[Senate Report 115-371]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 658
                                                       
115th Congress     }                                          {   Report
                                  SENATE
 2d Session        }                                          {  115-371

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                 PIKE NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL STUDY ACT

                                _______
                                

               November 15, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

        Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                   Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2876]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 2876) to amend the National Trails System 
Act to provide for the study of the Pike National Historic 
Trail, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of S. 2876 is to amend the National Trails 
System Act to authorize the study of the Pike National Historic 
Trail to assess its suitability and feasibility for potential 
addition to the National Trails System.

                          Background and Need

    The proposed Pike National Historic Trail follows the 
expedition of Zebulon Pike, a U.S. army officer and explorer. 
In 1806, Pike's expedition embarked from St. Louis, Missouri, 
as Pike led a 20-man exploring party 2,000 miles to Minnesota. 
He was then dispatched southwest to explore Spanish territory 
and established an outpost near present-day Pueblo, Colorado, 
as his party encountered the Rocky Mountains. Unable to scale a 
mountain peak now famously named Pike's Peak, the party 
proceeded south to northern New Mexico. The party was 
apprehended and charged with illegal entry into New Mexico by 
Spanish officials, escorted across Texas, and finally released 
in Louisiana, at the Spanish-American border. In all, the 
expedition traversed seven present-day states, and three 
provinces of Mexico. Today, Pike and his journey are remembered 
for their significant discoveries of a young America and the 
many ways in which those discoveries informed the nation's 
westward expansion.
    Stretching approximately 3,664 miles, Pike's route is 
maintained by the Pike National Trail Association 
(Association). The Association strives to promote historic 
investigation of aspects of the Zebulon Pike Expedition and the 
Pike National Historic Trail, to conduct and participate in 
educational opportunities regarding the legacy of the Pike 
Expedition, and to establish federal designation of the trail 
as the Pike National Historic Trail.
    S. 2876 authorizes a study of the trail, consistent with 
the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)), to 
determine the feasibility and desirability of designating the 
trail as a National Scenic Trail or National Historic Trail. 
Proponents emphasize the economic, educational, recreational, 
preservation, and interpretive benefits of the trail's 
designation as a National Historic Trail.

                          Legislative History

    Senators Bennet and Gardner introduced S. 2876 on May 17, 
2018. The Subcommittee on National Parks conducted a hearing on 
S. 2876 on August 15, 2018.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on October 2, 2018, and ordered S. 2876 
favorably reported.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on October 2, 2018, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
2876.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides the short title.

Section 2. Western States trail study

    Section 2 amends Section 5(c) of the National Trails System 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) to authorize a study of the Pike 
National Historic Trail.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
    S. 2876 would direct the National Park Service to study the 
feasibility of designating 3,664 miles of routes traveled by 
Lieutenant Zebulon Pike--extending from Missouri, through 
portions of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, 
and ending in Louisiana--as a national historic trail.
    Based on the cost of studies of similar scope, CBO 
estimates that implementing S. 2876 would cost about $1 million 
over the 2019-2023 period; such spending would be subject to 
the availability of appropriated funds.
    Enacting S. 2876 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 2876 would not increase net 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
    S. 2876 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani 
Shankaran. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy 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. 2876. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
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 the 
enactment of S. 2876, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 2876, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the August 15, 2018, hearing on S. 2876 follows:

Statement of P. Daniel Smith, Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority 
of the Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

    Chairman Daines, Ranking Member King, and members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the 
Department of the Interior's views on S. 2876 to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to amend the National Trails System 
Act to provide for the study of the Pike National Historic 
Trail.
    The Department recognizes that the Pike trail would be an 
appropriate subject for a historic trail study. However, we do 
not support enactment of S. 2876 at this time, as we are 
focusing resources on reducing the National Park Service's 
$11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog and addressing other 
critical national park needs. In addition, the National Park 
Service has not yet completed 20 studies on other sites that 
Congress previously authorized to determine if these specific 
areas meet the appropriate criteria for designation as new park 
units, national heritage areas, national trails, or wild and 
scenic rivers.
    The study authorized by this bill would evaluate a series 
of routes extending approximately 3,664 miles, which would 
follow the route taken by Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike during 
the 1806-1807 Pike expedition that began in Fort Bellefontaine, 
Missouri, extended through portions of the States of Kansas, 
Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and ended in 
Natchitoches, Louisiana. It would be conducted in accordance 
with the criteria for national historic trail studies under the 
National Trails System Act and would include a determination as 
to whether the trail is nationally significant and whether it 
is physically possible to develop a trail along a route being 
studied and financially feasible. The study would cost an 
estimated $500,000, based on similar studies of long-distance 
trails.
    The Pike expedition was the first American-led effort to 
explore the Rocky Mountains and is an important part of the 
history of Colorado and the American Southwest. U.S. Army 
General James Wilkinson launched the expedition to provide an 
escort for Osage Indians traveling from St. Louis back to their 
villages, make contact with Native American groups on the 
plains, explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, 
and collect information about the Spanish along the 
southwestern border of the Louisiana Purchase. Lt. Pike and his 
men explored the headwaters of the Arkansas and Platte Rivers 
in Colorado before crossing the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 
near both the present-day Great Sand Dunes National Park and 
Preserve, and the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. Pike's 
group built a small stockade near modern-day Alamosa, Colorado, 
where they were captured by the Spanish and taken back to 
Mexico. Pike and the majority of his men were returned to U.S. 
territory at Natchitoches, Louisiana, on June 30, 1807.
    Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be 
pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the 
Subcommittee may have.

                        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 S. 2876, as 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):

                     THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT


                     Public Law 90-543, as amended


AN ACT To establish a national trails system, and for other purposes

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                         NATIONAL SCENIC TRAILS

    Sec. 5. (a) National scenic trails shall be authorized and 
designated only by Act of Congress. There are hereby 
established as the initial National Scenic Trails:

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    (c) The following routes shall be studied in accordance 
with the objectives outlined in subsection (b) of this section:

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (45) Great western trail.--(A) In general.--The Great 
        Western Trail (also known as the ``Dodge City 
        Trail'''), from the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas, 
        north-by-northwest through the vicinities of Kerrville 
        and Menard, Texas, north-by-northeast through the 
        vicinities of Coleman and Albany, Texas, north through 
        the vicinity of Vernon, Texas, to Doan's Crossing, 
        Texas, northward through or near the vicinities of 
        Altus, Lone Wolf, Canute, Vici, and May, Oklahoma, 
        north through Kansas to Dodge City, and north through 
        Nebraska to Ogallala.
          (B) Requirement.-- In conducting the study required 
        under this paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior 
        shall identify the point at which the trail originated 
        south of San Antonio, Texas.
          (46) Pike national historic trail.--The Pike National 
        Historic Trail, a series of routes extending 
        approximately 3,664 miles, which follows the route 
        taken by Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike during the 1806-
        1807 Pike expedition that began in Fort Bellefontaine, 
        Missouri, extended through portions of the States of 
        Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and 
        ended in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

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