S128JUL29

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 29, 2005

S.128 A bill to designate certain public land in Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, Lake, and Napa Counties in the State of California as wilderness, to designate certain segments of the Black Butte River in Mendocino County, California as a wild or scenic river, and for other purposes.

BRIEF

The bill’s report explained “S. 128 would designate over 300,000 acres of wilderness on lands in northern California. The areas designated as wilderness by this Act represent some of the most outstanding wild areas in the State, encompassing both National Forests and public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Among the BLM areas designated as wilderness by S. 128 is over 42,000 acres within the King Range National Conservation Area. The King Range Wilderness includes the `Lost Coast,' the wildest portion of the California coast and the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline in the continental United States.

“The bill includes significant additions to four existing wilderness areas in the Mendocino and Six Rivers National Forests, the Snow Mountain, Yolla Bolly--Middle Eel, Siskiyou, and Trinity Alps wilderness as well as the creation of nine new wilderness areas. These areas offer spectacular vistas and diverse scenery. While the existing wilderness areas include higher elevation lands, many of the areas added by this bill include lower elevation areas featuring pine and fir forests, meadows, oak woodlands, and river canyons. The Trinity Alps additions shelter the third-largest swath of unprotected old-growth in northern California.

“The designated wilderness areas also provide important wildlife and fish habitat, including many species of raptors, black bears, elk, and salmon. The Middle Fork Eel River, which flows through the Yuki Wilderness, supports up to one-half of California's remaining summer steelhead trout run and the Cedar Roughs Wilderness supports the last wild black bear population in Napa County. The wilderness areas designated by S. 128 are also popular recreational areas, and are heavily used for hunting, fishing, hiking and camping.”

Sponsor: Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent (July 27, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that implementing S. 128 would cost $1 million over the next three years, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. S. 128 would result in forgone offsetting receipts of less than $500,000 in any year, but totaling about $5 million over the 2006-2015 period.”

MORE INFORMATION

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 contains the short title.

Section 2 defines the term `Secretary' to mean the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to wilderness areas on National Forest System lands or the Secretary of the Interior, for Bureau of Land Management-administered areas.

Section 3 designates approximately 189,448 acres of lands on the Mendocino and Six Rivers National Forests and approximately 111,356 acres of lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

The areas to be designated include:

(1) a 23,312-acre addition, in two areas, to the Snow Mountain Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest;

(2) the 10,571-acre Sanhedrin Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest.

(3) the 54,087-acre Yuki Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest. The Yuki Wilderness consists of 36,185 acres of National Forest lands and 17,902 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered lands.

(4) a 25,806-acre addition to the Yolla Bolly--Middle Eel Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest. The addition includes 734 acres of BLM lands.

(5) the 6,494-acre Mad River Buttes Wilderness in the Six Rivers National Forest.

(6) a 48,754 addition, in 5 areas, to the Siskiyou Wilderness in the Six Rivers National Forest.

(7) the 7,279-acre Mount Lassic Wilderness in the Six Rivers National Forest.

(8) a 28,805-acre addition, in 4 areas, to the Trinity Alps Wilderness in the Six Rivers National Forest.

(9) the 2,977-acre Underwood Wilderness in the Six Rivers National Forest.

(10) the 30,870-acre Cache Creek Wilderness, administered by the BLM.

(11) the 6,350-acre Cedar Roughs Wilderness, administered by the BLM.

(12) the 12,915-acre South Fork Eel River Wilderness, administered by the BLM.

(13) the 42,585-acre King Range Wilderness, administered by the BLM and within the boundaries of the King Range National Conservation Area.

(14) all Federally-owned rocks, islets, and islands located above mean high tide and within 3 miles off the coast of the King Range National Conservation Area.

Section 4(a) directs the Secretary of Agriculture, for National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, for BLM-administered lands, to administer the wilderness areas designated by this Act in accordance with the Wilderness Act, subject to valid existing rights.

