A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds for DEVELOPMENT of trading path trails.
Whereas, North Carolina constituted England's first frontier in North America, a frontier that lasted from 1585 until the Revolutionary War; and
Whereas, native and colonial trade roads and routes facilitated commerce and migration into and out of that frontier; and
Whereas, numerous remnants of those old paths persist to this day, particularly in North Carolina's rural areas; and
Whereas, most history subsequent to the colonial era, including both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, occurred on or near those ancient trading paths; and
Whereas, development of colonial and precolonial era artifact sites for tourism can be accomplished at very slight expense; and
Whereas, the Trading Path Association has devised a Trading Path Trails program to bring tourists to these sites; and
Whereas, these trading paths led to the development of settlements, towns, and cities throughout the State; and
Whereas, the preservation of the trading paths is closely tied to heritage tourism; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Trading Path Association, Inc., a nonprofit organization, the sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) for the 2007‑2008 fiscal year for the development of Trading Path Trails, a heritage tourism development and marketing project.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.