109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 128

AN ACT

To designate certain public land in Humboldt, Del Norte,

Mendocino, Lake, and Napa Counties in the State of

California as wilderness, to designate certain segments

of the Black Butte River in Mendocino County, California as a wild or scenic river, 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 ‘‘Northern California

5 Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means—

3 (1) with respect to land under the jurisdiction

4 of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Ag5 riculture; and

6 (2) with respect to land under the jurisdiction

7 of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the

8 Interior.

9 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS.

10 In accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.

11 1131 et seq.), the following areas in the State of California

12 are designated as wilderness areas and as components of

13 the National Wilderness Preservation System:

14 (1) SNOW MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS ADDITION.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Certain land in the

16 Mendocino National Forest, comprising ap17 proximately 23,312 acres, as generally depicted

18 on the maps described in subparagraph (B), is

19 incorporated in and shall considered to be a

20 part of the ‘‘Snow Mountain Wilderness’’, as

21 designated by section 101(a)(31) of the Cali22 fornia Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132

23 note; Public Law 98–425).

24 (B) DESCRIPTION OF MAPS.—The maps

25 referred to in subparagraph (A) are—
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1 (i) the map entitled ‘‘Skeleton Glade

2 Unit, Snow Mountain Proposed Wilderness

3 Addition, Mendocino National Forest’’ and

4 dated April 21, 2005; and

5 (ii) the map entitled ‘‘Bear Creek/

6 Deafy Glade Unit, Snow Mountain Wilder7 ness Addition, Mendocino National Forest’’

8 and dated April 21, 2005.

9 (2) SANHEDRIN WILDERNESS.—Certain land in

10 the Mendocino National Forest, comprising approxi11 mately 10,571 acres, as generally depicted on the

12 map entitled ‘‘Sanhedrin Proposed Wilderness,

13 Mendocino National Forest’’ and dated April 21,

14 2005, which shall be known as the ‘‘Sanhedrin Wil15 derness’’.

16 (3) YUKI WILDERNESS.—Certain land in the

17 Mendocino National Forest and certain land admin18 istered by the Bureau of Land Management in Lake

19 and Mendocino Counties, California, together com20 prising approximately 53,887 acres, as generally de21 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Yuki Proposed Wilder22 ness’’ and dated May 23, 2005, which shall be

23 known as the ‘‘Yuki Wilderness’’.

24 (4) YOLLA BOLLY-MIDDLE EEL WILDERNESS

25 ADDITION.—Certain land in the Mendocino National
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1 Forest and certain land administered by the Bureau

2 of Land Management in Mendocino County, Cali3 fornia, together comprising approximately 27,036

4 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled

5 ‘‘Middle Fork Eel, Smokehouse and Big Butte

6 Units, Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Proposed Wilderness

7 Addition’’ and dated June 7, 2005, is incorporated

8 in and shall considered to be a part of the Yolla

9 Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness, as designated by sec10 tion 3 of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1132).

11 (5) MAD RIVER BUTTES WILDERNESS.—Certain

12 land in the Six Rivers National Forest, comprising

13 approximately 5,506 acres, as generally depicted on

14 the map entitled ‘‘Mad River Buttes, Mad River

15 Proposed Wilderness’’ and dated June 28, 2005,

16 which shall be known as the ‘‘Mad River Buttes Wil17 derness’’.

18 (6) SISKIYOU WILDERNESS ADDITION.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Certain land in the Six

20 Rivers National Forest, comprising approxi21 mately 44,801 acres, as generally depicted on

22 the maps described in subparagraph (B), is in23 corporated in and shall be considered to be a

24 part of the Siskiyou Wilderness, as designated

25 by section 101(a)(30) of the California Wilder-
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1 ness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public

2 Law 98–425).

3 (B) DESCRIPTION OF MAPS.—The maps

4 referred to in subparagraph (A) are—

5 (i) the map entitled ‘‘Bear Basin

6 Butte Unit, Siskiyou Proposed Wilderness

7 Additions, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

8 dated June 28, 2005;

9 (ii) the map entitled ‘‘Blue Creek

10 Unit, Siskiyou Proposed Wilderness Addi11 tion, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

12 dated October 28, 2004;

13 (iii) the map entitled ‘‘Blue Ridge

14 Unit, Siskiyou Proposed Wilderness Addi15 tion, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

16 dated June 28, 2005;

17 (iv) the map entitled ‘‘Broken Rib

18 Unit, Siskiyou Proposed Wilderness Addi19 tion, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

20 dated June 28, 2005; and

21 (v) the map entitled ‘‘Wooly Bear

22 Unit, Siskiyou Proposed Wilderness Addi23 tion, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

24 dated June 28, 2005.
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1 (7) MOUNT LASSIC WILDERNESS.—Certain land

2 in the Six Rivers National Forest, comprising ap3 proximately 7,279 acres, as generally depicted on the

4 map entitled ‘‘Mt. Lassic Proposed Wilderness’’ and

5 dated June 7, 2005, which shall be known as the

6 ‘‘Mount Lassic Wilderness’’.

7 (8) TRINITY ALPS WILDERNESS ADDITION.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Certain land in the Six

9 Rivers National Forest, comprising approxi10 mately 28,805 acres, as generally depicted on

11 the maps described in subparagraph (B) and

12 which is incorporated in and shall be considered

13 to be a part of the Trinity Alps Wilderness as

14 designated by section 101(a)(34) of the Cali15 fornia Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132

16 note; Public Law 98–425).

17 (B) DESCRIPTION OF MAPS.—The maps

18 referred to in subparagraph (A) are—

19 (i) the map entitled ‘‘Orleans Moun20 tain Unit (Boise Creek), Trinity Alps Pro21 posed Wilderness Addition, Six Rivers Na22 tional Forest’’, and dated October 28,

23 2004;

24 (ii) the map entitled ‘‘East Fork Unit,

25 Trinity Alps Proposed Wilderness Addi-
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1 tion, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

2 dated September 17, 2004;

3 (iii) the map entitled ‘‘Horse Linto

4 Unit, Trinity Alps Proposed Wilderness

5 Addition, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

6 dated September 17, 2004; and

7 (iv) the map entitled ‘‘Red Cap Unit,

8 Trinity Alps Proposed Wilderness Addi9 tion, Six Rivers National Forest’’ and

10 dated June 7, 2005.

11 (9) UNDERWOOD WILDERNESS.—Certain land

12 in the Six Rivers National Forest, comprising ap13 proximately 2,705 acres, as generally depicted on the

14 map entitled ‘‘Underwood Proposed Wilderness, Six

15 Rivers National Forest’’ and dated June 28, 2005,

16 which shall be known as the ‘‘Underwood Wilder17 ness’’.

18 (10) CACHE CREEK WILDERNESS.—Certain

19 land administered by the Bureau of Land Manage20 ment in Lake County, California, comprising ap21 proximately 31,025 acres, as generally depicted on

22 the map entitled ‘‘Cache Creek Wilderness Area’’

23 and dated June 16, 2005, which shall be known as

24 the ‘‘Cache Creek Wilderness’’.
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1 (11) CEDAR ROUGHS WILDERNESS.—Certain

2 land administered by the Bureau of Land Manage3 ment in Napa County, California, comprising ap4 proximately 6,350 acres, as generally depicted on the

5 map entitled ‘‘Cedar Roughs Wilderness Area’’ and

6 dated September 27, 2004, which shall be known as

7 the ‘‘Cedar Roughs Wilderness’’.

8 (12) SOUTH FORK EEL RIVER WILDERNESS.—

9 Certain land administered by the Bureau of Land

10 Management in Mendocino County, California, com11 prising approximately 12,915 acres, as generally de12 picted on the map entitled ‘‘South Fork Eel River

13 Wilderness Area and Elkhorn Ridge Potential Wil14 derness’’ and dated June 16, 2005, which shall be

15 known as the ‘‘South Fork Eel River Wilderness’’.

16 (13) KING RANGE WILDERNESS.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Certain land adminis18 tered by the Bureau of Land Management in

19 Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, California,

20 comprising approximately 42,585 acres, as gen21 erally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘King

22 Range Wilderness’’, and dated November 12,

23 2004, which shall be known as the ‘‘King

24 Range Wilderness’’.
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1 (B) APPLICABLE LAW.—With respect to

2 the wilderness designated by subparagraph (A),

3 in the case of a conflict between this Act and

4 Public Law 91–476 (16 U.S.C. 460y et seq.),

5 the more restrictive provision shall control.

6 (14) ROCKS AND ISLANDS.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—All Federally-owned

8 rocks, islets, and islands (whether named or

9 unnamed and surveyed or unsurveyed) that are

10 located—

11 (i) not more than 3 geographic miles

12 off the coast of the King Range National

13 Conservation Area; and

14 (ii) above mean high tide.

15 (B) APPLICABLE LAW.—In the case of a

16 conflict between this Act and Proclamation No.

17 7264 (65 Fed. Reg. 2821), the more restrictive

18 provision shall control.

19 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS.

20 (a) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing rights,

21 each area designated as wilderness by this Act shall be

22 administered by the Secretary in accordance with the Wil23 derness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that—
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1 (1) any reference in that Act to the effective

2 date shall be considered to be a reference to the date

3 of enactment of this Act; and

4 (2) any reference in that Act to the Secretary

5 of Agriculture shall be considered to be a reference

6 to the Secretary that has jurisdiction over the wil7 derness.

8 (b) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

11 shall file a map and a legal description of each wil12 derness area designated by this Act with—

13 (A) the Committee on Resources of the

14 House of Representatives; and

15 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural

16 Resources of the Senate.

17 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—A map and legal descrip18 tion filed under paragraph (1) shall have the same

19 force and effect as if included in this Act, except

20 that the Secretary may correct errors in the map

21 and legal description.

22 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and

23 legal description filed under paragraph (1) shall be

24 filed and made available for public inspection in the

25 appropriate office of the Secretary.
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1 (c) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND INTER2 ESTS.—Any land within the boundary of a wilderness area

3 designated by this Act that is acquired by the Federal

4 Government shall—

5 (1) become part of the wilderness area in which

6 the land is located; and

7 (2) be managed in accordance with this Act, the

8 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), and any

9 other applicable law.

10 (d) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist11 ence on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal

12 land designated as wilderness by this Act is withdrawn

13 from all forms of—

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

15 public land laws;

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

17 laws; and

18 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min19 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials.

20 (e) FIRE, INSECT, AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT AC21 TIVITIES.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may take

23 such measures in the wilderness areas designated by

24 this Act as are necessary for the control and preven-
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1 tion of fire, insects, and diseases, in accordance

2 with—

3 (A) section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act

4 (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)); and

5 (B) House Report No. 98–40 of the 98th

6 Congress.

7 (2) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall re9 view existing policies applicable to the wilderness

10 areas designated by this Act to ensure that author11 ized approval procedures for any fire management

12 measures allow a timely and efficient response to

13 fire emergencies in the wilderness areas.

14 (f) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

16 any owner of private property within the boundary

17 of a wilderness area designated by this Act adequate

18 access to such property to ensure the reasonable use

19 and enjoyment of the property by the owner.

20 (2) KING RANGE WILDERNESS.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), within the wilderness designated by

23 section 3(13), the access route depicted on the

24 map for private landowners shall also be avail25 able for invitees of the private landowners.
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1 (B) LIMITATION.—Nothing in subpara2 graph (A) requires the Secretary to provide any

3 access to the landowners or invitees beyond the

4 access that would be available if the wilderness

5 had not been designated.