Many of the wilderness areas designated by this Act are enjoyed by hikers, people on horseback, hunters and fishermen. In addition, many visitors access these wilderness areas using commercial outfitters. Most of these outfitters use horses as pack animals. The Committee understands that the areas designated as wilderness by this Act are not heavily used by horses at this time, and consistent with the land managers' responsibilities to monitor visitor use and protect against resource damage from overuse, notes that the current level of horsepacking use in these areas is consistent with wilderness designation.

At the Committee hearings on a similar bill during the 108th Congress, the Forest Service provided the Committee with information on the need to develop a plan to restore the late successional reserve (LSR) of the Sanhedrin Wilderness. The Committee agrees that wilderness designation can be fully compatible with such restoration treatments.

The Committee notes that this area has been altered by human influences, including the suppression of natural burning. As the Forest Service develops its plan in accordance with this Act and with the goal of LSR restoration, the Committee believes the Old Growth characteristics of the LSR are a primary value of the wilderness. The Committee expects that the Forest Service can achieve its goal of LSR restoration in accordance with this Act and the Forest Service's manual on wilderness management. Specifically, the relevant portion of the manual (FSM 2323.35a) states:

`Manipulation of Wildlife Habitat. The objective of all projects must be to perpetuate the wilderness resource; projects must be necessary to sustain a primary value of a given wilderness or to perpetuate a federally-listed threatened or endangered species. To qualify for approval by the Chief, habitat manipulation projects must satisfy the following criteria:

`1. The condition needing change is a result of abnormal human influence.

`2. The project can be accomplished with assurance with there will be no serious or lasting damage to wilderness values.

`3. There is reasonable assurance that the project will accomplish the desired objectives * * *.'

Subsection (b) directs the Secretary to file a map and legal description of each area designated by this Act with the House and Senate authorizing committees as soon as practicable after the date of enactment. The subsection also gives the Secretary authority to correct technical errors in the maps and legal descriptions and requires that they be made available for public inspection.

Subsection (c) provides that any land within the boundary of a wilderness area designated by this Act is acquired by the Federal Government, the land shall become part of that wilderness area and be administered in accordance with the Wilderness Act.

Subsection (d) withdraws, subject to valid existing rights, the Federal land designated as wilderness from entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral or geothermal leasing or mineral materials.

Subsection (e) pertains to management activities necessary to prevent or control fire, insects or diseases within the wilderness areas designated by this Act. The subsection states that the Secretary may take such measures in the wilderness areas as are necessary for the control and prevention of fire, insects, and diseases in accordance with the Wilderness Act and the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (now Committee on Resources) in the 98th Congress accompanying H.R. 1437, the California Wilderness Act of 1983 (H. Rept. 98-40). The Secretary is directed to review existing policies applicable to the wilderness areas designated by this Act within one year to ensure that authorized approval procedures for fire management measures allow a timely and efficient response to fire emergencies in the wilderness areas.

The Committee notes that this Act provides the land management agencies with the necessary flexibility to conduct fire suppression activities to protect human life and property. For example, in the King Range Honeydew fire in 2003, which resulted in 14,000 acres of fire damage in the King Range National Conservation Area, the Bureau of Land Management authorized a fire truck and a 3-member crew to be stationed at the bottom of Telegraph Ridge, within a 4-mile range of the Franklin property in order to allow easy, quick access to the Franklin property in the event that fire suppression activities were warranted. As a result, firefighters were able to fend off the fire and prevent damage to the Franklin property. The Committee observes that nothing in this Act would prevent BLM from continuing this practice when so warranted by fire danger.

Subsection (f) directs the Secretary to provide the owner of any private property within the boundaries of a wilderness area designated by this Act with adequate access to their property to ensure its reasonable use and enjoyment by the owner.

The subsection clarifies that within the King Range Wilderness, the route depicted on the map as the access route for private landowners within wilderness shall also be available for invitees of the landowners, except that the Secretary is not required to provide access to the landowners or their invitees beyond the access that would be available if the wilderness had not been designated.

