I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 36
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 dis-
covery trails, and to designate the cross country American Discovery
Trail as the first national discovery trail.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 3, 2001
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 Dis-
covery Trail as the first national discovery trail.
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 2001’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS
COMPONENT OF NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM.
(a) ADDITIONAL COMPONENT OF SYSTEM.—Section
3(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C.
1242(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(4) National discovery trails, established as
provided in section 5 and subject to the special re-
quirements of section 7A, which will be extended,
continuous, interstate trails so located as to—
‘‘(A) provide for outstanding outdoor
recreation and travel and the conservation and
enjoyment of significant natural, cultural, and
historic resources associated with the trail; and
‘‘(B) connect representative examples of
America’s trails and metropolitan, urban, rural,
and backcountry regions of the Nation.’’.
(b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR NATIONAL DIS-
COVERY TRAILS.—The National Trails System Act is
amended by inserting after section 7 (16 U.S.C. 1246)
the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 7A. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT
REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO NATIONAL
DISCOVERY TRAILS.
‘‘(a) DESIGNATION AUTHORITY.—A national dis-
covery trail may be designated on Federal lands and, with
the consent of the owner thereof, on non-Federal lands.
The appropriate Secretary shall obtain the consent of the
owner of non-Federal lands through the use of a written
agreement, which shall include such terms and conditions
as the parties to the agreement consider advisable, and
may include provisions regarding the discontinuation of
the trail designation on the lands covered by the agree-
ment.
‘‘(b) NOTICE TO LANDOWNERS.—As part of a feasi-
bility study or environmental assessment concerning a pro-
posed national discovery trail designation, the appropriate
Secretary conducting the study or assessment shall pro-
vide notification to owners of nonpublic lands where the
proposed national discovery trail may cross on or abut
nonpublic lands.
‘‘(c) PROTECTION OF USE OF ADJACENT LANDS.—
The Congress does not intend for the establishment of a
national discovery trail to lead to the creation of protective
perimeters or buffer zones adjacent to the trail. The fact
that there may be activities or uses on lands adjacent to
the trail that would not be permitted on the trail shall
not preclude such activities or uses on such lands adjacent
to the trail to the extent consistent with other applicable
law. Nothing in this Act may be construed to impose, or
permit the imposition of, any limitations on the use of any
non-Federal lands without the consent of the owner of the
lands.
‘‘(d) PREVENTION
OF
TRESPASS
OF
PRIVATE
LANDS.—The appropriate Secretary shall initiate con-
sultations with affected States and their political subdivi-
sions to develop and implement appropriate measures to
protect nonpublic landowners from trespass resulting from
visitor use of a national discovery trail and from unreason-
able personal liability and property damage caused by trail
use. After such consultation, the appropriate Secretary
may provide assistance to such States and their political
subdivisions under appropriate cooperative agreements in
the manner provided by this subsection.
‘‘(e) RELATION
TO RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Neither the
designation of a national discovery trail nor any plan re-
lated thereto shall affect, or be considered, in the granting
or denial of a right-of-way or any conditions relating
thereto.
‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE ADMINISTRATION.—The appro-
priate Secretary for each national discovery trail shall ad-
minister the trail in cooperation with a competent
trailwide volunteer-based organization.
‘‘(g) RELATION TO OTHER TRAILS.—Where national
discovery trails are congruent with other local, State, na-
tional scenic, or national historic trails, the designation
of the national discovery trail shall not in any way dimin-
ish the values and significance for which these trails were
established.’’.
(c) CONDITIONS
ON
CONDUCT
OF
FEASIBILITY
STUDIES.—Section 5(b) of the National Trails System Act
(16 U.S.C. 1244(b)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through
(10) as subparagraphs (A) through (J), respectively;
(2) by striking ‘‘the’’ at the beginning of each
of subparagraphs (A) through (J), as so redesig-
nated, and inserting ‘‘The’’;
(3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each
of subparagraphs (A) through (I), as so redesig-
nated, and inserting a period;
(4) in subparagraph (J), as so redesignated, by
striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period;
(5) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’ at the begin-
ning of the subsection;
‘‘(B) National discovery trails are specifically exempt-
ed from the provisions of sections 7(g) of this Act.
‘‘(C) The appropriate Secretary shall obtain written
consent from affected landowners prior to entering non-
public lands for the purposes of conducting any surveys
or studies of nonpublic lands relating to designating or
administering national discovery trails.’’.
