IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2806 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 27, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the 

boundary of the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the 

North Cascades National Park in order to allow the 

rebuilding of a road outside of the floodplain while ensuring that there is no net loss of acreage to the Park 

or the Wilderness, and for other purposes. 


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HR 2806 RFS

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds as follows: 

5 (1) In 1988, 93 percent of the North Cascades 

6 National Park Complex was designated the Stephen 

7 Mather Wilderness. 

8 (2) A road corridor was deliberately excluded 

9 from the wilderness designation to provide for the 

10 continued use and maintenance of the upper 

11 Stehekin Valley Road. 

12 (3) The upper Stehekin Valley Road provides 

13 access to Stephen Mather Wilderness trailheads and 

14 North Cascades National Park from the Lake Che15 lan National Recreation Area. 

16 (4) Record flooding in 1995 and again in 2003 

17 caused severe damage to the upper Stehekin Valley 

18 Road and led to the closure of a 9.9-mile section of 

19 the road between Car Wash Falls and Cottonwood 

20 Camp. 

21 (5) The National Park Service currently does 

22 not have the flexibility to rebuild the upper Stehekin 

23 Valley Road away from the Stehekin River due to 

24 the current location of the non-wilderness road cor25 ridor provided by Congress in 1988. 


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HR 2806 RFS

1 (6) It is a high priority that the people of the 

2 United States, including families, the disabled, and 

3 the elderly, have reasonable access to the National 

4 Parks system and their public lands. 

5 (7) The 1995 Lake Chelan National Recreation 

6 Area General Management Plan calls for retaining 

7 vehicle access to Cottonwood Camp. 

8 (8) Tourism associated with the North Cas9 cades National Park Complex is an important part 

10 of the economy for rural communities in the area. 

11 (9) Additional management flexibility would 

12 allow the National Park Service to consider reten13 tion of the upper Stehekin Valley Road in a manner 

14 that provides for no net loss of wilderness. 

15 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS. 

16 The Washington Park Wilderness Act of 1988 (Pub17 lic Law 100–668) is amended by inserting after section 

18 206 the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 207. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS FOR ROAD. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may adjust the 

21 boundaries of the North Cascades National Park and the 

22 Stephen Mather Wilderness in order to provide a corridor 

23 of not more than 100 feet in width along which the 

24 Stehekin Valley Road may be rebuilt— 


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HR 2806 RFS

1 ‘‘(1) outside of the floodplain between milepost 

2 12.9 and milepost 22.8; 

3 ‘‘(2) within one mile of the route, on the date 

4 of the enactment of this section, of the Stehekin Val5 ley Road; 

6 ‘‘(3) within the boundaries of the North Cas7 cades National Park; and 

8 ‘‘(4) outside of the boundaries of the Stephen 

9 Mather Wilderness. 

10 ‘‘(b) NO NET LOSS OF LANDS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The boundary adjustments 

12 made under this section shall be such that equal 

13 amounts of federally owned acreage are exchanged 

14 between the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the 

15 North Cascades National Park, resulting in no net 

16 loss of acreage to either the Stephen Mather Wilder17 ness or the North Cascades National Park. 

18 ‘‘(2) STEHEKIN VALLEY ROAD LANDS.—The 

19 newly designated wilderness shall include the lands 

20 along the route of the Stehekin Valley Road that are 

21 replaced by the reconstruction. 

22 ‘‘(3) EQUALIZATION OF LAND.—If the lands de23 scribed in paragraph (2) contain fewer acres than 

24 the corridor described in subsection (a), the Sec25 retary may designate additional Federal lands in the 


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HR 2806 RFS

1 North Cascades National Park as wilderness, but 

2 such designation may not exceed the amount needed 

3 to equalize the exchange and these additional lands 

4 must be selected from lands that qualify as wilder5 ness under section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act (16 

6 U.S.C. 1131(c)). 

7 ‘‘(c) NO SALE OR ACQUISITION AUTHORIZED.— 

8 Nothing in this Act authorizes the sale or acquisition of 

9 any land or interest in land. 

10 ‘‘(d) NO PRIORITY REQUIRED.—Nothing in this Act 

11 shall be construed as requiring the Secretary to give this 

12 project precedence over the construction or repair of other 

13 similarly damaged roads in units of the National Park 

14 System.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 26, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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