16 U.S.C. § 1246 : US Code - Section 1246: Administration and development of national trails system

Search 16 U.S.C. § 1246 : US Code - Section 1246: Administration and development of national trails system

(a) Consultation of Secretary with other agencies; transfer of
management responsibilities; selection of rights-of-way; criteria
for selection; notice; impact upon established uses
(1)(A) The Secretary charged with the overall administration of a
trail pursuant to section 1244(a) of this title shall, in
administering and managing the trail, consult with the heads of all
other affected State and Federal agencies. Nothing contained in
this chapter shall be deemed to transfer among Federal agencies any
management responsibilities established under any other law for
federally administered lands which are components of the National
Trails System. Any transfer of management responsibilities may be
carried out between the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture only as provided under subparagraph (B).
(B) The Secretary charged with the overall administration of any
trail pursuant to section 1244(a) of this title may transfer
management of any specified trail segment of such trail to the
other appropriate Secretary pursuant to a joint memorandum of
agreement containing such terms and conditions as the Secretaries
consider most appropriate to accomplish the purposes of this
chapter. During any period in which management responsibilities for
any trail segment are transferred under such an agreement, the
management of any such segment shall be subject to the laws, rules,
and regulations of the Secretary provided with the management
authority under the agreement, except to such extent as the
agreement may otherwise expressly provide.
(2) Pursuant to section 1244(a) of this title, the appropriate
Secretary shall select the rights-of-way for national scenic and
national historic trails and shall publish notice of the
availability of appropriate maps or descriptions in the Federal
Register: Provided, That in selecting the rights-of-way full
consideration shall be given to minimizing the adverse effects upon
the adjacent landowner or user and his operation. Development and
management of each segment of the National Trails System shall be
designed to harmonize with and complement any established multiple-
use plans for that specific area in order to insure continued
maximum benefits from the land. The location and width of such
rights-of-way across Federal lands under the jurisdiction of
another Federal agency shall be by agreement between the head of
that agency and the appropriate Secretary. In selecting rights-of-
way for trail purposes, the Secretary shall obtain the advice and
assistance of the States, local governments, private organizations,
and landowners and land users concerned.
(b) Relocation of segment of national, scenic or historic, trail
right-of-way; determination of necessity with official having
jurisdiction; necessity for Act of Congress
After publication of notice of the availability of appropriate
maps or descriptions in the Federal Register, the Secretary charged
with the administration of a national scenic or national historic
trail may relocate segments of a national scenic or national
historic trail right-of-way, with the concurrence of the head of
the Federal agency having jurisdiction over the lands involved,
upon a determination that: (i) such a relocation is necessary to
preserve the purposes for which the trail was established, or (ii)
the relocation is necessary to promote a sound land management
program in accordance with established multiple-use principles:
Provided, That a substantial relocation of the rights-of-way for
such trail shall be by Act of Congress.
(c) Facilities on national, scenic or historic, trails; permissible
activities; use of motorized vehicles; trail markers;
establishment of uniform marker; placement of uniform markers;
trail interpretation sites
National scenic or national historic trails may contain
campsites, shelters, and related-public-use facilities. Other uses
along the trail, which will not substantially interfere with the
nature and purposes of the trail, may be permitted by the Secretary
charged with the administration of the trail. Reasonable efforts
shall be made to provide sufficient access opportunities to such
trails and, to the extent practicable, efforts shall be made to
avoid activities incompatible with the purposes for which such
trails were established. The use of motorized vehicles by the
general public along any national scenic trail shall be prohibited
and nothing in this chapter shall be construed as authorizing the
use of motorized vehicles within the natural and historical areas
of the national park system, the national wildlife refuge system,
the national wilderness preservation system where they are
presently prohibited or on other Federal lands where trails are
designated as being closed to such use by the appropriate
Secretary: Provided, That the Secretary charged with the
administration of such trail shall establish regulations which
shall authorize the use of motorized vehicles when, in his
judgment, such vehicles are necessary to meet emergencies or to
enable adjacent landowners or land users to have reasonable access
to their lands or timber rights: Provided further, That private
lands included in the national recreation, national scenic, or
national historic trails by cooperative agreement of a landowner
shall not preclude such owner from using motorized vehicles on or
across such trails or adjacent lands from time to time in
accordance with regulations to be established by the appropriate
Secretary. Where a national historic trail follows existing public
roads, developed rights-of-way or waterways, and similar features
of man's nonhistorically related development, approximating the
original location of a historic route, such segments may be marked
to facilitate retracement of the historic route, and where a
national historic trail parallels an existing public road, such
road may be marked to commemorate the historic route. Other uses
along the historic trails and the Continental Divide National
Scenic Trail, which will not substantially interfere with the
nature and purposes of the trail, and which, at the time of
designation, are allowed by administrative regulations, including
the use of motorized vehicles, shall be permitted by the Secretary
charged with the administration of the trail. 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, including thereon
an appropriate and distinctive symbol for each national recreation,
national scenic, and national historic trail. Where the trails
cross lands administered by Federal agencies such markers shall be
erected at appropriate points along the trails and maintained by
the Federal agency administering the trail in accordance with
standards established by the appropriate Secretary and where the
trails cross non-Federal lands, in accordance with written
cooperative agreements, the appropriate Secretary shall provide
such uniform markers to cooperating agencies and shall require such
agencies to erect and maintain them in accordance with the
standards established. The appropriate Secretary may also provide
for trail interpretation sites, which shall be located at historic
sites along the route of any national scenic or national historic
trail, in order to present information to the public about the
trail, at the lowest possible cost, with emphasis on the portion of
the trail passing through the State in which the site is located.
