| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1376 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of Agri- |
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| 6 | 6 | | culture to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Benton |
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| 7 | 7 | | MacKaye Trail as a national scenic trail. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | APRIL9, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. T |
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| 11 | 11 | | ILLIS(for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, and Mr. BUDD) introduced the fol- |
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| 12 | 12 | | lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri- |
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| 13 | 13 | | culture, Nutrition, and Forestry |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the |
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| 16 | 16 | | Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study on the feasi- |
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| 17 | 17 | | bility of designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a |
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| 18 | 18 | | national scenic trail. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Benton MacKaye Na-4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | tional Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Congress finds that the Benton MacKaye Trail— 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Apr 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1376.IS S1376 |
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| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •S 1376 IS |
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| 29 | 29 | | (1) is a scenic, nonmotorized trail that traverses 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | approximately 287 miles over some of the most re-2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | nowned forests and mountains in the States of Geor-3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | gia, Tennessee, and North Carolina; 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) showcases a wide variety of scenic views, in-5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | cluding high-elevation peaks, mature forests, and se-6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | cluded waterfalls; 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (3) passes through wilderness that is rich with 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | biodiversity; 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4) passes through six designated Wilderness 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | Areas, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | and the Chattahoochee-Oconee, Cherokee, and 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Nantahala National Forests; 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (5) provides a wide array of easily accessible 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | hikes for novice and intermediate hikers, as well as 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | more challenging trails for backpacking; 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (6) supports economic opportunities for numer-17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ous rural communities which benefit from the visi-18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | tors of the trail spending their money on accom-19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | modations, food, and outdoor supplies; 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (7) runs from Springer Mountain in Georgia, 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | through Tennessee, and extends through the Great 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina; 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (8) is physically accessible; and 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •S 1376 IS |
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| 56 | 56 | | (9) can be maintained at a minimal cost be-1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | cause— 2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (A) the Benton MacKaye Trail has been 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | maintained at its current length since 2005; 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (B) 95 percent of the Benton MacKaye 5 |
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| 61 | 61 | | Trail is located on Federal land; and 6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (C) the Benton MacKaye Trail has been 7 |
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| 63 | 63 | | successfully constructed, maintained, and man-8 |
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| 64 | 64 | | aged by the Benton MacKaye Trail Association 9 |
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| 65 | 65 | | since 1980. 10 |
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| 66 | 66 | | SEC. 3. BENTON MACKAYE NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL FEASI-11 |
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| 67 | 67 | | BILITY STUDY. 12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 13 |
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| 69 | 69 | | U.S.C. 1244(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-14 |
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| 70 | 70 | | lowing: 15 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘(50) B |
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| 72 | 72 | | ENTON MACKAYE TRAIL .— 16 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 74 | 74 | | N GENERAL.—The Benton MacKaye 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | Trail, a scenic, nonmotorized trail that tra-18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | verses approximately 287 miles in the States of 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ‘‘(B) S |
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| 79 | 79 | | TUDY.—Not later than 1 year after 21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | the date of enactment of this paragraph, the 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | interested organizations, including the Benton 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | MacKaye Trail Association, shall complete and 25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | •S 1376 IS |
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| 87 | 87 | | submit to Congress the feasibility study for des-1 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ignating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a na-2 |
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| 89 | 89 | | tional scenic trail.’’. 3 |
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| 90 | 90 | | Æ |
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| 91 | 91 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Apr 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1376.IS S1376 |
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| 92 | 92 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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