I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 652

To assure that the American people have large areas of land in healthy 

natural condition throughout the country to maximize wildland recreational opportunities for people, maximize habitat protection for native 

wildlife and natural plant communities, and to contribute to a preservation of water for use by downstream metropolitan communities and 

other users, through the establishment of a National Forest Ecosystem 

Protection Program composed of lands within existing wilderness areas 

and adjacent primitive areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2003

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL

To assure that the American people have large areas of 

land in healthy natural condition throughout the country 

to maximize wildland recreational opportunities for people, maximize habitat protection for native wildlife and 

natural plant communities, and to contribute to a preservation of water for use by downstream metropolitan communities and other users, through the establishment of 

a National Forest Ecosystem Protection Program composed of lands within existing wilderness areas and adjacent primitive areas, and for other purposes.
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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Forest Ecosystem Protection Act of 2002’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. National Forest ecosystem protection program. 

Sec. 3. Special management considerations. 

Sec. 4. Land acquisition. 

Sec. 5. Permanent phase out of commercial grazing. 

Sec. 6. Forest plan revision assessments. 

Sec. 7. Original Ecosystem Protection Areas. 

Sec. 8. Delineation of primitive areas on eastern National Forest System lands. 

Sec. 9. Delineation of primitive areas on western National Forest System lands. 

Sec. 10. Compatible management of adjacent Department of the Interior lands. 

Sec. 11. Development of State ecosystem protection areas. 

Sec. 12. Reporting requirements. 

Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations.

8 SEC. 2. NATIONAL FOREST ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION PRO9 GRAM. 

10 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—In order to assure 

11 that the American people have large areas of land in 

12 healthy natural condition throughout the country, which 

13 lands maximize wildland recreational opportunities for 

14 people, maximize habitat protection for native wildlife and 

15 natural plant communities, and contribute to a preserva16 tion of water for use by downstream metropolitan commu17 nities and other users, it is hereby declared to be the policy 

18 of Congress to secure for present and future generations 
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1 of Americans the enduring resource of protected large wild 

2 lands. 

3 (c) ESTABLISHMENT.—To help achieve the policy de4 clared in subsection (a), there is hereby established a Na5 tional Forest Ecosystem Protection Program to be com6 posed of lands within existing units of the National Forest 

7 System that contain one or more large existing wilderness 

8 areas as a core area and a primitive area extending out9 ward therefrom, both of which will be designated as Eco10 system Protection Areas by this Act or a subsequent Act 

11 of Congress. 

12 SEC. 3. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS. 

13 (a) WILDERNESS AREA MANAGEMENT.—Within the 

14 Ecosystem Protection Areas, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

15 acting through the Forest Service (in this Act referred to 

16 as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall manage the wilderness areas as 

17 provided by the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) 

18 and other applicable laws, except that commercial grazing 

19 shall be eliminated therein. 

20 (b) PRIMITIVE AREA MANAGEMENT.—Within the 

21 Ecosystem Protection Areas, the Secretary shall manage 

22 the primitive areas so that primitive recreation and habi23 tat for wildlife will be the paramount considerations and 

24 that all other multiple use activities will only be used to 
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1 reinforce the paramount considerations. Commercial graz2 ing shall be eliminated therein. 

3 (c) PROTECTION AND RESTORATION.—The Sec4 retary, in consultation with State wildlife officials and 

5 through the use of a public participation process, shall 

6 promote the reestablishment or protection of as many ani7 mal and plant species native to the designated Ecosystem 

8 Protection Areas as practical. 

9 SEC. 4. LAND ACQUISITION. 

10 (a) LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 

11 shall strive to acquire all private lands, all mineral rights 

12 not owned by the United States, and all other interests 

13 in lands not owned by the United States, on a willing14 seller/willing-buyer basis, located within any wilderness 

15 area named in this Act and within the primitive areas de16 lineated pursuant to this Act. 