Wherever possible, the sites shall be maintained by a State agency
under a cooperative agreement between the appropriate Secretary and
the State agency.
(d) Use and acquisition of lands within exterior boundaries of
areas included within right-of-way
Within the exterior boundaries of areas under their
administration that are included in the right-of-way selected for a
national recreation, national scenic, or national historic trail,
the heads of Federal agencies may use lands for trail purposes and
may acquire lands or interests in lands by written cooperative
agreement, donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds or
exchange.
(e) Right-of-way lands outside exterior boundaries of federally
administered areas; cooperative agreements or acquisition;
failure to agree or acquire; agreement or acquisition by
Secretary concerned; right of first refusal for original owner
upon disposal
Where the lands included in a national scenic or national
historic trail right-of-way are outside of the exterior boundaries
of federally administered areas, the Secretary charged with the
administration of such trail shall encourage the States or local
governments involved (1) to enter into written cooperative
agreements with landowners, private organizations, and individuals
to provide the necessary trail right-of-way, or (2) to acquire such
lands or interests therein to be utilized as segments of the
national scenic or national historic trail: Provided, That if the
State or local governments fail to enter into such written
cooperative agreements or to acquire such lands or interests
therein after notice of the selection of the right-of-way is
published, the appropriate Secretary may (i) enter into such
agreements with landowners, States, local governments, private
organizations, and individuals for the use of lands for trail
purposes, or (ii) acquire private lands or interests therein by
donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds or exchange
in accordance with the provisions of subsection (f) of this
section: Provided further, That the appropriate Secretary may
acquire lands or interests therein from local governments or
governmental corporations with the consent of such entities. The
lands involved in such rights-of-way should be acquired in fee, if
other methods of public control are not sufficient to assure their
use for the purpose for which they are acquired: Provided, That if
the Secretary charged with the administration of such trail
permanently relocates the right-of-way and disposes of all title or
interest in the land, the original owner, or his heirs or assigns,
shall be offered, by notice given at the former owner's last known
address, the right of first refusal at the fair market price.
(f) Exchange of property within the right-of-way by Secretary of
the Interior; property subject to exchange; equalization of value
of property; exchange of national forest lands by Secretary of
Agriculture; tracts lying outside trail acquisition area
(1) The Secretary of the Interior, in the exercise of his
exchange authority, may accept title to any non-Federal property
within the right-of-way and in exchange therefor he may convey to
the grantor of such property any federally owned property under his
jurisdiction which is located in the State wherein such property is
located and which he classifies as suitable for exchange or other
disposal. The values of the properties so exchanged either shall be
approximately equal, or if they are not approximately equal the
values shall be equalized by the payment of cash to the grantor or
to the Secretary as the circumstances require. The Secretary of
Agriculture, in the exercise of his exchange authority, may utilize
authorities and procedures available to him in connection with
exchanges of national forest lands.
(2) In acquiring lands or interests therein for a National Scenic
or Historic Trail, the appropriate Secretary may, with consent of a
landowner, acquire whole tracts notwithstanding that parts of such
tracts may lie outside the area of trail acquisition. In
furtherance of the purposes of this chapter, lands so acquired
outside the area of trail acquisition may be exchanged for any non-
Federal lands or interests therein within the trail right-of-way,
or disposed of in accordance with such procedures or regulations as
the appropriate Secretary shall prescribe, including: (i)
provisions for conveyance of such acquired lands or interests
therein at not less than fair market value to the highest bidder,
and (ii) provisions for allowing the last owners of record a right
to purchase said acquired lands or interests therein upon payment
or agreement to pay an amount equal to the highest bid price. For
lands designated for exchange or disposal, the appropriate
Secretary may convey these lands with any reservations or covenants
deemed desirable to further the purposes of this chapter. The
proceeds from any disposal shall be credited to the appropriation
bearing the costs of land acquisition for the affected trail.
(g) Condemnation proceedings to acquire private lands; limitations;
availability of funds for acquisition of lands or interests
therein; acquisition of high potential, route segments or
historic sites
The appropriate Secretary may utilize condemnation proceedings
without the consent of the owner to acquire private lands or
interests therein pursuant to this section only in cases where, in
his judgment, all reasonable efforts to acquire such lands or
interests therein by negotiation have failed, and in such cases he
shall acquire only such title as, in his judgment, is reasonably
necessary to provide passage across such lands: Provided, That
condemnation proceedings may not be utilized to acquire fee title
or lesser interests to more than an average of one hundred and
twenty-five acres per mile. Money appropriated for Federal purposes
from the land and water conservation fund shall, without prejudice
to appropriations from other sources, be available to Federal
departments for the acquisition of lands or interests in lands for
the purposes of this chapter. For national historic trails, direct
Federal acquisition for trail purposes shall be limited to those
areas indicated by the study report or by the comprehensive plan as
high potential route segments or high potential historic sites.
