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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2942

To designate certain lands in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a National

Scenic Area for protection of the watershed and scenic values, recreation

use, protection of wildlife and their habitat, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 6, 1993

Mr. GOODLATTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To designate certain lands in the Commonwealth of Virginia

as a National Scenic Area for protection of the watershed

and scenic values, recreation use, protection of wildlife

and their habitat, 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 ‘‘Mount Pleasant Na5 tional Scenic Area Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act with respect to the Mount

8 Pleasant National Scenic Area are to—
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1 (1) ensure appropriate protection and preserva2 tion of the scenic quality, water quality, and water

3 resources;

4 (2) protect and manage vegetation to provide

5 wildlife and fish habitat, consistent with paragraph

6 (1) above;

7 (3) provide areas that may develop characteris8 tics of old-growth forests; and

9 (4) provide a variety of recreation opportunities

10 that are not inconsistent with the purposes set forth

11 above.

12 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL SCENIC AREA.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) There is hereby established in

14 the George Washington National Forest, Virginia, the

15 Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area (hereinafter re16 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘scenic area’’).

17 (2) The scenic area shall consist of certain

18 lands in the George Washington National Forest,

19 Virginia, which comprise seven thousand five hun20 dred and eighty acres, more or less, as generally de21 picted on a map entitled ‘‘Mount Pleasant National

22 Scenic Area—Proposed’’, dated June 21, 1993.

23 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture,

24 (hereinafter referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

25 shall administer the scenic area in accordance with this
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1 Act and the laws and regulations generally applicable to

2 the National Forest System. In the event of conflict be3 tween this Act and other laws and regulations, this Act

4 shall take precedence.

5 (c) ROADS.—After the date of enactment of this Act,

6 no new permanent roads shall be constructed within

7 the scenic area: Provided, That this provision shall not

8 be constructed to deny access to private lands or interests

9 therein in the scenic area.

10 (d) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT.—No timber harvest

11 shall be allowed within the scenic area, except as may be

12 necessary in the control of fire, insects, and diseases and

13 to provide for public safety and trail access. Notwithstand14 ing the foregoing, the Secretary may engage in vegetation

15 manipulation practices for maintenance of existing wildlife

16 habitat and visual quality. Firewood may be harvested for

17 personal use along perimeter roads under such conditions

18 as the Secretary may impose.

19 (e) MOTORIZED TRAVEL.—Motorized travel shall not

20 be permitted within the scenic area; except as necessary

21 for administrative use in furtherance of the purposes of

22 this Act, on temporary routes in support of wildlife man23 agement projects, on State Route 635, and on Forest De24 velopment Road 51 subject to such conditions as the Sec25 retary may impose.
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1 (f) FIRE.—Wildfires shall be suppressed in a manner

2 consistent with the purposes of this Act, using such means

3 as the Secretary deems appropriate.

4 (g) INSECTS AND DISEASE.—Insect and disease out5 breaks may be controlled in the scenic area to maintain

6 scenic quality, prevent tree mortality, reduce hazards to

7 visitors or to protect private lands.

8 (h) WATER.—The scenic area shall be administered

9 so as to maintain or enhance existing water quality.

10 (i) MAPS AND DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as prac11 ticable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall file a map and boundary description of the

13 scenic area with the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition,

14 and Forestry of the United States Senate and the Com15 mittee on Agriculture of the United States House of Rep16 resentatives. The map and description shall have the same

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

18 Secretary is authorized to correct clerical and typo19 graphical errors in such boundary description and map.

20 Such map and boundary description shall be on file and

21 available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief

22 of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture. In the

23 case of any discrepancy between the acreage and the map

24 described in subsection (a)(2), the map shall control.
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1 (j) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Within three years of en2 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a manage3 ment plan for the scenic area as an amendment to the

4 Land and Resource Management Plan for the George

5 Washington National Forest. Such an amendment shall

6 conform to the provisions of this Act. Nothing in this Act

7 shall require the Secretary to revise the Land and Re8 source Management Plan for the George Washington Na9 tional Forest pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and

10 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.

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