From: Tim Dudley <dudley.chi@xerox.com>
Subject: Baucus-Burns bill content (Montana clearcutting)
Organization: bnr
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1b3
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 18:16:22 GMT


************    102ND CONG. STATUS PROFILE FOR S.1696     
BRIEF TITLE....... Montana National Forest Management Act of 1991
SPONSOR........... Baucus
DATE INTRODUCED... September 10, 1991
HOUSE COMMITTEE... Agriculture
                   Interior and Insular Affairs
SENATE COMMITTEE.. Energy and Natural Resources
OFFICIAL TITLE.... A bill to designate certain National Forest lands in
 theState of Montana as wilderness, to release other National Forest
lands in the State of Montana for multiple use management, and for other
purposes.

CO-SPONSORS....... 1 CURRENT COSPONSOR
 Sep 10, 91  Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
             Resources.
     Sep 11, 91  Referred to Subcommittee on Public Lands, National
                 Parks and Forests.
         Oct 22, 91  Subcommittee on Public Lands, National Parks and
                     Forests. Hearings held.
     Nov 20, 91  Ordered to be Reported (amended).
     Nov 26, 91  Reported to Senate (Amended) by Senate Committee on
                 Energy and Natural Resources.
 Nov 26, 91  Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General
             Orders. Calendar No. 385.
 Jan 29, 92  Supplemental Report Filed by the Senate Committee on Energy
             and Natural Resources, Report No: 102-255.
 Mar 24, 92  Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in
             Senate.
 Mar 24, 92  Cloture motion on the motion to proceed presented in Senate.
 Mar 24, 92  Motion to proceed to consideration of measure withdrawn in
             Senate.
 Mar 25, 92  The cloture vote on the motion to proceed vitiated by
             Unanimous Consent.
 Mar 26, 92  Measure laid before Senate by Unanimous Consent.
 Mar 26, 92  Passed Senate (amended) by Yea-Nay Vote: 75 - 22 (Record
             Vote No: 55).
 Mar 30, 92  Referred to House Committee on Interior and Insular
             Affairs.
     Apr 28, 92  Referred to Subcommittee on National Parks and Public
                 Lands.
         Jun  9, 92  Subcommittee Hearings Held.
         Sep 10, 92  Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
         Sep 10, 92  Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee
(Amended).
     May  4, 92  Executive Comment Requested from USDA.
     Sep 16, 92  Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
     Sep 17, 92  Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
     Sep 17, 92  Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
 Mar 30, 92  Referred to House Committee on Agriculture.
     Apr  2, 92  Referred to Subcommittee on Forests, Family Farms, and
                 Energy.
         Jun 10, 92  Subcommittee Hearings Held.
         Jun 24, 92  Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
         Jun 24, 92  Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee.
     Sep 24, 92  Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
     Sep 24, 92  Ordered to be Reported.
CO-SPONSORS....... 1 CURRENT COSPONSOR
       Nov 26, 91  Burns.
BILL DIGEST (Rev)  Mar 26, 92. (Measure passed Senate, amended )
    Montana National Forest Management Act of 1992 - Designates
certain lands in Montana as components of the National Wilderness
Preservation System (System).
    Directs: (1) the Secretary of Agriculture to file maps and
legal descriptions of each wilderness area so designated with
specified congressional committees; (2) that such maps and
descriptions be on file and available for public inspection in
the office of the Chief of the Forest Service; and (3) that each
area so designated be administered by the Secretary, subject to
valid existing rights.
    Expresses the intent of the Congress that: (1) such designation
will not lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer
zones around wilderness areas; and (2) nonwilderness activities or
uses seen or heard from within a wilderness area shall not, of
itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the
wilderness area.
    Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the grazing of
livestock; (2) State fish and game authority; (3) hunting; (4)
the installation and maintenance of, and access to, hydrological,
meteorological, or climatological collection devices and
facilities; and (5) water rights.
    Determines and directs that: (1) decisions to allocate roadless
areas to wilderness or nonwilderness categories pursuant to the
Land and Resource Management Plans and associated environmental
impact statements for the National Forest in the State of Montana
(Plans), and the environmental analyses directly related to such
allocations, not be subject to judicial review, with exceptions;
(2) the Department of Agriculture not be required to review the
wilderness option prior to the revision of the Plans, but review
such option when such Plans are revised (at least every 15 years),
unless prior to that time the Secretary finds that conditions in a
unit have significantly changed; (3) specified National Forest
System (NFS) lands in Montana which were not designated as
wilderness, special management, national recreation, or wilderness
study areas be managed for multiple use and those areas need not be
managed for the purpose of protecting their suitability for
wilderness designation prior to or during revision of the initial
Plans; (4) if revised Plans are implemented, areas not recommended
for wilderness designation need not be managed for such purpose
prior to or during revision of such Plans and areas recommended for
wilderness designation be managed for such purpose; and (5) unless
expressly authorized by the Congress, the Department not conduct
any further statewide roadless area review and evaluation of NFS
lands in Montana for purposes of determining their suitability for
inclusion in the System.
