II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1774 

To establish the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management Area, 

to designate certain Federal land as wilderness, and to improve the 

management of noxious weeds in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2011 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management Area, to designate certain Federal land as wilderness, and to improve the management of noxious 

weeds in the Lewis and Clark 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 ‘‘Rocky Mountain Front 

5 Heritage Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT AREA.—The 

2 term ‘‘Conservation Management Area’’ means the 

3 Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management 

4 Area established by section 3(a)(1). 

5 (2) DECOMMISSION.—The term ‘‘decommis6 sion’’ means— 

7 (A) to reestablish vegetation on a road; 

8 and 

9 (B) to restore any natural drainage, water10 shed function, or other ecological processes that 

11 are disrupted or adversely impacted by the road 

12 by removing or hydrologically disconnecting the 

13 road prism. 

14 (3) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘district’’ means the 

15 Rocky Mountain Ranger District of the Lewis and 

16 Clark National Forest. 

17 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en18 titled ‘‘Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act’’ and 

19 dated October 27, 2011. 

20 (5) NONMOTORIZED RECREATION TRAIL.—The 

21 term ‘‘nonmotorized recreation trail’’ means a trail 

22 designed for hiking, bicycling, or equestrian use. 

23 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

24 means— 


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1 (A) with respect to land under the jurisdic2 tion of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Sec3 retary of Agriculture; and 

4 (B) with respect to land under the jurisdic5 tion of the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec6 retary of the Interior. 

7 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

8 of Montana. 

9 SEC. 3. ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT CONSERVATION MAN10 AGEMENT AREA. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 

13 Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management 

14 Area in the State. 

15 (2) AREA INCLUDED.—The Conservation Man16 agement Area shall consist of approximately 195,073 

17 acres of Federal land managed by the Forest Service 

18 and 13,087 acres of Federal land managed by the 

19 Bureau of Land Management in the State, as gen20 erally depicted on the map. 

21 (3) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND

22 INTERESTS.—Any land or interest in land that is lo23 cated in the Conservation Management Area and is 

24 acquired by the United States from a willing seller 

25 shall— 


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1 (A) become part of the Conservation Man2 agement Area; and 

3 (B) be managed in accordance with— 

4 (i) in the case of land managed by the 

5 Forest Service— 

6 (I) the Act of March 1, 1911 

7 (commonly known as the ‘‘Weeks 

8 Law’’) (16 U.S.C. 552 et seq.); and 

9 (II) any laws (including regula10 tions) applicable to the National For11 est System; 

12 (ii) in the case of land managed, by 

13 the Bureau of Land Management, the Fed14 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 

15 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); 

16 (iii) this section; and 

17 (iv) any other applicable law (includ18 ing regulations). 

19 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Conservation 

20 Management Area are to conserve, protect, and enhance 

21 for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future gen22 erations the recreational, scenic, historical, cultural, fish, 

23 wildlife, roadless, and ecological values of the Conservation 

24 Management Area. 

25 (c) MANAGEMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage 

2 the Conservation Management Area— 

3 (A) in a manner that conserves, protects, 

4 and enhances the resources of the Conservation 

5 Management Area; and 

6 (B) in accordance with— 

7 (i) the laws (including regulations) 

8 and rules applicable to the National Forest 

9 System for land managed by the Forest 

10 Service; 

11 (ii) the Federal Land Policy and Man12 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 

13 seq.) for land managed by the Bureau of 

14 Land Management; 

15 (iii) this section; and 

16 (iv) any other applicable law (includ17 ing regulations). 

18 (2) USES.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

20 only allow such uses of the Conservation Man21 agement Area that the Secretary determines 

22 would further the purposes described in sub23 section (b). 

24 (B) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—The use of motor2 ized vehicles in the Conservation Manage3 ment Area shall be permitted only on exist4 ing roads, trails, and areas designated for 

5 use by such vehicles as of the date of en6 actment of this Act. 

7 (ii) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in clause 

8 (i) prevents the Secretary from— 

9 (I) rerouting or closing an exist10 ing road or trail to protect natural re11 sources from degradation, as deter12 mined to be appropriate by the Sec13 retary; 

14 (II) constructing a temporary 

15 road on which motorized vehicles are 

16 permitted as part of a vegetation 

17 management project in any portion of 

18 the Conservation Management Area 

located not more than 1 19 ⁄4 mile from 

20 the Teton Road, South Teton Road, 

21 Sun River Road, Beaver Willow Road, 

22 or Benchmark Road; 

23 (III) authorizing the use of mo24 torized vehicles for administrative 

25 purposes (including noxious weed 


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1 eradication or grazing management); 

2 or 

3 (IV) responding to an emergency. 

4 (iii) TEMPORARY ROADS.—The Sec5 retary shall decommission any temporary 

6 road constructed under clause (ii)(II) not 

7 later than 3 years after the date on which 

8 the applicable vegetation management 

9 project is completed. 

10 (C) GRAZING.—The Secretary shall permit 

11 grazing within the Conservation Management 

12 Area, if established on the date of enactment of 

13 this Act— 

14 (i) subject to— 

15 (I) such reasonable regulations, 

16 policies, and practices as the Sec17 retary determines appropriate; and 

18 (II) all applicable laws; and 

19 (ii) in a manner consistent with the 

20 purposes described in subsection (b). 

