[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 634 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 634

To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the 
  Interior to carry out a study on the feasibility of designating the 
          Trail of the Ancients as a national historic trail.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2003

Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Domenici, and Mr. Bingaman) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the 
  Interior to carry out a study on the feasibility of designating the 
          Trail of the Ancients as a national historic trail.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Trail of the Ancients in the Four Corners Area, one 
        of the areas of greatest archaeological interest in the United 
        States, provides access to numerous examples of the Ancestral 
        Puebloan culture;
            (2) the Trail highlights areas and sites where--
                    (A) the earliest inhabitants were Paleo-Americans, 
                nomadic people who traveled through and lived in the 
                area as early as 10,000 B.C.; and
                    (B) the Ancestral Puebloan Indians lived from 
                approximately 1 to 1300 A.D.;
            (3) the Trail features sites that chronicle the Ute and 
        Navajo Indian culture;
            (4) the archaeological sites of the area have been well 
        preserved by the semi-arid climate of the area;
            (5) national and international recognition of sites in the 
        area has contributed to the wealth of information about the 
        people who have inhabited the area;
            (6) the Trail, which is officially designated a Scenic 
        Byway in the States of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, 
        intersects and shares stops with other Federal and State 
        designated byways and highways, including San Juan Skyway in 
        the State of Colorado and the Utah Bicentennial Highway; and
            (7) designating the Trail of the Ancients as a national 
        historic trail--
                    (A) would link many of the cultural and 
                recreational sites in the area for the benefit of the 
                traveling public and communities along the Trail; and
                    (B) would not require acquisition of additional 
                land.

SEC. 2. TRAIL OF THE ANCIENTS FEASIBILITY STUDY.

    Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(41) Trail of the ancients historic trail.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Trail of the Ancients, 
                extending approximately 710 miles through the States of 
                Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona.
                    ``(B) Report.--On completion of the study under 
                this paragraph, the Secretary shall submit to the 
                Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 
                and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
                the Senate a copy of the study.
                    ``(C) During the course of the study, the Secretary 
                shall gather the input of affected communities.''.
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