H.R. 5134 — Appalachian Trail Centennial Act

This section declares congressional policy that national historic trails and national scenic trails under the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.) are landscape conservation tools to be developed collaboratively through partnership, with federal agencies responsible for administration (and management where the United States owns the land) and volunteers, nonprofit organizations, and other partners empowered to perform delegable management and operational roles. The section highlights the Appalachian National Scenic Trail—including its volunteer Appalachian Trail Maintaining Clubs and 2025 centennial—as a model for such cooperative public-private management to be replicated as appropriate throughout the National Trails System.

This section defines 14 terms used in the Act relating to national scenic and national historic trails (i.e., covered trails designated under 16 U.S.C. 1244(a)), including “administration” (i.e., the non-shareable roles and responsibilities of the Secretary concerned), “cooperative management” (i.e., the negotiated division of permissible stewardship and development roles), “cooperative management system” (i.e., the structure involving federal and state resource managers, Tribal governments, nongovernmental organizations, and volunteers), “designated operational partner,” “gateway community,” “management,” “operation” (i.e., permissible activities under cooperative agreements, such as trail maintenance and resource conservation), “proposed priority list,” “Secretary concerned” (i.e., the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture, as applicable), and “visitor capacity.”

This section establishes administrative requirements for national historic trails and national scenic trails ("covered trails") by declaring each to be (1) a unit of the National Trails System and (2) a unit of the federally administered area to which the Secretary concerned (i.e., Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture) assigns the trail. The section further requires the Secretary concerned to designate, not later than one year after enactment, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy as the Designated Operational Partner for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail; authorizes designation of one or more additional nonprofit eligible entities as partners for other covered trails based on criteria including 501(c)(3) status, trail management experience, volunteer coordination plans, and financial practices (with no competitive process required and designations treated as continuations of existing funded activities); and permits rescission of designations for failure to meet criteria. Finally, the section authorizes Designated Operational Partners to submit written requests—labeled "Designated Operational Partner Request for Redress" and including details on alleged violations—to the Secretary concerned and relevant U.S. Attorney to investigate and enforce federal property rights against trespasses or infringements adversely affecting covered trail resources, with the Secretary required to provide an assessment within 60 days and the partner allowed 30 days to submit additional information.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture, as applicable (Secretary concerned), for covered trails (i.e., national scenic and national historic trails designated under 16 U.S.C. 1244, such as the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail), to determine visitor capacity based on desired conditions of specific portions or segments rather than the entire trail and in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and comprehensive plans. The section further requires the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, acting jointly, to (1) identify, not later than three years after enactment and every five years thereafter, one or more methods to assess economic impacts of covered trails on gateway communities, prioritizing aggregation of existing data, state and local partnerships, and cooperative management systems; and (2) submit two reports to specified congressional committees—not later than three years after enactment on successes and challenges in covered trail development and planning, and not later than five years after enactment assessing desired conditions, visitor usage (including group sizes of 10 or more), priority segments for facilities or protection, and necessary planning activities—after consulting communities, tribes, agencies, and trail partners. The section authorizes appropriations of such sums as necessary for FY2026 through FY2031 to carry out these provisions and, through appropriate programs, for acquisition, construction, and development of covered trail facilities (including land or interests in land).