§ 1242. — National trails system.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1242]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 27--NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM
Sec. 1242. National trails system
(a) Composition: recreation trails; scenic trails; historic trails;
connecting or side trails; uniform markers
The national system of trails shall be composed of the following:
(1) National recreation trails, established as provided in
section 1243 of this title, which will provide a variety of outdoor
recreation uses in or reasonably accessible to urban areas.
(2) National scenic trails, established as provided in section
1244 of this title, which will be extended trails so located as to
provide for maximum outdoor recreation potential and for the
conservation and enjoyment of the nationally significant scenic,
historic, natural, or cultural qualities of the areas through which
such trails may pass. National scenic trails may be located so as to
represent desert, marsh, grassland, mountain, canyon, river, forest,
and other areas, as well as landforms which exhibit significant
characteristics of the physiographic regions of the Nation.
(3) National historic trails, established as provided in section
1244 of this title, which will be extended trails which follow as
closely as possible and practicable the original trails or routes of
travel of national historical significance. Designation of such
trails or routes shall be continuous, but the established or
developed trail, and the acquisition thereof, need not be continuous
onsite. National historic trails shall have as their purpose the
identification and protection of the historic route and its historic
remnants and artifacts for public use and enjoyment. Only those
selected land and water based components of an historic trail which
are on federally owned lands and which meet the national historic
trail criteria established in this chapter are included as Federal
protection components of a national historic trail. The appropriate
Secretary may certify other lands as protected segments of an
historic trail upon application from State or local governmental
agencies or private interests involved if such segments meet the
national historic trail criteria established in this chapter and
such criteria supplementary thereto as the appropriate Secretary may
prescribe, and are administered by such agencies or interests
without expense to the United States.
(4) Connecting or side trails, established as provided in
section 1245 of this title, which will provide additional points of
public access to national recreation, national scenic or national
historic trails or which will provide connections between such
trails.
The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, in
consultation with appropriate governmental agencies and public and
private organizations, shall establish a uniform marker for the national
trails system.
(b) Extended trails
For purposes of this section, the term ``extended trails'' means
trails or trail segments which total at least one hundred miles in
length, except that historic trails of less than one hundred miles may
be designated as extended trails. While it is desirable that extended
trails be continuous, studies of such trails may conclude that it is
feasible to propose one or more trail segments which, in the aggregate,
constitute at least one hundred miles in length.
(Pub. L. 90-543, Sec. 3, Oct. 2, 1968, 82 Stat. 919; Pub. L. 95-625,
title V, Sec. 551(4), (5), Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3511, 3512; Pub. L.
98-11, title II, Sec. 203, Mar. 28, 1983, 97 Stat. 42; Pub. L. 104-333,
div. I, title VIII, Sec. 814(d)(1)(E), Nov. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 4196.)
Amendments
1996--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104-333 struck out subsec. (c) which read
as follows: ``On October 1, 1982, and at the beginning of each odd
numbered fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall
submit to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and
to the President of the United States Senate, an initial and revised
(respectively) National Trails System plan. Such comprehensive plan
shall indicate the scope and extent of a completed nationwide system of
trails, to include (1) desirable nationally significant scenic and
historic components which are considered necessary to complete a
comprehensive national system, and (2) other trails which would balance
out a complete and comprehensive nationwide system of trails. Such plan,
and the periodic revisions thereto, shall be prepared in full
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Governors of the
various States, and the trails community.''
1983--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98-11, Sec. 203(1), (2), designated
existing provisions as subsec. (a), redesignated former subsecs. (a) to
(d) as pars. (1) to (4), respectively, and, in provisions preceding par.
(1), substituted ``shall be composed of the following:'' for
``shall be composed of--''.
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 98-11, Sec. 203(3), inserted provision
authorizing the location of national scenic trails so as to represent
desert, marsh, grassland, mountain, canyon, river, forest, and other
areas, as well as landforms which exhibit significant characteristics of
the physiographic regions of the Nation.
Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 98-11, Sec. 203(4), (5), substituted ``in
this chapter are included as Federal'' for ``in this chapter, are
established as initial Federal'' in fourth sentence and struck out
``subsequently'' after ``The appropriate Secretary may'' in fifth
sentence.
Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 98-11, Sec. 203(6), added subsecs. (b)
and (c).
1978--Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 95-625, Sec. 551(4), (5), added
subsec. (c), redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d), and substituted ``,
national scenic or national historic'' for ``or national scenic''.