21 (D) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT.—Nothing 

22 in this Act prevents the Secretary from con23 ducting vegetation management projects within 

24 the Conservation Management Area— 

25 (i) subject to— 


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1 (I) such reasonable regulations, 

2 policies, and practices as the Sec3 retary determines appropriate; and 

4 (II) all applicable laws (including 

5 regulations); and 

6 (ii) in a manner consistent with the 

7 purposes described in subsection (b). 

8 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS ADDITIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Wilderness 

10 Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following Federal land 

11 in the State is designated as wilderness and as additions 

12 to existing components of the National Wilderness Preser13 vation System: 

14 (1) BOB MARSHALL WILDERNESS.—Certain 

15 land in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, com16 prising approximately 50,401 acres, as generally de17 picted on the map, which shall be added to and ad18 ministered as part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness 

19 designated under section 3 of the Wilderness Act 

20 (16 U.S.C. 1132). 

21 (2) SCAPEGOAT WILDERNESS.—Certain land in 

22 the Lewis and Clark National Forest, comprising 

23 approximately 16,711 acres, as generally depicted on 

24 the map, which shall be added to and administered 

25 as part of the Scapegoat Wilderness designated by 


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1 the first section of Public Law 92–395 (16 U.S.C. 

2 1132 note). 

3 (b) MANAGEMENT OF WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 

4 Subject to valid existing rights, the land designated as wil5 derness additions by subsection (a) shall be administered 

6 by the Secretary in accordance with the Wilderness Act 

7 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in that 

8 Act to the effective date of that Act shall be deemed to 

9 be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (c) LIVESTOCK.—The grazing of livestock and the 

11 maintenance of existing facilities relating to grazing in the 

12 wilderness additions designated by this section, if estab13 lished before the date of enactment of this Act, shall be 

14 permitted to continue in accordance with— 

15 (1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 

16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 

17 (2) the guidelines set forth in the report of the 

18 Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the 

19 House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 5487 

20 of the 96th Congress (H. Rept. 96–617). 

21 (d) WILDFIRE, INSECT, AND DISEASE MANAGE22 MENT.—In accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilder23 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), within the wilderness ad24 ditions designated by this section, the Secretary may take 

25 any measures that the Secretary determines to be necVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:41 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1774.IS S1774

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1 essary to control fire, insects, and diseases, including, as 

2 the Secretary determines appropriate, the coordination of 

3 those activities with a State or local agency. 

4 (e) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designation of a wilder6 ness addition by this section shall not create any 

7 protective perimeter or buffer zone around the wil8 derness area. 

9 (2) NONWILDERNESS ACTIVITIES.—The fact 

10 that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or 

11 heard from areas within a wilderness addition des12 ignated by this section shall not preclude the con13 duct of those activities or uses outside the boundary 

14 of the wilderness area. 

15 (f) OVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con16 strued to restrict or preclude overflights, including low17 level overflights, including military, commercial, and gen18 eral aviation overflights that can be seen or heard within 

19 wilderness or the Conservation Management Area. 

20 SEC. 5. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare 

23 maps and legal descriptions of the Conservation Manage24 ment Area and the wilderness additions designated by sec25 tions 3 and 4, respectively. 


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1 (b) FORCE OF LAW.—The maps and legal descrip2 tions prepared under subsection (a) shall have the same 

3 force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 

4 Secretary may correct typographical errors in the map and 

5 legal descriptions. 

6 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The maps and legal de7 scriptions prepared under subsection (a) shall be on file 

8 and available for public inspection in the appropriate of9 fices of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Manage10 ment. 

11 SEC. 6. NOXIOUS WEED MANAGEMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

14 shall prepare a comprehensive management strategy for 

15 preventing, controlling, and eradicating noxious weeds in 

16 the district. 

17 (b) CONTENTS.—The management strategy shall— 

18 (1) include recommendations to protect wildlife, 

19 forage, and other natural resources in the district 

20 from noxious weeds; 

21 (2) identify opportunities to coordinate noxious 

22 weed prevention, control, and eradication efforts in 

23 the district with State and local agencies, Indian 

24 tribes, nonprofit organizations, and others; 


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1 (3) identify existing resources for preventing, 

2 controlling, and eradicating noxious weeds in the 

3 district; 

4 (4) identify additional resources that are appro5 priate to effectively prevent, control, or eradicate 

6 noxious weeds in the district; and 

7 (5) identify opportunities to coordinate with 

8 county weed districts in Glacier, Pondera, Teton, 

9 and Lewis and Clark Counties in the State to apply 

10 for grants and enter into agreements for noxious 

11 weed control and eradication projects under the 

12 Noxious Weed Control and Eradication Act of 2004 

13 (7 U.S.C. 7781 et seq.). 

14 (c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the management 

15 strategy required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

16 consult with— 

17 (1) the Secretary of the Interior; 

18 (2) appropriate State, tribal, and local govern19 mental entities; and 

20 (3) members of the public. 

21 SEC. 7. NONMOTORIZED RECREATION OPPORTUNITIES. 

22 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 

24 with interested parties, shall conduct a study to improve 

25 nonmotorized recreation trail opportunities (including 


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1 mountain bicycling) on land not designated as wilderness 

2 within the district. 

3 SEC. 8. MANAGEMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE; HUNTING 

4 AND FISHING. 

5 Nothing in this Act affects the jurisdiction of the 

6 State with respect to fish and wildlife management (in7 cluding the regulation of hunting and fishing) on public 

8 land in the State. 

9 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

11 as are necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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