I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1641 
To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for a study of the 
Cascadia Marine Trail. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2009 
Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. DICKS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for 
a study of the Cascadia Marine 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; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Cascadia Marine Trail Study Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The Cascadia Marine Trail stretches from 
near the State capitol of Olympia north to the Cana-
dian border. 
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(2) The Cascadia Marine Trail was designated 
a National Recreation Trail in 1994. 
(3) The Cascadia Marine Trail’s ‘‘theme is to 
honor and preserve 5,000 years of marine travel’’. 
(4) The Cascadia Marine Trail was granted Na-
tional Millennium Trail status by the White House 
in 1999. 
(5) The Cascadia Marine Trail designated by 
American 
Canoe 
Association 
as 
a 
ACA-Rec-
ommended Water Trail in 2005. 
(6) The Cascadia Marine Trail is specifically 
designed for use by nonmotorized, beachable boats 
and no reservations are required at 90 percent of 
sites. 
(7) The goal of Cascadia Marine Trail is to 
have a site every 5 to 8 miles along Puget Sound for 
the comfort and safety of recreational kayakers, row-
ers, canoeists, and small-boat sailors. 
(8) The Cascadia Marine Trail hosts an entirely 
public network of waterways and shorelines includ-
ing salt and fresh water areas in a vital estuarine 
environment. 
(9) The marine mammals protected by the Ma-
rine Mammal Protection Act, including seals, otters, 
porpoise, and whales (including 3 pods of resident 
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Orca whales) are residents throughout the range of 
the Cascadia Marine Trail. 
(10) The area of Puget Sound estuary, where 
water that falls on the Cascade and Olympic Moun-
tains flows to meet the marine waters of the Sound 
land and water, is 2,458 square miles, and has ap-
proximately 2,500 miles of marine shorelines. 
(11) Approximately 10,000 rivers and streams 
flow into Puget Sound. 
(12) Puget Sound is home to a diverse popu-
lation of fish and wildlife including 200 species of 
marine fish, 26 species of marine mammals, 625 
species of marine seaweeds and sea grasses, 200 spe-
cies of marine birds, and at least 3,000 species of 
invertebrates. 
(13) The Puget Sound area is home to approxi-
mately 3,500,000 people. 
(14) Fifteen Indian tribes in the region have 
historically relied upon marine travel in non-
motorized vessels and continue to engage in cul-
turally relevant canoe travel through the Puget 
Sound. 
(15) Puget Sound is home to important com-
mercial and economic activity and the annual num-
ber of cargo vessels in the Sound in 2006 was 2,451 
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