[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 3 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Pages 183-184]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13195--Trails for America in the 21st Century

January 18, 2001

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, and in furtherance of purposes 
of the National Trails System Act of 1968, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1241-
1251), the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (Public Law 
105-178), and other pertinent statutes, and to achieve the common goal 
of better establishing and operating America's national system of 
trails, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Federal Agency Duties. Federal agencies will, to the 
extent permitted by law and where practicable--and in cooperation with 
Tribes, States, local governments, and interested citizen groups--
protect, connect, promote, and assist trails of all types throughout the 
United States. This will be accomplished by:
    (a) Providing trail opportunities of all types, with minimum adverse 
impacts and maximum benefits for natural, cultural, and community 
resources;
    (b) Protecting the trail corridors associated with national scenic 
trails and the high priority potential sites and segments of national 
historic trails to the degrees necessary to ensure that the values for 
which each trail was established remain intact;
    (c) Coordinating maps and data for the components of the national 
trails system and Millennium Trails network to ensure that these trails 
are connected into a national system and that they benefit from 
appropriate national programs;
    (d) Promoting and registering National Recreation Trails, as 
authorized in the National Trails System Act, by incorporating where 
possible the commitments and partners active with Millennium Trails;
    (e) Participating in a National Trails Day the first Saturday of 
June each year, coordinating Federal events with the National Trails 
Day's sponsoring organization, the American Hiking Society;
    (f) Familiarizing Federal agencies that are active in tourism and 
travel with the components of a national system of trails and the 
Millennium Trails network and including information about them in 
Federal promotional and outreach programs;
    (g) Fostering volunteer programs and opportunities to engage 
volunteers in all aspects of trail planning, development, maintenance, 
management, and education as outlined in 16 U.S.C. 1250;
    (h) Encouraging participation of qualified youth conservation or 
service corps, as outlined in 41 U.S.C. 12572 and 42 U.S.C. 12656, to 
perform construction and maintenance of trails and trail-related 
projects, as encouraged in sections 1108(g) and 1112(e) of the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, and also in trail 
planning protection, operations, and education;
    (i) Promoting trails for safe transportation and recreation within 
communities;
    (j) Providing and promoting a wide variety of trail opportunities 
and experiences for people of all ages and abilities;
    (k) Providing historical interpretation of trails and trail sites 
and enhancing cultural and heritage tourism through special events, 
artworks, and programs; and
    (l) Providing training and information services to provide high-
quality information and training opportunities to Federal employees, 
Tribal, State, and local government agencies, and the other trail 
partners.
    Sec. 2. The Federal Interagency Council on Trails. The Federal 
Interagency Council on Trails (Council), first established by agreement 
between the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior in 1969, is 
hereby recognized as a long-standing interagency working group. Its core 
members represent the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land of 
Management and National Park Service, the Department of Agriculture's 
Forest Service, and the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway 
Administration. Other Federal agencies, such as those representing 
cultural and heritage interests, are welcome to join this council. 
Leadership of the Council may rotate among its members as decided among 
themselves at the start of each fiscal year. The Council's mission is to 
coordinate information and program decisions, as well as policy 
recommendations, among all appropriate Federal agencies (in consultation 
with appropriate nonprofit organizations) to foster the

[[Page 184]]

development of America's trails through the following means:
    (a) Enhancing federally designated trails of all types (e.g., 
scenic, historic, recreation, and Millennium) and working to integrate 
these trails into a fully connected national system;
    (b) Coordinating mapping, signs and markers, historical and cultural 
interpretations, public information, training, and developing plans and 
recommendations for a national trails registry and database;
    (c) Ensuring that trail issues are integrated in Federal agency 
programs and that technology transfer and education programs are 
coordinated at the national level; and
    (d) Developing a memorandum of understanding among the agencies to 
encourage long-term interagency coordination and cooperation to further 
the spirit and intent of the National Trails System Act and related 
programs.
    Sec. 3. Issue Resolution and Handbook for Federal Administrators of 
the National Trails System. Federal agencies shall together develop a 
process for resolving interagency issues concerning trails. In addition, 
reflecting the authorities of the National Trails System Act, 
participating agencies shall coordinate preparation of (and updates for) 
an operating handbook for Federal administrators of the National Trails 
System and others involved in creating a national system of trails. The 
handbook shall reflect each agencies' governing policies and provide 
guidance to each agencies' field staff and partners about the roles and 
responsibilities needed to make each trail in the national system fully 
operational.
    Sec. 4. Observance of Existing Laws. Nothing in this Executive Order 
shall be construed to override existing laws, including those that 
protect the lands, waters, wildlife habitats, wilderness areas, and 
cultural values of this Nation.
    Sec. 5. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve the 
internal management of the executive branch. It does not create any 
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable in law or 
equity by any party against the United States, its agencies, its 
officers or employees, or any other person.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
January 18, 2001.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., January 22, 
2001]

Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on 
January 23.