Paths to the Ohio Trail Study Act of 2002

Paths to the Ohio Trail Study Act of 2002 - Designates the Paths to the Ohio Trail tracing or approximating the historic transportation routes in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio that led to the forks of the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for study for potential addition to the National Trail System.

[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5368 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5368

   To amend the National Trails System Act to designate the historic 
  transportation routes in the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West 
     Virginia, and Ohio that led to the forks of the Ohio River in 
   Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for study for potential addition to the 
                        National Trails System.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 11, 2002

  Mr. Murtha introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the National Trails System Act to designate the historic 
  transportation routes in the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West 
     Virginia, and Ohio that led to the forks of the Ohio River in 
   Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for study for potential addition to the 
                        National Trails System.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Paths to the Ohio Trail Study Act of 
2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) A key to the growth of the United States as a world 
        power was the opening of America's great heartland drained by 
        the Ohio River and continuing downstream to the Mississippi 
        River and Gulf of Mexico.
            (2) The significance of this region is evident in the fact 
        that the War for Empire was triggered by claims and counter-
        claims to the land by both the French and the British in the 
        1750's, and by the central role that the region played in 
        America's transformation from an agrarian to an industrial 
        society.
            (3) The Paths to the Ohio traces many of these historical 
        transportation routes to the beginning of the Ohio River, 
        including the efforts of George Washington to find a primarily 
        water-based route from Wills Creek (now Cumberland, Maryland) 
        to the Forks of the Ohio (now Pittsburgh); the route used by 
        the French from Lake Erie to French Creek and down the 
        Allegheny River to the Forks; the route of the Pennsylvania 
        Mainline Canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh that greatly 
        improved transportation to Pittsburgh a century later; and the 
        historic railroad corridors into the region, several of which 
        followed for the most part these earlier routes.
            (4) Many of these rail corridors are now abandoned and have 
        been or are being converted into trails for hiking and 
        bicycling;
            (5) The designation of these trails as a national scenic 
        trail--
                    (A) would offer unique opportunities for 
                nonmotorized transportation and recreation that would 
                expose trail users to the rich history of the War for 
                Empire and development of transportation, coal mining, 
                rail building and other industries that made the United 
                States a rich and powerful Nation; and
                    (B) would give appropriate recognition to the 
                frontiersmen who explored the region; the French, 
                British and Indians who fought the War for Empire; the 
                pioneers and later the immigrants who settled the 
                region, built the transportation systems, mined the 
                coal, poured the steel, etc.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF PATHS TO THE OHIO HISTORIC TRANSPORTATION ROUTES 
              FOR STUDY FOR POTENTIAL ADDITION TO THE NATIONAL TRAILS 
              SYSTEM.

    Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(____) Paths to the Ohio Trail.--The Paths to the Ohio Trail, 
tracing or approximating the historic transportation routes to the 
forks of the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, including routes 
used by British and French military forces before and during the French 
and Indian War, the route of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and 
subsequent canal systems, and various railroad corridors, including 
historic rail lines that were used primarily for coal hauling. The 
routes covered by the study cross portions of the States of 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio.''.
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