I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4865 

To amend the National Trails System Act to authorize an additional category 

of national trail known as a national discovery trail, to provide special 

requirements for the establishment and administration of national discovery trails, and to designate the cross country American Discovery 

Trail as the first national discovery trail. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2004 

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

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the National Trails System Act to authorize an 

additional category of national trail known as a national 

discovery trail, to provide special requirements for the 

establishment and administration of national discovery 

trails, and to designate the cross country American Discovery Trail as the first national discovery 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 ‘‘National Discovery 

5 Trails Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS 

2 COMPONENT OF NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM. 

3 (a) ADDITIONAL COMPONENT OF SYSTEM.—Section 

4 3(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 

5 1242(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para7 graph (5); and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(4) National discovery trails, established as 

11 provided in section 5 and subject to the special re12 quirements of section 7A, which will be extended, 

13 continuous, interstate trails so located as to— 

14 ‘‘(A) provide for outstanding outdoor 

15 recreation and travel and the conservation and 

16 enjoyment of significant natural, cultural, and 

17 historic resources associated with the trail; and 

18 ‘‘(B) connect representative examples of 

19 America’s trails and metropolitan, urban, rural, 

20 and backcountry regions of the Nation.’’. 

21 (b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR NATIONAL DIS22 COVERY TRAILS.—The National Trails System Act is 

23 amended by inserting after section 7 (16 U.S.C. 1246) 

24 the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 7A. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT 

2 REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO NATIONAL 

3 DISCOVERY TRAILS. 

4 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION AUTHORITY.—A national dis5 covery trail may be designated on Federal lands and, with 

6 the consent of the owner thereof, on non-Federal lands. 

7 The appropriate Secretary shall obtain the consent of the 

8 owner of non-Federal lands through the use of a written 

9 agreement, which shall include such terms and conditions 

10 as the parties to the agreement consider advisable, and 

11 may include provisions regarding the discontinuation of 

12 the trail designation on the lands covered by the agree13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(b) NOTICE TO LANDOWNERS.—As part of a feasi15 bility study or environmental assessment concerning a pro16 posed national discovery trail designation, the appropriate 

17 Secretary conducting the study or assessment shall pro18 vide notification to owners of nonpublic lands where the 

19 proposed national discovery trail may cross on or abut 

20 nonpublic lands. 

21 ‘‘(c) PROTECTION OF USE OF ADJACENT LANDS.— 

22 The Congress does not intend for the establishment of a 

23 national discovery trail to lead to the creation of protective 

24 perimeters or buffer zones adjacent to the trail. The fact 

25 that there may be activities or uses on lands adjacent to 

26 the trail that would not be permitted on the trail shall 
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1 not preclude such activities or uses on such lands adjacent 

2 to the trail to the extent consistent with other applicable 

3 law. Nothing in this section may be construed to impose, 

4 or permit the imposition of, any limitations on the use of 

5 any non-Federal lands without the consent of the owner 

6 of the lands. 

7 ‘‘(d) PREVENTION OF TRESPASS OF PRIVATE

8 LANDS.—The appropriate Secretary shall initiate con9 sultations with affected States and their political subdivi10 sions to develop and implement appropriate measures to 

11 protect nonpublic landowners from trespass resulting from 

12 visitor use of a national discovery trail and from unreason13 able personal liability and property damage caused by trail 

14 use. After such consultation, the appropriate Secretary 

15 may provide assistance to such States and their political 

16 subdivisions under appropriate cooperative agreements in 

17 the manner provided by this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(e) RELATION TO RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Neither the 

19 designation of a national discovery trail nor any plan re20 lated thereto shall affect, or be considered, in the granting 

21 or denial of a right-of-way or any conditions relating 

22 thereto. 

23 ‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE ADMINISTRATION.—The appro24 priate Secretary for each national discovery trail shall ad-
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1 minister the trail in cooperation with a competent 

2 trailwide volunteer-based organization. 

3 ‘‘(g) RELATION TO OTHER TRAILS.—Where national 

4 discovery trails are congruent with other local, State, na5 tional scenic, or national historic trails, the designation 

6 of the national discovery trail shall not in any way dimin7 ish the values and significance for which these trails were 

8 established.’’. 

9 (c) CONDITIONS ON CONDUCT OF FEASIBILITY

10 STUDIES.—Section 5(b) of the National Trails System Act 

11 (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

13 (10) as subparagraphs (A) through (J), respectively; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘the’’ at the beginning of each 

15 of subparagraphs (A) through (J), as so redesig16 nated, and inserting ‘‘The’’; 

17 (3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each 

18 of subparagraphs (A) through (I), as so redesig19 nated, and inserting a period; 

20 (4) in subparagraph (J), as so redesignated, by 

21 striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; 

22 (5) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’ at the begin23 ning of the subsection; 
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1 (6) by redesignating paragraph (11) as para2 graph (2) and conforming the margins to paragraph 

3 (1); and 

4 (7) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(3)(A) For purposes of this subsection, a trail shall 

7 not be considered feasible and desirable for designation 

8 as a national discovery trail unless it meets all of the fol9 lowing criteria: 

10 ‘‘(i) The trail must link to one or more areas 

11 within the boundaries of a metropolitan area (as 

12 those boundaries are determined under section 

13 134(c) of title 23, United States Code), and the trail 

14 should also join with other trails, thereby tying the 

15 National Trails System to significant recreation and 

16 resources areas. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The trail must be supported by at least 

18 one competent trailwide volunteer-based organiza19 tion, and must have extensive local and trailwide 

20 support by the public, by user groups, and by af21 fected State and local governments. 