6 (g) SNOW SENSORS AND STREAM GAUGES.—If the

7 Secretary determines that hydrologic, meteorologic, or cli8 matological instrumentation is appropriate to further the

9 scientific, educational, and conservation purposes of the

10 wilderness areas designated by this Act, nothing in this

11 Act prevents the installation and maintenance of the in12 strumentation within the wilderness areas.

13 (h) MILITARY ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this Act pre14 cludes low-level overflights of military aircraft, the des15 ignation of new units of special airspace, or the use or

16 establishment of military flight training routes over wil17 derness areas designated by this Act.

18 (i) LIVESTOCK.—Grazing of livestock and the mainte19 nance of existing facilities related to grazing in wilderness

20 areas designated by this Act, where established before the

21 date of enactment of this Act, shall be permitted to con22 tinue in accordance with—

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

24 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and
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1 (2) the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of

2 the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular

3 Affairs of the House of Representatives accom4 panying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept.

5 101–405).

6 (j) FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur8 poses of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et

9 seq.), the Secretary may carry out management ac10 tivities to maintain or restore fish and wildlife popu11 lations and fish and wildlife habitats in wilderness

12 areas designated by this Act if such activities are—

13 (A) consistent with applicable wilderness

14 management plans; and

15 (B) carried out in accordance with applica16 ble guidelines and policies.

17 (2) STATE JURISDICTION.—Nothing in this Act

18 affects the jurisdiction of the State of California

19 with respect to fish and wildlife on the public land

20 located in the State.

21 (k) USE BY MEMBERS OF INDIAN TRIBES.—

22 (1) ACCESS.—In recognition of the past use of

23 wilderness areas designated by this Act by members

24 of Indian tribes for traditional cultural and religious

25 purposes, the Secretary shall ensure that Indian
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1 tribes have access to the wilderness areas for tradi2 tional cultural and religious purposes.

3 (2) TEMPORARY CLOSURES.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this

5 section, the Secretary, on request of an Indian

6 tribe, may temporarily close to the general pub7 lic 1 or more specific portions of a wilderness

8 area to protect the privacy of the members of

9 the Indian tribe in the conduct of the tradi10 tional cultural and religious activities in the wil11 derness area.

12 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Any closure under

13 subparagraph (A) shall be made in such a man14 ner as to affect the smallest practicable area for

15 the minimum period of time necessary for the

16 activity to be carried out.

17 (3) APPLICABLE LAW.—Access to the wilder18 ness areas under this subsection shall be in accord19 ance with—

20 (A) Public Law 95–341 (commonly known

21 as the ‘‘American Indian Religious Freedom

22 Act’’) (42 U.S.C. 1996 et seq.); and

23 (B) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et

24 seq.).

25 (l) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act creates

2 protective perimeters or buffer zones around any wil3 derness area designated by this Act.

4 (2) NONWILDERNESS ACTIVITIES.—The fact

5 that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or

6 heard from areas within a wilderness area des7 ignated by this Act shall not preclude the conduct of

8 those activities or uses outside the boundary of the

9 wilderness area.

10 SEC. 5. RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS.

11 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that, for the purposes

12 of section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage13 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), any portion of a wil14 derness study area described in subsection (b) that is not

15 designated as wilderness by this Act or any previous Act

16 has been adequately studied for wilderness.

17 (b) DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREAS.—The study

18 areas referred to in subsection (a) are—

19 (1) the King Range Wilderness Study Area;

20 (2) the Chemise Mountain Instant Study Area;

21 (3) the Red Mountain Wilderness Study Area;

22 (4) the Cedar Roughs Wilderness Study Area;

23 and

24 (5) those portions of the Rocky Creek/Cache

25 Creek Wilderness Study Area in Lake County, Cali-
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1 fornia which are not in R. 5 W., T. 12 N., sec. 22,

2 Mount Diablo Meridian.

3 (c) RELEASE.—Any portion of a wilderness study

4 area described in subsection (b) that is not designated as

5 wilderness by this Act or any other Act enacted before the

6 date of enactment of this Act shall not be subject to sec7 tion 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

8 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)).

