.

23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

25 Trails Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.

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

3 (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended by inserting after para4 graph (4) the following:

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

6 provided in section 5, which will be extended, contin7 uous, interstate trails so located as to provide for out8 standing outdoor recreation and travel and to connect

9 representative examples of America’s trails and com10 munities. National discovery trails should provide for

11 the conservation and enjoyment of significant natu12 ral, cultural, and historic resources associated with

13 each trail and should be so located as to represent

14 metropolitan, urban, rural, and back country regions

15 of the Nation. Any such trail may be designated on

16 federal lands and, with the consent of the owner there17 of, on any non federal lands.’’.

18 (2) FEASIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; COOPERATIVE MAN19 AGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Section 5(b) of such Act (16

20 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the end the following

21 new paragraph:

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

23 not be considered feasible and desirable for designa24 tion as a national discovery trail unless it meets all

25 of the following criteria:
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1 ‘‘(A) The trail must link one or more areas

2 within the boundaries of a metropolitan area (as

3 those boundaries are determined under section

4 134(c) of title 23, United States Code). It should

5 also join with other trails, connecting the Na6 tional Trails System to significant recreation

7 and resources areas.

8 ‘‘(B) The trail must be supported by at

9 least one competent trailwide nonprofit organi10 zation. Each trail should have extensive local

11 and trailwide support by the public, by user

12 groups, and by affected State and local govern13 ments.

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

15 through more than one State. At a minimum, it

16 should be a continuous, walkable route.

17 ‘‘(13) The appropriate Secretary for each na18 tional discovery trail shall administer the trail in co19 operation with at least one competent trailwide vol20 unteer-based organization. Where the designation of

21 discovery trail is aligned with other units of the Na22 tional Trails System, or State or local trails, the des23 ignation of a discovery trail shall not affect the pro24 tections or authorities provided for the other trail or

25 trails, nor shall the designation of a discovery trail
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1 diminish the values and significance for which those

2 trails were established.’’.

3 (b) DESIGNATION OF THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY

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

5 such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended—

6 (1) by redesignating the paragraph relating to

7 the California National Historic Trail as paragraph

8 (18);

9 (2) by redesignating the paragraph relating to

10 the Pony Express National Historic Trail as para11 graph (19);

12 (3) by redesignating the paragraph relating to

13 the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail as

14 paragraph (20); and

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

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

17 approximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape Hen18 lopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes Na19 tional Seashore in California, extending westward

20 through Delaware, Maryland, the District of Colum21 bia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, where near

22 Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern

23 Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,

24 Nebraska, and Colorado, and the Southern Midwest

25 route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,
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1 and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin in Denver,

2 Colorado, the route continues through Colorado, Utah,

3 Nevada, and California. The trail is generally de4 scribed in Volume 2 of the National Park Service fea5 sibility study dated June 1995 which shall be on file

6 and available for public inspection in the office of the

7 Director of the National Park Service, Department of

8 the Interior, the District of Columbia. The American

9 Discovery Trail shall be administered by the Sec10 retary of the Interior in cooperation with at least one

11 competent trailwide volunteer-based organization and

12 other affected federal land managing agencies, and

13 state and local governments, as appropriate. No lands

14 or interests outside the exterior boundaries of federally

15 administered areas may be acquired by the Federal

16 Government solely for the American Discovery Trail.

17 The provisions of sections 7(e), 7(f), and 7(g) shall

18 not apply to the American Discovery Trail.’’.

19 (c) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

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

21 amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

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

23 of enactment of any law designating a national discovery

24 trail, the administering Federal agency shall, in coopera25 tion with at least one competent trailwide volunteer-based
14

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1 organization, submit a comprehensive plan for the protec2 tion, management, development, and use of the federal por3 tions of the trail, and provide technical assistance to states

4 and local units of government and private landowners, as

5 requested, for non-federal portions of the trail, to the Com6 mittee on Resources of the United States House of Rep7 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re8 sources of the United States Senate. The responsible Sec9 retary shall ensure that the comprehensive plan for the en10 tire trail does not conflict with existing agency direction

11 and that the volunteer-based organization shall consult with

12 the affected land managing agencies, the Governors of the

13 affected States, affected county and local political jurisdic14 tions, and local organizations maintaining components of

15 the trail. Components of the comprehensive plan include—

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

17 administration and management of the trail, includ18 ing the identification of all significant natural, his19 torical, and cultural resources to be preserved, model

20 agreements necessary for joint trail administration

21 among and between interested parties, and an identi22 fied carrying capacity for critical segments of the

23 trail and a plan for their implementation where ap24 propriate;
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1 ‘‘(2) general and site-specific trail-related devel2 opment including costs; and

3 ‘‘(3) the process to be followed by the volunteer4 based organization, in cooperation with the appro5 priate Secretary, to implement the trial marking au6 thorities in section 7(c) conforming to approved trail

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

8 may be construed to impose or permit the imposition

9 of any landowner on the use of any non federal lands

10 without the consent of the owner thereof. Neither the

11 designation of a National Discovery Trail nor any

12 plan relating thereto shall affect or be considered in

13 the granting or denial of a right of way or any condi14 tions relating thereto.’’.

15 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

16 The National Trails System Act is amended—

17 (1) in section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1241(b)), by strik18 ing ‘‘scenic and historic’’ and inserting ‘‘scenic, his19 toric, and discovery’’;

20 (2) in the section heading to section 5 (16 U.S.C.

21 1244), by striking ‘‘AND NATIONAL HIS22 TORIC’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL HIS23 TORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’;

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

25 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 National

6 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)), by

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

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

15 striking ‘‘and national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, na16 tional historic, and national discovery’’;

17 (7) in section 7(b) (16 U.S.C. 1246(b)), by strik18 ing ‘‘or national historic’’ each place such term ap19 pears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or national

20 discovery’’;

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

22 (A) by striking ‘‘scenic or national historic’’

23 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘scenic, na24 tional 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 strik8 ing ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national

9 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)), by

15 striking ‘‘National Scenic or Historic’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘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 strik21 ing ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national

22 historic, or national discovery’’.