I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4272 

To stop implementation and enforcement of the Forest Service travel management rule and to require the Forest Service to incorporate the needs, 

uses, and input of affected communities before taking any travel management action affecting access to units of the National Forest System 

derived from the public domain, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2014 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To stop implementation and enforcement of the Forest Service travel management rule and to require the Forest 

Service to incorporate the needs, uses, and input of affected communities before taking any travel management 

action affecting access to units of the National Forest 

System derived from the public domain, 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 ‘‘Forest Access in Rural 

5 Communities Act’’. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4272 IH

1 SEC. 2. CONDITIONS ON FOREST SERVICE ACCESS TRAVEL 

2 MANAGEMENT ACTIONS FOR UNITS OF THE 

3 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM DERIVED FROM 

4 THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ACCESS TRAVEL MANAGEMENT ACTION.— 

7 The term ‘‘access travel management action’’ means 

8 any Forest Service action regarding a unit of the 

9 National Forest System that— 

10 (A) will, or can reasonably be expected to, 

11 alter public access to National Forest System 

12 lands of the unit, including any change in ac13 cess using motorized vehicles or nonmotorized 

14 means resulting from— 

15 (i) the decommissioning in whole or in 

16 part of a road, trail, or combination road 

17 and trail system; 

18 (ii) a change in the status of a road 

19 as open or closed; or 

20 (iii) a change in forest road densities; 

21 and 

22 (B) requires the preparation of an environ23 mental impact statement or environmental as24 sessment under the National Environmental 

25 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.). 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4272 IH

1 (2) AFFECTED COUNTY.—The term ‘‘affected 

2 county’’ means— 

3 (A) a political subdivision of a State whose 

4 boundaries contain National Forest System 

5 lands of a unit of the National Forest System 

6 affected by an access travel management action; 

7 or 

8 (B) a political subdivision of a State adja9 cent to a political subdivision of a State de10 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

11 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

13 Chief of the Forest Service. 

14 (4) TRAVEL MANAGEMENT RULE.—The term 

15 ‘‘travel management rule’’ refers to subparts A, B, 

16 and C of part 212 of title 36, Code of Federal Regu17 lations, and subparts A and B of part 261 of such 

18 title. 

19 (5) UNIT OF THE NATIONAL FOREST SYS20 TEM.—The terms ‘‘unit of the National Forest Sys21 tem’’ and ‘‘unit’’ are limited to a unit of the Na22 tional Forest System derived from the public do23 main. 

24 (b) PROHIBITION ON IMPLEMENTATION OR EN25 FORCEMENT OF TRAVEL MANAGEMENT RULE.—ImmeVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Mar 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4272.IH H4272

tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4272 IH

1 diately upon the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

2 cease all implementation and enforcement of the travel 

3 management rule for units of the National Forest System 

4 derived from the public domain. 

5 (c) CONSULTATION WITH AND CONCURRENCE OF

6 AFFECTED COUNTIES.— 

7 (1) CONSULTATION.—As a condition on the 

8 preparation of an environmental impact statement or 

9 environmental assessment under the National Envi10 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et 

11 seq.) for a proposed access travel management ac12 tion, the Secretary shall consult with each affected 

13 county for the purpose of incorporating the needs, 

14 uses, and input of affected counties. 

15 (2) CONCURRENCE.—The Secretary may not 

16 implement an access travel management action un17 less and until the Secretary— 

18 (A) complies with the consultation require19 ment imposed by paragraph (1); and 

20 (B) obtains the concurrence of each af21 fected county for implementation of the access 

22 travel management action. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS