I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 690 
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 
FEBRUARY 9, 2005 
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland 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’’.
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 United States.’’. 
(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 section 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;
(6) by redesignating paragraph (11) as para-
graph (2) and conforming the margins to paragraph 
(1); and 
(7) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3)(A) For purposes of this subsection, 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: 
‘‘(i) The trail must link to 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), and the trail 
should also join with other trails, thereby tying the 
National Trails System to significant recreation and 
resources areas. 
‘‘(ii) The trail must be supported by at least 
one competent trailwide volunteer-based organiza-
tion, and must have extensive local and trailwide 
support by the public, by user groups, and by af-
fected State and local governments. 
‘‘(iii) The trail must be extended and pass 
through more than one State. At a minimum, it 
should be a continuous, walkable route.