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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2809 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2809

     To amend the Wilderness Act to allow recreation organizations 
 consisting of hikers or horseback riders to cross wilderness areas on 
              established trails, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 10, 2009

    Mr. Lamborn (for himself and Mr. Smith of Texas) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To amend the Wilderness Act to allow recreation organizations 
 consisting of hikers or horseback riders to cross wilderness areas on 
              established trails, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ABILITY OF RECREATION ORGANIZATIONS TO CROSS WILDERNESS 
              AREAS ON ESTABLISHED TRAILS.

    Section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(8) Use by Recreation Organizations.--
            ``(A) Recreation organization defined.--In this paragraph, 
        a `recreation organization' is an organization of hikers or 
        horseback riders--
                    ``(i) whose purposes include one or more of the 
                following:
                            ``(I) the promotion of the development and 
                        preservation of trails throughout Federal 
                        lands;
                            ``(II) the promotion and encouragement of 
                        education of the public about the fragile 
                        nature of mountain and forest ecology and the 
                        necessity for its protection and preservation; 
                        or
                            ``(III) the gathering and dissemination of 
                        information regarding the use and enjoyment of 
                        wilderness areas and other Federal land; and
                    ``(ii) whose leadership has by reputation and 
                practice over a period of at least 10 years 
                demonstrated compliance and consistency with one or 
                more of those purposes.
            ``(B) Members of a recreation organization acting as an 
        organized unit and regardless of their number shall have the 
        right to cross wilderness areas on established trails without 
        restriction as part of a journey along a connecting system of 
        trails across public, private, or wilderness area lands, so 
        long as such travel is conducted within one day and is 
        completed without unreasonable delay. Such travel shall neither 
        be deemed inconsistent with the purposes of a wilderness area 
        nor to affect any wilderness area's opportunities for solitude 
        or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.
            ``(C) The agency administering any wilderness area may 
        limit the exercise of such right within any specific wilderness 
        area to not more than 10 wilderness crossings annually and may 
        establish fair procedures to implement this paragraph, except 
        that the right of a recreation organization hereby granted 
        shall not be impaired during such process.''.
                                 <all>
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