Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

II Calendar No. 421 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1254 [Report No. 118–184] 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2023 Mrs. MURRAY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources JUNE 18, 2024 Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, with an amendment [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1254 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wild Olympics Wilder- 2 ness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OLYMPIC NATIONAL FOREST WIL- 4 DERNESS AREAS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the Wilderness 6 Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following Federal land 7 in the Olympic National Forest in the State of Wash- 8 ington comprising approximately 126,554 acres, as gen- 9 erally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Wild Olym- 10 pics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’’ and 11 dated April 8, 2019 (referred to in this section as the 12 ‘‘map’’), is designated as wilderness and as components 13 of the National Wilderness Preservation System: 14 (1) LOST CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain Fed- 15 eral land managed by the Forest Service, comprising 16 approximately 7,159 acres, as generally depicted on 17 the map, which shall be known as the ‘‘Lost Creek 18 Wilderness’’. 19 (2) RUGGED RIDGE WILDERNESS.—Certain 20 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 21 prising approximately 5,956 acres, as generally de- 22 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 23 ‘‘Rugged Ridge Wilderness’’. 24 (3) ALCKEE CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain 25 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1254 RS prising approximately 1,787 acres, as generally de- 1 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 2 ‘‘Alckee Creek Wilderness’’. 3 (4) GATES OF THE ELWHA WILDERNESS.—Cer- 4 tain Federal land managed by the Forest Service, 5 comprising approximately 5,669 acres, as generally 6 depicted on the map, which shall be known as the 7 ‘‘Gates of the Elwha Wilderness’’. 8 (5) BUCKHORN WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.—Cer- 9 tain Federal land managed by the Forest Service, 10 comprising approximately 21,965 acres, as generally 11 depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and shall be 12 managed as part of, the ‘‘Buckhorn Wilderness’’, as 13 designated by section 3 of the Washington State 14 Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Pub- 15 lic Law 98–339). 16 (6) GREEN MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS.—Certain 17 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 18 prising approximately 4,790 acres, as generally de- 19 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 20 ‘‘Green Mountain Wilderness’’. 21 (7) THE BROTHERS WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 22 Certain land managed by the Forest Service, com- 23 prising approximately 8,625 acres, as generally de- 24 picted on the map, is incorporated in, and shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1254 RS managed as part of, the ‘‘The Brothers Wilderness’’, 1 as designated by section 3 of the Washington State 2 Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Pub- 3 lic Law 98–339). 4 (8) MOUNT SKOKOMISH WILDERNESS ADDI- 5 TIONS.—Certain land managed by the Forest Serv- 6 ice, comprising approximately 8,933 acres, as gen- 7 erally depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and 8 shall be managed as part of, the ‘‘Mount Skokomish 9 Wilderness’’, as designated by section 3 of the 10 Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 11 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–339). 12 (9) WONDER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS ADDI- 13 TIONS.—Certain land managed by the Forest Serv- 14 ice, comprising approximately 26,517 acres, as gen- 15 erally depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and 16 shall be managed as part of, the ‘‘Wonder Mountain 17 Wilderness’’, as designated by section 3 of the 18 Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 19 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–339). 20 (10) MOONLIGHT DOME WILDERNESS.—Certain 21 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 22 prising approximately 9,117 acres, as generally de- 23 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 24 ‘‘Moonlight Dome Wilderness’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1254 RS (11) SOUTH QUINAULT RIDGE WILDERNESS.— 1 Certain Federal land managed by the Forest Serv- 2 ice, comprising approximately 10,887 acres, as gen- 3 erally depicted on the map, which shall be known as 4 the ‘‘South Quinault Ridge Wilderness’’. 5 (12) COLONEL BOB WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 6 Certain Federal land managed by the Forest Serv- 7 ice, comprising approximately 353 acres, as gen- 8 erally depicted on the map, is incorporated in, and 9 shall be managed as part of, the ‘‘Colonel Bob Wil- 10 derness’’, as designated by section 3 of the Wash- 11 ington State Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 12 1132 note; Public Law 98–339). 13 (13) SAMS RIVER WILDERNESS.—Certain Fed- 14 eral land managed by the Forest Service, comprising 15 approximately 13,418 acres, as generally depicted on 16 the map, which shall be known as the ‘‘Sams River 17 Wilderness’’. 18 (14) CANOE CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain 19 Federal land managed by the Forest Service, com- 20 prising approximately 1,378 acres, as generally de- 21 picted on the map, which shall be known as the 22 ‘‘Canoe Creek Wilderness’’. 23 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1254 RS (1) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing 1 rights, the land designated as wilderness by sub- 2 section (a) shall be administered by the Secretary of 3 Agriculture (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 4 retary’’), in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 5 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in 6 that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be 7 considered to be a reference to the date of enact- 8 ment of this Act. 9 (2) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 12 retary shall file a map and a legal description 13 of the land designated as wilderness by sub- 14 section (a) with— 15 (i) the Committee on Natural Re- 16 sources of the House of Representatives; 17 and 18 (ii) the Committee on Energy and 19 Natural Resources of the Senate. 20 (B) EFFECT.—Each map and legal de- 21 scription filed under subparagraph (A) shall 22 have the same force and effect as if included in 23 this Act, except that the Secretary may correct 24 minor errors in the map and legal description. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1254 RS (C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map 1 and legal description filed under subparagraph 2 (A) shall be filed and made available for public 3 inspection in the appropriate office of the For- 4 est Service. 5 (c) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur- 7 poses of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 8 seq.), certain Federal land managed by the Forest 9 Service, comprising approximately 5,346 acres as 10 identified as ‘‘Potential Wilderness’’ on the map, is 11 designated as potential wilderness. 12 (2) DESIGNATION AS WILDERNESS.—On the 13 date on which the Secretary publishes in the Federal 14 Register notice that any nonconforming uses in the 15 potential wilderness designated by paragraph (1) 16 have terminated, the potential wilderness shall be— 17 (A) designated as wilderness and as a com- 18 ponent of the National Wilderness Preservation 19 System; and 20 (B) incorporated into the adjacent wilder- 21 ness area. 22 (d) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 23 (1) NO PROTECTIVE PERIMETERS OR BUFFER 24 ZONES.—The designations in this section shall not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1254 RS create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around 1 any wilderness area. 2 (2) NONCONFORMING USES PERMITTED OUT- 3 SIDE OF BOUNDARIES OF WILDERNESS AREAS.—Any 4 activity or use outside of the boundary of any wilder- 5 ness area designated under this section shall be per- 6 mitted even if the activity or use would be seen or 7 heard within the boundary of the wilderness area. 8 (e) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—The Secretary 9 may take such measures as are necessary to control fire, 10 insects, and diseases, in the wilderness areas designated 11 by this section, in accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the 12 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) and subject to 13 such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to 14 be appropriate. 15 SEC. 3. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and Sce- 17 nic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding 18 at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(233) ELWHA RIVER, WASHINGTON.—The ap- 20 proximately 29.0-mile segment of the Elwha River 21 and tributaries from the source to Cat Creek, to be 22 administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a 23 wild river. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1254 RS ‘‘(234) DUNGENESS RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 1 The segment of the Dungeness River from the head- 2 waters to the State of Washington Department of 3 Natural Resources land in T. 29 N., R. 4 W., sec. 4 12, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 5 culture, except that portions of the river within the 6 boundaries of Olympic National Park shall be ad- 7 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior, including 8 the following segments of the mainstem and major 9 tributary the Gray Wolf River, in the following class- 10 es: 11 ‘‘(A) The approximately 5.8-mile segment 12 of the Dungeness River from the headwaters to 13 the 2870 Bridge, as a wild river. 14 ‘‘(B) The approximately 2.1-mile segment 15 of the Dungeness River from the 2870 Bridge 16 to Silver Creek, as a scenic river. 17 ‘‘(C) The approximately 2.7-mile segment 18 of the Dungeness River from Silver Creek to 19 Sleepy Hollow Creek, as a wild river. 20 ‘‘(D) The approximately 6.3-mile segment 21 of the Dungeness River from Sleepy Hollow 22 Creek to the Olympic National Forest bound- 23 ary, as a scenic river. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1254 RS ‘‘(E) The approximately 1.9-mile segment 1 of the Dungeness River from the National For- 2 est boundary to the State of Washington De- 3 partment of Natural Resources land in T. 29 4 N., R. 4 W., sec. 12, to be administered as a 5 recreational river through a cooperative man- 6 agement agreement between the State of Wash- 7 ington and the Secretary of Agriculture, as pro- 8 vided in section 10(e). 9 ‘‘(F) The approximately 16.1-mile segment 10 of the Gray Wolf River from the headwaters to 11 the 2870 Bridge, as a wild river. 12 ‘‘(G) The approximately 1.1-mile segment 13 of the Gray Wolf River from the 2870 Bridge 14 to the confluence with the Dungeness River, as 15 a scenic river. 16 ‘‘(235) BIG QUILCENE RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 17 The segment of the Big Quilcene River from the 18 headwaters to the City of Port Townsend water in- 19 take facility, to be administered by the Secretary of 20 Agriculture, in the following classes: 21 ‘‘(A) The approximately 4.4-mile segment 22 from the headwaters to the Buckhorn Wilder- 23 ness boundary, as a wild river. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1254 RS ‘‘(B) The approximately 5.3-mile segment 1 from the Buckhorn Wilderness boundary to the 2 City of Port Townsend water intake facility, as 3 a scenic river. 4 ‘‘(C) Section 7(a), with respect to the li- 5 censing of dams, water conduits, reservoirs, 6 powerhouses, transmission lines, or other 7 project works, shall apply to the approximately 8 5-mile segment from the City of Port Townsend 9 water intake facility to the Olympic National 10 Forest boundary. 11 ‘‘(236) DOSEWALLIPS RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 12 The segment of the Dosewallips River from the 13 headwaters to the private land in T. 26 N., R. 3 W., 14 sec. 15, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 15 culture, except that portions of the river within the 16 boundaries of Olympic National Park shall be ad- 17 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior, in the 18 following classes: 19 ‘‘(A) The approximately 12.9-mile segment 20 from the headwaters to Station Creek, as a wild 21 river. 22 ‘‘(B) The approximately 6.8-mile segment 23 from Station Creek to the private land in T. 26 24 N., R. 3 W., sec. 15, as a scenic river. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jun 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1254.RS S1254 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1254 RS ‘‘(237) DUCKABUSH RIVER, WASHINGTON.— 1 The segment of the Duckabush River from the head- 2 waters to the private land in T. 25 N., R. 3 W., sec. 3 1, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 4 culture, except that portions of the river within the 5 boundaries of Olympic National Park shall be ad- 6 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior, in the 7 following classes: 8 ‘‘(A) The approximately 19.0-mile segment 9 from the headwaters to the Brothers Wilderness 10 boundary, as a wild river. 11 ‘‘(B) The approximately 1.9-mile segment 12 from the Brothers Wilderness boundary to the 13 private land in T. 25 N., R. 3 W., sec. 1, as 14 a scenic river. 15 ‘‘(238) HAM [Text truncated for 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