[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 107 (Friday, July 25, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8153-S8155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 1069. A bill entitled the ``National Discovery Trails Act of 
1997''; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


               THE NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS ACT OF 1997

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today for the purpose of 
introducing legislation that I think is most significant. This 
legislation will particularly appeal to those who are inclined to enjoy 
the outdoors because it will establish our Nation's first coast-to-
coast multiuse hiking trail. Take a moment and think about that. You 
will be able to hike from coast to coast on a hiking trail. That means 
off the highways, away from the roads, behind the freeways. A true 
outdoor experience.
  Trails are one of America's most popular recreation resources. 
Millions of Americans hike, they ski, they jog, they bike, they ride 
horses, they drive snow machines and all-terrain vehicles, they observe 
nature, commute, and relax on trails throughout the country.
  A variety of trails are provided nationwide, including urban bike 
paths, bridle paths, community greenways, historic trails, motorized 
trails, and long-distance hiking trails. This legislation will 
establish the American Discovery Trail, or ADT as it is commonly 
called. The ADT is a continuous coast-to-coast trail to link the 
Nation's principal north-south trails and east-west historic trails 
with shorter local and regional trails into a nationwide network.
  Mr. President, by establishing a system of discovery trails, this new 
category will recognize that using and enjoying trails close to home is 
equally as important as traversing remote wilderness trails, of which 
we have many in my State of Alaska. Long-distance

[[Page S8154]]

trails are used mostly by people living close to the trail and by 
weekenders. Backpacking excursions are normally a few days to a couple 
of weeks. As an example, of the estimated 4 million users of the 
Appalachian Trail, each year it is estimated that only about 100 to 150 
walk the entire trail annually. This will be true of the American 
Discovery Trail as well, especially because of its proximity to urban 
locations throughout the country.
  The ADT, the first of the discovery trails, will connect 6 of the 
national scenic trails, 10 of the national historic trails, 23 of the 
national recreation trails, and hundreds of other local and regional 
trails. Until now, the element that has been missing in order to create 
a national system of connected trails is that the existing trails, for 
the most part, are simply not connectable. With the ADT that will no 
longer be the case.

  The ADT is about access. The trails will connect people to larger 
cities, small towns, urban areas and to mountains, forests, deserts and 
natural areas, incorporating regional, local, and national trails 
together.
  What makes this so exciting is the way it has already brought people 
together. More than 100 organizations along the trail's 6,000 miles 
support the effort. Each State the trail passes through already has a 
volunteer coordination effort, and coordinators who lead an active ADT 
committee. A strong grassroots effort along with financial support from 
Backpacker magazine, Eco USA, The Coleman Companies and others, have 
helped make the ADT move from a dream to a reality.
  Only one very more important step on the trail needs to be taken. 
Congress needs to authorize the trail as part of our national trail 
system. I invite my colleagues to join me in this effort.
  The American Discovery Trail begins, or ends, when your two feet go 
into the Pacific at Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San 
Francisco. Next are Berkeley and Sacramento before the climb to the 
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail in Lake Tahoe in the middle of the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains.
  Nevada offers historic Virginia City, home of the Comstock Lode, the 
Pony Express National Historic Trail, Great Basin National Park with 
Lehman Caves and Wheeler Peak.
  Utah provides national forests and parks along with spectacular red 
rock country, which leads into Colorado offering Colorado National 
Monument with its 20,445 acres of sandstone monoliths and canyons. Then 
there is the Grand Mesa over Scofield Pass and Crested Butte, in the 
heart of the ski country as you follow the Colorado and Continental 
Divide Trails into Evergreen. I wish I was there myself this afternoon.
  At Denver, the ADT divides and becomes the northern and southern 
Midwest routes. The northern Midwest route winds through Nebraska, 
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; the southern Midwest route leaves 
Colorado and the Air Force Academy and follows the tracks and wagon 
wheel ruts of thousands of early pioneers through Kansas and Missouri 
as well as settlements and historic places in Illinois, Indiana, 
Kentucky until the trail joins the northern route in Cincinnati.
  West Virginia is next, then Maryland and the C&O Canal. This leads to 
Washington, DC, where the trail passes The Mall, the White House, the 
Capitol, and then heads on to Annapolis. Finally, in Delaware, the 
trail reaches the eastern terminus at Cape Henlopen State Park and the 
Atlantic Ocean.
  Between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, one will experience the most 
spectacular scenery in the world, thousands of historic sites, lakes, 
rivers and streams of every size. The trail offers an opportunity to 
discovery America from small towns, to rural countryside, to large 
metropolitan areas.
  When the President signs the legislation into law, a 10-year effort 
will have been achieved. The American Discovery Trail will become a 
reality. The more people who use it, the better.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the bill 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1069

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``National Discovery Trails 
     Act of 1997''.

     SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.

       Section 3(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 
     1242(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (4) the 
     following:
       ``(5) National discovery trails, established as provided in 
     section 5, which will be extended, continuous, interstate 
     trails so located as to provide for outstanding outdoor 
     recreation and travel and to connect representative examples 
     of America's trails and communities. National discovery 
     trails should provide for the conservation and enjoyment of 
     significant natural, cultural, and historic resources 
     associated with each trail and should be so located as to 
     represent metropolitan, urban, rural, and back country 
     regions of the Nation.''. Any such trail may be designated on 
     federal lands and, with the consent of the owner thereof, on 
     any non federal lands: Provided, that such consent may be 
     revoked at any time. 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 
     a National Discovery 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.
       (2) Feasibility Requirements; Cooperative Management 
     Requirement.--Section 5 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(g)(1) For purposes of subsection (b), a trail shall not 
     be considered feasible and desirable for designation as a 
     national discovery trail unless it meets all of the following 
     criteria:
       ``(A) the trail must link 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). It should also join with other trails, connecting the 
     National Trails System to significant recreation and 
     resources areas.
       ``(B) The trail must be supported by a competent trailwide 
     nonprofit organization. Each trail should have extensive 
     local and trailwide support by the public, by user groups, 
     and by affected State and local governments.
       ``(C) The trail must be extended and pass through more than 
     one State. At a minimum, it should be a continuous, walkable 
     route not including any non-federal property for which the 
     owner had not provided consent for inclusion and use.
       ``(2) The appropriate Secretary for each national discovery 
     trail shall administer the trail in cooperation with a 
     competent trailwide nonprofit organization.''.
       (b) Designation of the American Discovery Trail as a 
     National Discovery Trail.--Section 5(a) of such Act (16 
     U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended--
       (1) by re-designating the paragraph relating to the 
     California National Historic Trail as paragraph (18);
       (2) by re-designating the paragraph relating to the Pony 
     Express National Historic Trail as paragraph (19); and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(20) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of 
     approximately 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, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, 
     Nebraska, and Colorado, and the Southern Midwest route 
     traverses Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. 
     After the two routes rejoin in Denver, Colorado, the route 
     continues through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The 
     trail is generally described in Volume 2 of the National 
     Park Service feasibility 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 District of Columbia. The 
     American Discovery Trail shall be administered by the 
     Secretary of the Interior in cooperation with a competent 
     trailwide nonprofit organization and other affected land 
     managing agencies. 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. This trail is specifically exempted from 
     the provisions of sections 7(e), 7(f), and 7(g).''.
       (c) Comprensive National Discovery Trail Plan.--Section 5 
     of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244) is further amended by adding at 
     the end the following new subsection:
       ``(h) Within three complete fiscal years after the date of 
     enactment of any law designating a national discovery trail, 
     the administering Federal agency shall, in cooperation with a 
     competent trailwide nonprofit organization, submit a 
     comprehensive plan for the protection, management, 
     development, and use of the federal portions of the trail, 
     and provide technical assistance to states and local units of 
     government and private landowners, as requested, for non-
     federal portions of the trail, to the Committee on Resources 
     of the United States House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United 
     States Senate. The Secretary shall ensure that the 
     comprehensive plan for the entire trail does not conflict 
     with any existing

[[Page S8155]]

     agency direction and that the nonprofit organization consults 
     with affected land managing agencies, the Governors of the 
     affected States, county and local political jurisdictions, 
     and local organizations maintaining components of the trail. 
     Mandatory components of the comprehensive plan include--
       ``(1) specific objectives and practices to be observed in 
     the administration and management 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 identified carrying capacity of 
     the trail and a plan for its implementation;
       ``(2) general and site-specific development plans including 
     anticipated costs; and
       ``(3) the process to be followed by the nonprofit 
     organization, in cooperation with the appropriate Secretary, 
     to implement the trail marking authorities in section 7(c) 
     conforming to approved trail logo or emblem requirements.''. 
     Nothing in this Act may be construed to impose or permit the 
     imposition of any landowner on the use of any non federal 
     lands without the consent of the owner thereof, which consent 
     may be revoked at any time. Neither the designation of a 
     National Discovery Trail nor any plan relating thereto shall 
     affect or be considered in the granting or denial of a right 
     of way or any conditions relating thereto.

     SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

       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 the section heading to section 5 (16 U.S.C. 1244), 
     by striking ``AND NATIONAL HISTORIC'' and inserting ``, 
     NATIONAL HISTORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY'';
       (3) in section 5(a) (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)), in the matter 
     preceding paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``and national historic'' and inserting ``, 
     national historic, and national discovery''; and
       (B) by striking ``and National Historic'' and inserting ``, 
     National Historic, and National Discovery'';
       (4) in section 5(b) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)), in the matter 
     preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``or national historic'' 
     and inserting ``, national historic, or national discovery'';
       (5) in section 5(b)(3) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)(3)), by striking 
     ``or national historic'' and inserting ``, national historic, 
     or national discovery'';
       (6) in section 7(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1246(a)(2)), by striking 
     ``and national historic'' and inserting ``, national 
     historic, and national discovery'';
       (7) in section 7(b) (16 U.S.C. 1246(b)), by striking ``or 
     national historic'' each place such term appears and 
     inserting ``, national historic, or national discovery'';
       (8) in section 7(c) (16 U.S.C. 1246(c))--
       (A) by striking ``scenic or national historic'' each place 
     it appears and inserting ``scenic, national historic, or 
     national discovery'';
       (B) in the second proviso, by striking ``scenic, or 
     national historic'' and inserting ``scenic, national 
     historic, or national discovery''; and
       (C) by striking ``, and national historic'' and inserting 
     ``, national historic, and national discovery'';
       (9) in section 7(d) (16 U.S.C. 1246(d)), by striking ``or 
     national historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or 
     national discovery'';
       (10) in section 7(e) (16 U.S.C. 1246(e)), by striking ``or 
     national historic'' each place such term appears and 
     inserting ``, national historic, or national discovery'';
       (11) in section 7(f)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1246(f)(2)), by striking 
     ``National Scenic or Historic'' and inserting ``national 
     scenic, historic, or discovery trail'';
       (12) in section 7(h)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1246(h)(1)), by striking 
     ``or national historic'' and inserting ``national historic, 
     or national discovery''; and
       (13) in section 7(i) (16 U.S.C. 1246(i)), by striking ``or 
     national historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or 
     national discovery''.
                                 ______