Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 999 To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State of Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wil- derness Area in the State of Oregon, to designate seg- ments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State of Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wil- 4 derness Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H999.IH H999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 999 IH SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREA, DEVIL’S 1 STAIRCASE WILDERNESS, OREGON. 2 (a) DEVIL’S STAIRCASE WILDERNESS.— 3 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 4 (A) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the 5 map entitled ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Pro- 6 posal’’ and dated July 26, 2018. 7 (B) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 8 means— 9 (i) the Secretary, with respect to pub- 10 lic land administered by the Secretary; or 11 (ii) the Secretary of Agriculture, with 12 respect to National Forest System land. 13 (C) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 14 State of Oregon. 15 (D) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘‘Wilder- 16 ness’’ means the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness 17 designated by paragraph (2). 18 (2) DESIGNATION.—In accordance with the 19 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the ap- 20 proximately 30,621 acres of Forest Service land and 21 Bureau of Land Management land in the State, as 22 generally depicted on the map, is designated as wil- 23 derness and as a component of the National Wilder- 24 ness Preservation System, to be known as the ‘‘Dev- 25 il’s Staircase Wilderness’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H999.IH H999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 999 IH (3) MAP; LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall prepare a map and legal description 4 of the Wilderness. 5 (B) FORCE OF LAW.—The map and legal 6 description prepared under subparagraph (A) 7 shall have the same force and effect as if in- 8 cluded in this subsection, except that the Sec- 9 retary may correct clerical and typographical 10 errors in the map and legal description. 11 (C) AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal 12 description prepared under subparagraph (A) 13 shall be on file and available for public inspec- 14 tion in the appropriate offices of the Forest 15 Service and Bureau of Land Management. 16 (4) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 17 rights, the area designated as wilderness by this sub- 18 section shall be administered by the Secretary in ac- 19 cordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 20 et seq.), except that— 21 (A) any reference in that Act to the effec- 22 tive date shall be considered to be a reference 23 to the date of enactment of this Act; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H999.IH H999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 999 IH (B) any reference in that Act to the Sec- 1 retary of Agriculture shall be considered to be 2 a reference to the Secretary that has jurisdic- 3 tion over the land within the Wilderness. 4 (5) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this sub- 5 section affects the jurisdiction or responsibilities of 6 the State with respect to fish and wildlife in the 7 State. 8 (6) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub- 10 section creates any protective perimeter or buff- 11 er zone around the Wilderness. 12 (B) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE WILDERNESS.— 13 The fact that a nonwilderness activity or use on 14 land outside the Wilderness can be seen or 15 heard within the Wilderness shall not preclude 16 the activity or use outside the boundary of the 17 Wilderness. 18 (7) PROTECTION OF TRIBAL RIGHTS.—Nothing 19 in this subsection diminishes any treaty rights of an 20 Indian Tribe. 21 (8) TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDIC- 22 TION.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Administrative jurisdic- 24 tion over the approximately 49 acres of Bureau 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H999.IH H999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 999 IH of Land Management land north of the Ump- 1 qua River in T. 21 S., R. 11 W., sec. 32, is 2 transferred from the Bureau of Land Manage- 3 ment to the Forest Service. 4 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 5 shall administer the land transferred by sub- 6 paragraph (A) in accordance with— 7 (i) the Act of March 1, 1911 (com- 8 monly known as the ‘‘Weeks Law’’) (16 9 U.S.C. 480 et seq.); and 10 (ii) any laws (including regulations) 11 applicable to the National Forest System. 12 (b) WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS, 13 WASSON CREEK AND FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON.—Sec- 14 tion 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 15 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(214) FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON.—The 4.5- 17 mile segment from its headwaters to the private land 18 boundary in sec. 8, to be administered by the Sec- 19 retary of Agriculture as a wild river. 20 ‘‘(215) WASSON CREEK, OREGON.—The 10.1- 21 mile segment in the following classes: 22 ‘‘(A) The 4.2-mile segment from the east- 23 ern boundary of T. 21 S., R. 9 W., sec. 17, 24 downstream to the western boundary of T. 21 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H999.IH H999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 999 IH S., R. 10 W., sec. 12, to be administered by the 1 Secretary of the Interior as a wild river. 2 ‘‘(B) The 5.9-mile segment from the west- 3 ern boundary of T. 21 S., R. 10 W., sec. 12, 4 downstream to the eastern boundary of the 5 northwest quarter of T. 21 S., R. 10 W., sec. 6 22, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 7 culture as a wild river.’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H999.IH H999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS