II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1000 To designate additions to the Rough Mountain Wilderness and the Rich Hole Wilderness of the George Washington National Forest, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To designate additions to the Rough Mountain Wilderness and the Rich Hole Wilderness of the George Washington National Forest, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Virginia Wilderness 4 Additions Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO ROUGH MOUNTAIN AND RICH HOLE 6 WILDERNESSES. 7 (a) ROUGH MOUNTAIN ADDITION.—Section 1 of 8 Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 102 Stat. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1000.IS S1000 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1000 IS 584; 114 Stat. 2057; 123 Stat. 1002) is amended by add- 1 ing at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(21) ROUGH MOUNTAIN ADDITION.—Certain 3 land in the George Washington National Forest 4 comprising approximately 1,000 acres, as generally 5 depicted as the ‘Rough Mountain Addition’ on the 6 map entitled ‘GEORGE WASHINGTON NA- 7 TIONAL FOREST – South half – Alternative I – 8 Selected Alternative Management Prescriptions – 9 Land and Resources Management Plan Final Envi- 10 ronmental Impact Statement’ and dated March 4, 11 2014, which is incorporated in the Rough Mountain 12 Wilderness Area designated by paragraph (1).’’. 13 (b) RICH HOLE ADDITION.— 14 (1) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.— 15 In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act 16 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain land in the George 17 Washington National Forest comprising approxi- 18 mately 4,600 acres, as generally depicted as the 19 ‘‘Rich Hole Addition’’ on the map entitled 20 ‘‘GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL FOREST 21 – South half – Alternative I – Selected Alternative 22 Management Prescriptions – Land and Resources 23 Management Plan Final Environmental Impact 24 Statement’’ and dated March 4, 2014, is designated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1000.IS S1000 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1000 IS as a potential wilderness area for incorporation in 1 the Rich Hole Wilderness Area designated by section 2 1(2) of Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 3 102 Stat. 584; 114 Stat. 2057; 123 Stat. 1002). 4 (2) WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.—The potential 5 wilderness area designated by paragraph (1) shall be 6 designated as wilderness and incorporated in the 7 Rich Hole Wilderness Area designated by section 8 1(2) of Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 9 102 Stat. 584; 114 Stat. 2057; 123 Stat. 1002) on 10 the earlier of— 11 (A) the date on which the Secretary of Ag- 12 riculture (referred to in this section as the 13 ‘‘Secretary’’) publishes in the Federal Register 14 notice that the activities permitted under para- 15 graph (4) have been completed; or 16 (B) the date that is 5 years after the date 17 of enactment of this Act. 18 (3) MANAGEMENT.—Except as provided in 19 paragraph (4), the Secretary shall manage the po- 20 tential wilderness area designated by paragraph (1) 21 in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 22 1131 et seq.). 23 (4) WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVI- 24 TIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1000.IS S1000 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1000 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—To enhance natural 1 ecosystems within the potential wilderness area 2 designated by paragraph (1) by implementing 3 certain activities to improve water quality and 4 aquatic passage, as set forth in the Forest 5 Service document entitled ‘‘Decision Notice for 6 the Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Man- 7 agement Project’’ and dated December 2015, 8 the Secretary may use motorized equipment 9 and mechanized transport in the potential wil- 10 derness area until the date on which the poten- 11 tial wilderness area is incorporated into the 12 Rich Hole Wilderness Area under paragraph 13 (2). 14 (B) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out sub- 15 paragraph (A), the Secretary, to the maximum 16 extent practicable, shall use the minimum tool 17 or administrative practice necessary to carry 18 out that subparagraph with the least amount of 19 adverse impact on wilderness character and re- 20 sources. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1000.IS S1000 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS