A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Supporting Public Access to Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail

UNOFFICIAL COPY AS OF 04/29/18 11 REG. SESS. 11 RS HJR 116/GA

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION supporting public access to Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail. WHEREAS, the Daniel Boone National Forest, named in honor of the great explorer and frontiersman, was established as a national forest in 1937. The forest was originally named Cumberland National Forest, but was officially declared the Daniel Boone National Forest by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966; and WHEREAS, the Daniel Boone National Forest is the only national forest completely within the boundary of the Commonwealth of Kentucky; and WHEREAS, the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail is also named in honor of Daniel Boone. According to the Sheltowee Trace Association (STA), Sheltowee, was the name given to Boone when he was adopted into the Shawnee tribe as the son of the great war chief Blackfish. Boone made several explorations through the area that is now the Daniel Boone National Forest, in search of a route from Virginia to Kentucky; and WHEREAS, the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail spans the length of the Daniel Boone National Forest, measuring over 250 miles. STA states that in addition to the Daniel Boone National Forest, sections of the trail are present in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, Natural Bridge State Resort Park and on private property. The southern terminus of the trail is at Pickett State Park in Tennessee, about ten miles past the Kentucky border, and the northern terminus of the trail is in the Daniel Boone National Forest near Morehead, Kentucky, according to STA; and WHEREAS, the trail enables Kentuckians and visitors to experience the natural beauty of the area by hiking, and portions of the trail are open to mountain biking and horseback riding; and WHEREAS, the unique opportunity presented for enhancing tourism and outdoor recreation opportunities by allowing access to the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail must be prudently managed in order to assure that the primary purposes for which

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these lands are intended are not compromised; NOW, THEREFORE, Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Senate concurring therein:

Section 1. The General Assembly encourages the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet's Kentucky Recreational Trails Authority (KRTA) to use its existing statutory authority to develop memoranda of agreement with the county fiscal courts of the counties in which the trail is present. These counties include Bath, Clay, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Lee, McCreary, Menifee, Morgan, Owsly, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Wayne, Whitley, and Wolfe counties. The General Assembly encourages the KRTA and their designated representatives to seek additional involvement of officials from the Daniel Boone National Forest, and other federal or state organizations in accomplishing the goals of public trail access, and to obtain open access permits and public access easements from private landowners that own a portion of the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail. When entered into by the parties described in this section, the memoranda of agreement shall include: (1) A mutually agreed upon statement of the goals and objectives of the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail public access project;

(2) Plans for open access to the trail for horseback riding and for the development of loop trails where feasible; and (3) Provisions for any maintenance or improvements to the trail or trail access corridor deemed necessary by the agencies in order to retain qualities of acceptable trail standards.

 Section 2. On or before October 1, 2012, the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet's Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the Kentucky Recreational Trail Authority, and the participating fiscal courts shall prepare and present a report to the

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Interim Joint Committee on Economic Development and Tourism of the Kentucky General Assembly on the status of the trail public access project, identifying the project's goals, challenges or obstacles encountered in achieving those goals, actions implemented, and recommendations on future equine activities at the trail.

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