17 (b) EFFECT OF ACQUISITION.—For each acre of land 

18 acquired by the Secretary under this section, a payment 

19 in lieu of taxes shall be made to the county in which the 

20 property is located equal to $1.50 per acre per year, plus 

21 an increase every year based on the percentage change in 

22 the Consumer Price Index. For these newly acquired 

23 acres, no other payment shall be made to the county based 

24 on any other Federal law. 
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1 SEC. 5. PERMANENT PHASE OUT OF COMMERCIAL GRAZ2 ING. 

3 (a) GRAZING PHASE OUT TIMETABLE.—The Sec4 retary shall provide for the elimination of commercial 

5 grazing on all allotments located wholly or partially in wil6 derness areas or primitive areas within the Ecosystem 

7 Protection Areas. Within allotments located wholly within 

8 the core wilderness areas, grazing shall be eliminated in 

9 10 years. Within allotments having more than 50 percent, 

10 but less than 100 percent, of their area in core wilderness 

11 areas, grazing shall be eliminated in 12 years. Within al12 lotments having 50 percent or less of their area in core 

13 wilderness areas, including those allotments located wholly 

14 in a primitive area east of the 104th meridian, grazing 

15 shall be eliminated in 14 years. 

16 (b) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION.—In the case of Eco17 system Protection Areas located west of the 104th merid18 ian, the Secretary shall notify every allottee and allotment 

19 manager whose allotment is wholly or partially within a 

20 core wilderness area that the allotment will become graz21 ing-free within the number of years provided in subsection 

22 (a). The notification shall include the options available to 

23 the person under this section. The names and areas of 

24 the allotments shall be printed in the local newspapers. 

25 Each of these steps shall be completed within one year 

26 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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1 (c) ASSISTANCE.—In designated Ecosystem Protec2 tion Areas, the Secretary—

3 (1) shall make an economic transition payment 

4 to an allotee when grazing is phased out; 

5 (2) shall make an additional early-out payment 

6 to a willing allotee for the early permanent retire7 ment of the remaining years of grazing privileges be8 fore the applicable date specified in subsection (a); 

9 (3) shall purchase the base property, if so re10 quested by the owner, of any such allotment from a 

11 willing seller, if it is located within the boundaries 

12 of a unit of the National Forest System; 

13 (4) shall make funds available to the Bureau of 

14 Land Management as an economic transition pay15 ment for the permanent phase out of grazing on any 

16 Bureau of Land Management winter allotment af17 fected by a summer allotment impacted by this Act, 

18 if so requested by the allotee; 

19 (5) may grant a one year extension for extenu20 ating circumstances to the number of years indicated 

21 in subsection (a) for the allotment to become grazing 

22 free, if the allotee applies for the extension from one 

23 year to 6 months before the date otherwise applica24 ble under subsection (a); 
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1 (6) may allocate any agency funds for these 

2 purposes; and 

3 (7) may attempt to acquire any property au4 thorized for purchase by this Act, including the 

5 above described base properties and any mineral 

6 rights, and to retire the grazing privileges early, in 

7 cooperation with land trusts or other private parties 

8 dedicated to the preservation of open space. 

9 (d) GRAZING PHASE OUT ON WINTER ALLOT10 MENTS.—The Bureau of Land Management shall perma11 nently phase out grazing on any winter allotment covered 

12 by subsection (c)(4). 

13 (e) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 

14 Act shall be construed to affect the Government’s author15 ity to otherwise modify or terminate grazing permits. 

16 (f) NO PROPERTY RIGHT CREATED.—Payments dis17 tributed according to this section shall not create a prop18 erty right in grazing permit holders. 

19 (g) TREATMENT OF GRAZING REVENUES.—For each 

20 grazing allotment affected by this section, the average an21 nual revenues from grazing shall be computed for the 

22 three full fiscal years before the date of the enactment 

23 of this Act. The number so computed shall be utilized for 

24 every year hereafter as a component for any Federal pro25 gram that provides for payments in lieu of taxes to units 
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1 of local government, based on revenues received by the 

2 Secretary, irrespective of the absence of revenues from 

3 that allotment once grazing is phased out. 

