I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2776

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and to the 

airspace over that land. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2003

Mr. OTTER (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. 

JONES of North Carolina, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. FLAKE, 

and Mr. NETHERCUTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committees on 

Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal 

land and to the airspace over that land.

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 ‘‘Backcountry Landing 

5 Strip Access Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential 

2 safety role as emergency landing areas. 

3 (2) Aircraft landing strips provide access to 

4 people who would otherwise be physically unable to 

5 enjoy national parks, national forests, and other 

6 Federal lands. 

7 (3) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential 

8 purpose in search and rescue, forest and ecological 

9 management, research, and aerial mapping. 

10 (4) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential 

11 role in firefighting and disaster relief. 

12 (5) The Secretary of the Interior and the Sec13 retary of Agriculture should adopt a nationwide pol14 icy for governing backcountry aviation issues related 

15 to the management of Federal land under the juris16 diction of those Secretaries and should require re17 gional managers to adhere to that policy. 

18 SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ACTIONS AF19 FECTING AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Secretary of the Inte21 rior nor the Secretary of Agriculture shall take any action 

22 which would permanently close or render or declare as un23 serviceable any aircraft landing strip located on Federal 

24 land under the administrative jurisdiction of either Sec25 retary unless—
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1 (1) the head of the aviation department of each 

2 State in which the aircraft landing strip is located 

3 has approved the action; 

4 (2) notice of the proposed action and the fact 

5 that the action would permanently close or render or 

6 declare as unserviceable the aircraft landing strip 

7 has been published in the Federal Register; 

8 (3) a 90-day public comment period on the ac9 tion has been provided after the publication under 

10 paragraph (2); and 

11 (4) any comments received during the comment 

12 period provided under paragraph (3) have been 

13 taken into consideration by the Secretary of the In14 terior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case 

15 may be, and the head of the aviation department of 

16 each State in which the affected aircraft landing 

17 strip is located. 

18 (b) NATIONAL POLICY.—Not later than 2 years after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

20 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall—

21 (1) adopt a nationwide policy that is in accord22 ance with this Act for governing backcountry avia23 tion issues related to the management of Federal 

24 land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries; and 
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1 (2) require regional managers to adhere to that 

2 policy. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICIES.—A policy affect4 ing air access to an aircraft landing strip located on Fed5 eral land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the 

6 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, including the pol7 icy required by subsection (b), shall not take effect unless 

8 the policy—

9 (1) states that the Federal Aviation Adminis10 tration has the sole authority to control aviation and 

11 airspace over the United States; and 

12 (2) seeks and considers comments from State 

13 governments and the public. 

14 (d) MAINTENANCE OF AIRSTRIPS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte16 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consult 

17 with—

18 (A) the head of the aviation department of 

19 each State in which an aircraft landing strip on 

20 Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Sec21 retary is located; and 

22 (B) other interested parties, 

23 to ensure that such aircraft landing strips are main24 tained in a manner that is consistent with the re25 source values of the adjacent area. 
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1 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec2 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri3 culture may enter into cooperative agreements with 

4 interested parties for the maintenance of aircraft 

5 landing strips located on Federal land. 

6 (e) EXCHANGES OR ACQUISITIONS.—Closure or pur7 poseful neglect of any aircraft landing strip, or any other 

8 action which would render any aircraft landing strip un9 serviceable, shall not be a condition of any Federal acquisi10 tion of or exchange involving private property upon which 

11 the aircraft landing strip is located. 

12 (f) NEW AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS NOT CRE13 ATED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create 

14 or authorize additional aircraft landing strips. 

15 (g) PERMANENTLY CLOSE.—For the purposes of this 

16 Act, the term ‘‘permanently close’’ means any closure the 

17 duration of which is more than 180 days in any calendar 

18 year. 

19 (h) APPLICABILITY.—

20 (1) AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.—This Act shall 

21 apply only to established aircraft landing strips on 

22 Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the 

23 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture that are 

24 commonly known and have been or are consistently 

25 used for aircraft landing and departure activities. 
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1 (2) ACTIONS, POLICIES, EXCHANGES, AND AC2 QUISITIONS.—Subsections (a), (c), and (e) shall 

3 apply to any action, policy, exchange, or acquisition, 

4 respectively, that is not final on the date of the en5 actment of this Act. 

6 (i) FAA AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

7 this Act shall be construed to affect the authority of the 

8 Federal Aviation Administration over aviation or airspace.

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