H. R. 3603 109th CONGRESS 2d Session
TITLE II--CENTRAL IDAHO WILDERNESS AREAS
Sec. 201. Additions to National Wilderness Preservation System.HR 360
Sec. 202. General administration of wilderness areas.
Sec. 203. Acquisition of mineral interests and lands from willing sellers.
Sec. 204. Adjacent management.
Sec. 205. Wildfire management.
Sec. 206. Water rights.
Sec. 207. Wildlife management.
Sec. 208. Native American cultural and religious uses.
Sec. 209. Military overflights.
Sec. 210. Wilderness review.
TITLE II--CENTRAL IDAHO WILDERNESS AREAS
SEC. 201. ADDITIONS TO NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM.
(a) Additions- Congress has determined that the following lands in central Idaho shall be designated as wilderness and managed as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System:
(1) HEMINGWAY-BOULDERS WILDERNESS- Certain Federal land in the Sawtooth and Challis National Forests, comprising approximately 105,000 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled `Hemingway-Boulders' and dated July 24, 2006, which shall be known as the `Hemingway-Boulders Wilderness'.
(2) WHITE CLOUDS WILDERNESS- Certain Federal land in the Sawtooth and Challis National Forests, comprising approximately 73,100 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled `White Clouds' and dated July 24, 2006, which shall be known as the `White Clouds Wilderness'.
(3) JERRY PEAK WILDERNESS- Certain Federal land in the Challis National Forest and Challis District of the Bureau of Land Management, comprising approximately 131,700 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled `Jerry Peak Wilderness' and dated July 24, 2006, which shall be known as the `Jerry Peak Wilderness'. In the case of the Bureau of Land Management land designated as wilderness by this paragraph, the land is included in the National Landscape Conservation System.
(b) Maps and Legal Description-
(1) IN GENERAL- As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, in the case of the wilderness areas designated by paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) and the National Forest System land designated as wilderness by paragraph (3) of such subsection, and the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of the Bureau of Land Management land designated as wilderness by paragraph (3) of such subsection, in this title referred to as the `Secretary concerned', shall file a map and legal description of the wilderness areas designated by such subsection with the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(2) EFFECT- Each map and legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this title, except that the Secretary concerned may correct clerical and typographical errors in the map or legal description.
(3) AVAILABILITY- Each map and legal description shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service.
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(c)Withdrawal- Subject to valid existing rights, the wilderness areas designated in subsection (a) 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 leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
SEC. 202. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS.
(a) Application of Wilderness Act- Subject to valid existing rights, the wilderness areas designated by section 201 shall be managed by the Secretary concerned in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this title. With respect to the wilderness areas, any reference in the Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act, and any reference in the Wilderness Act to the Secretary of Agriculture shall be deemed to be a reference to the Secretary concerned.
(b) Consistent Interpretation to the Public- Although the wilderness areas designated by section 201 consist of National Forest System land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture and public land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall collaborate to assure that the wilderness areas are interpreted to the public as an overall complex tied together by common location in the Boulder-White Cloud Mountains and common identity with the natural and cultural history of the State of Idaho and its Native American and pioneer heritage.
(c) Comprehensive Wilderness Management Plan- Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior shall collaborate to develop a comprehensive wilderness management plan for the wilderness areas designated by section 201. The completed management plan shall be submitted to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(d) Fire, Insects, and Diseases- Within the wilderness area designated by section 201, the Secretary concerned may take such measures as the Secretary concerned determines to be necessary for the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such conditions as the Secretary concerned considers desirable, as provided in section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131(d)(1)).
(e) Wilderness Trails and Trailheads-
(1) CONSTRUCTION OF NEW TRAILHEAD- The Secretary concerned shall construct a new trailhead for nonmotorized users and improve access to the Big Boulder Trailhead to separate motorized users from nonmotorized users.
