Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to seek to complete the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail as a continuous route within 10 years, subject to the availability of appropriations.

Official title: Continental Divide National Scenic Trail Completion Act

Next stop Senate floor: awaiting a vote

Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions

Senate

Introduced 10-APR-2025

Referred 10-APR-2025

Approved by committee 17-DEC-2025

Reported 23-JUL-2026

On the calendar 23-JUL-2026

Key points

Requires the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to create a joint trail completion team within 1 year of enactment.
Requires a comprehensive development plan for the trail within 3 years of the team's creation, identifying land gaps, easement opportunities, and anticipated costs.
Directs the agencies to seek agreements with volunteer and nonprofit organizations to help complete and administer the trail.
Provides no new authority to acquire land beyond the National Trails System Act, including eminent domain, and does not make trail land purchases a priority over other acquisitions.

AI-generated from the Reported to Senate text of 23-JUL-2026 · verify · report an error

Official CRS summary

Covers an older version. The newest CRS summary describes the bill as of "Introduced in Senate" (10-APR-2025); the text has changed since (Reported to Senate, 23-JUL-2026).

CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.gov

Committee referrals (1)

Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Senate)

Policy area

Public Lands and Natural Resources

Sponsor Martin Heinrich (D-NM) Cosponsors · 3

■ 2 R■ 1 D

2 Republicans

1 Democrat

Ben Ray Luján

congress.gov page Reported to Senate (23-JUL-2026) Introduced in Senate (10-APR-2025)