Congress orders study on hiking trail's national scenic status
S. 1376 — Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2025 · Filed by Thom Tillis (R-NC) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 9, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study whether the Benton MacKaye Trail—a 287-mile hiking trail running through Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina—should be designated as a national scenic trail. The study must be completed within one year and submitted to Congress. The bill itself does not designate the trail; it only authorizes and requires a feasibility study.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a directive to conduct a feasibility study on designating an existing hiking trail as a national scenic trail. It is a straightforward conservation and public recreation measure with no hidden provisions or private carve-outs.
What the text implies
- A national scenic trail designation, if approved after the study, could increase federal management responsibilities and associated costs, though the bill notes the trail has been maintained at minimal cost by a volunteer association since 1980.
- Designation may trigger increased visitor traffic to rural communities in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, with both positive economic effects (tourism spending) and potential negative effects (trail wear, parking, local infrastructure strain).
- The study requirement does not guarantee designation; Congress would need to act separately on any recommendation, preserving legislative discretion.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill imposes a low-cost study requirement on the federal government with no restrictions on citizen rights or public access. A national scenic trail designation could enhance public recreation opportunities and support rural tourism economies. The study mechanism is transparent and involves public stakeholder input.
Who stands to gain
- rural hospitality and outdoor retail businesses in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina (potential
Named in the bill
Secretary of Agriculture, Benton MacKaye Trail Association, National Trails System Act, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, Cherokee National Forest, Nantahala National Forest, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- Apr 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Apr 9, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry”
- Oct 21, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $139,430 in lobbying spend. A filing names 46 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Thom Tillis, the sponsor, reported $973,475 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Parks Conservation Association — $139,430 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,262 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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