HR7254Referred to Committee

To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bay Area Ridge National Scenic Trail, and for other purposes.

Share:
Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-01-27
Introduced
11
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Jared Huffman
Jared Huffman
Democrat · CA · Representative
Votes with party: 97.6% (636 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/H001068

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (11)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Subcommittee Hearings Held

2026-07-01

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

The federal government would study whether a hiking trail system around the San Francisco Bay Area could be officially designated as a National Scenic Trail, which would bring it under federal protection and potentially increase funding and maintenance. The study would examine the trail's current condition, public support, and ability to meet national standards for scenic trails. This designation would make the Bay Area Ridge Trail more prominent and help preserve it for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Affected Industries

Industries and interest groups with a stake in how this bill is resolved. Compare with each member's outside-money backers on their finance page.

Public Lands

Why this matters: Look up any member who voted on this bill and check their finance page — do the industries listed above match the groups funding their campaigns? That's the kind of connection this tool is built to help you find.

Subjects

Public Lands and Natural Resources

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7254 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7254 To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bay Area Ridge National Scenic Trail, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 27, 2026 Mr. Huffman (for himself, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Simon, Mr. Liccardo, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Swalwell, and Mr. Panetta) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bay Area Ridge National Scenic Trail, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. FINDINGS. Congress finds that the Bay Area Ridge Trail-- (1) is a scenic nonmotorized multi-use trail that extends approximately 550 miles; (2) consists of approximately 415 completed miles and another approximately 140 miles of the route are yet-to-be completed; (3) is located near the urban areas of the Nation, and allows people access to the scenic ridgelines of the Bay Area; (4) provides maximum outdoor recreation potential to a large diverse population and many year-round visitors to the Bay Area; (5) provides for the enjoyment of nationally significant scenic, historic, and cultural qualities including the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, State and local parks, among others; (6) passes through a diversity of environments, including marsh, grassland, mountain, canyon, rivers, and forests; (7) includes landforms that exhibit significant characteristics, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Andreas fault, volcanic areas, geologic formations, and wetlands; and (8) connects with side trails and regional connector trails such as the Bay Trail, Vine Trail, and Coyote Creek Trail, which provide additional public access and connect to major population centers. SEC. 2. BAY AREA RIDGE NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY. Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(50) Bay area ridge national scenic trail.-- ``(A) In general.--The Bay Area Ridge National Scenic Trail, a multi-use trail extending approximately 550 miles along the ridgelines of the hills and mountains surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California and connecting over 75 parks and open spaces. ``(B) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary of Interior, in consultation with interested organizations, including the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, shall complete and submit to Congress the feasibility study for designating the Bay Area Ridge Trail as a national scenic trail. ``(C) Consultation.--The study under this paragraph shall be conducted in consultation with each Federal and State agency that administers lands through which the trail described in subparagraph (A) passes.''. <all>
Open clean-text viewRead on Congress.gov →

Related legislation

Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.