I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5149 

To maintain the rural heritage of the Eastern Sierra and enhance the region’s 

tourism economy by designating certain public lands as wilderness and 

certain rivers as wild and scenic rivers in the State of California, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

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

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To maintain the rural heritage of the Eastern Sierra and 

enhance the region’s tourism economy by designating 

certain public lands as wilderness and certain rivers as 

wild and scenic rivers in the State of California, 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 ‘‘Eastern Sierra Rural 

5 Heritage and Economic Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

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


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1 (1) with respect to land under the jurisdiction 

2 of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Ag3 riculture; and 

4 (2) with respect to land under the jurisdiction 

5 of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the 

6 Interior. 

7 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS. 

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

9 1131 et seq.) the following areas in the State of California 

10 are designated as wilderness areas and as components of 

11 the National Wilderness Preservation System: 

12 (1) HOOVER WILDERNESS ADDITION.— 

13 (A) DESIGNATION.—Certain land in the 

14 Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, comprising 

15 approximately 39,680 acres, as generally de16 picted as Area C on the map entitled ‘‘Hoover 

17 Proposed Wilderness Addition’’ and dated Au18 gust 8, 2005, is incorporated in, and shall be 

19 deemed to be a part of the Hoover Wilderness 

20 as designated by Public Law 88–577. 

21 (B) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF

22 PIUTE CABIN.—The designation under subpara23 graph (A) shall not preclude operation and 

24 maintenance of the existing historic Piute 

25 Cabin, located in the western portion of the 


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1 Hoover Wilderness Addition, in the same man2 ner and degree in which operation and mainte3 nance of such cabin were occurring as of the 

4 date of introduction of this Act. 

5 (C) NO RESTRICTION ON CERTAIN ACTIVI6 TIES.—The designation under subparagraph 

7 (A) is not intended to restrict the ongoing ac8 tivities of the adjacent United States Marine 

9 Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center on 

10 lands outside the wilderness under agreement 

11 with the Secretary. 

12 (2) EMIGRANT WILDERNESS ADDITION.—Cer13 tain land in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, 

14 comprising approximately 640 acres, as generally de15 picted as Area D on the map entitled ‘‘Hoover Pro16 posed Wilderness Addition’’ and dated August 8, 

17 2005, is incorporated in, and which shall be deemed 

18 to be a part of the Emigrant Wilderness as des19 ignated by Public Law 88–577. 

20 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS. 

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

22 each area designated as wilderness by this Act shall be 

23 administered by the Secretary in accordance with the Wil24 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 the 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 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall file a map and legal description of each wilder12 ness 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 United 

4 States 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 the 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 prevenVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:13 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5149.IH H5149

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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 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

9 shall review existing policies applicable to the wilder10 ness areas designated by this Act to ensure that au11 thorized approval procedures for any fire manage12 ment measures allow a timely and efficient response 

13 to fire emergencies in the wilderness areas. 

14 (f) SNOW SENSORS AND STREAM GAUGES.—If the 

15 Secretary determines that hydrologic, meteorologic, or cli16 matological instrumentation is appropriate to further the 

17 scientific, educational, and conservation purposes of the 

18 wilderness areas designated by this Act, nothing in the 

19 Act shall prevent the installation and maintenance of the 

20 instrumentation within the wilderness areas. 

21 (g) MILITARY ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this Act pre22 cludes low-level overflights of military aircraft, the des23 ignation of new units of special airspace, or the use or 

24 establishment of military flight training routes over wil25 derness areas designated by this Act. 


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1 (h) LIVESTOCK.—Grazing of livestock and the main2 tenance of existing facilities related to grazing in the wil3 derness areas designated by this Act, established before 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act shall be permitted 

5 to continue in accordance with— 

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

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

8 (2) the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of 

9 the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular 

10 Affairs of the House of Representatives accom11 panying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 

12 101–405). 

13 (i) FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur15 poses of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 

16 seq.), the Secretary may carry out management ac17 tivities to maintain or restore populations and habi18 tats for fish and wildlife in wilderness areas des19 ignated by this Act if such activities are— 

20 (A) consistent with applicable wilderness 

21 management plans; and 

22 (B) carried out in accordance with applica23 ble guidelines and policies. 


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

2 affects the jurisdiction of the State of California 

3 with respect to fish and wildlife on public land. 

4 (j) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act creates 

6 protective perimeters or buffer zones around the wil7 derness areas designated by this Act. 

8 (2) NON-WILDERNESS ACTIVITIES.—The fact 

9 that non-wilderness activities or uses can be seen or 

10 heard from areas within a wilderness area des11 ignated by this Act shall not preclude the conduct of 

12 those activities or uses outside the boundary of the 

13 wilderness area. 

14 SEC. 5. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATION. 

15 (a) DESIGNATION OF THE AMARGOSA WILD AND

16 SCENIC RIVER, CALIFORNIA.—Section 3(a) of the Wild 

17 and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended 

18 by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(167) AMARGOSA RIVER, CALIFORNIA.—The 

20 following segments of the Amargosa River in the 

21 State of California, to be administered by the Sec22 retary of Interior: 

23 ‘‘(A) The approximately 4.03 miles of the 

24 Amargosa River from the northern boundary of 

25 section 7 T21N R7E to 100 feet upstream of 


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1 the Tecopa Hot Springs road crossing, as a sce2 nic river. 

3 ‘‘(B) The approximately 6.69 miles of the 

4 Amargosa River from 100 feet downstream of 

5 the Tecopa Hot Springs Road crossing to 100 

6 feet upstream of the Old Spanish Trail High7 way crossing near Tecopa, as a scenic river. 

8 ‘‘(C) The approximately 7.82 miles of the 

9 Amargosa River from the northern boundary of 

10 section 16 T20N R7E to the boundary of the 

11 Kingston Range Wilderness excluding the Sper12 ry Wash OHV corridor in section 10 T19N 

13 R7E, as a wild river. 

14 ‘‘(D) The approximately 5.41 miles of the 

15 Amargosa River from the boundary of the 

16 Kingston Range Wilderness in section 10 T19N 

17 R7E to the southern boundary of section 31 

18 T19N R7E, as a recreational river.’’. 

19 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATIONS FOR WINTER MANAGEMENT OF 

20 THE HUMBOLDT-TOIYABE NATIONAL FOREST. 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 

22 annually to the Secretary of Agriculture for management 

23 and enforcement of snowmobile use in areas adjacent to 


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1 the Hoover Wilderness Addition in the Humboldt-Toiyabe 

2 National Forest. 

Æ 


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