II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4470 

To release from wilderness study area designation certain land in the State 

of Montana, to improve the management of that land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2022 

Mr. DAINES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To release from wilderness study area designation certain 

land in the State of Montana, to improve the management of that land, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Montana Sportsmen 

5 Conservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) under the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 

9 1977 (Public Law 95–150; 91 Stat. 1243), 9 wilder10 ness study areas comprising a total of 973,000 acres 


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1 of land in the State of Montana were set aside for 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture to evaluate the suit3 ability of the wilderness study areas for designation 

4 as wilderness, in accordance with the Wilderness Act 

5 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), with the evaluation to be 

6 completed not later than 5 years after the date of 

7 enactment of the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 

8 1977 (Public Law 95–150; 91 Stat. 1243); 

9 (2) between 1979 and 1986, the Chief of the 

10 Forest Service— 

11 (A) completed the studies of the 9 wilder12 ness study areas referred to in paragraph (1); 

13 and 

14 (B) based on those studies, determined 

15 that 608,700 acres of the original 973,000 

16 acres designated as wilderness study areas by 

17 the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977 

18 (Public Law 95–150; 91 Stat. 1243) were un19 suitable for inclusion in the National Wilder20 ness Preservation System, including the 81,000 

21 acres within the Middle Fork Judith Wilderness 

22 Study Area; 

23 (3) in 2021, following a 6-year collaborative 

24 process, the Forest Service again determined, in the 

25 revision of the Helena Lewis and Clark National 


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1 Forest plan, that the Middle Fork Judith Wilderness 

2 Study Area is unsuitable for inclusion in the Na3 tional Wilderness Preservation System; 

4 (4) under the Federal Land Policy and Man5 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 38 

6 wilderness study areas comprising a total of 447,327 

7 acres of land in the State of Montana were set aside 

8 by the Bureau of Land Management to evaluate the 

9 suitability of the wilderness study areas for designa10 tion as wilderness, with the evaluation to be com11 pleted not later than 15 years after the date of en12 actment of that Act; 

13 (5) in 1991, the Director of the Bureau of 

14 Land Management submitted to the President a rec15 ommendation on the suitability for designation of 

16 the areas described in paragraph (4), which was sub17 sequently submitted to Congress, under which the 

18 Director of the Bureau of Land Management deter19 mined that 273,828 acres in the State of Montana 

20 designated as wilderness study areas by the Federal 

21 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

22 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) were unsuitable for wilderness 

23 designation, including— 

24 (A) the 11,380 acres of land within the 

25 Hoodoo Mountain Wilderness Study Area; and 


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1 (B) the 11,580 acres of land within the 

2 Wales Creek Wilderness Study Area; 

3 (6) in 2020, following a 5-year collaborative 

4 process, the Bureau of Land Management, in the re5 vision of the Missoula Resource Management Plan— 

6 (A) reaffirmed that the Hoodoo Mountain 

7 Wilderness Study Area and the Wales Creek 

8 Wilderness Study Area were unsuitable for wil9 derness designation; and 

10 (B) recommended alternative management 

11 parameters for the Hoodoo Mountain Wilder12 ness Study Area and the Wales Creek Wilder13 ness Study Area; 

14 (7) despite the recommendations of the Forest 

15 Service and the Bureau of Land Management, after 

16 the completion of the studies for suitability of the 

17 land in the State of Montana designated as wilder18 ness study areas under the Montana Wilderness 

19 Study Act of 1977 (Public Law 95–150; 91 Stat. 

20 1243) and the Federal Land Policy and Manage21 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)— 

22 (A) over 1,100,000 acres of public land in 

23 the State of Montana remain as wilderness 

24 study areas until Congress acts; and 


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1 (B) over 700,000 acres of public land in 

2 the State of Montana currently designated as 

3 wilderness study areas have been determined 

4 unsuitable for wilderness management; 

5 (8) if the wilderness study area designation was 

6 removed from each of the Middle Fork Judith Wil7 derness Study Area, the Hoodoo Mountain Wilder8 ness Study Area, and the Wales Creek Wilderness 

9 Study Area, land managers would be able to better 

10 conserve and manage the areas in accordance with 

11 applicable land and resource management plans that 

12 retain certain protections for the areas, while pro13 viding for— 

14 (A) enhanced sportsmen opportunities in 

15 the backcountry of Montana; 

16 (B) improved public access; and 

17 (C) the conduct of wildlife habitat and 

18 wildfire mitigation projects; 

19 (9) the applicable land and resource manage20 ment plans referred to in paragraph (8) were devel21 oped through a multi-year, collaborative process sup22 ported by— 

23 (A) resource needs and conditions; and 

24 (B) the best available science; and 


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1 (10) following release, the respective land man2 agement agencies shall continue managing the areas 

3 described in paragraph (8)— 

4 (A) in accordance with applicable environ5 mental and administrative laws; and 

6 (B) based on local input, multiple-use and 

7 sustained yield principles, and land manage8 ment objectives. 

9 SEC. 3. RELEASE AND IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF LAND 

10 COMPRISING CERTAIN WILDERNESS STUDY 

11 AREAS. 

12 (a) MIDDLE FORK JUDITH WILDERNESS STUDY

13 AREA.—The approximately 81,000 acres of land com14 prising the Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area— 

15 (1) shall no longer be subject to section 3(a) of 

16 the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977 (Public 

17 Law 95–150; 91 Stat. 1244); and 

18 (2) shall be managed in accordance with the ap19 plicable land and resource management plan most 

20 recently adopted under section 6 of the Forest and 

21 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

22 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

23 (b) HOODOO MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS STUDY AREA

24 AND WALES CREEK WILDERNESS STUDY AREA.—The ap25 proximately 11,380 acres of land comprising the Hoodoo 


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1 Mountain Wilderness Study Area and the approximately 

2 11,580 acres of land comprising the Wales Creek Wilder3 ness Study Area— 

4 (1) shall no longer be subject to section 603(c) 

5 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

6 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 

7 (2) shall be managed in accordance with the ap8 plicable land management plans adopted under sec9 tion 202 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1712). 

Æ 


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