The Committee notes that since the establishment of the King Range National Conservation Area, property owners Linda Franklin, Mary Smith Etter, and others have been granted access to their land within the conservation area by the Bureau of Land Management via the Smith-Etter Road. The Committee intends that nothing in this Act should in any way alter the access currently authorized to Franklin, Etter and others under existing policies.

Subsection (g) clarifies that nothing in this Act prevents the installation and maintenance of hydrologic, meteorologic, or climatological instrumentation within the wilderness areas if the Secretary determines they are appropriate to further the scientific, educational, and conservation purposes of the wilderness areas.

Subsection (h) contains language making clear that nothing in this Act precludes low-level overflights of military aircraft, the designation of new units of special airspace, or the use or establishment of military flight training routes over wilderness areas designated by this Act.

Subsection (i) provides that livestock grazing and the maintenance of existing facilities within wilderness areas designated by this Act, where established before the date of enactment, shall be permitted to continue in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act and the grazing management guidelines printed in Appendix A of the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (now Committee on Resources) in the 101st Congress accompanying H.R. 2570, the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act (H. Rept. 101-405).

Subsection (j) states that nothing in this Act affects the jurisdiction of the State of California with respect to fish and wildlife on public land located in the State. The Committee notes that nothing in this Act alters the jurisdiction of the State of California over the management of wildlife in the areas designated as wilderness, including the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses.

Subsection (k) directs the Secretary to ensure that Indian tribes have access to the wilderness areas designated by this Act for traditional cultural and religious purposes. The Secretary is authorized to temporarily close a portion of a wilderness area to the public to protect the privacy of tribal members during traditional cultural and religious activities. Access to a wilderness area for the purpose of this subsection shall be in accordance with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Wilderness Act.

Subsection (l) clarifies that nothing in this Act creates buffer zones around any wilderness area designated by this Act.

Section 5 releases those portions of the King Range Wilderness Study Area, Chemise Mountain Instant Study Area, Red Mountain Wilderness Study Area, and Cedar Roughs Wilderness Study Area not designated as wilderness from further wilderness study status under section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The subsection also releases those portions of the Rocky Creek/Cache Creek Wilderness Study Area in Lake County, California not designated as wilderness. The combined acreage of the areas released totals approximately 2,222 acres.

Section 6(a) establishes the 9,655-acre Elkhorn Ridge Potential Wilderness Area, administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Subsection (b) directs the Secretary to manage the area as wilderness, subject to valid existing rights, and except as provided in subsection (c), until it is designated as wilderness in accordance with subsection (d).

Subsection (c) authorizes the Secretary to undertake ecological restoration activities in the potential wilderness area, including the elimination of non-native species, removal of certain roads, repair of skid tracks, and other activities necessary to restore the area's natural ecosystems. The Secretary is directed to use the minimum tool or administrative practice necessary to accomplish the restoration with the least amount of impact on the area's wilderness character and resources. However, while the area is designated as potential wilderness, the Secretary is authorized to use motorized equipment and mechanized transport in the area.

Subsection (d) provides that the area shall be designated as the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness upon a finding by the Secretary that the conditions in the area which are incompatible with wilderness have been removed or five years after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is earlier.

Section 7(a) designates a 21-mile segment of the Black Butte River as a component of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Two stretches of the river, totaling approximately 17.5 miles, are designated as a `wild' river and a 3.5-mile portion is designated as a `scenic' river. The river is to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Subsection (b) directs the Secretary to submit a report to Congress within 18 months after the date of enactment containing a fire management plan for the river and a report on the historical and cultural resources along the river corridor. The report is also to be transmitted to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.

Section 8 amends the enabling legislation for the King Range National Conservation Area to include additional Bureau of Land Management-administered lands within the boundary of the conservation area. The boundary addition along the northern portion of the conservation area conforms with the boundary of the King Range Wilderness designated by this Act.

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