Title 50—Wildlife and Fisheries--Volume 1
PART 35—WILDERNESS PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
§ 35.1   Definitions.
As used in the rules and regulations in this subchapter:
National Wildlife Refuge System means all lands, waters, and interests therein administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as national wildlife refuges, wildlife ranges, game ranges, wildlife management areas, waterfowl production areas, and areas for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife which are threatened with extinction.
National Wilderness Preservation System means the units designated as wilderness by the Congress under the provisions of the Wilderness Act (supra).
Wilderness Units shall mean areas in the National Wildlife Refuge System that have been designated by Act of Congress as units of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
Director means the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
§ 35.2   Objectives.
(a) Units of the National Wildlife Refuge System have been established by divers legal means and are administered for a variety of wildlife program purposes. The establishment of each wilderness unit is within and supplemental to the purposes for which a specific unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System was established and is administered. Each wilderness shall be administered for such other purposes for which the national wildlife refuge was established and shall be also administered to preserve its wilderness character.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by law, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use and shall be administered in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness.
§ 35.3   General regulations.
Rules and regulations governing administration of the National Wildlife Refuge System will apply to wilderness units where said rules and regulations do not conflict with provisions of the Wilderness Act or Act of Congress which establishes the wilderness unit.
§ 35.4   Appropriations and personnel.
No appropriation shall be made available for the payment of expenses or salaries for the administration of a wilderness unit as a separate entity nor shall any appropriation be made available for additional personnel solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation System.
§ 35.5   Commercial enterprises, roads, motor vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats, aircraft, mechanical transport, structures, and installations.
Except as specifically provided and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within a wilderness unit, and except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanized transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.
(a) The Director may authorize occupancy and use of a national wildlife refuge by officers, employees, agencies, and agents of Federal, State, and county governments to carry out the purposes of the Wilderness Act and the Act establishing the wilderness and will prescribe conditions under which motorized equipment, mechanical transport, aircraft, motorboats, installations, or structures may be used to meet the minimum requirements for authorized activities to protect and administer the wilderness. The Director may also prescribe the conditions under which such equipment, transport, aircraft, installations, or structures may be used in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons, damage to property, violations of civil and criminal law, or other purposes.
(b) The Director may permit, subject to such restrictions as he deems desirable, the landing of aircraft and the use of motorized equipment at places within a wilderness where such uses were established prior to the date the wilderness was designated by Act of Congress as a unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
§ 35.6   Public use.
Public uses of a wilderness unit will be in accordance with the purposes for which the individual national wildlife refuge was established and is administered and laws and regulations governing public uses within the National Wildlife Refuge System.
(a) When public uses are authorized within a wilderness unit, the Refuge Manager may regulate such use. Regulating will include limiting the numbers of persons allowed in the wilderness at a given time, imposing restrictions on time, seasons, kinds and location of public uses, requiring a permit or reservation to visit the area, and similar actions.
(b) All persons entering a wilderness unit will be required to remove such materials as they carry in.
(c) Informational signs for the convenience of visitors will not be permitted in a wilderness unit; however, rustic directional signs for vistor safety may be installed in locations appropriate to a wilderness setting.
(d) Limited public use facilities and improvements may be provided as necessary for the protection of the refuge and wilderness and for public safety. Facilities and improvements will not be provided for the comfort and convenience of wilderness visitors.
(e) Public services and temporary structures generally offered by packers, outfitters, and guides for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of a wilderness may be permitted. Temporary installations and structures which existed for these subsistence purposes under valid special use permit or easement when the wilderness was established may be continued if their use is necessary to administer the refuge for the purposes for which it was established and for wilderness purposes. The number, nature, and extent of such temporary structures and services will be controlled through regulations and special use permits issued by the Refuge Manager so as to provide maximum protection of wilderness resources and values.
(f) Hunting and fishing in a refuge wilderness will be in accordance with Federal and State regulations including special regulations for the specific wildlife refuge. Hunting or fishing which requires motorized equipment will not be permitted except as provided in § 35.5(a) and (b).
§ 35.7   Control of wildfires, insects, pest plants, and disease.
To the extent necessary, the Director shall prescribe measures to control wildfires, insects, pest plants, and disease to prevent unacceptable loss of wilderness resources and values, loss of life, and damage to property.
§ 35.8   Forest management.
Forest management activities in a wilderness unit will be directed toward allowing natural ecological processes to operate freely. Commercial harvesting of timber shall not be permitted except where necessary to control attacks of insects or disease as prescribed in § 35.7.
§ 35.9   Livestock grazing.
(a) The grazing of livestock, where established prior to the date of legislation which designates a wilderness unit, may be permitted to continue subject to part 29 of this subchapter and in accordance with special provisions which may be prescribed for individual units. Numbers of permitted livestock will not be more liberal than those utilizing a wilderness prior to establishment and may be more restrictive.
(b) The Director may permit, subject to such conditions as he deems necessary, the maintenance, reconstruction or relocation of only those livestock management improvements and structures which existed within a wilderness unit when it was incorporated into the National Wilderness Preservation System.
§ 35.10   Controlled burning.
Controlled burning will be permitted on wilderness units when such burning will contribute to the maintenance of the wilderness resource and values in the unit; however, any fire in a wilderness area that poses a threat to resources or facilities outside the unit will be controlled and extinguished.
§ 35.11   Scientific uses.
Recognizing the scientific value of wilderness, research data gathering and similar scientific uses will be encouraged providing that wilderness values are not impaired. The person or agency involved in scientific investigation must be willing to accept reasonable limitations on activities and location and size of the area to be used for research purposes. A special use permit authorizing scientific uses shall be required.
§ 35.12   Water rights.
Nothing in the regulations in this part constitutes an expressed or implied claim or denial on the part of the Department of the Interior as to exemption from State water laws.
§ 35.13   Access to State and private lands.
Rights of States or persons and their successors in interest, whose land is surrounded by a wilderness unit, will be recognized to assure adequate access to that land. Adequate access is defined as the combination of modes and routes of travel which will best preserve the wilderness character of the landscape. Mode of travel designated shall be reasonable and consistent with accepted, conventional, contemporary modes of travel in said vicinity. Use will be consistent with reasonable purposes for which such land is held. The Director will issue such permits as are necessary for access, designating the means and route of travel for ingress and degress so as to preserve the wilderness character of the area.
§ 35.14   Special regulations.
(a) Special regulations will be issued by the Director for individual wilderness units within the National Wildlife Refuge System as established by Public Law. These special regulations will supplement the provisions of this part.
(b) Special regulations may contain administrative and public uses as recognized in the:
(1) Legislative Record of the establishing Act.
(2) Committee Reports of the Congress.
(3) Departmental and Executive Reports to the Congress.
(4) Other provisions.
(c) Such special regulations shall be published in subpart B of this part after a wilderness has been established by Public Law and shall become effective upon publication in the Federal Register (12-31-71).