I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2491 

To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area 

in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin 

Creeks in the State of Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2013 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SCHRADER, and Ms. 

BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State of 

Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, 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 ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wil5 derness Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREA, DEVIL’S 

2 STAIRCASE WILDERNESS, OREGON. 

3 (a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of 

4 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the Federal 

5 land in the State of Oregon administered by the Forest 

6 Service and the Bureau of Land Management, comprising 

7 approximately 30,520 acres, as generally depicted on the 

8 map titled ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Proposal’’, dated 

9 October 26, 2009, are designated as a wilderness area for 

10 inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System 

11 and to be known as the ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wilderness’’. 

12 (b) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as 

13 practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

14 the Secretary shall file with the Committee on Natural Re15 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com16 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

17 a map and legal description of wilderness area designated 

18 by subsection (a). The map and legal description shall 

19 have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, 

20 except that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo21 graphical errors in the map and description. In the case 

22 of any discrepancy between the acreage specified in sub23 section (a) and the map, the map shall control. The map 

24 and legal description shall be on file and available for pub25 lic inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Serv26 ice. 


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1 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

3 the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area shall be adminis4 tered by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, 

5 in accordance with the Wilderness Act and the Oregon 

6 Wilderness Act of 1984, except that, with respect to the 

7 wilderness area, any reference in the Wilderness Act to 

8 the effective date of that Act shall be deemed to be a ref9 erence to the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (b) FOREST SERVICE ROADS.—As provided in section 

11 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the 

12 Secretary of Agriculture shall— 

13 (1) decommission any National Forest System 

14 road within the wilderness boundaries; and 

15 (2) convert Forest Service Road 4100 within 

16 the wilderness boundary to a trail for primitive rec17 reational use. 

18 SEC. 4. INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND INTER19 ESTS. 

20 Any land within the boundary of the wilderness area 

21 designated by this Act that is acquired by the United 

22 States shall— 

23 (1) become part of the Devil’s Staircase Wilder24 ness Area; and 

25 (2) be managed in accordance with this Act and 

26 any other applicable law. 


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1 SEC. 5. FISH AND WILDLIFE. 

2 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting 

3 the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State of Oregon 

4 with respect to wildlife and fish in the national forests. 

5 SEC. 6. BUFFER ZONES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—As provided in the Oregon Wilder7 ness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98– 

8 328), Congress does not intend for designation of the wil9 derness area under this Act to lead to the creation of pro10 tective perimeters or buffer zones around the wilderness 

11 area. 

12 (b) ACTIVITIES OR USES UP TO BOUNDARIES.—The 

13 fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or 

14 heard from within a wilderness area shall not, of itself, 

15 preclude the activities or uses up to the boundary of the 

16 wilderness area. 

17 SEC. 7. WITHDRAWAL. 

18 Subject to valid rights in existence on the date of en19 actment of this Act, the Federal land designated as wilder20 ness area by this Act is withdrawn from all forms of— 

21 (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 

22 public land laws; 

23 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 

24 laws; and 

25 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min26 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 


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1 SEC. 8. PROTECTION OF TRIBAL RIGHTS. 

2 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish— 

3 (1) the existing rights of any Indian tribe; or 

4 (2) tribal rights regarding access to Federal 

5 lands for tribal activities, including spiritual, cul6 tural, and traditional food gathering activities. 

7 SEC. 9. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS, WASSON 

8 CREEK AND FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON. 

9 Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

10 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by inserting the following 

11 paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(ll) FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON.—The 4.5- 

13 mile segment from the headwaters to the private 

14 land boundary in section 8 to be administered by the 

15 Secretary of Agriculture as a wild river. 

16 ‘‘(ll) WASSON CREEK, OREGON.— 

17 ‘‘(A) The 4.2-mile segment from the east18 ern edge of section 17 downstream to the 

19 boundary of sections 11 and 12 to be adminis20 tered by the Secretary of Interior as a wild 

21 river. 

22 ‘‘(B) The 5.9-mile segment downstream 

23 from the boundary of sections 11 and 12 to the 

24 private land boundary in section 22 to be adVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:21 Jul 01, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2491.IH H2491

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1 ministered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a 

2 wild river.’’. 

Æ 


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