I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6129 

To release the Bodie Wilderness Study Area in Mono County, California. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To release the Bodie Wilderness Study Area in Mono County, 

California. 

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 ‘‘Mono County Eco5 nomic Development Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RELEASE OF BODIE WILDERNESS STUDY AREA, 

7 MONO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Bodie Wilderness Study Area, con10 sisting of 16,482 acres of land, is located in northVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:28 Sep 16, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6129.IH H6129

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1 eastern Mono County, California, approximately nine 

2 miles east of Bridgeport, California. 

3 (2) In 1990, the Bureau of Land Management 

4 issued its California Statewide Wilderness Study Re5 port, containing its recommendations concerning the 

6 Bodie Wilderness Study Area and others, as re7 quired by section 603 of the Federal Land Policy 

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

9 (3) The Bureau of Land Management reviewed 

10 the environmental impact statements covering the 

11 Bodie Wilderness Study Area and in its 1990 report 

12 recommended the Bodie Wilderness Study area as 

13 nonsuitable for wilderness. 

14 (4) The Bureau of Land Management reached 

15 its decision of no wilderness for the Bodie Wilder16 ness Study Area because the area’s potential for 

17 mineral occurrences and motorized recreation needs 

18 outweighs the area’s wilderness values, and second19 arily because the area would be difficult to manage 

20 as wilderness. 

21 (5) The Bureau of Land Management based its 

22 recommendation on the following findings contained 

23 in the environmental impact statement: 


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1 (A) The area contains several hundred 

2 mining claims, many of which may be grand3 fathered. 

4 (B) Most of the area contains moderate to 

5 high metallic mineral potential for gold, silver, 

6 or mercury, or for geothermal resources. 

7 (C) The area sustains and provides oppor8 tunities for motorized recreation. 

9 (D) The highly irregular configuration of 

10 the area as well as the existence of two cherry11 stemmed roads leading to private inholdings 

12 and mining claims would inhibit complete and 

13 effective management as wilderness. 

14 (6) For the purposes of section 603 of the Fed15 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

16 U.S.C. 1782), the Bodie Wilderness Study Area has 

17 been adequately studied for wilderness. 

18 (7) Approximately 96 percent of the land in 

19 Mono County, California, is owned or controlled by 

20 the Federal Government. 

21 (8) Unemployment in Mono County, California, 

22 is approximately 10 percent. 

23 (9) Releasing the Bodie Wilderness Study Area 

24 and opening the wilderness study area for economic 

25 development could create hundreds of good-paying 


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1 jobs and annual tax revenues in the hundreds of mil2 lions of dollars in an economically depressed area. 

3 (b) RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREA.—The 

4 Bodie Wilderness Study Area is no longer subject to the 

5 requirements of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy 

6 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)) or sec7 tion 2002 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 

8 of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 16 U.S.C. 7202). 

9 (c) EFFECT OF RELEASE.—The lands within the 

10 Bodie Wilderness Study Area, as released by subsection 

11 (b), shall return to multiple use management as set forth 

12 in the applicable resource management plan prepared 

13 under section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Man14 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) immediately, with15 out any further action by the Bureau of Land Manage16 ment. 

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