    Designates certain special management areas for purposes of
conserving, protecting, and enhancing scenic, fish and wildlife,
biological, educational, and recreational values. Directs the
Secretary to: (1) file maps for such areas with specified
congressional committees; and (2) administer areas designated so
as to achieve the purposes of their designation as national
recreation areas, with exceptions.
    Withdraws all federally-owned lands within the areas so
designated from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal
under the mining and public land laws, and disposition under the
geothermal and mineral leasing laws, subject to valid existing
rights. Permits the removal of minerals from such lands if the
Secretary finds that such disposition would not have adverse
effects on the administration of such areas. Authorizes: (1) the
Secretary to permit management activities compatible with the
purposes of which the areas were designated and measures deemed
necessary in the event of fire, or infestation of insects or
disease; and (2) the use of motorized equipment and the grazing
of livestock, subject to specified limitations.
    Directs: (1) the Secretary to manage the Mount Helena and
Hyalite National Education and Recreation Areas with a focus on
education; (2) that all management activities be conducted in a
way that provides the public with an opportunity to become better
informed about natural resource protection and management; (3)
that designated special management areas be administered as
components of the national forests wherein they are located; and
(4) that specified land and resource management plans for the
affected national forests emphasize achieving the purposes for
which the areas are designated.
    Designates the Elkhorns National Recreation and Wildlife
Area, to be managed as a national recreation area that emphasizes
big game habitat.
    Designates specified lands in the Custer National Forest, the
Gallatin National Forest, and the Lolo National Forest as
wilderness study areas.
    Requires the Thompson-Seton Wilderness study area to be managed
to protect its suitability for inclusion in the National Wilderness
Preservation System until the Congress determines otherwise.
    Withdraws federally-owned lands in the Badger-Two Medicine
Area from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under
the mining and public land laws and from disposition under the
geothermal and mineral leasing laws, subject to valid existing
rights. Directs the Secretary to manage such Area so as to protect
its currently existing wilderness qualities. Specifies that: (1)
nothing in this Act precludes the gathering of timber by the
Blackfeet Tribe in exercise of valid treaty rights within such
Area; and (2) with respect to oil and gas leases on Federal lands
within such Area, no disturbance shall be permitted pursuant to
such leases until the Congress determines otherwise, and the term
of any such lease subject to the limitations imposed by this Act
shall be extended for a period of time equal to the term that such
limitation remains in effect.
    Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a review of such Area;
(2) establish a committee composed of representatives of the
Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, the Blackfeet Tribal
traditionalists% the National Park Service, and representatives
of the user public (including environmental and user industry
groups) to regularly advise the Secretary during the preparation
of the report and submit its findings to the Congress; (3) give
special consideration to the religious, wilderness, and wildlife
uses of the Area, including any treaties with the Blackfeet Nation;
and (4) establish a process to provide information to the Tribe and
interested public about options for future designation of such
Area.
    Directs the Secretary to: (1) exchange specified lands with
Plum Creek Timber, L.P. (the company); and (2) acquire certain
lands and interests in land of the company in and adjacent to the
Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area, the Scapegoat
Wilderness Area, and other land in the Gallatin National Forest.
Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) easements; (2) maps; (3)
the timing of the transactions; and (4) incorporation of lands
conveyed to the United States into the national forests. Authorizes
appropriations.
    Authorizes the Secretary to acquire, by exchange, certain
mineral interests owned by the company or an affiliate of the
company. Specifies that mineral interests conveyed by the United
States pursuant to this Act shall underlie lands the surface of
which are owned by the company (but if there are insufficient
federally-owned mineral interests of approximately equal value
underlying company lands, the Secretary and the Secretary of the
Interior may identify for exchange any other federally-owned
mineral interest in land in Montana of which the surface estate
is in private ownership). Specifies that the execution and
performance of an exchange agreement and the taking of other
actions pursuant to this Act shall not be deemed a major Federal
action significantly affecting the quality of the environment
within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, nor shall they require the preparation of an environmental
assessment under this Act.
    Directs that the Bitter Creek Wilderness Study Area and
approximately 2,500 acres of the Axolotl Lakes Wilderness Study
Area no longer be subject to the requirement of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 pertaining to management in a
manner that does not impair suitability for preservation as
wilderness.
    Transfers administrative jurisdiction over certain lands
designated under this Act as wilderness in the Beaverhead and
Lolo National Forests from the Bureau of Land Management to the
Forest Service.
    Redesignates the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and
Wilderness as the Rattlesnake National Education and Recreation
Area and Wilderness.
    Withdraws certain lands in the Gibson Reservoir Withdrawal
Area from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under
the mining and public land laws and disposition under the
geothermal and mineral leasing laws.
    Expresses the congressional policy that the Forest Service
acquire and maintain reasonable public access to NFS lands in
Montana.
    Authorizes appropriations.