I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 481 

To revise the authorized route of the North Country National Scenic Trail 

in northeastern Minnesota to include existing hiking trails along Lake 

Superior’s north shore and in Superior National Forest and Chippewa 

National Forest, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2009 

Mr. OBERSTAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To revise the authorized route of the North Country National 

Scenic Trail in northeastern Minnesota to include existing hiking trails along Lake Superior’s north shore and 

in Superior National Forest and Chippewa National Forest, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘North Country Na5 tional Scenic Trail Route Adjustment Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The North Country National Scenic Trail, 

2 although only approximately half completed, provides 

3 outstanding outdoor recreation experiences to United 

4 States citizens and visitors to the United States. 

5 (2) The North Country National Scenic Trail is 

6 an outstanding example of the recreation opportuni7 ties that can be provided through a partnership of 

8 Federal, State, and local governments, private non9 profit trail organizations, individual volunteers, and 

10 landowners. 

11 (3) Modern, digital measuring equipment indi12 cates that when construction is completed on the 

13 currently authorized route, the actual length of the 

14 trail will be approximately 4,200 miles, rather than 

15 the 3,200 miles estimated at the time of authoriza16 tion in 1980. 

17 (4) The currently authorized route in Min18 nesota going westward from the vicinity of Duluth to 

19 the Chippewa National Forest is not feasible because 

20 most of the land between these points is tamarack 

21 swamp. 

22 (5) More than 300 miles of existing and 

23 planned hiking trails extend northeastward from the 

24 vicinity of Duluth to the vicinity of Grand Portage, 

25 and then westward to the vicinity of Ely. These 


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1 trails are the Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route 

2 Trail, and Kekekabic Trail. 

3 (6) The Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route 

4 Trail, and Kekekabic Trail would serve as an excel5 lent route for the North Country National Scenic 

6 Trail in northeastern Minnesota, in lieu of the cur7 rent route, and would take hikers through out8 standing northern scenery that truly epitomizes the 

9 ‘‘North Country’’. 

10 (7) The length of new trail construction to con11 nect these routes to the existing authorized trail in 

12 the Chippewa National Forest is approximately the 

13 same as the length of trail construction that would 

14 have been required along the currently authorized 

15 route. 

16 (8) Public input during a route assessment 

17 study conducted by the National Park Service dem18 onstrated that there is broad support among af19 fected public agencies, private trail organizations, 

20 and Minnesota citizens for making this change in 

21 the authorized route. 

22 (9) This new route would increase the length of 

23 the North Country National Scenic Trail by approxi24 mately 400 miles, resulting in a revised estimate of 


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1 the length of a completed North Country National 

2 Scenic Trail of approximately 4,600 miles. 

3 SEC. 3. ROUTE REAUTHORIZATION. 

4 Section 5(a)(8) of the National Trails System Act (16 

5 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(8) The North Country National Scenic Trail, 

7 a trail of approximately forty-six hundred miles, ex8 tending from eastern New York State to the vicinity 

9 of Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota, following the 

10 approximate route depicted on the map identified as 

11 ‘North Country National Scenic Trail, Authorized 

12 Route’, dated February 16, 2005, and numbered 

13 649/80,002. The map shall be on file and available 

14 for public inspection in the office of the Director, 

15 National Park Service, Washington, District of Co16 lumbia. The trail shall be administered by the Sec17 retary of the Interior.’’. 

Æ 


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