PRINTER'S NO. 2918
No. 2276 Session of 1980
INTRODUCED BY FISCHER, BITTLE, FEE, MANMILLER, GEIST,
CAPPABIANCA, PUNT, BURD, STEIGHNER, GRABOWSKI AND WASS,
FEBRUARY 13, 1980
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION, FEBRUARY 13, 1980
AN ACT
1 Establishing a scenic and recreational trails system to meet the
2 recreational needs of citizens of the Commonwealth; providing
3 for the designation, administration, regulation, acquisition,
4 development and management of scenic and recreational trails;
5 conferring powers and imposing duties upon the Department of
6 Environmental Resources, and permitting and encouraging the
7 actions of local governments necessary to accomplish the
8 policies and purposes of this act.
9 TABLE OF CONTENTS
10 Section 1. Short title.
11 Section 2. Policy and purpose.
12 Section 3. Definitions.
13 Section 4. Classification of trails.
14 Section 5. Establishment of trails system.
15 Section 6. Establishment and designation of trails.
16 Section 7. Selection of scenic trails rights-of-way.
17 Section 8. Relocation of trails rights-of-way.
18 Section 9. Acquisition of rights-of-way and lands.
19 Section 10. Trails protection.
20 Section 11. Use of trails by motorized vehicles.
1 Section 12. Public utility rights-of-way.
2 Section 13. Development and maintenance of trails.
3 Section 14. Right-of-way abandonments.
4 Section 15. Regulations and penalties.
5 Section 16. Appropriations; Federal funds.
6 Section 17. Property owner immunity.
7 Section 18. Effective date.
8 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
9 hereby enacts as follows:
10 Section 1. Short title.
11 This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Pennsylvania
12 Trails System Act."
13 Section 2. Policy and purpose.
14 (a) It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to
15 provide and coordinate the provision of scenic and recreational
16 trails, in order to meet the expanding recreational needs of
17 Pennsylvanians, visitors and tourists, to promote an
18 understanding, enjoyment and appreciation of Pennsylvania's rich
19 natural history and scenic beauty as well as the physical
20 benefits which may accrue to those who participate in trail type
21 recreational activities, a comprehensive trails system should be
22 established:
23 (1) To serve as many nonconflicting trail uses as is
24 practical.
25 (2) To provide a network of integral, but connected
26 trails, so that it is possible to undertake a one-half or one
27 day experience and at the same time connect with trails which
28 traverse great distances.
29 (3) To establish, advertise and regulate use of trails
30 and trail networks, on lands managed by Commonwealth
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1 agencies, including but not limited to the Department of
2 Environmental Resources.
3 (4) To promote, and coordinate the development of trails
4 and trail networks by local governmental agencies and private
5 establishments, and individuals, to encourage advertising and
6 regulation by local governments.
7 (5) To meet as many and diverse trail needs as possible
8 through coordinated planning, public participation and the
9 effective employment of advocate trail groups in establishing
10 and maintaining trails and trail networks.
11 (6) To establish and promote the establishment of trails
12 of the type, location and accommodations which are clearly
13 responsive to needs identified through the public
14 participation process.
15 (b) The purpose of this act is to provide the means by which
16 the preceding policies are attained, by instituting a Statewide
17 system of recreational and scenic trails, by designating as the
18 initial elements of that system and by prescribing the methods
19 by which, and standards according to which, additional
20 components may be added to the system, and detailing the methods
21 by which the Commonwealth will cooperate and coordinate with
22 local governments and private organizations to promote locally
23 and privately established trails and trail networks.
24 Section 3. Definitions.
25 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
26 have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
27 meanings given to them in this section:
28 "Administering department." The Department of Environmental
29 Resources.
30 "Connecting or side trails." Trails necessary to
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1 interconnect integral loop trails or to extend trails to points
2 of interest near the main trail right-of-way.
3 "Easement." An acquired or donated privilege or right of use
4 or enjoyment which the Commonwealth may have in the land of a
5 private landowner. It is held for the benefit of the people of
6 Pennsylvania. It is specifically enforceable by its holder or
7 beneficiary and limits or obligates the holder of the servient
8 estate, his heirs and assigns with respect to their use and
9 management of land and activities conducted thereon, the object
10 of such limitations and obligations being the maintenance of the
11 aesthetic and recreational qualities of the affected trail and
12 its environs.
13 "Recreational trail." Trails which are responsive to locally
14 identified recreational needs, such trails may be designed for
15 motorized or nonmotorized use or use may be shared during
16 different seasons or within the same right-of-way, trail
17 management plans will detail permitted uses and seasons.
18 "Scenic trail." Essentially trails for use by self-propelled
19 means, designed to utilize significant scenic, historic and
20 natural qualities of the areas through which such trails may
21 pass.
22 Section 4. Classification of trails.
23 The State trails system shall be composed of the following
24 classifications of trails:
25 (1) State scenic trails, which will be extended trails
26 designated and located to provide maximum potential for the
27 appreciation of natural areas and for the conservation and
28 enjoyment of the significant scenic, historic, natural,
29 ecological, geological or cultural qualities of the area
30 through which such trails may pass. Designated State scenic
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1 trails will be limited to self-propelled users, except that
2 horses or nonmotorized bicycles or special conveyances for
3 handicapped, elderly and others having limited mobility may
4 be permitted on trail segments of scenic trails where deemed
5 appropriate by the department.
