ENDANGERED AMERICAN WILDERNESS ACT OF 1978 1

AN ACT To designate certain endangered public lands for preservation as wilderness, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978".

STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND POLICY

SECTION 1. (a) The Congress finds that

(1) many areas of undeveloped national forest land possess and exhibit outstanding natural characteristics giving them high value as wilderness and will, if properly preserved, contribute as an enduring resource of wilderness for the benefit of the American people;

(2) certain of these undeveloped national forest lands meet all statutory criteria for suitability as wilderness as established by subsection 2(c) of the Wilderness Act (78 Stat. 890), but are not adequately protected and lack statutory designation pursuant to the Wilderness Act as units of the National Wilderness Preservation System;

(3) these and other undeveloped national forest lands exhibiting wilderness values are immediately threatened by pressures of a growing and more mobile population, large-scale industrial and economic growth, and development and uses inconsistent with the protection, maintenance, restoration, and enhancement of their wilderness character; and

(4) among such immediately threatened areas are lands not being adequately protected or fully studied for wilderness suitability by the agency responsible for their administration. (b) Therefore, the Congress finds and declares that it is in the national interest that certain of these endangered areas be promptly designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System, in order to preserve such areas as an enduring resource of wilderness which shall be managed to promote and perpetuate the wilderness character of the land and its specific multiple values for watershed preservation, wildlife habitat protection, scenic and historic preservation, scientific research and educational use, primitive recreation, solitude, physical and mental challenge, and inspiration for the benefit of all of the American people of present and future generations.

DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS

SEC. 2. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, the following lands (hereinafter referred to as "wilderness areas"), as generally depicted on maps appropriately referenced, dated Janu

'The Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note), as set forth herein, contains Public Law 95-237 (92 Stat. 40). The Act has not been amended as of the date of this compilation.

ary 1978, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System—

(a) certain lands in the Coronado National Forest, Arizona, which comprise about fifty-six thousand four hundred and thirty acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Pusch Ridge Wilderness;

(b) certain lands in the Inyo and Sequoia National Forests, California, which comprise about three hundred and six thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Golden Trout Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Golden Trout Wilderness;

(c) certain lands in and adjacent to the Los Padres National Forest, California, which comprise about twenty-one thousand two hundred and fifty acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Santa Lucia Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Santa Lucia Wilderness: Provided, That the tract identified on said map as "Wilderness Reserve" is designated as wilderness, subject only to the removal of the existing and temporary nonconforming improvement, at which time the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") is directed to publish notice thereof in the Federal Register. Pending such notice, and subject only to the maintenance of the existing nonconforming improvement, said tract shall be managed as wilderness in accordance with section 5 of this Act. In order to guarantee the continued viability of the Santa Lucia watershed and to insure the continued health and safety of the communities serviced by such watershed, the management plan for the Santa Lucia area to be prepared following designation as wilderness shall authorize the Forest Service to take whatever appropriate actions are necessary for fire prevention and watershed protection including, but not limited to, acceptable fire presuppression and fire suppression measures and techniques. Any special provisions contained in the management plan for the Santa Lucia Wilderness area shall be incorporated in the planning for the Los Padres National Forest: Provided, That the Forest Service is authorized to continue fire presuppression, fire suppression measures and techniques, and watershed maintenance pending completion of the management plan for the Santa Lucia area;

(d) certain lands in the Los Padres National Forest, California, which comprise about sixty-one thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Ventana Wilderness Additions-Proposed", and which are hereby incorporated in, and shall be deemed to be a part of, the Ventana Wilderness as designated by Public Law 91-58. In order to guarantee the continued viability of the Ventana watershed and to insure the continued health and safety of the communities serviced by such watershed, the management plan for the Ventana area to be prepared following designation as wilderness shall authorize the Forest Service to take whatever appropriate actions are necessary for fire prevention and watershed protection including, but not limited to, acceptable fire presuppression and fire suppression measures and techniques. Any special provisions

contained in the management plan for the Ventana Wilderness area shall be incorporated in the planning for the Los Padres National Forest;

(e) certain lands in the White River National Forest, Colorado, which comprise approximately seventy-four thousand four hundred and fifty acres, are generally depicted as area "A" on a map entitled "Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness. The area commonly knwn as the "Spruce Creek Addition", depicted as area "B" on said map and comprising approximately eight thousand acres, shall, in accordance with the provisions of subsection 3(d) of the Wilderness Act, be reviewed by the Secretary as to its suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness. The Secretary shall complete his review and report his findings to the President and the President shall submit to the United States Senate and the House of Representatives his recommendation with respect to the designation of the Spruce Creek area as wilderness not later than two years from the date of enactment of this Act. Subject to valid existing rights, the wilderness study area designated by this subsection shall, until Congress determines otherwise, be administered by the Secretary so as to maintain presently existing wilderness character and potential for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. No right, or claim of right, to the diversion and use of the waters of Hunter Creek, the Fryingpan or Roaring Fork Rivers, or any tributaries of said creeks or rivers, by the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Public Law 87-590, Eighty-seventh Congress, and the reauthorization thereof by Public Law 93-493, Ninety-third Congress, under the laws of the State of Colorado, shall be prejudiced, expanded, diminished, altered, or affected by this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to expand, abate, impair, impede, or interfere with the construction, maintenance, or repair of said Fryingpan-Arkansas Project facilities, nor the operation thereof, pursuant to the Operating Principles, House Document Numbered 130, Eighty-seventh Congress, and pursuant to the water laws of the State of Colorado;

