II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 745 

To designate additions to the Rough Mountain Wilderness and the Rich 

Hole Wilderness of the George Washington National Forest, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2023 

Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To designate additions to the Rough Mountain Wilderness 

and the Rich Hole Wilderness of the George Washington 

National Forest, 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 ‘‘Virginia Wilderness 

5 Additions Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO ROUGH MOUNTAIN AND RICH HOLE 

7 WILDERNESSES. 

8 (a) ROUGH MOUNTAIN ADDITION.—Section 1 of 

9 Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 102 Stat. 


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1 584; 114 Stat. 2057; 123 Stat. 1002) is amended by add2 ing at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(21) ROUGH MOUNTAIN ADDITION.—Certain 

4 land in the George Washington National Forest 

5 comprising approximately 1,000 acres, as generally 

6 depicted as the ‘Rough Mountain Addition’ on the 

7 map entitled ‘GEORGE WASHINGTON NA8 TIONAL FOREST – South half – Alternative I – 

9 Selected Alternative Management Prescriptions – 

10 Land and Resources Management Plan Final Envi11 ronmental Impact Statement’ and dated March 4, 

12 2014, which is incorporated in the Rough Mountain 

13 Wilderness Area designated by paragraph (1).’’. 

14 (b) RICH HOLE ADDITION.— 

15 (1) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.— 

16 In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act 

17 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain land in the George 

18 Washington National Forest comprising approxi19 mately 4,600 acres, as generally depicted as the 

20 ‘‘Rich Hole Addition’’ on the map entitled 

21 ‘‘GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL FOREST 

22 – South half – Alternative I – Selected Alternative 

23 Management Prescriptions – Land and Resources 

24 Management Plan Final Environmental Impact 

25 Statement’’ and dated March 4, 2014, is designated 


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1 as a potential wilderness area for incorporation in 

2 the Rich Hole Wilderness Area designated by section 

3 1(2) of Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 

4 102 Stat. 584). 

5 (2) WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.—The potential 

6 wilderness area designated by paragraph (1) shall be 

7 designated as wilderness and incorporated in the 

8 Rich Hole Wilderness Area designated by section 

9 1(2) of Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 

10 102 Stat. 584) on the earlier of— 

11 (A) the date on which the Secretary of Ag12 riculture (referred to in this section as the 

13 ‘‘Secretary’’) publishes in the Federal Register 

14 notice that the activities permitted under para15 graph (4) have been completed; or 

16 (B) the date that is 5 years after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act. 

18 (3) MANAGEMENT.—Except as provided in 

19 paragraph (4), the Secretary shall manage the po20 tential wilderness area designated by paragraph (1) 

21 in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

22 1131 et seq.). 

23 (4) WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVI24 TIES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—To enhance natural 

2 ecosystems within the potential wilderness area 

3 designated by paragraph (1) by implementing 

4 certain activities to improve water quality and 

5 aquatic passage, as set forth in the Forest 

6 Service document entitled ‘‘Decision Notice for 

7 the Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Man8 agement Project’’ and dated December 2015, 

9 the Secretary may use motorized equipment 

10 and mechanized transport in the potential wil11 derness area until the date on which the poten12 tial wilderness area is incorporated into the 

13 Rich Hole Wilderness Area under paragraph 

14 (2). 

15 (B) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out sub16 paragraph (A), the Secretary, to the maximum 

17 extent practicable, shall use the minimum tool 

18 or administrative practice necessary to carry 

19 out that subparagraph with the least amount of 

20 adverse impact on wilderness character and re21 sources. 

Æ 


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