Sec. 524. Administration of Wilderness Areas and Additions
1,051 words·~5 min read·
/bill/117/hr/803/eh/section-524A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Subject to valid existing rights, the wilderness areas and additions shall be administered by the Secretary in accordance with this section and the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary may take such measures in a wilderness area or addition designated in section 523 as are necessary for the control of fire, insects, or diseases in accordance with— section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1) ); and House Report 98–40 of the 98th Congress.
Nothing in this subtitle limits funding for fire or fuels management in a wilderness area or addition. As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall amend, as applicable, any local fire management plan that applies to a wilderness area or addition designated in section 523. In accordance with paragraph
(1)and any other applicable Federal law, to ensure a timely and efficient response to a fire emergency in a wilderness area or addition, the Secretary shall— not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish agency approval procedures (including appropriate delegations of authority to the Forest Supervisor, District Manager, or other agency officials) for responding to fire emergencies; and enter into agreements with appropriate State or local firefighting agencies. The grazing of livestock in a wilderness area or addition, if established before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be administered in accordance with— section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4) ); and the guidelines contained in Appendix A of the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 101–405). In accordance with section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7) ), nothing in this subtitle affects the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with respect to fish or wildlife on public land in the State. In furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the Secretary may conduct any management activity that are necessary to maintain or restore fish or wildlife populations or habitats in the wilderness areas and wilderness additions designated in section 523, if the management activities are— consistent with relevant wilderness management plans; and conducted in accordance with appropriate policies, such as the policies established in Appendix B of the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 101–405). A management activity under subparagraph
(A)may include the occasional and temporary use of motorized vehicles, if the use, as determined by the Secretary, would promote healthy, viable, and more naturally distributed wildlife populations that would enhance wilderness values while causing the minimum impact necessary to accomplish those tasks. In accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1) ) and appropriate policies (such as the policies established in Appendix B of House Report 101–405, the State may use aircraft (including helicopters) in a wilderness area or addition to survey, capture, transplant, monitor, or provide water for a wildlife population, including bighorn sheep. Congress does not intend for the designation of wilderness areas or wilderness additions by section 523 to lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones around each wilderness area or wilderness addition. The fact that a nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from within a wilderness area or wilderness addition designated by section 523 shall not, of itself, preclude the activities or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness area or addition. Nothing in this title precludes— low-level overflights of military aircraft over the wilderness areas or wilderness additions designated by section 523; the designation of new units of special airspace over the wilderness areas or wilderness additions designated by section 523; or the use or establishment of military flight training routes over wilderness areas or wilderness additions designated by section 523. Nothing in this subtitle precludes horseback riding in, or the entry of recreational or commercial saddle or pack stock into, an area designated as a wilderness area or wilderness addition by section 523— in accordance with section 4(d)(5) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(5) ); and subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be necessary. Nothing in this subtitle precludes any law enforcement or drug interdiction effort within the wilderness areas or wilderness additions designated by section 523 in accordance with the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). Subject to valid existing rights, the wilderness areas and additions designated by section 523 are withdrawn from— all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and operation of the mineral materials and geothermal leasing laws. Any land within the boundary of a wilderness area or addition that is acquired by the United States shall— become part of the wilderness area or addition in which the land is located; and be managed in accordance with this section, the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), and any other applicable laws (including regulations). In accordance with the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may authorize the installation and maintenance of hydrologic, meteorologic, or climatological collection devices in a wilderness area or addition if the Secretary determines that the facilities and access to the facilities is essential to a flood warning, flood control, or water reservoir operation activity. The Secretary of Agriculture may authorize the Angeles Crest 100 competitive running event to continue in substantially the same manner and degree in which this event was operated and permitted in 2015 within additions to the Sheep Mountain Wilderness in section 523 of this title and the Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness Area designated by section 1802 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, provided that the event is authorized and conducted in a manner compatible with the preservation of the areas as wilderness.
Connectionstraces to 2
Traces to 2 documents
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources