[Senate Report 106-65]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 135
106th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 106-65
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ALA KAHAKAI NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL ACT
_______
June 7, 1999.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 700]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 700) to amend the National Trails System
Act to designate the Ala Kahakai Trail as a National Historic
Trail, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do
pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 3, line 19, strike ``Upolu'' and insert ``
'Upolu''.
2. On page 3, line 24, strike ``Wahaulu'' and insert
``Waha'ula''.
Purpose of the Measure
The purpose of S. 700 is to amend the National Trails
System Act to designate the Ala Kahakai Trail in Hawaii as a
National Historic Trail.
Background and Need
Public Law 102-461, signed on October 23, 1992, authorized
the National Park Service to conduct a study of the Ala Kahakai
Trail. The Ala Kahakai follows an approximately 175-mile
portion of the prehistoric ala loa (long trail) roughly
parallel to the seacoast extending from Upolu Point on the
north tip of Hawai'i \1\ Island down the west coast of the
island around Ka Lae (South Point, literally, ``The Point'') to
the east boundary of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park at the
ancient shoreline temple (heiau) known as Waha'ula Heiau. In
prehistoric times, the ala loa circuited the entire island. A
record of decision for the trail study and final environmental
impact statement was approved in June 1998.
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\1\ Hawai'i is the spelling used in the Ala Kahakai National Trail
Study.
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The Trail was evaluated against the criteria for national
scenic trails, national historic trails and for the National
Register of Historic Places. However, it was confirmed that the
overriding significance lies in the cultural and historical
values and therefore it was recommended that the Ala Kahakai be
designated a National Historic Trail. Of the four alternatives
considered, a continuous national historic trail was the
preferred alternative. The trail would pass through four other
National Park Service units: Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic
Site, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, Pu'uhonua o
Honaunau National Historical Park and Hawai'i Volcanoes
National Park.
Legislative History
S. 700 was introduced by Senators Akaka and Inouye on March
24, 1999. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation, and Recreation held a hearing on S. 700 on April
22, 1999.
At its business meeting on May 19, 1999, the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 700, favorably
reported, as amended.
Committee Recommendation
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on May 19, 1999, by a unanimous voice vote of
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 700 as
amended as described herein.
Committee Amendment
The Committee adopted a technical amendment which corrects
two spelling errors.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1 designates the bill's short title as the ``Ala
Kahakai National Historic Trail Act''.
Section 2 lists several Congressional findings.
Section 3 amends section 5(a) of the National Trails System
Act (16U.S.C. 1244(a)) to designate the Ala Kahakai Trail as a
National Historic Trail. It directs that a map is to be available for
public inspection in National Park Service (NPS) offices. The trail is
to be administered by the NPS, however, no additional Federal land may
be acquired without the consent of the owner. The Park Service is to
encourage public participation with communities, land owners along the
trail and volunteer trail groups in the planning, development and
maintenance or the trail. Consultation with affected Federal, State and
local agencies, native Hawaiian groups and landowners is required.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, May 26, 1999.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 700, the Ala Kahakai
National Historic Trail Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 700--Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail Act
S. 700 would amend the National Trails System Act to
designate the 175-mile Ala Kahakai trail in Hawaii as a
National Historic Trail. The new trail would be administered by
the Department of the Interior, acting through the National
Park Service (NPS). Based on information provided by the NPS
and assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO
estimates the agency would spend about $3 million for planning
and development over the next two years. Operating expenses in
subsequent years would be about $0.3 million annually.
The bill would not affect direct spending or receipts;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. S. 700
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no
significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. This estimate was
approved by Paul N. Van de Water, Assistant Director for Budget
Analysis.
Regulatory Impact Evaluation
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 700. The bill is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards of
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from
enactment of S. 700, as ordered reported.
Executive Communications
At the Subcommittee hearing a representative from the
National Park Service testified in support S. 700, as follows:
Statement of Katherine Stevenson, Associate Director, Cultural Resource
Stewardship and Partnerships, National Park Service, Department of the
Interior
Thank you for the opportunity to present the position of
the Department of the Interior on S. 700, a bill to amend the
National Trails System Act to designate the Ala Kahakai Trail
as a National Historic Trail.
The Department of the Interior strongly supports this bill.
S. 700 would add the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail to the
list of National Historic Trails under the National Trails
Systems Act. S. 700 would implement the recommendations made by
a recent Congressionally authorized study, conducted by the
National Park Service, that found the Ala Kahakai to be both
suitable and feasible for inclusion into the National Trails
System, meeting all three criteria for national historic trails
outlined in Section 5 of the National Trails System Act.
Ala Kahakai is the modern name for an approximately 175-
mile portion of the ancient shoreline footpath, the Ala Loa
(Long Trail), that once circumscribed the island of Hawaii. The
Ala Loa was the major land route connecting the 600 or more
communities of the island kingdom of Hawaii from approximately
1400 to 1700 A.D., tying together the lives of approximately
120,000 people. The trail is associated with many prehistoric
and historic housing areas of the island, nearly all the royal
centers, and most of the major temples of the island. Its use
is associated with the many rulers of the kingdom, with
battlefields and the movement of armies during their reigns,
and with annual taxation. The portion of the ancient trail that
traverses the west coast of Hawaii Island was particularly
significant between the years 1779 and 1820 when a series of
events unfolded that would have lasting consequences for
Hawaiian culture evolution: Captain Cook's landing and
subsequent death at Kealakekua Bay in 1779; the rise of
Kamehameha to power and consolidation of the Hawaiian Islands
under monarchical rule; the death of Kamehameha I in 1819,
followed by the overthrow of the ancient religious system, the
Kapu; and finally, the arrival of the first western
missionaries in 1820. The trail continued in use throughout the
18th and 19th centuries, although some sections were modified
to accommodate horses, and later, two-wheeled carts and
motorized vehicles. The trail has great significance to native
Hawaiians who continue to use it in traditional ways.
