II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1272 

To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area 

in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin 

Creeks in the State of Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2009 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State of 

Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, 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 ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wil5 derness Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en2 titled ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Proposal’’ and 

3 dated June 10, 2009. 

4 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) with respect to land under the jurisdic7 tion of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Sec8 retary of Agriculture; and 

9 (B) with respect to land under the jurisdic10 tion of the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec11 retary of the Interior. 

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

13 of Oregon. 

14 (4) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘‘Wilderness’’ 

15 means the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness designated 

16 by section 3(a). 

17 SEC. 3. DEVIL’S STAIRCASE WILDERNESS, OREGON. 

18 (a) DESIGNATION.—In accordance with, and in fur19 therance of the purposes of, the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

20 1131 et seq.), the Federal land in the State administered 

21 by the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the 

22 Bureau of Land Management, comprising approximately 

23 29,650 acres, as generally depicted on the map, is des24 ignated as wilderness and as a component of the National 


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1 Wilderness Preservation System, to be known as the 

2 ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wilderness’’. 

3 (b) MAP; LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 

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

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 shall file with the Committee on Natural Resources 

7 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

8 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 

9 map and legal description of the Wilderness. 

10 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—The map and legal de11 scription filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 

12 same force and effect as if included in this Act, ex13 cept that the Secretary may correct errors in the 

14 map and legal description. 

15 (3) AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal descrip16 tion filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file and 

17 available for public inspection in— 

18 (A) the Office of the Chief of the Forest 

19 Service; and 

20 (B) the Office of the Director of the Bu21 reau of Land Management. 

22 (4) CONFLICT BETWEEN MAP AND LEGAL DE23 SCRIPTION.—In the case of a conflict between the 

24 map and the legal description filed under paragraph 

25 (1), the map shall control. 


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1 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin2 ister the Wilderness— 

3 (1) in a manner that maintains and restore the 

4 wilderness character of the Wilderness; and 

5 (2) in accordance with— 

6 (A) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 

7 seq.), except that any reference in that Act to 

8 the effective date shall be considered to be a 

9 reference to the date of enactment of this Act; 

10 and 

11 (B) the Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 

12 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–328). 

13 (d) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND IN14 TERESTS.—Any land within the boundary of the Wilder15 ness that is acquired by the United States shall— 

16 (1) become part of the Wilderness; and 

17 (2) be managed in accordance with— 

18 (A) this section; and 

19 (B) any other applicable laws. 

20 (e) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this section af21 fects the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State with 

22 respect to wildlife and fish in units of the National Forest 

23 System in the State. 

24 (f) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section cre2 ates any protective perimeter or buffer zone around 

3 the Wilderness. 

4 (2) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE WILDERNESS.—The 

5 fact that a nonwilderness activity or use on land out6 side the Wilderness can be seen or heard within the 

7 Wilderness shall not preclude the activity or use out8 side the boundary of the Wilderness. 

9 (g) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist10 ence on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

11 land within the Wilderness is withdrawn from all forms 

12 of— 

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

14 public land laws; 

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

16 laws; and 

17 (3) disposition under all laws relating to min18 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 

19 (h) PROTECTION OF TRIBAL RIGHTS.—Nothing in 

20 this section diminishes— 

21 (1) any rights of an Indian tribe in existence on 

22 the date of enactment of this Act; or 

23 (2) any tribal rights regarding access to the 

24 Wilderness for tribal activities, including spiritual, 

25 cultural, and traditional food gathering activities. 


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1 SEC. 4. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS, WASSON 

2 CREEK AND FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON. 

3 Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

4 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(208) FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The 4.5-mile segment 

8 of Franklin Creek, Oregon, from the head9 waters of the Creek to the private land bound10 ary in sec. 8, T. 22 S., R. 10 W., to be admin11 istered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a wild 

12 river. 

13 ‘‘(B) LATERAL BOUNDARIES.—Notwith14 standing section 3(b), the lateral boundaries of 

15 the wild river area along Franklin Creek shall 

16 include an average of not more than 640 acres 

17 per mile measured from the ordinary high water 

18 mark on both sides of the Creek. 

19 ‘‘(209) WASSON CREEK, OREGON.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The following seg21 ments of Wasson Creek, Oregon: 

22 ‘‘(i) The 4.2-mile segment from the 

23 eastern edge of sec. 17, T. 21 S., R. 9 W., 

24 downstream to the boundary of sec. 11 and 

25 12, T. 21 S., R. 10 W., to be administered 

26 by the Secretary of Interior as a wild river. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The 5.9-mile segment down2 stream from the boundary of sec. 11 and 

3 12 to the private land boundary in sec. 22, 

4 T. 21 S., R. 10 W., to be administered by 

5 the Secretary of Agriculture as a wild 

6 river. 

7 ‘‘(B) LATERAL BOUNDARIES.—Notwith8 standing section 3(b), the lateral boundaries of 

9 the wild river area along Wasson Creek shall in10 clude an average of not more than 640 acres 

11 per mile measured from the ordinary high water 

12 mark on both sides of the Creek.’’. 

Æ 


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