I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2888 

To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area 

in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin 

Creeks in the State of Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2009 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. WU, and Mr. SCHRADER) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the designation of the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area in the State of Oregon, to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State of 

Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, 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 ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wil5 derness Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREA, DEVIL’S 

2 STAIRCASE WILDERNESS, OREGON. 

3 (a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of 

4 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the Federal 

5 land in the State of Oregon administered by the Forest 

6 Service and the Bureau of Land Management, comprising 

7 approximately 29,650 acres, as generally depicted on the 

8 map titled ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Proposed Wilderness Area’’, 

9 dated June 9, 2009, are designated as a wilderness area 

10 for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation Sys11 tem and to be known as the ‘‘Devil’s Staircase Wilder12 ness’’. 

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

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

15 the Secretary shall file with the Committee on Natural Re16 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com17 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

18 a map and legal description of wilderness area designated 

19 by subsection (a). The map and legal description shall 

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

21 except that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo22 graphical errors in the map and description. In the case 

23 of any discrepancy between the acreage specified in sub24 section (a) and the map, the map shall control. The map 

25 and legal description shall be on file and available for pubVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:06 Jun 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888

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1 lic inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Serv2 ice. 

3 (c) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

4 the Secretary shall manage the wilderness area designated 

5 by subsection (a) as wilderness. 

6 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION. 

7 The Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area shall be ad8 ministered by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Inte9 rior— 

10 (1) so as to maintain and restore the wilderness 

11 character and for inclusion in the National Wilder12 ness Preservation System; and 

13 (2) in accordance with the Wilderness Act and 

14 the Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984, except that, 

15 with respect to the wilderness area, any reference in 

16 the Wilderness Act to the effective date of that Act 

17 shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 4. INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND INTER20 ESTS. 

21 Any land within the boundary of the wilderness area 

22 designated by this Act that is acquired by the United 

23 States shall— 

24 (1) become part of the Devil’s Staircase Wilder25 ness Area; and 


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1 (2) be managed in accordance with this Act and 

2 any other applicable law. 

3 SEC. 5. FISH AND WILDLIFE. 

4 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting 

5 the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State of Oregon 

6 with respect to wildlife and fish in the national forests. 

7 SEC. 6. BUFFER ZONES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—As provided in the Oregon Wilder9 ness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98– 

10 328), Congress does not intend for designation of the wil11 derness area under this Act to lead to the creation of pro12 tective perimeters or buffer zones around the wilderness 

13 area. 

14 (b) ACTIVITIES OR USES UP TO BOUNDARIES.—The 

15 fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or 

16 heard from within a wilderness area shall not, of itself, 

17 preclude the activities or uses up to the boundary of the 

18 wilderness area. 

19 SEC. 7. WITHDRAWAL. 

20 Subject to valid rights in existence on the date of en21 actment of this Act, the Federal land designated as wilder22 ness area by this Act is withdrawn from all forms of— 

23 (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 

24 public land laws; 


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

2 laws; and 

3 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min4 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 

5 SEC. 8. PROTECTION OF TRIBAL RIGHTS. 

6 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish— 

7 (1) the existing rights of any Indian tribe; or 

8 (2) tribal rights regarding access to Federal 

9 lands for tribal activities, including spiritual, cul10 tural, and traditional food gathering activities. 

11 SEC. 9. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS, WASSON 

12 CREEK AND FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON. 

13 Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

14 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by inserting a new para15 graphs: 

16 ‘‘(ll) FRANKLIN CREEK, OREGON.— 

17 ‘‘(A) The 4.5-mile segment from the head18 waters to the private land boundary in section 

19 8 to be administered by the Secretary of Agri20 culture as a wild river. 

21 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding section 3(b), the lat22 eral boundaries of the wild river area along 

23 Franklin Creek shall include an average of not 

24 more than 640 acres per mile measured from 


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1 the ordinary high water mark on both sides of 

2 the river. 

3 ‘‘(ll) WASSON CREEK, OREGON.— 

4 ‘‘(A) The 4.2-mile segment from the east5 ern edge of section 17 downstream to the 

6 boundary of sections 11 and 12 to be adminis7 tered by the Secretary of Interior as a wild 

8 river. 

9 ‘‘(B) The 5.9-mile segment downstream 

10 from the boundary of sections 11 and 12 to the 

11 private land boundary in section 22 to be ad12 ministered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a 

13 wild river. 

14 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding section 3(b), the lat15 eral boundaries of the wild river area along 

16 Wasson Creek shall include an average of not 

17 more than 640 acres per mile measured from 

18 the ordinary high water mark on both sides of 

19 the river.’’. 

Æ 


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