II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1975 

To designate additions to the Rich Hole Wilderness and the Rough Mountain 

Wilderness of the George Washington National Forest, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 17, 2017 

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 Rich Hole Wilderness and 

the Rough Mountain 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 2017’’. 


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

2 WILDERNESSES. 

3 Section 1 of Public Law 100–326 (16 U.S.C. 1132 

4 note; 102 Stat. 584; 114 Stat. 2057; 123 Stat. 1002) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

7 land in the George Washington National Forest 

8 comprising approximately 1,000 acres, as generally 

9 depicted as the ‘Rough Mountain Addition’ on the 

10 map entitled ‘GEORGE WASHINGTON NA11 TIONAL FOREST – South half – Alternative I – 

12 Selected Alternative Management Prescriptions – 

13 Land and Resources Management Plan Final Envi14 ronmental Impact Statement’ and dated March 4, 

15 2014, which is incorporated in the Rough Mountain 

16 Wilderness Area designated by paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(22) RICH HOLE ADDITION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—Certain land in the 

19 George Washington National Forest comprising 

20 approximately 4,600 acres, as generally de21 picted as the ‘Rich Hole Addition’ on the map 

22 entitled ‘GEORGE WASHINGTON NA23 TIONAL FOREST – South half – Alternative 

24 I – Selected Alternative Management Prescrip25 tions – Land and Resources Management Plan 

26 Final Environmental Impact Statement’ and 


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1 dated March 4, 2014, which shall be incor2 porated in the Rich Hole Wilderness Area des3 ignated by paragraph (2) on the earlier of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the date on which the Secretary 

5 of Agriculture publishes in the Federal 

6 Register notice that the activities per7 mitted under subparagraph (C) have been 

8 completed; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 5 years after the 

10 date of enactment of the Rich Hole and 

11 Rough Mountain Wilderness Additions Act. 

12 ‘‘(B) MANAGEMENT.—Except as provided 

13 in subparagraph (C), the Secretary shall man14 age the wilderness area designated under sub15 paragraph (A) in accordance with the Wilder16 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(C) WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AC18 TIVITIES.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To enhance nat20 ural ecosystems within the Rich Hole Addi21 tion by implementing certain activities to 

22 improve water quality and aquatic passage, 

23 as set forth in the Forest Service docu24 ment entitled ‘Decision Notice for the 

25 Lower Cowpasture Restoration and ManVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Oct 18, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1975.IS S1975

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1 agement Project’ and dated December 

2 2015, the Secretary of Agriculture may use 

3 motorized equipment and mechanized 

4 transport in the Rich Hole Addition under 

5 subparagraph (A) until the date on which 

6 the Rich Hole Addition is incorporated into 

7 the Rich Hole Wilderness under that sub8 paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out 

10 clause (i), the Secretary of Agriculture, to 

11 the maximum extent practicable, shall use 

12 the minimum tool or administrative prac13 tice necessary to carry out that clause with 

14 the least amount of adverse impact on wil15 derness character and resources.’’. 

Æ 


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