Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2765 To designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2023 Mr. KILMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic Na- tional Forest in the State of Washington, and to des- ignate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, 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 ‘‘Wild Olympics Wilder- 4 ness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2765 IH SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OLYMPIC NATIONAL FOREST WIL- 1 DERNESS AREAS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the Wilderness 3 Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following Federal land 4 in the Olympic National Forest in the State of Wash- 5 ington comprising approximately 126,554 acres, as gen- 6 erally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Wild Olym- 7 pics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’’ and 8 dated April 8, 2019 (referred to in this section as the 9 ‘‘map’’), is designated as wilderness and as components 10 of the National Wilderness Preservation System: 11 (1) LOST CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain Fed- 12 eral land managed by the Forest Service, comprising 13 approximately 7,159 acres, as generally depicted on 14 the map, which shall be known as the ‘‘Lost Creek 15 Wilderness’’. 16 (2) RUGGED RIDGE WILDERNESS.—Certain 17 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 18 prising approximately 5,956 acres, as generally de- 19 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 20 ‘‘Rugged Ridge Wilderness’’. 21 (3) ALCKEE CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain 22 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 23 prising approximately 1,787 acres, as generally de- 24 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 25 ‘‘Alckee Creek Wilderness’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2765 IH (4) GATES OF THE ELWHA WILDERNESS.—Cer- 1 tain Federal land managed by the Forest Service, 2 comprising approximately 5,669 acres, as generally 3 depicted on the map, which shall be known as the 4 ‘‘Gates of the Elwha Wilderness’’. 5 (5) BUCKHORN WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.—Cer- 6 tain Federal land managed by the Forest Service, 7 comprising approximately 21,965 acres, as generally 8 depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and shall be 9 managed as part of, the ‘‘Buckhorn Wilderness’’, as 10 designated by section 3 of the Washington State 11 Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Pub- 12 lic Law 98–339). 13 (6) GREEN MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS.—Certain 14 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 15 prising approximately 4,790 acres, as generally de- 16 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 17 ‘‘Green Mountain Wilderness’’. 18 (7) THE BROTHERS WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 19 Certain land managed by the Forest Service, com- 20 prising approximately 8,625 acres, as generally de- 21 picted on the map, is incorporated in, and shall be 22 managed as part of, the ‘‘The Brothers Wilderness’’, 23 as designated by section 3 of the Washington State 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2765 IH Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Pub- 1 lic Law 98–339). 2 (8) MOUNT SKOKOMISH WILDERNESS ADDI- 3 TIONS.—Certain land managed by the Forest Serv- 4 ice, comprising approximately 8,933 acres, as gen- 5 erally depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and 6 shall be managed as part of, the ‘‘Mount Skokomish 7 Wilderness’’, as designated by section 3 of the 8 Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 9 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–339). 10 (9) WONDER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS ADDI- 11 TIONS.—Certain land managed by the Forest Serv- 12 ice, comprising approximately 26,517 acres, as gen- 13 erally depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and 14 shall be managed as part of, the ‘‘Wonder Mountain 15 Wilderness’’, as designated by section 3 of the 16 Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 17 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–339). 18 (10) MOONLIGHT DOME WILDERNESS.—Certain 19 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 20 prising approximately 9,117 acres, as generally de- 21 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 22 ‘‘Moonlight Dome Wilderness’’. 23 (11) SOUTH QUINAULT RIDGE WILDERNESS.— 24 Certain Federal land managed by the Forest Serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2765 IH ice, comprising approximately 10,887 acres, as gen- 1 erally depicted on the map, which shall be known as 2 the ‘‘South Quinault Ridge Wilderness’’. 3 (12) COLONEL BOB WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 4 Certain Federal land managed by the Forest Serv- 5 ice, comprising approximately 353 acres, as gen- 6 erally depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and 7 shall be managed as part of, the ‘‘Colonel Bob Wil- 8 derness’’, as designated by section 3 of the Wash- 9 ington State Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 10 1132 note; Public Law 98–339). 11 (13) SAMS RIVER WILDERNESS.—Certain Fed- 12 eral land managed by the Forest Service, comprising 13 approximately 13,418 acres, as generally depicted on 14 the map, which shall be known as the ‘‘Sams River 15 Wilderness’’. 16 (14) CANOE CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain 17 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 18 prising approximately 1,378 acres, as generally de- 19 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 20 ‘‘Canoe Creek Wilderness’’. 21 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 22 (1) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing 23 rights, the land designated as wilderness by sub- 24 section (a) shall be administered by the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2765 IH Agriculture (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 1 retary’’), in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 2 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in 3 that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be 4 considered to be a reference to the date of enact- 5 ment of this Act. 6 (2) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 9 retary shall file a map and a legal description 10 of the land designated as wilderness by sub- 11 section (a) with— 12 (i) the Committee on Natural Re- 13 sources of the House of Representatives; 14 and 15 (ii) the Committee on Energy and 16 Natural Resources of the Senate. 17 (B) EFFECT.—Each map and legal de- 18 scription filed under subparagraph (A) shall 19 have the same force and effect as if included in 20 this Act, except that the Secretary may correct 21 minor errors in the map and legal description. 