(2) INCLUSION OF ACCESSIBLE TRAIL- The Secretary concerned shall upgrade the first mile of the Murdock Creek Trail in the Hemingway-Boulders wilderness area designated by section 201 to a primitive, non-paved, and wheelchair accessible standard.
(f) Treatment of Existing Claims and Private Lands- Nothing in this title is intended to affect the rights or interests in real property, patented mining claims, or valid claims or prevent reasonable access to private property or for the development and use of valid mineral rights. The Secretary concerned may enter into negotiations with the holder of a patented claim or valid claim located in a wilderness area designated by section 201 for the voluntary relinquishment of the claim.
(g) Grazing- Grazing of livestock in a wilderness area designated by section 201, where established before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), section 108 of Public Law 96-560, and section 101(f) of Public Law 101-628, and in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of House Report 96-617 of the 96th Congress and House Report 101-405 of the 101st Congress.
(h) Commercial Outfitters and Saddle and Pack Stock- Nothing in this title shall preclude horseback riding or the entry of recreational saddle or pack stock into the wilderness areas designated by section 201, including when such entry is made by commercial outfitters.
SEC. 203. ACQUISITION OF MINERAL INTERESTS AND LANDS FROM WILLING SELLERS.
(a) Acquisition- Within the boundaries of the wilderness areas designated by section 201, the Secretary concerned may acquire, through purchase from willing sellers or donation from willing owners, all right, title, and interest in all mineral interests, claims, and parcels of land that have been patented under the Act of May 10, 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.; commonly known as the Mining Act of 1872).
(b) Consideration- In exercising the authority provided by subsection (a) to acquire lands and interests, the Secretary concerned shall offer the owners of record of each patent, who voluntarily wish to sell, $20,000 as compensation for the acquisition of these interests. The Secretary concerned shall make such offers as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act and such offers shall remain open for acceptance during the five-year period beginning on such date.
(c) Incorporation in Wilderness Area- Any land or interest in land located inside the boundaries of a wilderness area designated by section 201 that is acquired by the United States after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be added to and administered as part of that wilderness area.
SEC. 204. ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.
(a) No Protective Perimeters or Buffer Zones- Congress does not intend for the designation of the wilderness areas by section 201 to lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones around any such wilderness area.
(b) Nonwilderness Activities- The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses outside of a wilderness area designated by section 201 can be seen or heard from inside of the wilderness area shall not preclude the conduct of those activities or uses outside the boundaries of the wilderness area.
SEC. 205. WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT.
Consistent with section 4 of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133), nothing in this title precludes a Federal, State, or local agency from conducting wildfire management operations, including operations using aircraft or mechanized equipment, to manage wildfires in the wilderness areas designated by section 201.
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SEC. 206. WATER RIGHTS.
(a) Findings- Congress finds the following:
(1) The lands designated as wilderness areas by section 201 are located at the headwaters of the streams and rivers on those lands, with few, if any, actual or proposed water resource facilities located upstream from such lands and few, if any, opportunities for diversion, storage, or other uses of water occurring outside such lands that would adversely affect the wilderness values of such lands.
(2) The lands designated as wilderness areas by section 201 are not suitable for use for development of new water resource facilities or for the expansion of existing facilities.
(3) Therefore, it is possible to provide for proper management and protection of the wilderness value of the lands designated as wilderness areas by section 201 in ways different from the ways utilized in other laws designating wilderness areas.
(b) Purpose- The purpose of this section is to protect the wilderness values of the lands designated as wilderness areas by section 201 by means other than a federally reserved water right.
(c) Statutory Construction- Nothing in this title--
(1) shall constitute, or be construed to constitute, either an express or implied reservation by the United States of any water or water rights with respect to the wilderness areas designated by section 201;
(2) shall affect any water rights in the State of Idaho existing on the date of the enactment of this Act, including any water rights held by the United States;
(3) shall be construed as establishing a precedent with regard to any future wilderness designations;
(4) shall be construed as limiting, altering, modifying, or amending any of the interstate compacts or equitable apportionment decrees that apportion water among and between the State of Idaho and other States; and
(5) shall be construed as limiting, altering, modifying, or amending provisions of Public Law 92-400, which established the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (16 U.S.C. 460aa et seq.).
