I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 15

To designate a portion of the Otay Mountain region of California as

wilderness.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

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

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To designate a portion of the Otay Mountain region of

California as wilderness.

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 ‘‘Otay Mountain Wilder5 ness Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds and declares the following:

8 (1) The public lands within the Otay Mountain

9 region of California are one of the last remaining
2

•HR 15 IH

1 pristine locations in western San Diego County,

2 California.

3 (2) This rugged mountain adjacent to the

4 United States-Mexico border is internationally

5 known for its diversity of unique and sensitive

6 plants.

7 (3) This area plays a critical role in San

8 Diego’s multi-species conservation plan, a national

9 model made for maintaining biodiversity.

10 (4) Due to its proximity to the international

11 border, this area is the focus of important law en12 forcement and border interdiction efforts necessary

13 to curtail illegal immigration and protect the area’s

14 wilderness values.

15 (5) The illegal immigration traffic, combined

16 with the rugged topography, also presents unique

17 fire management challenges for protecting lives and

18 resources.

19 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.

20 In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act

21 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain public lands in the Cali22 fornia Desert District of the Bureau of Land Manage23 ment, California, comprising approximately 18,500 acres

24 as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Otay Mountain

25 Wilderness’’ and dated May 7, 1998, are hereby des-
3

•HR 15 IH

1 ignated as wilderness and therefore as a component of the

2 National Wilderness Preservation System, which shall be

3 known as the Otay Mountain Wilderness.

4 SEC. 4. MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the

6 date of enactment of this Act, a map and a legal descrip7 tion for the Wilderness Area shall be filed by the Secretary

8 with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

9 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House

10 of Representatives. Such map and legal description shall

11 have the same force and effect as if included in this Act,

12 except that the Secretary, as appropriate, may correct

13 clerical and typographical errors in such legal description

14 and map. Such map and legal description for the Wilder15 ness Area shall be on file and available for public inspec16 tion in the offices of the Director and California State Di17 rector, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the

18 Interior.

19 (b) UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER.—In carrying

20 out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the south21 ern boundary of the Wilderness Area is 100 feet north

22 of the trail depicted on the map referred to in subsection

23 (a) and is at least 100 feet from the United States-Mexico

24 international border.
4

•HR 15 IH

1 SEC. 5. WILDERNESS REVIEW.

2 The Congress hereby finds and directs that all the

3 public lands not designated wilderness within the bound4 aries of the Southern Otay Mountain Wilderness Study

5 Area (CA–060–029) and the Western Otay Mountain Wil6 derness Study Area (CA–060–028) managed by the Bu7 reau of Land Management and reported to the Congress

8 in 1991, have been adequately studied for wilderness des9 ignation pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Land Pol10 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), and

11 are no longer subject to the requirements contained in sec12 tion 603(c) of that Act pertaining to the management of

13 wilderness study areas in a manner that does not impair

14 the suitability of such areas for preservation as wilderness.

15 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREA.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights

17 and to subsection (b), the Wilderness Area shall be admin18 istered by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions

19 of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except

20 that—

21 (1) any reference in such provisions to the ef22 fective date of the Wilderness Act is deemed to be

23 a reference to the effective date of this Act; and

24 (2) any reference in such provisions to the Sec25 retary of Agriculture is deemed to be a reference to

26 the Secretary of the Interior.
5

•HR 15 IH

1 (b) BORDER ENFORCEMENT, DRUG INTERDICTION,

2 AND WILDLAND FIRE PROTECTION.—Because of the

3 proximity of the Wilderness Area to the United States4 Mexico international border, drug interdiction, border op5 erations, and wildland fire management operations are

6 common management actions throughout the area encom7 passing the Wilderness Area. This Act recognizes the need

8 to continue such management actions so long as such

9 management actions are conducted in accordance with the

10 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and are subject

11 to such conditions as the Secretary considers appropriate.

12 SEC. 7. FURTHER ACQUISITIONS.

13 Any lands within the boundaries of the Wilderness

14 Area that are acquired by the United States after the date

15 of enactment of this Act shall become part of the Wilder16 ness Area and shall be managed in accordance with all

17 the provisions of this Act and other laws applicable to such

18 a wilderness.

19 SEC. 8. NO BUFFER ZONES.

20 The Congress does not intend for the designation of

21 the Wilderness Area by this Act to lead to the creation

22 of protective perimeters or buffer zones around the Wil23 derness Area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or

24 uses can be seen or heard from areas within the Wilder-
6

•HR 15 IH

1 ness Area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or

2 uses up to the boundary of the Wilderness Area.

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

5 (1) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’

6 has the same meaning as that term has in section

7 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

8 Act of 1976.

9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

10 the Secretary of the Interior.

11 (3) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘Wilderness

12 Area’’ means the Otay Mountain Wilderness des13 ignated by section 3.

Æ