Congress orders study of a hiking trail in three states.
H.R. 2768 — Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2026 · Filed by Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 9, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
The bill tells the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study a 287-mile hiking trail. The trail is called the Benton MacKaye Trail. It runs through Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The agency must finish the study in 2 years. The agency will report findings to Congress and talk to the Benton MacKaye Trail Association.
Who it affects
The bill does not cost money or change rules right now. Hikers and people who care about trails might benefit later. This would happen only if the study leads to national scenic trail status.
One thing to notice
The study is the only thing this bill does. A new bill would be needed to make the trail a national scenic trail.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Apr 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 9, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Mar 5, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Mar 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
- Jun 2, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3749-3750)”
- Jun 2, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- national scenic trail — A hiking trail protected and cared for by the federal government.
- Benton MacKaye Trail — A 287-mile hiking trail in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
- Benton MacKaye Trail Association — A group that works with the government on the trail.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (930 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,938 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-11-05.
“Congress orders study of a hiking trail in three states.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr2768/simple Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.