(d) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL
PLAN.—Section 5 of the National Trails System Act (16
U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(g) COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL
PLAN.—
‘‘(1) PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION.—Within
three complete fiscal years after the date of enact-
ment of legislation designating a national discovery
trail, the responsible Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Resources of the House of Represent-
atives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate a comprehensive plan for
the protection, management, development, and use
of the Federal portions of the trail and for the provi-
sion of technical assistance to States and local units
of government and private landowners, as requested,
for non-Federal portions of the trail.
‘‘(2) COOPERATION
AND
CONSULTATION.—In
developing a comprehensive management plan for a
national discovery trail, the responsible Secretary
shall cooperate to the fullest practicable extent with
the organizations sponsoring the trail. The respon-
sible Secretary shall ensure that the comprehensive
plan does not conflict with existing agency direction
and shall consult with the affected land managing
agencies, the Governors of the affected States, af-
fected county and local political jurisdictions, and
local organizations maintaining components of the
trail.
‘‘(3) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.—Com-
ponents of the comprehensive management plan for
a national discovery trail shall include the following:
‘‘(A) Policies, objectives, and practices to
be observed in the administration and manage-
ment of the trail, including the identification of
all significant natural, historical, and cultural
resources to be preserved, model agreements
necessary for joint trail administration among
and between interested parties, and an identi-
fied carrying capacity for critical segments of
the trail, and procedures for implementation,
where appropriate.
‘‘(B) Strategies for trail protection to re-
tain the values for which the trail is being es-
tablished and recognized by the Federal Gov-
ernment.
‘‘(C) General and site-specific trail-related
development, including anticipated costs.
‘‘(D) The process to be followed to imple-
ment the trail marking authorities in section
7(c) conforming to approved trail logo or em-
blem requirements.’’.
(e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO REFLECT NEW
CATEGORY OF NATIONAL TRAIL.—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 section 5 (16 U.S.C. 1244)—
(A) by striking the section heading and
‘‘SEC. 5. (a)’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘SEC. 5. NATIONAL SCENIC, NATIONAL HISTORIC, AND NA-
TIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS.
‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONALLY AUTHORIZED TRAILS.—’’;
(B) in subsection (a), in the matter pre-
ceding paragraph (1)—
(i) by striking ‘‘and national historic’’
and inserting ‘‘, national historic, and na-
tional discovery’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘and National His-
toric’’ and inserting ‘‘, National Historic,
and National Discovery’’; and
(C) in subsection (b)(1) (as amended by
subsection (c) of this section)—
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by striking ‘‘or national his-
toric’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or
national discovery’’; and
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking
‘‘or national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, na-
tional historic, or national discovery’’; and
(3) in section 7 (16 U.S.C. 1246)—
(A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘and
national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘, national his-
toric, and national discovery’’;
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘or na-
tional historic’’ each place such term appears
and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or national
discovery’’;
(C) in subsection (c)—
(i) by striking ‘‘scenic or national his-
toric’’ each place it appears and inserting
‘‘scenic, national historic, or national dis-
covery’’;
(ii) in the second proviso, by striking
‘‘scenic, or national historic’’ and inserting
‘‘scenic, national historic, or national dis-
covery’’; and
(iii) by striking ‘‘, and national his-
toric’’ and inserting ‘‘, national historic,
and national discovery’’;
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or na-
tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national historic,
or national discovery’’;
(E) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘or na-
tional historic’’ each place such term appears
and inserting ‘‘, national historic, or national
discovery’’;
(F) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ‘‘Na-
tional Scenic or Historic Trail’’ and inserting
‘‘national scenic, historic, or discovery trail’’;
(G) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ‘‘or
national historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national his-
toric, or national discovery’’; and
(H) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘or na-
tional historic’’ and inserting ‘‘national historic,
or national discovery’’.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL AS
A NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAIL.
Section 5(a) of National Trails System Act (16
U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating the second paragraph (21)
as paragraph (22); and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(23) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of ap-
proximately 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 Columbia, West Virginia, Ohio,
and Kentucky, where near Cincinnati it splits into two
routes. The Northern Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indi-
ana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, and the
Southern Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, Mis-
souri, Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin
in Denver, Colorado, the route continues through Colo-
rado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The trail is generally
described in Volume 2 of the National Park Service feasi-
bility study dated June 1995 which shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the office of the Director
of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
The American Discovery Trail shall be administered by
the Secretary of the Interior in cooperation with at least
one competent trailwide volunteer-based organization, af-
fected 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 American Discovery Trail
is specifically exempted from the provisions of subsection
(e), (f), and (g) of section 7.’’.
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