4 SEC. 6. FOREST PLAN REVISION ASSESSMENTS. 

5 (a) ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED.—In any Ecosystem 

6 Protection Area located east of the 104th meridian in the 

7 contiguous 48 States, the Secretary shall include the fol8 lowing assessments as part of the first round of Forest 

9 Service land and resource management plan revisions for 

10 each of these areas made after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act: 

12 (1) An assessment of expanding the designated 

13 wilderness area or creating new wilderness areas in 

14 all the primitive areas created by this Act. 

15 (2) An assessment of the ecological benefit to 

16 be derived from closing any unimproved roads bi17 secting any such areas within encircling improved 

18 roads and from closing any improved roads cherry 

19 stemmed into those areas. 

20 (3) An assessment of the appropriate manage21 ment practices most likely to improve habitat for key 

22 species in any of the above described areas, if those 

23 areas are not to be proposed to Congress as new wil24 derness areas. 
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1 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Each assessment re2 quired by this section shall utilize all the procedures de3 signed to provide public input into the Forest Service plan4 ning process. 

5 SEC. 7. ORIGINAL ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION AREAS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The original Ecosystem Protec7 tion Areas include one or more of the largest existing For8 est Service wilderness areas in the following States, includ9 ing any adjacent wilderness areas or wilderness areas sep10 arated by no more than a road corridor, and surrounding 

11 primitive areas delineated as provided in section 8 or 9. 

12 (b) DESIGNATION.—The Ecosystem Protection 

13 Areas, and the wilderness area forming the their core, are 

14 as follows: 

15 (1) Alabama: 

16 (A) Sipsey. 

17 (2) Alaska: 

18 (A) Misty Fiords. 

19 (3) Arizona: 

20 (A) Mazatzal. 

21 (B) Blue Range (also in New Mexico), in22 cluding the Blue Range Primitive Area. 

23 (C) Chiricahua. 

24 (4) Arkansas: 

25 (A) Hurricane Creek. 
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1 (B) Upper Kiamichi (also in Oklahoma). 

2 (5) California: 

3 (A) High Sierra, including John Muir, 

4 Ansel Adams, Golden Trout, Monarch, Dinkey 

5 Lakes, South Sierra, Dome Land, Hoover and 

6 Emigrant. 

7 (B) Trinity Alps. 

8 (6) Colorado: 

9 (A) Weminuche. 

10 (B) West Elk. 

11 (C) South San Juan. 

12 (7) Florida: 

13 (A) Big Gum Swamp. 

14 (B) Bradwell Bay. 

15 (8) Georgia: 

16 (A) Cohutta (also in Tennessee). 

17 (B) Southern Nantahala (also in North 

18 Carolina). 

19 (9) Idaho: 

20 (A) Central Idaho Massif, including Frank 

21 Church-River of No Return, Selway–Bitterroot 

22 (also in Montana), and Gospel Hump. 

23 (B) Hells Canyon (also in Oregon). 

24 (10) Indiana: 

25 (A) Charles C. Deam. 
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1 (11) Kentucky: 

2 (A) Clifty. 

3 (12) Maine: 

4 (A) Caribou-Speckled Mountain. 

5 (13) Michigan: 

6 (A) Sylvania. 

7 (14) Minnesota: 

8 (A) Boundary Waters Canoe Area. 

9 (15) Missouri: 

10 (A) Irish. 

11 (16) Montana: 

12 (A) Montana Rockies, including Bob Mar13 shal, Great Bear, and Scapegoat. 

14 (B) Central Idaho Massif, including 

15 Selway-Bitterroot (also in Idaho). 

16 (C) Yellowstone, including Lee Metcalf and 

17 Absaroka-Beartooth (also in Wyoming). 

18 (17) Nevada: 

19 (A) Arc Dome. 

