16 U.S.C. § 1242 : US Code - Section 1242: National trails system

Search 16 U.S.C. § 1242 : US Code - Section 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.