II 

Calendar No. 677

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2052

[Report No. 108–321] 

To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real 

de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2004

Mrs. HUTCHISON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

AUGUST 25, 2004

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 22, 2004, by Mr. 

DOMENICI, with an amendment 

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

A BILL

To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El 

Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.

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 ‘‘El Camino Real de 

5 los Tejas National Historic Trail Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 

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

3 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(23) EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), El Camino Real de los Tejas (The 

8 Royal Road of historic Tejas) National Historic 

9 Trail, a combination of historic routes totaling 

10 2,580 miles in length from the Rio Grande near 

11 Eagle Pass and Laredo, Texas, to Natchitoches, 

12 Louisiana, and including the Old San Antonio 

13 Road, as generally depicted on the maps enti14 tled ‘El Camino Real de los Tejas’, contained in 

15 the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b) 

16 entitled ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility 

17 Study and Environmental Assessment: El Ca18 mino Real de los Tejas, Texas-Louisiana’, dated 

19 July 1998. The National Park Service is au20 thorized to administer designated portions of 

21 this trail system as a national historic trail as 

22 set forth in this paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT.—

24 ‘‘(i) PUBLICLY OWNED LANDS.—Con25 gress authorizes the establishment of El 

26 Camino Real de los Tejas national historic 
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1 trail and the respective administration on 

2 those portions of the historic trail routes 

3 and related historic sites within publicly 

4 owned lands when such trail related re5 sources meet the purposes of this Act or 

6 certification criteria set by the Secretary of 

7 the Interior per section 3(a)(3) of this Act. 

8 ‘‘(ii) PRIVATELY OWNED LANDS.—

9 Congress authorizes the establishment of 

10 El Camino Real de los Tejas national his11 toric trail and the respective administra12 tion on those portions of the historic trail 

13 routes and related historic sites within pri14 vately owned lands only through the vol15 untary and expressed consent of the owner 

16 and when such trails and sites qualify for 

17 certification as officially established compo18 nents of the national historic trail. The 

19 owner’s approval of a certification agree20 ment satisfies the consent requirement. 

21 Certification agreements are not legally 

22 binding and may be terminated at any 

23 time. Should land ownership change at a 

24 certified site, the certification will cease to 
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1 be valid unless the new owner consents to 

2 a new agreement. 

3 ‘‘(C) PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTEC4 TION.—Nothing in this Act or in the establish5 ment of any portion of the national historic 

6 trail authorizes any person to enter private 

7 property without the consent of the owner. 

8 Nothing in this Act or in the establishment of 

9 any portion of the national historic trail will au10 thorize the Federal Government to restrict pri11 vate property owner’s use or enjoyment of their 

12 property subject to other laws or regulations. 

13 Authorization of El Camino Real de los Tejas 

14 National Historic Trail under this Act does not 

15 itself confer any additional authority to apply 

16 other Federal laws and regulations on non-Fed17 eral lands along the trail. Laws or regulations 

18 requiring public entities and agencies to take 

19 into consideration a national historic trail shall 

20 continue to apply notwithstanding the fore21 going. Notwithstanding section 7(g) of this Act, 

22 the United States is authorized to acquire pri23 vately owned real property or an interest in 

24 such property for purposes of the national his25 toric trail only with the consent of the owner of 
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1 such property and shall have no authority to 

2 condemn or otherwise appropriate privately 

3 owned real property or an interest in such prop4 erty for the purposes of El Camino Real de los 

5 Tejas National Historic Trail. 

6 ‘‘(D) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The 

7 Secretary of the Interior may coordinate with 

8 United States and Mexican public and non9 governmental organizations, academic institu10 tions, and, in consultation with the Secretary of 

11 State, the Government of Mexico and its polit12 ical subdivisions, for the purpose of exchanging 

13 trail information and research, fostering trail 

14 preservation and educational programs, pro15 viding technical assistance, and working to es16 tablish an international historic trail with com17 plementary preservation and education pro18 grams in each nation. 

19 ‘‘(E) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of 

20 the Interior shall consult with appropriate State 

21 agencies in the the planning, development, and 

22 maintenance of El Camino Real de los Tejas 

23 National Historic Trail.’’.
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘El Camino Real de los 

3 Tejas National Historic Trail Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS 

5 NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL. 

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

7 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(24) EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS NATIONAL HIS10 TORIC TRAIL.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—El Camino Real de los Tejas 

12 (the Royal Road to the Tejas) National Historic 

13 Trail, a combination of historic routes (including the 

14 Old San Antonio Road) totaling approximately 2,580 

15 miles, extending from the Rio Grande near Eagle 

16 Pass and Laredo, Texas, to Natchitoches, Louisiana, 

17 as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘El Camino 

18 Real de los Tejas’ contained in the report entitled 

19 ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Envi20 ronmental Assessment: El Camino Real de los Tejas, 

21 Texas-Louisiana’, dated July 1998. 

22 ‘‘(B) MAP.—A map generally depicting the trail 

23 shall be on file and available for public inspection in 

24 the appropriate offices of the National Park Service. 
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1 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—(i) The Secretary of the 

2 Interior (referred to in this paragraph as ‘the Sec3 retary’) shall administer the trail. 

4 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall administer those por5 tions of the trail on non-Federal land only with the 

6 consent of the owner of such land and when such trail 

7 portion qualifies for certification as an officially es8 tablished component of the trail, consistent with sec9 tion 3(a)(3). An owner’s approval of a certification 

10 agreement shall satisfy the consent requirement. A 

11 certification agreement may be terminated at any 

12 time. 

13 ‘‘(iii) The designation of the trail does not au14 thorize any person to enter private property without 

15 the consent of the owner. 

16 ‘‘(D) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con17 sult with appropriate State and local agencies in the 

18 planning and development of the trail. 

19 ‘‘(E) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The Sec20 retary may coordinate with United States and Mexi21 can public and nongovernmental organizations, aca22 demic institutions, and, in consultation with the Sec23 retary of State, the Government of Mexico and its po24 litical subdivisions, for the purpose of exchanging 

25 trail information and research, fostering trail preser-
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1 vation and educational programs, providing technical 

2 assistance, and working to establish an international 

3 historic trail with complementary preservation and 

4 education programs in each nation. 

5 ‘‘(F) LAND ACQUISITION.—The United States 

6 shall not acquire for the trail any land or interest in 

7 land outside the exterior boundary of any federally8 administered area without the consent of the owner of 

9 the land or interest in land.’’. 

Calendar No. 677

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2052

[Report No. 108–321] 

A BILL

To amend the National Trails System Act to desHistoric Trail. ignate El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National 

AUGUST 25, 2004

Reported with an amendment