20 (18) New Hampshire: 

21 (A) Pemiwegasset. 

22 (B) Presidential Range-Dry River. 

23 (C) Sandwich Range. 

24 (19) New Mexico: 

25 (A) Gila including Gila and Aldo Leopold. 
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1 (B) Blue Range (also in Arizona). 

2 (20) North Carolina: 

3 (A) Citico Creek (also in Tennessee), in4 cluding Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock. 

5 (B) Southern Nantahala (also in Georgia). 

6 (21) Oklahoma: 

7 (A) Upper Kiamichi (also in Arkansas). 

8 (22) Oregon: 

9 (A) Hells Canyon, including Hells Canyon 

10 (also in Idaho) and Eagle Cap. 

11 (23) Pennsylvania: 

12 (A) Hickory Creek. 

13 (24) South Dakota: 

14 (A) Black Elk. 

15 (25) Tennessee: 

16 (A) Cohutta including Big Frog (also in 

17 Georgia). 

18 (B) Citico Creek including Joyce Kilmer19 Slickrock (also in North Carolina). 

20 (26) Texas: 

21 (A) Upland Island. 

22 (B) Indian Mounds. 

23 (27) Utah: 

24 (A) High Uintas. 

25 (28) Vermont: 
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1 (A) Breadloaf. 

2 (B) Lyle Brook. 

3 (29) Virginia: 

4 (A) Mountain Lake (also in West Vir5 ginia). 

6 (30) Washington: 

7 (A) North Cascades including Glacier 

8 Peak, Pasayten, Lake Chelan-Sawtooth, Mt. 

9 Baker, and Noisy Diobsud. 

10 (31) West Virginia: 

11 (A) Cranberry. 

12 (B) Mountain Lake (also in Virginia). 

13 (32) Wisconsin: 

14 (A) Headwaters. 

15 (33) Wyoming: 

16 (A) Yellowstone including Washakie, 

17 Teton, North Absaroka, Winegar Hole, Jeddiah 

18 Smith, Absaroka-Beartooth (also in Montana) 

19 and Lee Metcalf (wholly in Montana). 

20 (B) Wind River including Bridger, 

21 Fitzpatrick and Popo Agie. 

22 SEC. 8. DELINEATION OF PRIMITIVE AREAS ON EASTERN 

23 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS. 

24 (a) DELINEATION REQUIRED; TIMETABLE.—In the 

25 case of units of the National Forest System located east 
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1 of the 104th meridian in the contiguous 48 States, the 

2 Secretary shall delineate primitive areas around core wil3 derness areas as soon as practicable, but in no case more 

4 than three years after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act, as an amendment to the applicable land and resource 

6 management plan. 

7 (b) CONTENT.—The primitive areas delineated under 

8 this section shall include all areas from the wilderness 

9 boundary out to the nearest improved roads on all sides 

10 of the wilderness area and enough additional acreage to 

11 result in an Ecosystem Protection Area that is at least 

12 50,000 acres and twice as large as the core wilderness 

13 area. In all cases, the primitive area shall be as compact 

14 as possible and designed to include as many natural com15 munities as possible, including mountains, valleys, and 

16 other natural areas. 

17 (c) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In delineating the 

18 primitive areas, the Secretary shall exclude as many resi19 dential areas as possible. Along national or State des20 ignated trails, such as the Appalachian Trail, or natural 

21 biological corridors, the Secretary shall extend the primi22 tive areas further in each direction from the core wilder23 ness area. 

24 (d) ROADS.—The Secretary shall begin closing 

25 unmapped roads, temporary roads, and unimproved cher-
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1 ry-stemmed roads in a primitive area as soon as prac2 ticable after the primitive area has been delineated, unless 

3 such roads provide access to private property. 

4 (e) GRAZING.—Any commercial grazing permitted, as 

5 of the date of the enactment of this Act, in the primitive 

6 areas delineated under this section shall be phased out as 

7 provided in section 5. 