Approximately fifty percent of the 175 miles of trail are
currently in local, state, or federal government ownership. For
the Park Service alone the trail connects four NPS sites and
several national historic landmarks. Approximately nine percent
of the trail lies across public access easements or
dedications. Another twenty percent of the trail that lies
within private hands is shown on tax maps or old survey maps as
``ancient trails'' as defined in the Highways Act of 1892.
Ancient trails are already open to public use and are owned in
fee simple by the state.
NPS would implement the statutory designation of the Ala
Kahakai Trail as a National Historic Trail by preparing a
comprehensive management and use plan (CMP), that would conform
with Section 5 of the National Trails System Act. The plan
would actively involve native Hawaiians, landowners, trail
users, and other interested groups and individuals. State and
local agencies, native Hawaiian and local organizations,
landowners, and trail user groups would be encouraged to manage
their portions of the trail.
The National Park Service would administer this trail
according to the authorities of Section 7 of the National
Trails System Act, ensuring that natural, cultural, and
ethnographic resources were inventoried and protected before
trail segments were opened and promoted for public use. The
Secretary of the Interior would appoint an advisory council
comprised of representatives of affected federal, state, and
local government agencies, the native Hawaiian community,
corporate and individual landowners, trail users, and others
with an established interest in the trail, to provide the
National Park Service with guidance on the operation of the
trail.
By designating the Ala Kahakai as a National Historic Trail
S. 700 would help us preserve one of the most important
legacies of Hawaii's indigenous history and culture. The
Department of the Interior would be honored to perform its
responsibilities under this act. I would be happy to answer any
of your questions.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill S. 700, as ordered reported, are shown as follows
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):
(Public Law 90-543, as amended--October 2, 1968)
Sec. 5. (a) National Scenic and National Historic Trails
shall be authorized and designated only by an Act of Congress.
There are hereby established the following National Scenic and
National Historic Trails:
* * * * * * *
[( )] (18) The California National Historic Trail, a
route of approximately five thousand seven hundred
miles, including all routes and cutoffs, extending from
Independence and Saint Joseph, Missouri, and Council
Bluffs, Iowa, to various points in California and
Oregon, as generally described in the report of the
Department of the ``California Pony Express Trails,
Eligibility/Feasibility Study/Environmental
Assessment'' and dated September 1987. A map generally
depicting the route shall be on file and available for
public inspection in the Office of the National Park
Service, Department of the Interior. The trail shall be
administered by the Secretary of the Interior. No lands
or interests therein outside the exterior boundaries of
any federally administered area may be acquired by the
United States for the California National Historic
Trail except with the consent of the owner thereof.
[( )] (19) The Pony Express National Historic Trail,
a route of approximately one thousand nine hundred
miles, including the original route and subsequent
route changes, extending from Saint Joseph, Missouri,
to Sacramento, California, as generally described in
the report of the Department of the Interior prepared
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section entitled
``California and Pony Express Trails, Eligibility/
Feasibility Study/Environment Assessment'', and dated
September 1987. A map generally depicting the route
shall be on file and available for public inspection in
the Office of the National Park Service, Department of
the Interior. The trail shall be administered by the
Secretary of the Interior. No lands or interests
therein outside the exterior boundaries of any
federally administered area may be acquired by the
United States for the Pony Express National Historic
Trail except with the consent of the owner thereof.
[( )] (20) The Selma to Montgomery National Historic
Trail, consisting of 54 miles of city streets and
United States Highway 80 from Brown Chapel A.M.E.
Church in Selma to the State Capitol Building in
Montgomery, Alabama, traveled by voting rights
advocates during March 1965 to dramatize the need for
voting rights legislation, as generally described in
the report of the Secretary of the Interior prepared
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section entitled
``Selma to Montgomery'' and dated April 1993. Maps
depicting the route shall be on file and available for
public inspection in the Office of the National Park
Service, Department of the Interior. The trail shall be
administered in accordance with this Act, including
section 7(h). The Secretaryof the Interior, acting
through the National Park Service, which shall be the lead
federal agency, shall cooperate with other Federal, State and
local authorities to preserve historic sites along the route,
including (but not limited to) the Edmund Pettus Bridge and
the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church.
( ) Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.--
(A) In general.--The Ala Kahakai National
Historic Trail (the Trail by the Sea), a 175
mile long trail extending from 'Upolu on the
north tip of Hawaii Island down the west coast
of the island around Ka Lae to the east
boundary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at
the ancient shoreline temple known as
``Waha'ula'', as generally depicted on the map
entitled ``Ala Kahakai Trail'', contained in
the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b)
entitled ``Ala Kahakai Trail Study and
Environmental Impact Statement'', dated January
1998.
(B) Map.--A map generally depicting the trail
shall be on file and available for public
inspection in the Office of the National Park
Service, Department of the Interior.
(C) Administration.--The trail shall be
administered by the Secretary of the Interior.
(D) Land acquisition.--No land or interest in
land outside the exterior boundaries of any
federally administered area may be acquired by
the United States for the trail except with the
consent of the owner of the land or interest in
land.
(E) Public participation; consultation.--The
Secretary of the Interior shall--
(i) encourage communities and owners
of land along the trail, native
Hawaiians, and volunteer groups to
participate in the planning,
development, and maintenance of the
trail; and
(ii) consult with affected Federal
State, and local agencies, native
Hawaiian groups, and landowners in the
administration of the trail.