6 (2) State recreation trails, which will be designed to
7 provide a variety of outdoor recreation experiences in or
8 reasonably accessible to urban areas.
9 (3) Connecting or side trails which will provide
10 additional points of public access to recreation or scenic
11 trail components or which will provide connections between
12 such trails.
13 Section 5. Establishment of trails system.
14 (a) There is hereby established a Pennsylvania Trails System
15 composed of scenic trails, recreational trails and connecting
16 trails composed of those trails enumerated in section 7(a) and
17 such additional trails that may be established from time to time
18 by the General Assembly or the department under the provisions
19 of this act.
20 (b) The department, in consultation with appropriate
21 Federal, state, and local governmental agencies and public and
22 private organizations shall establish and implement a uniform
23 marker system for the trails network.
24 (c) The department shall coordinate the trails system with
25 the National Trails System established under the Act of Congress
26 of October 2, 1968, Public Law 90-543, known as the National
27 Trails System Act.
28 Section 6. Establishment and designation of trails.
29 (a) State scenic trails shall be authorized and designated
30 only by an act of the General Assembly. There is hereby
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1 established as the initial trails: Appalachian Trail, Black
2 Forest Trail, Mid-State Trail, Potomic Heritage, North Country,
3 Susquehannock, Loyalsock, Donuthole, George B. Wills, DeShay,
4 Tan Bank, Twin Lakes, Tuscarora Trails, and Horseshoe Trails.
5 (b) The department may establish and designate recreational
6 trails, and connecting and side trails over lands administered
7 by it and, by consent, covenant, easement, or other amicable
8 agreements of landowners over private lands, over lands
9 administered by the Federal Government, the Commonwealth of
10 Pennsylvania, a political subdivision or any person upon finding
11 that such a proposed trail is consistent with the purposes of
12 this act.
13 Section 7. Selection of scenic trails rights-of-way.
14 (a) Following the initial designation of State scenic trails
15 made in section 6(a), the department shall select the rights-of-
16 way, consistent with the purposes of this act and shall publish
17 notice thereof in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The selected route
18 shall be compatible with the preservation or enhancement of the
19 environment it traverses and the boundaries of the right-of-way
20 shall be established in such a manner that they protect the
21 scenic values of the trail.
22 (b) In selecting rights-of-way, full consideration shall be
23 given to minimizing adverse effects which a trail designation
24 may have on an adjacent land owner or user and his operation.
25 Section 8. Relocation of trails rights-of-way.
26 (a) After publication of notice in the Pennsylvania
27 Bulletin, the department may relocate segments of trail rights-
28 of-way upon finding that the relocation is necessary to:
29 (1) preserve or enhance the values for which the trail
30 was established; or
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1 (2) promote a sound land management program in
2 accordance with established multiple-use principles. A
3 relocation of a scenic trail right-of-way affecting more than
4 one mile of the originally designated trail shall be
5 authorized only by an Act of the General Assembly.
6 (b) If the department permanently relocates the right-of-way
7 of any trail and subsequently disposes of all title or interest
8 in the land, such right-of-way shall first be offered to the
9 owner of record at the time the right-of-way was established, or
10 his heirs or assigns, shall be offered, by notice given at the
11 former owner's last known address, the right of first refusal at
12 the fair market value.
13 Section 9. Acquisition of rights-of-way and lands.
14 (a) The department may use for trail purposes lands owned by
15 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with the concurrence of the
16 head of the administering agency, and may acquire lands or
17 interest in land by easements, written cooperative agreement,
18 donation, purchase with donation or appropriated funds or
19 exchange, except that not more than 25 acres in any one mile may
20 be acquired without consent of the owner. Acquisition of land or
21 interest therein shall be accomplished with all possible speed.
22 (b) After notice of the selection of the right-of-way is
23 published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the department may enter
24 into such agreements with landowners for the use of lands for
25 trail purposes or may acquire such lands or interests therein by
26 donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds or
27 exchange in accordance with subsection (c). Lands involved in
28 such rights-of-way may be acquired in fee if other methods of
29 public control are insufficient to assure their use for the
30 purposes for which they are acquired.
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1 (c) The department may accept title to any non-State
2 property within the right-of-way and in exchange therefore it
3 may, with the concurrence of the head of the administering
4 agency, convey to the grantor of such property and State-owned
5 property which it classifies as suitable for exchange or other
6 disposal. The values of the properties so exchanged either shall
7 be approximately equal or shall be equalized by the payment of
8 cash to the grantor or to the department as the circumstances
9 require.
10 (d) The department may utilize condemnation proceedings,
11 under the provisions of the act of June 22, 1964 (Sp.Sess.