8 SEC. 9. DELINEATION OF PRIMITIVE AREAS ON WESTERN 

9 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS. 

10 In the case of an Ecosystem Protection Areas located 

11 west of the 104th meridian, the Secretary shall identify 

12 every grazing allotment that is partially within a core wil13 derness area, and the portions of those allotments located 

14 outside of the core wilderness area shall be the primitive 

15 areas for that Ecosystem Protection Area. 

16 SEC. 10. COMPATIBLE MANAGEMENT OF ADJACENT DE17 PARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LANDS. 

18 Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the 

19 Interior that are adjacent to the Ecosystem Protection 

20 Areas shall be managed in a manner compatible with the 

21 management of the Ecosystem Protection Areas. 

22 SEC. 11. DEVELOPMENT OF STATE ECOSYSTEM PROTEC23 TION AREAS. 

24 The Secretary shall provide technical and financial 

25 assistance to enable States to acquire an Ecosystem Pro-
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1 tection Area on State-owned lands of a similar character 

2 and size to the Ecosystem Protection Areas designated by 

3 this Act. Such State Ecosystem Protection Areas shall be 

4 based on one of the largest State-owned Natural Areas, 

5 Wilderness Areas, State Parks, State Forests, State Wa6 tershed Management Areas, or State Wildlife Management 

7 Areas in any State without a National Forest or Grassland 

8 of 50,000 or more acres. 

9 SEC. 12. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

10 (a) INFORMATION ON ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION

11 AREAS.—As part of the annual report to Congress pre12 pared by the Secretary on the status of the National Wil13 derness Preservation System, the Secretary shall include 

14 appropriate information concerning the Ecosystem Protec15 tion Areas and the administration of this Act. 

16 (b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FIFTH REPORT.—

17 The annual report described in subsection (a) to be sub18 mitted to Congress in the fifth year after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act shall contain the following: 

20 (1) An assessment and evaluation of all steps 

21 taken during the four preceding years pursuant to 

22 this Act. 

23 (2) Recommendations regarding the designation 

24 of additional or the expansion of existing Ecosystem 

25 Management Areas. 
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1 (3) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

2 procedures for creating grazing free areas and the 

3 environmental advantages created in those areas. 

4 (4) Recommendations regarding whether the 

5 procedures evaluated under paragraph (3) should be 

6 extended to all Forest Service wilderness areas. 

7 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 (a) LAND ACQUISITION IN EASTERN UNITED

9 STATES.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

10 Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2017 

11 $100,000,000 for the purchase of private lands and other 

12 lands not owned by the United States located in primitive 

13 areas delineated east of the 104th meridian in the contig14 uous 48 States. Pending the delineation of primitive areas 

15 under section 8, the Secretary shall purchase lands in 

16 areas that the Secretary anticipates including in the Eco17 system Protection Areas. 

18 (b) LAND ACQUISITION IN WESTERN WILDERNESS

19 AREAS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

20 Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2017 

21 $5,000,000 for the purchase of private lands and other 

22 lands not owned by the United States in the Wilderness 

23 Areas located west of the 104th meridian in the contig24 uous 48 States. 
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1 (c) ELIMINATION OF GRAZING.—There is authorized 

2 to be appropriated to the Secretary for each of the fiscal 

3 years 2004 through 2017 $1,000,000 for the purpose of 

4 carrying out section 5, including providing economic tran5 sition payments, early-out payments, and qualifying base 

6 property purchase payments and covering Forest Service 

7 expenses in finding an allotee a new allotment, when re8 quested by the allotee. 

9 (d) SUPPORT FOR STATES WITHOUT ECOSYSTEM

10 PROTECTION AREAS.—There is authorized to be appro11 priated to the Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2004 

12 through 2017 $33,000,000 to assist States in the pur13 chase of private lands in a State designated Ecosystem 

14 Protection Area developed pursuant to section 11 if the 

15 State agrees to manage that area in a manner similar to 

16 that proposed for Ecosystem Protection Areas designated 

17 in this Act.

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