STATEMENT OF KATHERINE STEVENSON, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, CULTURAL RESOURCES STEWARDSHIP AND PARTNERSHIPS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, RECREATION, AND PUBLIC LANDS, CONCERNING H.R. 37, TO AMEND THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT TO UPDATE THE FEASIBILITY AND SUITABILITY STUDIES OF 4 NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS AND PROVIDE FOR POSSIBLE ADDITIONS TO SUCH TRAILS.

April 26, 2001

H.R. 37 would update the feasibility and suitability studies through the examination of additional routes and cutoffs not included in the initial studies of all four trails. The Secretary of the Interior would determine if some or all of these routes and cutoffs are eligible as additions to the four NHTs at the completion of these studies. Further, it would authorize the Secretary to make designations of any of these additional routes and cutoffs that she found eligible.

The Department supports this legislation in concept, but will not consider requesting funding for updating the studies in this or the next fiscal year. Furthermore, in order to better plan for the future of our National Parks, we believe that any such studies should carefully examine the full life cycle operation and maintenance costs that would result from each alternative considered. We caution that our support of this legislation does not mean that the Secretary will make the recommended designations of additional routes upon completion of the studies. When the studies are completed, the Department will evaluate its progress on the President's Initiative to eliminate the deferred maintenance backlog and determine whether new designations are appropriate at that time.

The feasibility study for the Oregon NHT was completed in 1977, the study for the Mormon Pioneer NHT in 1978, and the one for the California and Pony Express NHTs in 1987. Since those studies have been completed, dozens of additional routes and cutoffs have been identified which may qualify as integral parts of these trails. The National Trails System Act makes no provision by which such additional routes and cutoffs may be evaluated and added to national historic trails.

The Oregon NHT, authorized in 1978, commemorates the "primary route" used by emigrants beginning in 1841 between Independence, Missouri and Oregon City, Oregon. Traveled by thousands, the trail contained many routes and cutoffs used through the years. These secondary routes had substantial emigrant traffic over several decades that demonstrate historical significance and are thus worthy of being examined in an updated study at the appropriate time.

The authorization of the Mormon NHT in 1978 commemorates the journey of the pioneer party in 1846-1847 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah. As with the Oregon NHT, emigrant traffic occurred on many additional routes during the Mormon migration westward. Similarly with the other trails, these routes are more often than not coincident or shared with one another. As discussion ensued about the routes and cutoffs to be studied for possible addition, advocates of the Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express NHTs called attention to even more routes that needed to be reviewed. Preliminary data indicate traffic along those routes during the historic period and thus there are significant additional routes to be studied for these two trails.

Authorized in 1992, the California NHT commemorates the gold rush to the Sierra Nevada. Dozens of routes and cutoffs were traveled by thousands of pioneers, but no single route dominated.

The Pony Express NHT was included in the same authorizing legislation as the California NHT. It commemorates the efforts of this nation struggling to establish a system of communication across the Trans-Missouri west. The trail primarily follows routes beginning at St. Joseph, Missouri and ending in San Francisco, California. The firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, a western Missouri freighting company, set up and operated the Pony Express for one and a half years before it fell on hard times and ceased to exist. A short section of the trail, from the Missouri River into Kansas, also appears worthy of study and is included in H.R. 37.

All four trails overlap one another in many locations and several of the routes and cutoffs proposed for study in H.R. 37 are already part of designated trails. These shared routes are prominent where the trails depart from various points along the Missouri River, particularly in the Kansas City, St. Joseph, Nebraska City, Council Bluffs and Omaha areas. Several other shared locations include routes in western Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and California. Study and multiple designation at the appropriate time of several routes and cutoffs would assure greater historical accuracy along the trails.

The National Trail System Act requires that studies of lands proposed for trails be made in consultation with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as nonprofit trail organizations, the entities that form the core of any partnership for national historic trails. Between 1994 and 1999, the National Park Service--in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, trail advocacy groups and others--completed the Comprehensive Management and Use Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (1999) for the four trails. This was the initial plan for the recently established California and Pony Express NHTs as well as a revision of the plans for the earlier established Oregon and Mormon Pioneer NHTs. During the planning effort, trail advocacy groups pointed out that the feasibility studies for all four studies had failed to recognize many significant alternate routes and cutoffs. Consideration was given to including some of these routes in the comprehensive management plan, but they could not be, since they were not within the scope of the various trail feasibility studies, and, hence, not official parts of the trails. H.R. 37 would allow for the consideration of these additional alternates and cutoffs by authorizing an update of the original studies done for these four trails to see which ones are eligible for designation as NHT segments. During the study process authorized by H.R. 37, the Department of the Interior would work closely with federal agencies, state, local and tribal governments, local landowners and other interested parties, as well as trail advocacy groups to assure their interests are addressed.

Historic trails cross public and private lands and the intent of the National Trails System Act is one of respecting private property rights. In so doing, the development of strong partnerships is critical to administering and managing the historic trails and achieving preservation of trail resources and interpretation of the trail to the public. The four national trails included in this legislation demonstrate the results of this type of effort.

This concludes my testimony. I would be happy to respond to any questions that you or members of the subcommittee may have.