Legislation: How a Dream Became Reality

President Bush Signs Bill;
Establishes Nation's First National Historic Water Trail

Dec. 19, 2006 — Marking the 400th anniversary of the departure of the Jamestown settlers from England, President George W. Bush signed a bipartisan bill to create the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the nation's first all-water National Historic Trail.

December 8, 2006 The Senate passes H.R. 5466

December 6, 2006 The House passes H.R. 5466

September 28, 2006 The Subcommittee on National Parks in the House Resources Committee holds a hearing for H.R. 5466. The hearing is a major step forward in the trail establishment process. The Bush Administration, Rep. Jo Ann Davis (VA-1), Rep. Thelma Drake (VA-2), Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (MD-1), and Pat Noonan of The Conservation Fund testified in support of the trail.

• Read the Bush Administration's testimony
• Read Pat Noonan's testimony
• Read Rep. Davis' testimony

September 15, 2006 The Department of Interior transmits the Captain John
Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail Study Report and Environmental Assessment to Congress. In transmitting the letter, the Bush Administration endorses the John Smith Trail and finds that it meets the criteria for National Historic Trails. The Administration found that public interest in the study has been “exceptionally high” throughout the study process.

July 17, 2006 The National Park Service completes the feasibility study for the proposed Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. The study group finds the trail historically significant, desirable, and feasible and said the proposed trail “fully meets all the criteria” for a National Historic Trail. It recommends the proposed trail be authorized by Congress and notes that a federal designation would provide a structure that takes advantage of the regional nature of the trail and the many organizations interested in and associated with the history of Captain John Smith’s explorations of the Chesapeake Bay.

You can download PDF files of the study document from the NPS website at http://www.nps.gov/nero/josm/documents.htm.

May 25, 2006 Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R VA-1) introduces House companion bill House Bill 5466. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Resources (Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands). Read Rep. Davis' press release. Twenty-seven representatives join Rep. Davis as co-sponsors. They are:

May 24, 2006 The Senate's Subcommittee on National Parks passes S.B. 2568. The bill now moves to the Senate floor.

May 16, 2006 The Senate's Subcommittee on National Parks holds a hearing to receive testimony on S.B. 2568.

• Read a summary of the hearing (PDF file)
• Read Senator Sarbanes' testimony
• Read National Park Service Deputy Director Steve Martin's testimony (scroll about halfway down the web page)
• Read the statement made by Patrick Noonan, Chairman Emeritus of the Conservation Fund
• Read the statement made by Gilbert Grosvenor, Chairman of the National Geographic Society (PDF file)

April 6, 2006 Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) introduces Senate Bill 2568 —legislation to establish the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. Senators John Warner (R-VA), George Allen (R-VA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Joseph Bident (D-DE), Tom Carper (D-DE), Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Rick Santorum (R-PA) join him as co-sponsors. The bill would designate “a series of water routes extending approximately 3000 miles along the Chesapeake Bay and the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in the States of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and in the District of Columbia, that traces the 1607 and 1608 voyages of Captain John Smith.”

March 2006 The NPS, National Landmarks Committee, and the National Park System Advisory Board finds that Smith’s voyages are nationally significant, a key step in the process to establish the trail.

August 2, 2005 President Bush signs bipartisan legislation to authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to study the feasibility of establishing the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, as part of the Fiscal Year 2006 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.