[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 481 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 481

  To revise the authorized route of the North Country National Scenic 
Trail in northeastern Minnesota to include existing hiking trails along 
    Lake Superior's north shore and in Superior National Forest and 
           Chippewa National Forest, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 13, 2009

 Mr. Oberstar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

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                                 A BILL


 
  To revise the authorized route of the North Country National Scenic 
Trail in northeastern Minnesota to include existing hiking trails along 
    Lake Superior's north shore and in Superior National Forest and 
           Chippewa National Forest, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``North Country National Scenic Trail 
Route Adjustment Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The North Country National Scenic Trail, although only 
        approximately half completed, provides outstanding outdoor 
        recreation experiences to United States citizens and visitors 
        to the United States.
            (2) The North Country National Scenic Trail is an 
        outstanding example of the recreation opportunities that can be 
        provided through a partnership of Federal, State, and local 
        governments, private nonprofit trail organizations, individual 
        volunteers, and landowners.
            (3) Modern, digital measuring equipment indicates that when 
        construction is completed on the currently authorized route, 
        the actual length of the trail will be approximately 4,200 
        miles, rather than the 3,200 miles estimated at the time of 
        authorization in 1980.
            (4) The currently authorized route in Minnesota going 
        westward from the vicinity of Duluth to the Chippewa National 
        Forest is not feasible because most of the land between these 
        points is tamarack swamp.
            (5) More than 300 miles of existing and planned hiking 
        trails extend northeastward from the vicinity of Duluth to the 
        vicinity of Grand Portage, and then westward to the vicinity of 
        Ely. These trails are the Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route 
        Trail, and Kekekabic Trail.
            (6) The Superior Hiking Trail, Border Route Trail, and 
        Kekekabic Trail would serve as an excellent route for the North 
        Country National Scenic Trail in northeastern Minnesota, in 
        lieu of the current route, and would take hikers through 
        outstanding northern scenery that truly epitomizes the ``North 
        Country''.
            (7) The length of new trail construction to connect these 
        routes to the existing authorized trail in the Chippewa 
        National Forest is approximately the same as the length of 
        trail construction that would have been required along the 
        currently authorized route.
            (8) Public input during a route assessment study conducted 
        by the National Park Service demonstrated that there is broad 
        support among affected public agencies, private trail 
        organizations, and Minnesota citizens for making this change in 
        the authorized route.
            (9) This new route would increase the length of the North 
        Country National Scenic Trail by approximately 400 miles, 
        resulting in a revised estimate of the length of a completed 
        North Country National Scenic Trail of approximately 4,600 
        miles.

SEC. 3. ROUTE REAUTHORIZATION.

    Section 5(a)(8) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 
1244(a)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(8) The North Country National Scenic Trail, a trail of 
        approximately forty-six hundred miles, extending from eastern 
        New York State to the vicinity of Lake Sakakawea in North 
        Dakota, following the approximate route depicted on the map 
        identified as `North Country National Scenic Trail, Authorized 
        Route', dated February 16, 2005, and numbered 649/80,002. The 
        map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
        office of the Director, National Park Service, Washington, 
        District of Columbia. The trail shall be administered by the 
        Secretary of the Interior.''.
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