The declaration of a trail as a national historic trail is based on the criteria set
forth in the National Trails System Act. Section 5 of the act provides three broad
criteria that must be met for a trail to qualify for designation. National historic
trails, according to section 3 of the act. are extended trails. "Extended trails
means trails or trail segments which total at least one hundred miles in length, except
that historic trails of less than one hundred miles may be designated as extended trails.
while it is desirable that extended trails be continuous, studies of such trails may
conclude that it is feasible to propose one or more trail segments which, in the
aggregate, constitute at least one hundred miles in length." The act also requires
recommendations as to the desirability or suitability of trail designation. The criteria
are stated below. followed by an analysis of Route 66 for each.
(A) It must be a trail or route established by historic use and must be historically
significant as a result of that use. The route need not currently exist as a discernible
trail to qualify. but its location must be sufficiently known to permit evaluation of
public recreation and historical interest potential. A designated trail should generally
accurately follow the historic route. but may deviate somewhat on occasion of necessity to
avoid difficult routing through subsequent development. or to provide some route
variations offering a more pleasurable recreational experience. Such deviations shall be
so noted on site. Trail segments that were developed as motor transportation routes may be
designated and marked on-site as segments which link to the historic trail.
Analysis: The highway resulted from historic use and was historically
significant. Most of the original route and the majority of historic buildings and other
sites associated with the highway can be identified. Much of the road is still in
existence as state and local highways. Information about the highway is adequate to assess
the public recreation and historic interest potential. and such an assessment is included.
in this study. This criterion is met.
(B) It must be of national significance with respect to any of several broad facets of
American history, such as trade and commerce, exploration, migration and settlement, or
military campaigns. To qualify as nationally significant, historic use of the trail must
have had a far reaching effect on broad patterns of American culture. Trails significant
in the history of American Indians may be included.
Analysis: This special resource study supports the conclusion that route 66 was
significant in its role in migration and the settlement of the western United States
between 1933 and 1970. This included World War II troop movements and the development of
defense industries in the west, postwar travel and settlement, and, to a lesser extent,
migrations during the Dust Bowl. This criterion is met.
(C) It must have significant potential for public recreational use or historical
interest based on historic interpretation and appreciation. The potential for such use is
generally greater along roadless segments developed as historic trails and at historic
sites associated with the trail. The presence of recreation potential not related to
historic appreciation is not sufficient justification for designation under this category.
Analysis Route 66 has proven potential for recreational use. Route 66
organizations are found in all states that hold portions of the highway, and membership
includes people from across the country. Route 66 associations are even found in foreign
countries. There has been national media attention to Route 66, and individuals and groups
are touring parts of the highway. This interest has developed without a national program
to draw attention to the highway. Much of the current interest is driven by an interest in
tourism and its economic benefits. Historic appreciation and interpretation of Route 66 is
currently limited.
Present public use is tied to an appreciation of Route 66 as a cultural symbol and is
fueled by attention to popular songs, movies, and television shows. However, there is a
growing interest in the broader history of the highway and the presentation of resources
associated with it. Local and regional Route 66 museums are being established. Route 66
associations are working with cultural resource agencies and organizations to complete
resource inventories of the highway and nominate eligible properties to the National
Register of Historic Places. There is also a growing nationwide interest in other historic
transportation corridors. Local grassroots efforts could be supplemented and assisted with
a coordinated nationwide program of professional historical research, historic
presentation, and interpretation. Numerous historic sites and potential interpretive
facilities along the highway provide adequate potential to develop a program to provide
for historic appreciation and interpretation beyond the current level of interest. Based
on this potential and the trend toward more interest in the history and resource
presentation needs of the highway, this criterion is met.
The National Trails System Act [section 5(b)] requires that other elements of a trail
designation be explored in a trail study.
A trail study should include discussions of both the feasibility and desirability of
designating a route as a national trail.
The act requires that "The feasibility of designating a trail shall be determined
on the basis of an evaluation of whether or not it is physically possible to develop a
trail along a route being studied, and whether the development of a trail would be
financially feasible.
Unlike a scenic trail, a national historic trail does not have to be continuous.
Historic sites and segments of the trail are added through a certification process. The
trail is tied together programmatically and need not be completely contiguous. The
existence of significant lengths of original highway and numerous historic structures and
sites pose no physical barrier to the development of a historic trail. Missing segments of
the original road can be bridged by placing signs connecting roads as part of an auto tour
route.