12 P.L.84, No.6), known as the "Eminent Domain Code," without the
13 consent of the owner, to acquire lands or interests therein
14 pursuant to this section where, in its judgment, all reasonable
15 efforts to acquire such lands or interests therein by
16 negotiation have failed and in such cases it shall acquire only
17 such title as is reasonably necessary to provide passage across
18 such lands except that condemnation proceedings may not be
19 utilized to acquire fee title or lesser interests to more than
20 25 acres, when used, such authority shall be limited to the most
21 direct or practicable connecting trail or right-of-way; and in
22 the event of eminent domain of tillable farmland, acquisition of
23 such land shall be limited to a footpath with a width of not
24 more than 25 feet across such land until the owner of such land
25 evidences plans to convert the land to nonfarming use.
26 (e) Whenever the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania makes a
27 conveyance of land, it may reserve a right-of-way for trails to
28 the extent deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this
29 act.
30 Section 10. Trails protection.
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1 It is the intent of the Legislature that State designated
2 scenic trails be protected from developments and of land use
3 changes which adversely affect the recreational and aesthetic
4 qualities of the trail. Following initial designation proposed
5 change in land use within 100 feet of the centerline of a
6 designated scenic trail right-of-way must be concurred in by
7 resolution in the General Assembly.
8 Section 11. Use of trails by motorized vehicles.
9 (a) The use of motorized vehicles by the general public
10 along any scenic trail shall be prohibited except:
11 (1) The owner of private land included in the trails
12 system by cooperative agreement of the landowner may use
13 motorized vehicles on or across such trails or adjacent lands
14 for purposes incident to the ownership and management of the
15 lands from time to time in accordance with regulations
16 adopted by the department.
17 (2) The department may adopt regulations permitting the
18 use of motorize vehicles to meet emergencies or to enable
19 adjacent landowners or land users to have reasonable access
20 to their lands to timber rights.
21 (b) Motorized vehicle use of recreational, connecting or
22 special recreational trails will depend on the management scheme
23 for each individual trail. The department will provide adequate
24 public information concerning permitted uses on each trail.
25 (c) Within the external boundaries of the right-of-way, the
26 natural vegetation shall be kept undisturbed except for any
27 clearing required for construction of the trail, occasional
28 vistas or trail-use facilities. The department shall make every
29 effort to avoid any use of the right-of-way that is incompatible
30 with the purposes for which the trails were established.
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1 Development and management of each segment of the State trails
2 system shall be designed to harmonize with and complement any
3 established multiple-use plans for that specific area in order
4 to insure continual maximum benefits from the land. Other uses
5 along the trail which will not substantially interfere with the
6 nature and purposes of the trail may be permitted by the
7 department.
8 (d) State scenic trails shall be managed in such a way as to
9 maintain their natural and scenic quality. Toward this end they
10 shall be supplemented by support facilities only on that part of
11 a trail which is in a State park or other developed recreation
12 area: Provided, That primitive camping facilities already in
13 existence on trails incorporated into the system shall be
14 permitted to remain and be maintained. No open wood fires shall
15 be permitted on State scenic trails except in areas with support
16 facilities specifically designed for such purpose. Reasonable
17 efforts shall be made to provide sufficient access opportunities
18 to such trails, and activities incompatible with the purposes
19 for which such trails were established shall be prohibited.
20 Section 12. Public utility rights-of-way.
21 Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit or
22 authorize the prohibition of the construction, operation or
23 maintenance by a public utility of overhead or underground
24 facilities at points of intersection with trails established
25 under this act. Utilities proposing new or additional
26 transmission lines shall coordinate with the department to avoid
27 negative impacts of such lines and to mitigate impacts where
28 alternative routes are not possible.
29 Section 13. Development and maintenance of trails.
30 (a) The department shall provide for the development and
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1 maintenance of trails established under this act and shall
2 cooperate with and encourage other State agencies to operate,
3 develop and maintain portions of such trails which are located
4 in areas administered by such agencies.
5 (b) When deemed to be in the public interest, the department
6 may enter into written cooperative agreements with local
7 governments, landowners, private organizations or individuals to
8 operate, develop and maintain any portion of a scenic trail.
9 Section 14. Right-of-way abandonments.
10 The department shall review all formal declarations of
11 railroad right-of-way abandonments by the Interstate Commerce
12 Commission, for possible inclusion into the State trails system.
13 Section 15. Regulations and penalties.
14 (a) The department shall adopt regulations governing the
15 use, protection, management, development and administration of
16 the trails system and such other regulations as deemed necessary
17 to aid in the administration of this act.
18 (b) Any person violating any regulation adopted by the
19 departments shall be guilty of a summary offense and, upon
20 conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not
21 exceeding $500 and in default of the payment of such fine or
22 costs, shall undergo imprisonment for a period not exceeding 60
23 days.
24 Section 16. Appropriations; Federal funds.
25 The annual appropriation to the department shall include
26 funds necessary to effectuate the program created by this act.
27 In addition, the department may accept and expend Federal funds
28 granted for these purposes.
29 Section 17. Property owner immunity.
30 No person owning any land which comprises any portion of any
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1 trail described in this act shall be liable for any damages to
2 any other person resulting from any accident or occurrence
3 happening on said land unless the property owner is guilty of
4 gross negligence or wanton or willful conduct.
5 Section 18. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect immediately.
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