NPS Credit

The Bell Route through Village Creek State Park in Arkansas was studied for addition to the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Welcome to the Feasibility Study Revision and Update planning project for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (NHT). Congress authorized the revision and update of the 1986 Trail of Tears Final Trail Study (a feasibility study that led to designation of the Trail of Tears NHT in 1987) in December 2006.

The feasibility study revision was completed in 2007. All the additional routes were determined to meet the criteria for addition to the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

The National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director approved a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in November 2007. The study was transmitted to Congress, and legislation was introduced on February 8, 2008.

This legislation was subsequently included in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (HR 146), which President Obama signed into law on March 30, 2009.

A news release (dated April 8, 2009) announcing the expansion of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail as a result of this legislation is now available.

The final Feasibility Study/Environmental Assessment with maps, and the FONSI, are available at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/trte

The National Park Service, which administers the Trail of Tears NHT, completed the revision and update through its National Trails System-Santa Fe office. Public meetings were held during July 2007, in the affected states of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

In 1987, Congress designated two routes of Cherokee removal as the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. At that time, many routes used during removal were not well documented and were not included in the national historic trail. Thus, important parts of the story of Cherokee removal were not being told, including the very important round-up routes from the removal forts in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, as well as the Benge and Bell routes to Indian Territory.

With a strong effort by many researchers along the trail, these routes have been identified. The congressional authorization to update the 1986 feasibility study allowed NPS staff to determine if the additional routes meet the criteria in the National Trails System Act for designation as part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Although the study looked only at routes followed by the Cherokee, some of these routes were also used during the removal of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole peoples and their story is an important part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.