There are several different aspects to determining the financial feasibility of a Route
66 national historic trail. The initial funding needed for a new trail is for the
development of a comprehensive management and use plan. Development of such a plan for
existing national historic trails has cost approximately $250,000. However, Route 66 is of
significantly greater scope than previous trails in terms of identified route, numbers of
historic sites, and number of communities and people potentially affected by such a
designation. The Santa Fe National Historic Trail includes about 1,200 miles of designated
trail and has about 200 identified sites. Route 66 is approximately 2,400 miles long. and
New Mexico alone has over 557 historic properties. The exact number of sites on Route 66
is unknown, but there may well be several thousand overall. Also, Route 66 is still being
used, unlike other historic routes. Such issues as extensive use of the actual historic
resource, continuing adjacent land use, economic development, and residential use would be
raised along Route 66. With the high level of public and agency involvement required to
develop a plan for Route 66, at least $500,000 would be necessary to properly complete the
comprehensive plan.
Trails require a base operating budget for the managing agency. Funds cover basic
administration of trail programs. Based on current national historic trail operations, it
is estimated that $250,000 annually would be required to provide a minimum level of
professional staff and support services to operate a standard national historic trail. Due
to the scope and nature of Route 66, at least $500,000 per year would be needed. Staffing
levels for a Route 66 national historic trail would be considerable. Among the personnel
required would be a cultural resource specialist, historian, interpretive specialist,
landscape architect, administrator, and clerical staff. A budget of $600,000 would also
allow funding for several minimal cost-sharing grants for interpretive and resource
presentation projects per year. That level would not include funding for large scale
projects such as video or film productions, major exhibit design and production packages,
and major resource preservation grants, which would have to be funded through line item
appropriations, or fundraising.
While it would be possible for a federal agency to administer Route 66 as a national
historic trail, the nature of the resource, land and resource ownership and use, and other
characteristics are very different than other national historic trails. Unlike existing
national historic trails that preserve remnants of routes where primary uses have been
discontinued, much of the remaining roadway and many of the structures and places along
Route 66 are still in use. This produces potential for conflict. A section of highway
cannot continue to be used, maintained, or upgraded to meet changing transportation needs
and still be preserved as a historic remnant. Sections of the road that currently meet the
certification requirements of a national historic trail might not continue to meet the
requirements should road maintenance and safety needs require changes.
Most Route 66 structures that are well maintained are still functioning businesses.
This raises additional concerns. The need for a business to survive and provide an
adequate living for its owners and employees would be the first priority. Conflicts
between business survival and the programs and standards of a national historic trail
would be decided in favor of economics. Inclusion of a private business in a federal
program that provides publicity for that business and technical and financial assistance
could produce conflicts. A few current businesses operate in historic sites on existing
national historic trails. Trail literature promotes these sites for their historic values
and features but not for the businesses that are now present. On Route 66 the managers
would frequently be promoting visits to sites where the historic use is the same as the
current use.
A related issue is that Route 66 continues to evolve. For example, businesses that were
started after the historic period on Route 66 (even those only a year or two old)
frequently view themselves as being as much a part of Route 66 as those that are
continuing from the 1930s, 40s, or 50s. A national historic trail, however, would focus
only on the period of historic significance. Businesses or other features that were more
recent would not be included in the national historic trail programs.
Programs could be developed to supplement the national historic trail that would allow
recognition of road segments and sites that are part of the continuing Route 66 but not
part of the historic road. This would require an additional government or private sector
program and could result in public confusion and competition between the two programs.
The desirability of a Route 66 national historic trail should be thoroughly evaluated
by decision makers, with additional public involvement. Other options in this document are
more inclusive but provide a smaller federal administrative role.
Section 5(b) of the trail act also requires the following elements be included.
(1) the proposed route of such trail including maps and illustrations
A general map of Route 66 and appropriate illustrations are included in the body of
this special resource study (route variations over different time periods should be
considered as part of any proposed national historic trail).
(2) the areas adjacent to such trails, to be used for scenic,
historic, natural, cultural, or developmental purposes
The cultural landscape and significant natural and cultural resources associated with
Route 66 are described in this special resource study. Under a national historic trail
program only those route segments and sites that have a direct and significant tie to the
historic period would be included. This would include only those route segments considered
historically significant and structures and sites along these segments. Sites not on the
immediate route with more indirect ties to the highway would not be included.
(3) the characteristics which, in the judgment of the appropriate
secretary, make the proposed trail worthy of designation such as a national scenic or
national historic trail; and in the case of national historic trails the report shall
include the recommendation of the secretary of the interior's National Park System
Advisory Board as to the national historic significance based on the criteria developed
under the Historic Sites Act of 1935 (40 Stat. 666. 16 U.S.C. 461)
A national historic landmark study was not called for under the requirements of this
special resource study. The route demonstrates the historical values associated with the
national historic trails and provides some opportunities to preserve representative
cultural resources, including cultural landscapes. It meets the three primary criteria for
historic trails. but due to its continued use and evolution, imposition of national
historic trail management standards and policies would not be feasible. The National Park
System Advisory Board has not been requested to review this study.
(4) the current status of landownership and current and potential use
along the designated route
Landownership along the route includes both public and private holdings; private
dominating the route in its eastern portions, and mostly state, U. S. Forest Service, and
Bureau of Land Management in the desert southwest and western portions. In addition, much
of the adjacent land in New Mexico and eastern Arizona is owned by a number of American
Indian tribes.
Currently the route is used primarily as a secondary state highway or as a county or
local road. A wide variety of businesses operate along the road, many of which have been
operating since the early days of the highway. Strip development is common along the road
near larger cities, frequently destroying historic structures and cultural landscapes
associated with Route 66. With the increased interest in Route 66 there has been some
development of new businesses. Rural sections of the road pass primarily through land used
for farming and grazing. Some housing developments are found outside cities. Potential
uses of the land are anticipated to be a continuation of present trends with increased
development moving out from the cities. Local and state groups interested in Route 66 are
taking action to promote development compatible with the spirit of Route 66.
(5) the estimated cost of acquisition of land or interest in land, if
any
At the level of detail set forth in this special resource study it is virtually
impossible to provide reasonable estimates for land acquisition. Such decisions would more
appropriately be made in the subsequent comprehensive management and use plan that would
be developed if the Route 66 national historic trail were established. As noted in the
discussion of the national historic trail alternative, however, it is dependent on
cooperative partnerships among the managing federal agency and current property owners.
Therefore, only minimal federal land acquisition is envisioned.
(6) the plans and costs for developing and maintaining the trail
The Route 66 national historic trail, if established, would use as much as possible the
remaining/replacement highway sections currently being maintained by local, county or
state highway departments. Nothing in the national historic trail alternative proposes to
change that. It is possible, however, that additional maintenance costs may be incurred by
those agencies if increased demand for use of the route results from its designation as a
national historic trail.
(7) the proposed federal administering agency
Although the act stipulates that Congress can designate either the secretary of
agriculture or the secretary of the interior to administer national historic trails, the
National Park Service is the administering federal agency for most of the national
historic trails established to date. The National Park Service now has established a body
of knowledge, policies, guidelines, experienced staff, and a national level management
structure for administering national trails. A lead administering agency would work in
partnership with other federal agencies managing their respective Route 66 resources.
(8) the extent to which a state or its political subdivisions and
public and private organizations might reasonably be expected to participate in acquiring
the necessary land and in the administration thereof
Only minimal land acquisition is envisioned. Partnerships with states and their
political subdivisions and public and private organizations would be critical to the
success of a Route 66 national historic trail. The alternative concept is based on the
assumption that states and counties as well as public and private organizations would
continue to be supportive in the subsequent management of the trail.
(9) The relative uses of the land involved, including the number of
anticipated visitor-days for the entire length of, as well as for segments of, such a
trail; the number of months that such trail, or segments thereof, will be open for
recreation purposes: the economic and social benefits which might accrue from alternate
land uses: and the estimated man-years of civilian employment and expenditures expected
for the purposes of maintenance super-vision and regulation of such trail.
Because much of the actual route of Route 66 will be included in the auto-tour route
for the national historic trail, Route 66 would be available for recreational driving use,
as it is now, all year. The National Trails System Act provides that non federally owned
sites and segments of a trail only become part of the national historic trail if the owner
requests that the site be so certified and the site meets appropriate criteria for
preservation and visitor use. These criteria would be set forth in the comprehensive
management and use plan for the trail. Not all segments of Route 66 nor all historic sites
along the route would become protected components of the national historic trail.
Certified sites are frequently available for public use all year but in some cases use may
be restricted to certain times or allowed only under certain circumstances to accommodate
the needs and rights of private property owners. There is insufficient data available to
provide estimates of the economic and social benefits of alternate land uses or the
employment or expenditures that might accrue from such a trail.
(10) The anticipated impact of public outdoor recreation use on the
preservation of a proposed national historic trail and its related historic and
archeological features and settings. including the measures proposed to ensure evaluation
and preservation of the values that contribute to their national historic significance.
Travelers have been driving Route 66 and enjoying its resources most of which are
traveler service related, since its inception in the 1920s. This would be expected to
continue with the designation of the Route 66 national historic trail and could increase.
However, national historic trail programs include provisions for monitoring resource
conditions, mitigation of visitor impacts through visitor use developments and
interpretation, carrying capacity studies, and similar actions to balance use and
preservation. A comprehensive management and use plan would have to be prepared for the
Route 66 national historic trail should it subsequently be established. It would be within
the purview of that plan to address the specifics of resource evaluation, use, and
preservation strategies.
Reprinted from:
Special Resource Study Route 66
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service (See Credits)
NPS D-4 July 1995.
