II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3531 

To designate certain National Forest System land in the State of Idaho 

as wilderness. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2016 

Mr. RISCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To designate certain National Forest System land in the 

State of Idaho 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Act of 2016’’. 

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. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. 

Sec. 4. Administration. 

Sec. 5. Fire. 

Sec. 6. Adjacent management. 


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Sec. 7. Indian tribes. 

Sec. 8. Effect. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

5 (2) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘wilderness 

6 area’’ means the area designated as a component of 

7 the National Wilderness Preservation System by sec8 tion 3(a). 

9 SEC. 3. SCOTCHMAN PEAKS WILDERNESS. 

10 (a) DESIGNATION.—In accordance with the Wilder11 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain National Forest 

12 System land in the State of Idaho comprising approxi13 mately 13,961 acres, as generally depicted on the map en14 titled ‘‘Final Map Scotchman Peaks Wilderness’’ and 

15 dated June 20, 2016, is designated as wilderness and as 

16 a component of the National Wilderness Preservation Sys17 tem and shall be known as the ‘‘Scotchman Peaks Wilder18 ness’’. 

19 (b) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as 

20 practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

21 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

22 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

23 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a map 

24 and legal description for the wilderness area. 


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1 (c) EFFECT.—The map and legal description sub2 mitted under subsection (b) shall have the same force and 

3 effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary 

4 may correct minor errors in the map or legal description. 

5 (d) AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal description 

6 submitted under subsection (b) shall be available for pub7 lic inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest Serv8 ice. 

9 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 

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

11 the wilderness area shall be administered by the Secretary 

12 in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 

13 et seq.), except that any reference in that Act to the effec14 tive date shall be considered to be a reference to the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

16 (b) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

17 the wilderness area is withdrawn from all forms of— 

18 (1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under the 

19 public land laws; 

20 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 

21 laws; and 

22 (3) disposition under the mineral leasing, min23 eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 


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1 (c) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this Act af2 fects the jurisdiction of the State of Idaho with respect 

3 to fish and wildlife on public land in the State. 

4 (d) MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—In furtherance of 

5 the purposes and principles of the Wilderness Act (16 

6 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the Secretary may carry out man7 agement activities to maintain or restore fish and wildlife 

8 populations and habitats to support fish and wildlife popu9 lations within the wilderness area if the management ac10 tivities— 

11 (1) are consistent with relevant wilderness man12 agement plans; 

13 (2) are conducted in accordance with appro14 priate policies, such as the policies established in Ap15 pendix B of the report of the Committee on Interior 

16 and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives 

17 accompanying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress 

18 (House Report 101–405), including the occasional 

19 and temporary use of motorized vehicles; and 

20 (3) as determined by the Secretary, would— 

21 (A) promote healthy, viable, and more nat22 urally distributed wildlife populations that 

23 would enhance wilderness values; and 


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1 (B) accomplish the purpose of the manage2 ment activity with the minimum impact nec3 essary. 

4 SEC. 5. FIRE. 

5 In accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness 

6 Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the Secretary may take such 

7 measures within the wilderness area as the Secretary de8 termines to be necessary for the control of fire, insects, 

9 and disease. 

10 SEC. 6. ADJACENT MANAGEMENT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act creates a pro12 tective perimeter or buffer zone around the wilderness 

13 area. 

14 (b) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE WILDERNESS AREA.—The 

15 fact that an activity or use on land outside the wilderness 

16 area can be seen or heard within the wilderness area shall 

17 not preclude the activity or use outside the wilderness 

18 area. 

19 SEC. 7. INDIAN TRIBES. 

20 (a) ACCESS.—In recognition of the past use of the 

21 wilderness area by Indian tribes for traditional cultural 

22 and religious purposes, the Secretary shall ensure that In23 dian tribes have access to the wilderness area for— 

24 (1) traditional cultural and religious purposes; 

25 and 


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1 (2) exercise of any right reserved by treaty. 

2 (b) TEMPORARY CLOSURES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 

4 the Secretary, on request of an Indian tribe, may 

5 temporarily close to the general public one or more 

6 specific portions of the wilderness area to protect the 

7 privacy of the members of the Indian tribe in the 

8 conduct of the traditional cultural and religious ac9 tivities in the wilderness area. 

10 (2) REQUIREMENT.—Any closure under para11 graph (1) shall be made in such a manner as to af12 fect the smallest practicable area for the minimum 

13 period of time necessary for the activity to be car14 ried out. 

15 (c) APPLICABLE LAW.—Access to the wilderness area 

16 under this section shall be in accordance with— 

17 (1) Public Law 95–341 (commonly known as 

18 the ‘‘American Indian Religious Freedom Act’’) (42 

19 U.S.C. 1996); and 

20 (2) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 

21 seq.). 

22 SEC. 8. EFFECT. 

23 Nothing in this Act diminishes the rights of any In24 dian tribe. 

Æ 


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