(d) Idaho Water Law- The Secretary concerned shall follow the procedural and substantive requirements of the law of the State of Idaho when seeking to establish any water rights, not in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act, with respect to the wilderness areas designated by section 201.
(e) New Projects-
(1) PROHIBITION- Except as otherwise provided in this Act, on and after the date of the enactment of this Act, neither the President nor any other officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall fund, assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for the development of any new water resource facility inside any of the wilderness areas designated by section 201.
(2) DEFINITION- In this subsection, the term `water resource facility' means irrigation and pumping facilities, reservoirs, water conservation works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines, wells, hydropower projects, and transmission and other ancillary facilities, and other water diversion, storage, and carriage structures.
SEC. 207. WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.
(a) State Jurisdiction- In accordance with section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), nothing in this title affects or diminishes the jurisdiction of the State of Idaho with respect to fish and wildlife management, including the regulation of hunting, fishing, and trapping, in the wilderness areas designated by section 201.
(b) Management Activities- In furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Wilderness Act, management activities to maintain or restore fish and wildlife populations and the habitats to support such populations may be carried out within wilderness areas designated by section 201 where consistent with relevant wilderness management plans, in accordance with appropriate policies such as those set forth in Appendix B of House Report 101-405 of the 101st Congress, including the occasional and temporary use of motorized vehicles, if such use, as determined by the Secretary concerned would promote healthy, viable, and more naturally distributed wildlife populations that would enhance wilderness values and accomplish those purposes using the minimum tool necessary to reasonably accomplish the task.
(c) Use of Aircraft- Consistent with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)) and in accordance with appropriate policies such as those set forth in Appendix B of House Report 101-405 of the 101st Congress, the State of Idaho may continue to use aircraft, including helicopters, to survey, capture, transplant, monitor, and manage elk, deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, wolves, grizzly bears, and other wildlife and fish.
(d) Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping- Nothing in this title shall affect hunting, fishing, and trapping, under applicable State and Federal laws and regulations, in the wilderness areas designated by section 201. The Secretary concerned may designate, by regulation in consultation with the appropriate State agency (except in emergencies), areas in which, and establish periods during which, for reasons of public safety, administration, or compliance with applicable laws, no hunting, fishing, or trapping will be permitted in the wilderness areas.
SEC. 208. NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS USES.
Nothing in this title shall be construed to diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. Nothing in this title shall be construed to diminish tribal rights regarding access to Federal lands for tribal activities, including spiritual, cultural, and traditional food-gathering activities.
SEC. 209. MILITARY OVERFLIGHTS.
Nothing in this title restricts or precludes--
(1) low-level overflights of military aircraft over the wilderness areas designated by section 201, including military overflights that can be seen or heard within the wilderness areas;
(2) flight testing and evaluation; or
(3) the designation or creation of new units of special use airspace, or the establishment of military flight training routes, over the wilderness areas.
SEC. 210. WILDERNESS REVIEW.
(a) National Forests- Section 5 of Public Law 92-400 (16 U.S.C. 460aa-4), which required a review of the undeveloped and unimproved portion or portions of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area established by that Act as to suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, is repealed.
(b) Public Lands-
(1) FINDING- Congress finds that, for the purpose of section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), the public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the following areas have been adequately studied for wilderness designation:
(A) The Jerry Peak Wilderness Study Area.
(B) The Jerry Peak West Wilderness Study Area.
(C) The Corral-Horse Basin Wilderness Study Area.
(D) The Boulder Creek Wilderness Study Area.
(2) RELEASE- Any public land described in paragraph (1) that is not designated as wilderness by this title--
(A) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and
(B) shall be managed in accordance with land management plans adopted under section 202 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1712).