22 (C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map 23 and legal description filed under subparagraph 24 (A) shall be filed and made available for public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2765 IH inspection in the appropriate office of the For- 1 est Service. 2 (c) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur- 4 poses of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 5 seq.), certain Federal land managed by the Forest 6 Service, comprising approximately 5,346 acres as 7 identified as ‘‘Potential Wilderness’’ on the map, is 8 designated as potential wilderness. 9 (2) DESIGNATION AS WILDERNESS.—On the 10 date on which the Secretary publishes in the Federal 11 Register notice that any nonconforming uses in the 12 potential wilderness designated by paragraph (1) 13 have terminated, the potential wilderness shall be— 14 (A) designated as wilderness and as a com- 15 ponent of the National Wilderness Preservation 16 System; and 17 (B) incorporated into the adjacent wilder- 18 ness area. 19 (d) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 20 (1) NO PROTECTIVE PERIMETERS OR BUFFER 21 ZONES.—The designations in this section shall not 22 create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around 23 any wilderness area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2765 IH (2) NONCONFORMING USES PERMITTED OUT- 1 SIDE OF BOUNDARIES OF WILDERNESS AREAS.—Any 2 activity or use outside of the boundary of any wilder- 3 ness area designated under this section shall be per- 4 mitted even if the activity or use would be seen or 5 heard within the boundary of the wilderness area. 6 (e) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—The Secretary 7 may take such measures as are necessary to control fire, 8 insects, and diseases, in the wilderness areas designated 9 by this section, in accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the 10 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) and subject to 11 such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to 12 be appropriate. 13 SEC. 3. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and Sce- 15 nic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding 16 at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(233) ELWHA RIVER, WASHINGTON.—The ap- 18 proximately 29.0-mile segment of the Elwha River 19 and tributaries from the source to Cat Creek, to be 20 administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a 21 wild river. 22 ‘‘(234) DUNGENESS RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 23 The segment of the Dungeness River from the head- 24 waters to the State of Washington Department of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2765 IH Natural Resources land in T. 29 N., R. 4 W., sec. 1 12, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 2 culture, except that portions of the river within the 3 boundaries of Olympic National Park shall be ad- 4 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior, including 5 the following segments of the mainstem and major 6 tributary the Gray Wolf River, in the following class- 7 es: 8 ‘‘(A) The approximately 5.8-mile segment 9 of the Dungeness River from the headwaters to 10 the 2870 Bridge, as a wild river. 11 ‘‘(B) The approximately 2.1-mile segment 12 of the Dungeness River from the 2870 Bridge 13 to Silver Creek, as a scenic river. 14 ‘‘(C) The approximately 2.7-mile segment 15 of the Dungeness River from Silver Creek to 16 Sleepy Hollow Creek, as a wild river. 17 ‘‘(D) The approximately 6.3-mile segment 18 of the Dungeness River from Sleepy Hollow 19 Creek to the Olympic National Forest bound- 20 ary, as a scenic river. 21 ‘‘(E) The approximately 1.9-mile segment 22 of the Dungeness River from the National For- 23 est boundary to the State of Washington De- 24 partment of Natural Resources land in T. 29 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2765 IH N., R. 4 W., sec. 12, to be administered as a 1 recreational river through a cooperative man- 2 agement agreement between the State of Wash- 3 ington and the Secretary of Agriculture, as pro- 4 vided in section 10(e). 5 ‘‘(F) The approximately 16.1-mile segment 6 of the Gray Wolf River from the headwaters to 7 the 2870 Bridge, as a wild river. 8 ‘‘(G) The approximately 1.1-mile segment 9 of the Gray Wolf River from the 2870 Bridge 10 to the confluence with the Dungeness River, as 11 a scenic river. 12 ‘‘(235) BIG QUILCENE RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 13 The segment of the Big Quilcene River from the 14 headwaters to the City of Port Townsend water in- 15 take facility, to be administered by the Secretary of 16 Agriculture, in the following classes: 17 ‘‘(A) The approximately 4.4-mile segment 18 from the headwaters to the Buckhorn Wilder- 19 ness boundary, as a wild river. 20 ‘‘(B) The approximately 5.3-mile segment 21 from the Buckhorn Wilderness boundary to the 22 City of Port Townsend water intake facility, as 23 a scenic river. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2765 IH ‘‘(C) Section 7(a), with respect to the li- 1 censing of dams, water conduits, reservoirs, 2 powerhouses, transmission lines, or other 3 project works, shall apply to the approximately 4 5-mile segment from the City of Port Townsend 5 water intake facility to the Olympic National 6 Forest boundary. 7 ‘‘(236) DOSEWALLIPS RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 8 The segment of the Dosewallips River from the 9 headwaters to the private land in T. 26 N., R. 3 W., 10 sec. 15, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 11 culture, except that portions of the river within the 12 boundaries of Olympic National Park shall be ad- 13 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior, in the 14 following classes: 15 ‘‘(A) The approximately 12.9-mile segment 16 from the headwaters to Station Creek, as a wild 17 river. 18 ‘‘(B) The approximately 6.8-mile segment 19 from Station Creek to the private land in T. 26 20 N., R. 3 W., sec. 15, as a scenic river. 21 ‘‘(237) DUCKABUSH RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 22 The segment of the Duckabush River from the head- 23 waters to the private land in T. 25 N., R. 3 W., sec. 24 1, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2765 IH culture, except that portions of the river within the 1 boundaries of Olympic National Park shall be ad- 2 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior, in the 3 following classes: 4 ‘‘(A) The approximately 19.0-mile segment 5 from the headwaters to the Brothers Wilderness 6 boundary, as a wild river. 7 ‘‘(B) The approximately 1.9-mile segment 8 from the Brothers Wilderness boundary to the 9 private land in T. 25 N., R. 3 W., sec. 1, as 10 a scenic river. 11 ‘‘(238) HAMMA HAMMA RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 12 The segment of the Hamma Hamma River from the 13 headwaters to the eastern edge of the NW1⁄4 sec. 21, 14 T. 24 N., R. 3 W., to be administered by the Sec- 15 retary of Agricult [Text truncated for display. 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