S. 1376 — Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings regarding the Benton MacKaye Trail, a scenic, nonmotorized trail of approximately 287 miles through Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina that passes through six designated Wilderness Areas, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Chattahoochee-Oconee, Cherokee, and Nantahala National Forests. The findings recognize the trail's biodiversity, hiking opportunities, economic benefits to rural communities, physical accessibility, and low maintenance costs (95% on federal land and managed by the Benton MacKaye Trail Association since 1980).

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with interested organizations including the Benton MacKaye Trail Association, to complete and submit to Congress not later than one year after the date of enactment a feasibility study for designating the approximately 287-mile Benton MacKaye Trail—a scenic, nonmotorized trail in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina—as a national scenic trail.