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

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

24 should be a continuous, walkable route. 
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1 ‘‘(B) National discovery trails are specifically exempt2 ed from the provisions of sections 7(g) of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(C) The appropriate Secretary shall obtain written 

4 consent from affected landowners prior to entering non5 public lands for the purposes of conducting any surveys 

6 or studies of nonpublic lands relating to designating or 

7 administering national discovery trails.’’. 

8 (d) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

9 PLAN.—Section 5 of the National Trails System Act (16 

10 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(g) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL

13 PLAN.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION.—Within 

15 three complete fiscal years after the date of enact16 ment of legislation designating a national discovery 

17 trail, the responsible Secretary shall submit to the 

18 Committee on Resources of the House of Represent19 atives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

20 Resources of the Senate a comprehensive plan for 

21 the protection, management, development, and use 

22 of the Federal portions of the trail and for the provi23 sion of technical assistance to States and local units 

24 of government and private landowners, as requested, 

25 for non-Federal portions of the trail. 
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1 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION.—In 

2 developing a comprehensive management plan for a 

3 national discovery trail, the responsible Secretary 

4 shall cooperate to the fullest practicable extent with 

5 the organizations sponsoring the trail. The respon6 sible Secretary shall ensure that the comprehensive 

7 plan does not conflict with existing agency direction 

8 and shall consult with the affected land managing 

9 agencies, the Governors of the affected States, af10 fected county and local political jurisdictions, and 

11 local organizations maintaining components of the 

12 trail. 

13 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.—Com14 ponents of the comprehensive management plan for 

15 a national discovery trail shall include the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) Policies, objectives, and practices to 

17 be observed in the administration and manage18 ment of the trail, including the identification of 

19 all significant natural, historical, and cultural 

20 resources to be preserved, model agreements 

21 necessary for joint trail administration among 

22 and between interested parties, and an identi23 fied carrying capacity for critical segments of 

24 the trail, and procedures for implementation, 

25 where appropriate. 
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1 ‘‘(B) Strategies for trail protection to re2 tain the values for which the trail is being es3 tablished and recognized by the Federal Gov4 ernment. 

5 ‘‘(C) General and site-specific trail-related 

6 development, including anticipated costs. 

7 ‘‘(D) The process to be followed to imple8 ment the trail marking authorities in section 

9 7(c) conforming to approved trail logo or em10 blem requirements.’’. 

11 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO REFLECT NEW

12 CATEGORY OF NATIONAL TRAIL.—The National Trails 

13 System Act is amended— 

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

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

16 historic, and discovery’’; 

17 (2) in section 5 (16 U.S.C. 1244)— 

18 (A) by striking the section heading and 

19 ‘‘SEC. 5. (a)’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 5. NATIONAL SCENIC, NATIONAL HISTORIC, AND NA21 TIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS. 

22 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONALLY AUTHORIZED TRAILS.—’’; 

23 (B) in subsection (a), in the matter pre24 ceding paragraph (1)— 
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and national historic’’ 

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

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘and National His5 toric’’ and inserting ‘‘, National Historic, 

6 and National Discovery’’; and 

7 (C) in subsection (b)(1) (as amended by 

8 subsection (c) of this section)— 

9 (i) in the matter preceding subpara10 graph (A), by striking ‘‘or national his11 toric’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or 

12 national discovery’’; and 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

14 ‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, na15 tional historic, or national discovery’’; and 

16 (3) in section 7 (16 U.S.C. 1246)— 

17 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘and 

18 national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, national his19 toric, and national discovery’’; 

20 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘or na21 tional historic’’ each place such term appears 

22 and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or national 

23 discovery’’; 

24 (C) in subsection (c)— 
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘scenic or national his2 toric’’ each place it appears and inserting 

3 ‘‘scenic, national historic, or national dis4 covery’’; 

5 (ii) in the second proviso, by striking 

6 ‘‘scenic, or national historic’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘scenic, national historic, or national dis8 covery’’; and 

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘, and national his10 toric’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic, 

11 and national discovery’’; 

12 (D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or na13 tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national historic, 

14 or national discovery’’; 

15 (E) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘or na16 tional historic’’ each place such term appears 

17 and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or national 

18 discovery’’; 

19 (F) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ‘‘Na20 tional Scenic or Historic Trail’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘national scenic, historic, or discovery trail’’; 

22 (G) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ‘‘or 

23 national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national his24 toric, or national discovery’’; and 
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1 (H) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘or na2 tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national historic, 

3 or national discovery’’. 

4 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL AS 

5 A NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL. 

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

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

9 ‘‘(24) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of ap10 proximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape Henlopen 

11 State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore 

12 in California, extending westward through Delaware, 

13 Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Ohio, 

14 and Kentucky, where near Cincinnati it splits into two 

15 routes. The Northern Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indi16 ana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the 

17 Southern Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Mis18 souri, Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin 

19 in Denver, Colorado, the route continues through Colo20 rado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The trail is generally 

21 described in Volume 2 of the National Park Service feasi22 bility study dated June 1995 which shall be on file and 

23 available for public inspection in the office of the Director 

24 of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

25 The American Discovery Trail shall be administered by 
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1 the Secretary of the Interior in cooperation with at least 

2 one competent trailwide volunteer-based organization, af3 fected land managing agencies and State and local govern4 ments as appropriate. No lands or interests outside the 

5 exterior boundaries of federally administered areas may 

6 be acquired by the Federal Government solely for the 

7 American Discovery Trail. The American Discovery Trail 

8 is specifically exempted from the provisions of subsection 

9 (e), (f), and (g) of section 7.’’. 

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