Except for designated protected components of the trail, no land or
site located along a designated national historic trail or along
the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail shall be subject to
the provisions of section 303 of title 49 unless such land or site
is deemed to be of historical significance under appropriate
historical site criteria such as those for the National Register of
Historic Places.
(h) Development and maintenance of national, scenic or historic,
trails; cooperation with States over portions located outside of
federally administered areas; cooperative agreements;
participation of volunteers; reservation of right-of-way for
trails in conveyances by Secretary of the Interior
(1) The Secretary charged with the administration of a national
recreation, national scenic, or national historic trail shall
provide for the development and maintenance of such trails within
federally administered areas and shall cooperate with and encourage
the States to operate, develop, and maintain portions of such
trails which are located outside the boundaries of federally
administered areas. When deemed to be in the public interest, such
Secretary may enter written cooperative agreements with the States
or their political subdivisions, landowners, private organizations,
or individuals to operate, develop, and maintain any portion of
such a trail either within or outside a federally administered
area. Such agreements may include provisions for limited financial
assistance to encourage participation in the acquisition,
protection, operation, development, or maintenance of such trails,
provisions providing volunteer in the park or volunteer in the
forest status (in accordance with the Volunteers in the Parks Act
of 1969 [16 U.S.C. 18g et seq.] and the Volunteers in the Forests
Act of 1972 [16 U.S.C. 558a et seq.]) to individuals, private
organizations, or landowners participating in such activities, or
provisions of both types. The appropriate Secretary shall also
initiate consultations with affected States and their political
subdivisions to encourage -
(A) the development and implementation by such entities of
appropriate measures to protect private landowners from trespass
resulting from trail use and from unreasonable personal liability
and property damage caused by trail use, and
(B) the development and implementation by such entities of
provisions for land practices, compatible with the purposes of
this chapter,
for property within or adjacent to trail rights-of-way. After
consulting with States and their political subdivisions under the
preceding sentence, the Secretary may provide assistance to such
entities under appropriate cooperative agreements in the manner
provided by this subsection.
(2) Whenever the Secretary of the Interior makes any conveyance
of land under any of the public land laws, he may reserve a right-
of-way for trails to the extent he deems necessary to carry out
the purposes of this chapter.
(i) Regulations; issuance; concurrence and consultation; revision;
publication; violations; penalties; utilization of national park
or national forest authorities
The appropriate Secretary, with the concurrence of the heads of
any other Federal agencies administering lands through which a
national recreation, national scenic, or national historic trail
passes, and after consultation with the States, local governments,
and organizations concerned, may issue regulations, which may be
revised from time to time, governing the use, protection,
management, development, and administration of trails of the
national trails system. In order to maintain good conduct on and
along the trails located within federally administered areas and to
provide for the proper government and protection of such trails,
the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
shall prescribe and publish such uniform regulations as they deem
necessary and any person who violates such regulations shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be punished by a fine of not more
than $500, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both
such fine and imprisonment. The Secretary responsible for the
administration of any segment of any component of the National
Trails System (as determined in a manner consistent with subsection
(a)(1) of this section) may also utilize authorities related to
units of the national park system or the national forest system, as
the case may be, in carrying out his administrative
responsibilities for such component.
(j) Types of trail use allowed
Potential trail uses allowed on designated components of the
national trails system may include, but are not limited to, the
following: bicycling, cross-country skiing, day hiking, equestrian
activities, jogging or similar fitness activities, trail biking,
overnight and long-distance backpacking, snowmobiling, and surface
water and underwater activities. Vehicles which may be permitted on
certain trails may include, but need not be limited to,
motorcycles, bicycles, four-wheel drive or all-terrain off-road
vehicles. In addition, trail access for handicapped individuals may
be provided. The provisions of this subsection shall not supersede
any other provisions of this chapter or other Federal laws, or any
State or local laws.
(k) Donations or other conveyances of qualified real property
interests
For the conservation purpose of preserving or enhancing the
recreational, scenic, natural, or historical values of components
of the national trails system, and environs thereof as determined
by the appropriate Secretary, landowners are authorized to donate
or otherwise convey qualified real property interests to qualified
organizations consistent with section 170(h)(3) of title 26,
including, but not limited to, right-of-way, open space, scenic, or
conservation easements, without regard to any limitation on the
nature of the estate or interest otherwise transferable within the
jurisdiction where the land is located. The conveyance of any such
interest in land in accordance with this subsection shall be deemed
to further a Federal conservation policy and yield a significant
public benefit for purposes of section 6 of Public Law 96-541.