9 SEC. 6. ELKHORN RIDGE POTENTIAL WILDERNESS AREA.

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

11 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain pub12 lic land in the State administered by the Bureau of Land

13 Management, compromising approximately 11,271 acres,

14 as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘South Fork Eel

15 River Wilderness Area and Elkhorn Ridge Potential Wil16 derness’’ and dated June 16, 2005, is designated as a po17 tential wilderness area.

18 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Except as provided in subsection

19 (c) and subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary shall

20 manage the potential wilderness area as wilderness until

21 the potential wilderness area is designated as wilderness.

22 (c) ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of ecological

24 restoration (including the elimination of non-native

25 species, removal of illegal, unused, or decommis-
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1 sioned roads, repair of skid tracks, and any other

2 activities necessary to restore the natural ecosystems

3 in the potential wilderness area), the Secretary may

4 used motorized equipment and mechanized transport

5 in the potential wilderness area until the potential

6 wilderness area is designated as wilderness.

7 (2) LIMITATION.—To the maximum extent

8 practicable, the Secretary shall use the minimum

9 tool or administrative practice necessary to accom10 plish ecological restoration with the least amount of

11 adverse impact on wilderness character and re12 sources.

13 (d) WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The potential wilderness

15 area shall be designated as wilderness and as a com16 ponent of the National Wilderness Preservation Sys17 tem on the earlier of—

18 (A) the date on which the Secretary pub19 lishes in the Federal Register notice that the

20 conditions in the potential wilderness area that

21 are incompatible with the Wilderness Act (16

22 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) have been removed; or

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

24 of enactment of this Act.
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1 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—On designation as wil2 derness under paragraph (1), the potential wilder3 ness area shall be—

4 (A) known as the ‘‘Elkhorn Ridge Wilder5 ness’’; and

6 (B) administered in accordance with this

7 Act and the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et

8 seq.).

9 SEC. 7. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATION.

10 (a) DESIGNATION OF BLACK BUTTE RIVER, CALI11 FORNIA.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

12 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(167) BLACK BUTTE RIVER, CALIFORNIA.—

15 The following segments of the Black Butte River in

16 the State of California, to be administered by the

17 Secretary of Agriculture:

18 ‘‘(A) The 16 miles of Black Butte River,

19 from the Mendocino County Line to its con20 fluence with Jumpoff Creek, as a wild river.

21 ‘‘(B) The 3.5 miles of Black Butte River

22 from its confluence with Jumpoff Creek to its

23 confluence with Middle Eel River, as a scenic

24 river.
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1 ‘‘(C) The 1.5 miles of Cold Creek from the

2 Mendocino County Line to its confluence with

3 Black Butte River, as a wild river.’’.

4 (b) PLAN; REPORT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress—

8 (A) a fire management plan for the Black

9 Butte River segments designated by the amend10 ment under subsection (a); and

11 (B) a report on the cultural and historic

12 resources within those segments.

13 (2) TRANSMITTAL TO COUNTY.—The Secretary

14 of Agriculture shall transmit to the Board of Super15 visors of Mendocino County, California, a copy of

16 the plan and report submitted under paragraph (1).

17 SEC. 8. KING RANGE NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA

18 BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.

19 Section 9 of Public Law 91–476 (16 U.S.C. 460y–

20 8) is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(d) In addition to the land described in subsections

22 (a) and (c), the land identified as the King Range Na23 tional Conservation Area Additions on the map entitled
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1 ‘King Range Wilderness’ and dated November 12, 2004,

2 is included in the Area.’’.

Passed the Senate July 26, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 128

AN ACT

To designate certain public land in Humboldt, Del

nic river, and for other purposes.in Mendocino County, California as a wild or sceignate certain segments of the Black Butte Riverthe State of California as wilderness, to desNorte, Mendocino, Lake, and Napa Counties in