I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3022 
To amend the National Trails System Act to include national discovery 
trails, and to designate the American Discovery Trail, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 2, 2013 
Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the National Trails System Act to include national 
discovery trails, and to designate the American Discovery 
Trail, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Discovery 
Trails Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS. 
(a) NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS.—Section 3(a) of 
the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is 
amended by inserting after paragraph (4) the following: 
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‘‘(5) National discovery trails, established under 
section 5, which will be extended, continuous, inter-
state trails so located as to provide for outstanding 
outdoor recreation and travel and to connect rep-
resentative examples of America’s trails and commu-
nities. National discovery trails should provide for 
the conservation and enjoyment of significant nat-
ural, cultural, and historic resources associated with 
each trail and should be so located as to represent 
metropolitan, urban, rural, and back country regions 
of the Nation. Any such trail may be designated on 
Federal lands and, with the consent of the owner 
thereof, on any non-Federal lands.’’. 
(b) DESIGNATION
OF
THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY 
TRAIL AS A NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL.—Section 5(a) 
of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(ll) The American Discovery Trail, a trail 
of approximately 6,000 miles extending from Cape 
Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes 
National Seashore in California, extending westward 
through Delaware, Maryland, the District of Colum-
bia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, where near 
Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern 
Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
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Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the Southern 
Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 
Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin in 
Denver, Colorado, the route continues through Colo-
rado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The trail is gen-
erally described in Volume 2 of the National Park 
Service feasibility study dated June 1995 which 
shall be on file and available for public inspection in 
the office of the Director of the National Park Serv-
ice, Department of the Interior, the District of Co-
lumbia. The American Discovery Trail shall be ad-
ministered by the Secretary of the Interior in co-
operation with at least one competent trailwide vol-
unteer-based organization and other affected Federal 
land managing agencies, and State and local govern-
ments, as appropriate. No lands or interests outside 
the exterior boundaries of federally administered 
areas may be acquired by the Federal Government 
solely for the American Discovery Trail. The provi-
sions of sections 7(e), 7(f), and 7(g) shall not apply 
to the American Discovery Trail.’’. 
(c) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL 
PLAN.—Section 7 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1246) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
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‘‘(l)(1) For purposes of subsection (5)(b), a trail shall 
not be considered feasible and desirable for designation 
as a national discovery trail unless it meets all of the fol-
lowing criteria: 
‘‘(A) The trail must link one or more areas 
within the boundaries of a metropolitan area (as 
those boundaries are determined under section 
134(c) of title 23, United States Code). It should 
also join with other trails, connecting the National 
Trails System to significant recreation and resources 
areas. 
‘‘(B) The trail must be supported by at least 
one competent trailwide volunteer-based organiza-
tion. Each trail should have extensive local and 
trailwide support by the public, by user groups, and 
by affected State and local governments. 
‘‘(C) The trail must be extended and pass 
through more than one State. At a minimum, it 
should be a continuous, walkable route. 
‘‘(2) The appropriate Secretary for each national dis-
covery trail shall administer the trail in cooperation with 
at least one competent trailwide volunteer-based organiza-
tion. Where the designation of discovery trail is aligned 
with other units of the National Trails System, or State 
or local trails, the designation of a discovery trail shall 
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not affect the protections or authorities provided for the 
other trail or trails, nor shall the designation of a dis-
covery trail diminish the values and significance for which 
those trails were established. Not later than three com-
plete fiscal years after the date of the enactment of any 
law designating a national discovery trail, the appropriate 
Secretary shall submit a comprehensive plan for the pro-
tection, management, development, and use of the trail, 
to the Committee on Natural Resources of the United 
States House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Sen-
ate. The responsible Secretary shall ensure that the com-
prehensive plan for the entire trail does not conflict with 
existing agency direction and shall consult with the af-
fected land managing agencies, the Governors of the af-
fected States, affected county and local political jurisdic-
tions, and local organizations maintaining components of 
the trail. Components of the comprehensive plan include— 
‘‘(A) policies and practices to be observed in the 
administration and management of the trail, includ-
ing the identification of all significant natural, his-
torical, and cultural resources to be preserved, model 
agreements necessary for joint trail administration 
among and between interested parties, and an iden-
tified carrying capacity for critical segments of the 
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trail and a plan for their implementation where ap-
propriate; 
‘‘(B) general and site-specific trail-related de-
velopment including costs; and 
‘‘(C) the process to be followed by the volun-
teer-based organization, in cooperation with the ap-
propriate Secretary, to implement the trail marking 
authorities in subsection (c) conforming to approved 
trail logo or emblem requirements. Nothing in this 
Act may be construed to impose or permit the impo-
sition of any landowner on the use of any non-Fed-
eral lands without the consent of the owner thereof. 
Neither the designation of a national discovery trail 
nor any plan relating thereto shall affect or be con-
sidered in the granting or denial of a right of way 
or any conditions relating thereto.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
The National Trails System Act is amended— 
(1) in section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1241(b)), by 
striking ‘‘scenic and historic’’ and inserting ‘‘scenic, 
historic, and discovery’’; 
(2) in the section heading to section 5 (16 
U.S.C. 1244), by striking ‘‘AND
NATIONAL
HIS-
TORIC’’ and inserting ‘‘, NATIONAL HISTORIC, AND 
NATIONAL DISCOVERY’’; 
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