National Outdoor Recreation Act of 1963 ( )
National Trails System Act of 1968 (16 USC 1241-1251)
This Act acknowledges the increasing popularity of outdoor recreation, the need to promote access to and enjoyment of outdoor areas of the Nation, both near urban areas and in more remote scenic areas. It establishes the National Trails System (NTS), composed of: recreation trails; scenic trails; historic trails; connecting or side trails; and uniform markers. National recreational trails provide for a variety of outdoor recreation uses in or reasonably accessible to urban areas. National historic trails generally follow original trails or routes of travel of national historical significance. They can include land and water components as well as historic artifacts. Connecting and side trails provide additional points of public access to national recreation, national historic or national scenic trails, or connections between such trails. Recreation and connecting and side trails can be established by the Secretary of Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture with the consent of the Federal Agency, State, or political subdivision with jurisdiction over the lands involved. National scenic trails are extended trails located to provide for the conservation and enjoyment of Nationally significant scenic, historic, natural or cultural qualities of the areas through which such trails may pass. Scenic trails may be located so as to represent desert, marsh, grassland, mountain, canyon, river forest, and other areas, as well as landforms that exhibit significant characteristics of the physiographic regions of the Nation.
The Act establishes a number of National scenic trails (16 U.S.C. 1244), including the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, and includes provisions for administration and development of the NTS (16 U.S.C. 1246). The appropriate Secretary, in consultation with the heads of any other Federal agency administering the lands through which a trail may pass may issue regulations for the use, protection, management, and development of trail right-of-way.