(f) certain lands in the Cibola National Forest, New Mexico, which comprise about thirty-seven thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Manzano Mountain Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Manzano Mountain Wilderness;

(g) certain lands in Cibola National Forest, New Mexico, which comprise about thirty thousand nine hundred and thirty acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Sandia Mountain Wilderness Area (North and South Units)-Proposed", and shall be known as the Sandia Mountain Wilderness;

(h) certain lands in the Santa Fe and Carson National Forest, New Mexico, which comprise approximately fifty thousand three hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Chama River Canyon Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Chama River Canyon Wilderness; (i) certain lands in Wasatch and Unita National Forests, Utah, which comprise about twenty-nine thousand five hun

dred and sixty-seven acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Lone Peak Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Lone Peak Wilderness: Provided, That the Forest Service is directed to utilize whatever sanitary facilities are necessary (including but not limited to vault toilets, which may require service by helicopter) to insure the continued health and safety of the communities serviced by the Lone Peak watershed; furthermore, nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit motorized access and road maintenance by local municipalities for those minimum maintenance activities necessary to guarantee the continued viability of whatsoever watershed facilities currently exist, or which may be necessary in the future to prevent the degradation of the water supply in the Lone Peak area;

(j) certain lands in the Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming, which comprise about fourteen thousand nine hundred and forty acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Savage Run Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Savage Run Wilderness; and

(k) certain lands in Lolo National Forest, Montana, which comprise approximately twenty-eight thousand four hundred and forty acres are generally depicted on a map entitled "Welcome Creek Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Welcome Creek Wilderness.

OREGON OMNIBUS WILDERNESS ACT OF 1978

SEC. 3. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, the following lands (hereinafter referred to as "wilderness areas") as generally depicted on maps appropriately referenced, dated January 1978, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System

(a) certain lands in the Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, which comprise about ninety-two thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Kalmiopsis Wilderness Additions-Proposed", and which are hereby incorporated in and shall be deemed to be a part of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness as designated by Public Law 88-577;

(b) certain lands in the Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, which comprise about thirty-six thousand seven hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Wild Rogue Wilderness-Proposed", and shall be known as the Wild Rogue Wilderness: Provided, That the portion of the segment of the Rogue River designated as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System by section 3(a)(5) of the Wild and Scenic River Act (82 Stat. 906, as amended) which lies within the Wild Rogue Wilderness shall be managed as a wild river notwithstanding section 10(b) of that Act or any provisions of the Wilderness Act to the contrary;

(c) certain lands in the Umatilla National Forest, Oregon and Washington, which comprise about one hundred and eighty thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness-Proposed", and shall be known as the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness;

(d) certain lands in the Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon, which comprise about thirty-three thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Mount Hood (Zig Zag) Proposed Wilderness Additions", and which are hereby incorporated in, and shall be deemed to be a part of the Mount Hood Wilderness as designated by Public Law 88-577; and (e) certain lands in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon, which comprise about forty-five thousand four hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "French Pete Creek and Other Proposed Additions, Three Sisters Wilderness", and which are hereby incorporated in, and shall be deemed to be a part of, the Three Sisters Wilderness as designated by Public Law 88-577.

GOSPEL-HUMP AREA

SEC. 4. (a)(1) In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, certain lands in the Nezperce National Forest, Idaho, which comprise about two hundred and six thousand acres, as generally depicted under the category "Wilderness" on a map entitled "Gospel-Hump Planning Unit" and dated January 1978, are hereby designated as wilderness and therefore, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

(2) Certain other contiguous roadless lands which comprise about ninety-two thousand acres, as generally depicted on said map as "Management Areas" shall be managed in accordance with the multipurpose resource development plan required by this section.

(3) Certain other contiguous roadless lands which comprise about forty-five thousand acres, as generally depicted on said map as "Development Areas" shall be immediately available for resource utilization under the existing applicable Forest Service land management plans.

(b)(1) Within ninety days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall appoint a seven-member Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee") on the management of the Gospel-Hump Area who shall advise the Secretary as to the progress of the fish and game research program, and the multipurpose resource development plan required by this section, and who shall evaluate the results of the research program and development plan. on an ongoing basis.

(2) The Committee shall be comprised of two members of the timber industry who purchase timber from the Nezperce National Forest, two members from organizations who are actively engaged in seeking the preservation of wilderness lands, and three members from the general public who otherwise have a significant interest in the resources and management of the Gospel-Hump Area.

(3) Committee members shall serve without pay except that while away from their homes or regular places of business in performance of services for the Committee, members of the Committee shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermit tently in the Government service are allowed under section 57030 of title 5 of the Ur State Code.