I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 588

To amend the National Trails System Act to create a new category of

long-distance trails to be known as national discovery trails, to authorize

the American Discovery Trail as the first trail in that category, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 5, 1997

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. COSTELLO, Mrs. KELLY, Mr.

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr.

BUNNING, Mr. EVANS, Mr. DAN SCHAEFER of Colorado, Mr. HEFLEY,

Mr. FROST, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr.

MILLER of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SKAGGS, Mr. POSHARD, Mr.

FAZIO of California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. STARK, Mr. BARRETT of

Nebraska, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. VENTO, Mr.

EHLERS, Mr. WELLER, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. LEACH, Mrs.

TAUSCHER, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. RAHALL, and Mr.

HINCHEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To amend the National Trails System Act to create a new

category of long-distance trails to be known as national

discovery trails, to authorize the American Discovery

Trail as the first trail in that category, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

3 Trails Act of 1997’’.

4 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.

5 (a) NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS ESTABLISHED.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) of the National

7 Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended

8 by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:

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

10 provided in section 5, which will be extended, contin11 uous, interstate trails so located as to provide for

12 outstanding outdoor recreation and travel and to

13 connect representative examples of America’s trails

14 and communities. National discovery trails should

15 provide for the conservation and enjoyment of sig16 nificant natural, cultural, and historic resources as17 sociated with each trail and should be so located as

18 to represent metropolitan, urban, rural, and

19 backcountry regions of the Nation.’’.

20 (2) FEASIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; COOPERATIVE

21 MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Section 5 of such

22 Act (16 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the

23 end the following new subsection:

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

25 not be considered feasible and desirable for designation
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1 as a national discovery trail unless it meets all of the fol2 lowing criteria:

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

4 within the boundaries of a metropolitan area (as

5 those boundaries are determined under section

6 134(c) of title 23, United States Code). It should

7 also join with other trails, tying the National Trails

8 System to significant recreation and resources areas.

9 ‘‘(B) It must be supported by a competent

10 trailwide nonprofit organization. Each trail should

11 have extensive local and trailwide support by the

12 public, by user groups, and by affected State and

13 local governments.

14 ‘‘(C) It must be extended and pass through

15 more than one State. At a minimum, it should be a

16 continuous, walkable route.

17 ‘‘(2) The appropriate Secretary for each national dis18 covery trail shall administer the trail in cooperation with

19 a competent trailwide nonprofit organization.’’.

20 (b) DESIGNATION OF THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY

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

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

23 (1) by redesignating the paragraph relating to

24 the California National Historic Trail as paragraph

25 (18);
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1 (2) by redesignating the paragraph relating to

2 the Pony Express National Historic Trail as para3 graph (19); and

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

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

6 approximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape

7 Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes

8 National Seashore in California, extending westward

9 through Delaware, Maryland, the District of Colum10 bia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, where near

11 Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern

12 Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,

13 Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the Southern

14 Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,

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

16 Denver, Colorado, the route continues through Colo17 rado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The trail is gen18 erally described in Volume 2 of the National Park

19 Service feasibility study dated June 1995 which

20 shall be on file and available for public inspection in

21 the office of the Director of the National Park Serv22 ice, Department of the Interior, the District of

23 Columbia. The American Discovery Trail shall be
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1 administered by the Secretary of the Interior in co2 operation with a competent trailwide nonprofit orga3 nization and other affected land managing agencies.

4 No lands or interests outside the exterior boundaries

5 of federally administered areas may be acquired by

6 the Federal Government solely for the American

7 Discovery Trail. This trail is specifically exempted

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

9 (c) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

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

11 amended by adding at the end the following new sub12 section:

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

14 of enactment of any law designating a national discovery

15 trail, the administering Federal agency shall enter into ar16 rangements with a competent trailwide nonprofit organi17 zation to submit a comprehensive plan for the protection,

18 management, development, and use of the trail, to the

19 Committee on Resources of the United States House of

20 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natu21 ral Resources of the United States Senate. The Secretary

22 shall ensure that the comprehensive plan does not conflict

23 with any existing agency direction and that the nonprofit

24 organization consults with affected land managing agen25 cies, the Governors of the affected States, county and local
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1 political jurisdictions, and local organizations maintaining

2 components of the trail. Mandatory components of the

3 comprehensive plan include—

4 ‘‘(1) specific objectives and practices to be ob5 served in the administration and management of the

6 trail, including the identification of all significant

7 natural, historical, and cultural resources to be pre8 served, model agreements necessary for joint trail

9 administration among and between interested par10 ties, and an identified carrying capacity of the trail

11 and a plan for its implementation;

12 ‘‘(2) a trail protection plan to preserve the val13 ues for which the trail is being established and rec14 ognized by the Federal Government;

15 ‘‘(3) general and site-specific development plans

16 including anticipated costs; and

17 ‘‘(4) the process to be followed by the nonprofit

18 organization, in cooperation with the appropriate

19 Secretary, to implement the trail marking authori20 ties in section 7(c) conforming to approved trail logo

21 or emblem requirements.’’.

22 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

23 The National Trails System Act is amended—
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1 (1) in section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1241(b)), by

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

3 historic, and discovery’’;

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

5 U.S.C. 1244), by striking ‘‘AND NATIONAL HIS6 TORIC’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL HISTORIC,

7 AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’;

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

9 matter preceding paragraph (1)—

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

11 inserting ‘‘, national historic, and national dis12 covery’’; and

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

14 and inserting ‘‘, National Historic, and Na15 tional Discovery’’;

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

17 matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or na18 tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or

19 national discovery’’;

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

21 by striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘, national historic, or national discovery’’;

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

24 by striking ‘‘and national historic’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘, national historic, and national discovery’’;
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1 (7) in section 7(b) (16 U.S.C. 1246(b)), by

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

3 appears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or na4 tional discovery’’;

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

6 (A) by striking ‘‘scenic or national his7 toric’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sce8 nic, national historic, or national discovery’’;

9 (B) in the second proviso, by striking ‘‘sce10 nic, or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘scenic,

11 national historic, or national discovery’’; and

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

13 and inserting ‘‘, national historic, and national

14 discovery’’;

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

16 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘na17 tional historic, or national discovery’’;

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

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

20 appears and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or na21 tional discovery’’;

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

23 by striking ‘‘National Scenic or Historic’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘national scenic, historic, or discovery trail’’;
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1 (12) in section 7(h)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1246(h)(1)),

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

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

5 striking ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘na6 tional historic, or national discovery’’.

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