S4538Referred to Committee

Washington’s Trail—1753 National Historic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2026

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-05-14
Introduced
5
Cosponsors
S
Type

Sponsor

John Fetterman
John Fetterman
Democrat · PA · Senator
Votes with party: 67.1% (796 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/F000479

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

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 →

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

2026-05-14

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

The federal government would study whether Washington's Trail-1753 should become an official national historic trail, which would bring it under federal protection and potentially increase funding for preservation and public access. The Secretary of the Interior would lead this feasibility study to determine if the trail meets the standards for national historic trail designation. This would affect hikers, history enthusiasts, local communities, and tourism in the Washington area.

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.

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] [S. 4538 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4538 To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating Washington's Trail--1753 as a national historic trail, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 14, 2026 Mr. Fetterman (for himself, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Warner, Mr. Justice, and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 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 Washington's Trail--1753 as a national historic 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. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Washington's Trail--1753 National Historic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. WASHINGTON'S TRAIL--1753 NATIONAL HISTORIC 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) Washington's trail--1753.--Washington's Trail--1753, extending approximately 500 miles from Williamsburg, Virginia, to Fort LeBoeuf (now Waterford), Pennsylvania, following the route taken by George Washington and his party on his diplomatic mission to the French on behalf of Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie from October 31, 1753, to January 16, 1754, just prior to the start of the French and Indian War (1754- 1763).''. <all>