The Old Spanish National Historic Trail is one of the great historic routes of the American West. Stretching roughly 2,700 miles between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, the Trail follows the path of a 19th-century trade route through some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country. It crosses the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, Mojave Desert, and California’s Transverse Ranges.
Congress designated the Old Spanish Trail as part of the National Trails System more than two decades ago. Much of the Trail crosses federal lands managed by the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. Yet the federal government has still not prepared a Comprehensive Management Plan, as required by Congress when it designated the Trail. This plan coordinates federal, tribal, state, and private land use to protect historic resources, guide development, and manage public recreation — and it’s more than 20 years overdue.
On December 9, 2024, PEER, former National Park Service Superintendent John Hiscock, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, Basin and Range Watch, and longtime trail advocate Mark Franklin filed suit against the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management for failing to prepare the Comprehensive Management Plan. Recently, on July 23, 2026, PEER filed a motion for summary judgment asking the court to require the agencies to fulfill their responsibilities under the National Trails System Act.
This case is about more than an overdue planning document. We are also seeking temporary protection for the Trail while the agencies work on the plan and select rights-of-way establishing the Trail’s width. For any proposed developments within 15 miles of either side of the Trail, we are asking the court to order the agencies to conduct a site-specific trail resource inventory to ensure that the Trail’s irreplaceable resources will not be destroyed. Federal agencies should not permanently alter the landscape before determining whether resources Congress mandated them to protect are present.
Litigation was not our first choice. For roughly 15 years, advocates like John Hiscock have tried to protect the Old Spanish Trail project-by-project. Groups including PEER, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Basin and Range Watch, Western Watersheds Project, and Grand Canyon Trust have submitted comments and protests on more than 40 proposed projects that would impact the Trail
Our efforts have produced some improvements. In a handful of project areas, the government has inventoried Trail resources or acknowledged the need to consider impacts on the Trail. But protections cannot depend on whether advocates happen to discover a development proposal in time to file comments or protests. Across hundreds of miles of public land, inventories remain incomplete, management direction is inconsistent, and development proposals continue to move forward without an overarching framework for protecting the Trail. Piecemeal review cannot substitute for comprehensive management. That is why Congress required comprehensive planning in the first place.
The implications of this lawsuit extend beyond the Old Spanish Trail. National Historic Trails cross millions of acres of federal public lands throughout the West. Trails face pressure from energy development, transmission infrastructure, mining, roads, and other industrial uses.
Our hope is that this lawsuit will establish something broader and more durable. And that the court will reinforce that a National Trail designation carries meaningful responsibilities for the agencies entrusted with managing these lands.
Chandra Rosenthal is PEER’s Western Lands and Rocky Mountain Advocate.
Laura Dumais is PEER’s Staff Counsel.
John Hiscock is a former National Park Service Superintendent. He served as Association Manager of the Old Spanish Trail Association from 2015 – 2018, and is a life member.