143 
of the component’s values as wilderness and as wildlife 
habitat, its role in maintaining water quality and native 
biodiversity, its role in the forest reserve system, a list of 
alternative designations for the component consistent with 
the purposes of this Act, and a roadless inventory for the 
component. No provision of this subsection shall be con-
strued to diminish the responsibilities of the Secretary of 
Agriculture with respect to land and resource management 
plans under section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renew-
able Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 
SEC. 405. NATIONAL WILDLAND RECOVERY CORPS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a 
special unit of the Forest Service, to be known as the Na-
tional Wildland Recovery Corps. The National Wildland 
Recovery Corps shall hire the necessary personnel and 
purchase the necessary equipment to carry out its land 
recovery responsibilities under this title. 
(b) RECOVERY PLANS.—Not later than three years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National 
Wildland Recovery Corps shall develop a wildland recovery 
plan for each area of the Recovery System. Each recovery 
plan shall detail necessary work and funding requirements 
needed to implement the management direction estab-
lished under section 404. Each recovery plan shall take 
into account the specific conditions of an area in the Re-
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covery System, including soil type, slope, native species 
composition, road densities, forest cover, the number of 
road 
crossings 
and 
culverts, 
and 
when 
possible, 
predevelopment conditions. Each recovery plan shall set 
forth definite timelines for expected recovery of the area 
to which the plan applies, including a list of management 
activities planned each year, with projected dates for re-
covery. Each recovery plan shall map out the portion, 
within the area of the Recovery System to which the plan 
applies, which will be recovered using active management 
efforts, as well as the portion of such area in which natural 
recovery will occur. Upon completion, a recovery plan shall 
become an amendment to the land and resource manage-
ment plan for the unit of the National Forest System to 
which the plan applies. 
(c) EVALUATION.—The National Wildland Recovery 
Corps shall use measurable criteria to judge the success 
of recovery efforts taken pursuant to this section. Such 
criteria shall include the results of sediment monitoring, 
reductions in open and total road densities, percent forest 
cover, increase in stream mileage available to native fish 
migrations, the results of hydrological measurements to 
determine water flow rates for key watersheds, and the 
abundance of management indicator species that are indic-
ative of ecosystem health. 
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TITLE V—IMPLEMENTATION 
AND MONITORING 
SEC. 501. IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Within three years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly 
submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-
sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re-
sources of the House of Representatives a report that de-
tails the implementation of this Act. The report shall also 
detail any additional work and funding requirements nec-
essary to achieve the purposes of this Act. 
(b) PREPARATION.—The report shall be produced by 
a panel of independent scientists appointed by the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the Soci-
ety for Conservation Biology. 
SEC. 502. INTERAGENCY TEAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture 
and Secretary of the Interior shall jointly establish an 
interagency team, containing equal numbers of partici-
pants from the public and private sectors, to monitor, 
evaluate, and make recommendations to ensure long-term 
results required by this Act. 
(b) GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM.— 
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(1) DEVELOPMENT.—The interagency team 
shall develop a geographic information system for 
monitoring the Northern Rockies Bioregion. The ge-
ographic information system shall be based on sat-
ellite-gathered data and shall include comprehensive 
maps and databases to assist in the detection of 
changes in the Northern Rockies Bioregion. 
(2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.—The maps and 
databases included in the geographic information 
system shall be updated periodically to record the 
following: 
(A) Vegetation cover (with species occur-
rence and densities). 
(B) Human impacts. 
(C) Water and air quality. 
(D) Activities that bear on forest hus-
bandry and restoration. 
(3) STATUS REPORTS.—The geographic infor-
mation system shall include status reports on the 
progress of ecosystem protection, corridor consolida-
tion, and forest recovery efforts and reports on the 
status of threatened and endangered species which 
are primary indicators of ecosystem health. 
(c) WILDLIFE MOVEMENTS.—The interagency team 
shall assess the potential for facilitating wildlife move-
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ments across or under major highways and rail lines with-
in the biological corridors established in title II. This as-
sessment shall identify major crossing points and identify 
possible management actions to enhance the suitability of 
such crossing points as movement corridors, including 
underpasses, overpasses, and other methods for reducing 
the danger to native wildlife while facilitating movements 
within the Northern Rockies Bioregion. 
SEC. 503. ROADLESS LANDS EVALUATION. 
(a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—Roadless lands great-
er than 1,000 acres in size, that are located within the 
National Forest System in the Wild Rockies Bioregion in 
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, or Wyoming, and 
that are not designated as components of the National 
Wilderness Preservation System (under this Act or any 
other law) shall be identified and evaluated by the panel 
of independent scientists appointed under section 501. In 
identifying and evaluating these lands, the panel shall 
make use of existing satellite information and Geographic 
Information System data developed by the Forest Service, 
the Bureau of Land Management, and the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service, in addition to other information 
sources. The panel shall study the role of such lands in 
maintaining biological diversity in the Northern Rockies 
and as part of the overall forest reserve system. The panel 
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shall make recommendations regarding the management 
of the lands, and shall include the recommendations in the 
report required by section 501. 
(b) PROHIBITION.—After completion of the evalua-
tion required by subsection (a), until Congress enacts a 
law based upon the recommendations included in the re-
port required by section 501, no new road construction 
or reconstruction, or timber harvest (except firewood gath-
ering) shall be allowed in the lands described in subsection 
(a). In addition, subject to valid existing rights, no oil or 
gas leasing, mining, or other development which impairs 
the natural and roadless qualities of these lands shall be 
allowed on the lands. 
SEC. 504. NATIVE AMERICAN USES. 
(a) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section and 
section 505, the term ‘‘protected areas’’ means land des-
ignated by this Act as wilderness, wildland recovery areas, 
wild and scenic rivers, and biological corridors. 
(b) NONEXCLUSIVE ACCESS.—In recognition of the 
past use of portions of the protected areas by Native 
Americans for traditional cultural and religious purposes, 
the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall ensure nonexclusive access to these protected 
areas by native people for such traditional cultural and 
religious purposes. Such access shall be consistent with the 
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purpose and intent of Public Law 95–341 (42 U.S.C. 
1996; commonly known as the American Indian Religious 
Freedom Act), and, in the case of land designated as wil-
derness by this Act, the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1121 
et seq.). The Secretaries, in accordance with such laws, 
upon request of an Indian tribe, may from time-to-time 
temporarily close to the general public use of one or more 
specific portions of these protected areas in order to pro-
tect the privacy of religious activities and cultural uses in 
such portions by an Indian people. As part of the prepara-
tion of general management plans for the protected areas, 
the Secretaries shall request that the chief executive offi-
cers of appropriate Indian tribes make recommendations 
with respect to assuring access to important sites, enhanc-
ing the privacy of traditional cultural and religious activi-
ties, and protecting cultural and religious sites. 
(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Forest Service 
and Bureau of Land Management shall enter into coopera-
tive management agreements with the appropriate Indian 
tribes to assure protection of religious, burial, and gath-
ering sites in the protected areas, and shall work coopera-
tively on the management of all uses in the protected areas 
that impact Indian lands and people. 
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TITLE VI—RULES OF 
CONSTRUCTION 
SEC. 601. WATER RIGHTS. 
Nothing in this Act may be construed as a relinquish-
ment or reduction of any water rights reserved, appro-
priated, or otherwise secured by the United States in the 
State of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, or Wash-
ington on or before the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 602. INDIAN TRIBES. 
Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect or 
modify any treaty or other right of an Indian tribe. 
Æ 
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