2001-01-18 Executive Order on Trails for America in the 21st Century
Press Secretary
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release January 18, 2001
EXECUTIVE ORDER
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TRAILS FOR AMERICA IN THE 21st CENTURY
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, and in furtherance of purposes
of the National Trails System Act of 1968, as amended (16 U.S.C.
1241-1251), the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (Public
Law 105-178), and other pertinent statutes, and to achieve the common
goal of better establishing and operating America's national system of
trails, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Federal Agency Duties. Federal agencies will, to the
extent permitted by law and where practicable -- and in cooperation with
Tribes, States, local governments, and interested citizen groups --
protect, connect, promote, and assist trails of all types throughout the
United States. This will be accomplished by:
(a) Providing trail opportunities of all types, with minimum
adverse impacts and maximum benefits for natural, cultural, and
community resources;
(b) Protecting the trail corridors associated with national scenic
trails and the high priority potential sites and segments of national
historic trails to the degrees necessary to ensure that the values for
which each trail was established remain intact;
(c) Coordinating maps and data for the components of the national
trails system and Millennium Trails network to ensure that these trails
are connected into a national system and that they benefit from
appropriate national programs;
(d) Promoting and registering National Recreation Trails, as
authorized in the National Trails System Act, by incorporating where
possible the commitments and partners active with Millennium Trails;
(e) Participating in a National Trails Day the first Saturday of
June each year, coordinating Federal events with the National Trails
Day's sponsoring organization, the American Hiking Society;
(f) Familiarizing Federal agencies that are active in tourism and
travel with the components of a national system of trails and the
Millennium Trails network and including information about them in
Federal promotional and outreach programs;
(g) Fostering volunteer programs and opportunities to engage
volunteers in all aspects of trail planning, development, maintenance,
management, and education as outlined in 16 U.S.C. 1250;
(h) Encouraging participation of qualified youth conservation or
service corps, as outlined in 41 U.S.C. 12572 and 42 U.S.C. 12656, to
perform construction and maintenance of trails and trail-related
projects, as encouraged in sections 1108(g) and 1112(e) of the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, and also in trail
planning protection, operations, and education;
(i) Promoting trails for safe transportation and recreation within
communities;
(j) Providing and promoting a wide variety of trail opportunities
and experiences for people of all ages and abilities;
(k) Providing historical interpretation of trails and trail sites
and enhancing cultural and heritage tourism through special events,
artworks, and programs; and
(l) Providing training and information services to provide
high-quality information and training opportunities to Federal
employees, Tribal, State, and local government agencies, and the other
trail partners.
Sec. 2. The Federal Interagency Council on Trails. The Federal
Interagency Council on Trails (Council), first established by agreement
between the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior in 1969, is
hereby recognized as a long-standing interagency working group. Its
core members represent the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land
of Management and National Park Service, the Department of Agriculture's
Forest Service, and the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway
Administration. Other Federal agencies, such as those representing
cultural and heritage interests, are welcome to join this council.
Leadership of the Council may rotate among its members as decided among
themselves at the start of each fiscal year. The Council's mission is
to coordinate information and program decisions, as well as policy
recommendations, among all appropriate Federal agencies (in consultation
with appropriate nonprofit organizations) to foster the development of
America's trails through the following means:
(a) Enhancing federally designated trails of all types (e.g.,
scenic, historic, recreation, and Millennium) and working to integrate
these trails into a fully connected national system;
(b) Coordinating mapping, signs and markers, historical and
cultural interpretations, public information, training, and developing
plans and recommendations for a national trails registry and database;
(c) Ensuring that trail issues are integrated in Federal agency
programs and that technology transfer and education programs are
coordinated at the national level; and
(d) Developing a memorandum of understanding among the agencies to
encourage long-term interagency coordination and cooperation to further
the spirit and intent of the National Trails System Act and related
programs.
Sec. 3. Issue Resolution and Handbook for Federal Administrators
of the National Trails System. Federal agencies shall together develop
a process for resolving interagency issues concerning trails. In
addition, reflecting the authorities of the National Trails System Act,
participating agencies shall coordinate preparation of (and updates for)
an operating handbook for Federal administrators of the National Trails
System and others involved in creating a national system of trails. The
handbook shall reflect each agencies' governing policies and provide
guidance to each agencies' field staff and partners about the roles and
responsibilities needed to make each trail in the national system fully
operational.
Sec. 4. Observance of Existing Laws. Nothing in this Executive
Order shall be construed to override existing laws, including those that
protect the lands, waters, wildlife habitats, wilderness areas, and
cultural values of this Nation.
Sec. 5. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve
the internal management of the executive branch. It does not create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable in law or
equity by any party against the United States, its agencies, its
officers or employees, or any other person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 18, 2001.
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