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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1069

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 25, 1997

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

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.

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

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

9 (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: Pro11 vided, That such consent may be revoked at any

12 time. The Congress does not intend for the estab13 lishment of a National Discovery Trail to lead to the

14 creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones ad15 jacent to a National Discovery Trail. The fact that

16 there may be activities or uses on lands adjacent to

17 the trail that would not be permitted on the trail

18 shall not preclude such activities or uses on such

19 lands adjacent to the trail to the extent consistent

20 with other applicable law.

21 (2) FEASIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; COOPERATIVE

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

23 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the end the follow24 ing new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(g)(1) For purposes of subsection (b), a trail shall

2 not be considered feasible and desirable for designation

3 as a national discovery trail unless it meets all of the fol4 lowing criteria:

5 ‘‘(A) the trail must link one or more areas with6 in the boundaries of a metropolitan area (as those

7 boundaries are determined under section 134(c) of

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

9 with other trails, connecting the National Trails Sys10 tem to significant recreation and resources areas.

11 ‘‘(B) The trail must be supported by a com12 petent trailwide nonprofit organization. Each trail

13 should have extensive local and trailwide support by

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

15 and local governments.

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

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

18 should be a continuous, walkable route not including

19 any non-federal property for which the owner had

20 not provided consent for inclusion and use.

21 ‘‘(2) The appropriate Secretary for each national dis22 covery trail shall administer the trail in cooperation with

23 a competent trailwide nonprofit organization.’’.
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1 (b) DESIGNATION OF THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY

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

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

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

5 the California National Historic Trail as paragraph

6 (18);

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

8 the Pony Express National Historic Trail as para9 graph (19); and

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

11 ‘‘(20) 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 a competent trailwide nonprofit orga7 nization and other affected land managing agencies.

8 No lands or interests outside the exterior boundaries

9 of federally administered areas may be acquired by

10 the Federal Government solely for the American

11 Discovery Trail. This trail is specifically exempted

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

13 (c) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

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

15 amended by adding at the end the following new sub16 section:

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

18 of enactment of any law designating a national discovery

19 trail, the administering Federal agency shall, in coopera20 tion with a comprehensive plan for the protection, man21 agement, development, and use of the federal portions of

22 the trail, and provide technical assistance to states and

23 local units of government and private landowners, as re24 quested, for non-federal portions of the trail, to the Com25 mittee on Resources of the United States House of Rep-
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1 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural

2 Resources of the United States Senate. The Secretary

3 shall ensure that the comprehensive plan for the entire

4 trail does not conflict with any existing agency direction

5 and that the nonprofit organization consults with affected

6 land managing agencies, the Governors of the affected

7 States, county and local political jurisdictions, and local

8 organizations maintaining components of the trail. Man9 datory components of the comprehensive plan include—

10 ‘‘(1) specific objectives and practices to be ob11 served in the administration and management of the

12 trail, including the identification of all significant

13 natural, historical, and cultural resources to be pre14 served, model agreements necessary for joint trail

15 administration among and between interested par16 ties, and an identified carrying capacity of the trail

17 and a plan for its implementation;

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

19 including anticipated costs; and

20 ‘‘(3) the process to be followed by the nonprofit

21 organization, in cooperation with the appropriate

22 Secretary, to implement the trial marking authori23 ties in section 7(c) conforming to approved trail logo

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

25 be construed to impose or permit the imposition of
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1 any landowner on the use of any non federal lands

2 without the consent of the owner thereof, which con3 sent may be revoked at any time. Neither the des4 ignation of a National Discovery Trail nor any plan

5 relating thereto shall affect or be considered in the

6 granting or denial of a right of way or any condi7 tions relating thereto.

8 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

9 The National Trails System Act is amended—

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

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

12 historic, and discovery’’;

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

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

15 HISTORIC’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL HIS16 TORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’;

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

18 matter preceding paragraph (1)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and national historic’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘, national historic, and national dis21 covery’’; and

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

23 and inserting ‘‘, National Historic, and Na24 tional Discovery’’;
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1 (4) in section 5(b) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)), in the

2 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or na3 tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or

4 national discovery;

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

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

7 national historic, or national discovery’’;

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

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

10 national historic, and national discovery’’;

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

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

13 appears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or na14 tional discovery’’;

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

16 (A) by striking ‘‘scenic or national his17 toric’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sce18 nic, national historic, or national discovery’’;

19 (B) in the second proviso, by striking ‘‘sce20 nic, or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘scenic,

21 national historic, or national discovery’’; and

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

23 and inserting ‘‘, national historic, and national

24 discovery’’;
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1 (9) in section 7(d) (16 U.S.C. 1246(d)), by

2 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘na3 tional historic, or national discovery’’;

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

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

6 appears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or na7 tional discovery’’;

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

9 by striking ‘‘National Scenic or Historic’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘national scenic, historic, or discovery trail’’;

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

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

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

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

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