reational facilities, such as interpretive facilities, disabled
accessible areas, trailheads, picnic and day-use facilities,
parking areas, scenic lookouts, and campgrounds. These
potential areas shall be identified and coordinated with the
transportation plan.
SEC. 12. EFFECT OF PRESERVE ON ACTIVITIES PRE-
VIOUSLY CONDUCTED IN AREA COVERED BY
PRESERVE.
(a) HUNTING AND FISHING.—Regulations regarding
hunting and fishing in the Preserve shall continue to be
under the jurisdiction of the California Department of
Fish and Game. If hunting and fishing activities adversely
affect the Preserve, the Secretary shall submit rec-
ommendations to the California Department of Fish and
Game regarding changes in such regulations.
(b) FIREWOOD COLLECTION.—The Secretary shall
manage firewood collection based on need and resource
protection, except that the Secretary shall prohibit fire-
wood collection in areas where such collection harms the
resources of the Preserve.
(c) MINERAL AND GEOTHERMAL LEASING.—No pat-
ent may be issued under the mining or geothermal laws
of the United States after the date of the enactment of
this Act on Federal lands in the Preserve, even if the loca-
tion and claim was made before such date. Federal lands
in the Preserve are hereby withdrawn from all forms of
locations, entry, and patent under the United States min-
ing laws, and from the operation of the mineral leasing
laws of the United States, including all laws pertaining
to geothermal leasing.
(d) GRAZING.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to prohibit or regulate recreational or commercial grazing.
Grazing in the Preserve shall continue to be regulated by
the Forest Service.
SEC. 13. EFFECT OF PRESERVE ON OTHER PUBLIC OR PRI-
VATE INTERESTS.
(a) STATE AND LOCAL LANDS.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to affect State-owned, county-owned, or
municipally-owned land located partially or wholly within
the boundaries of the Preserve.
(b) PRIVATELY OWNED LANDS.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to affect the use or ownership of private
land located partially or wholly within the boundaries of
the Preserve on the date of enactment of this Act. Any
action of the Secretary to buy or trade for privately held
lands for inclusion in the Preserve shall require the vol-
untary agreement of the private seller.
(c) SPECIAL-USE PERMITS.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to affect Forest Service special-use per-
mits or leases in effect at the time of the enactment of
this Act.
(d) LEASED PRIVATE HOMES
AND CAMPS.—All
homes and camps with valid leases in the Preserve on the
date of the enactment of this Act, and which are otherwise
in compliance with the terms of the leases, shall continue
and may be renewed. Existing special use permits and
leases for homes and camps within the boundaries of the
Preserve are hereby deemed to be consistent with the pur-
poses of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to affect the renewal of such permits and leases.
SEC. 14. WATER RIGHTS.
(a) RESERVATION OF RIGHT.—The Congress hereby
reserves a quantity of water sufficient to fulfill the pur-
poses of this Act. The priority date of such reserved water
rights shall be the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) PROTECTION OF RIGHT.—The Secretary and all
other officers of the United States shall take all steps nec-
essary to protect the rights reserved by this section, in-
cluding the filing by the Secretary of a claim for the quan-
tification of such rights in any present or future appro-
priate stream adjudication in the courts of the State of
California in which the United States is or may be joined
and which is conducted in accordance with section 208 of
the Act of July 10, 1952 (66 Stat. 560, 43 U.S.C. 666;
commonly referred to as the ‘‘McCarran Amendment’’).
(c) PRESERVATION OF PRIOR RIGHTS.—Nothing in
this Act shall be construed as a relinquishment or reduc-
tion of any water rights reserved or appropriated by the
United States in the State of California on or before the
date of enactment of this Act.
(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The Federal water
rights reserved by this Act are specific to the Preserve.
Nothing in this Act related to the reserved Federal water
rights shall be construed as establishing a precedent with
regard to any future designation, nor shall it constitute
an interpretation of any other Act or any designation
made pursuant thereto.
SEC. 15. PAYMENTS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
(a) SECTION SUPERSEDES OTHER PAYMENT PROVI-
SIONS.—Payments under this section shall be made in lieu
of payments under the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C.
500) and chapter 69 of title 31 of the United States Code
in connection with Federal lands included in the Preserve.
(b) PAYMENTS
REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall
make payments under this section each fiscal year to the
local government of each political subdivision whose
boundaries include Federal lands in the Preserve if such
local government would have received real property tax
revenues had such lands been privately rather than pub-
licly held. In the case of the fiscal year of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall pro rate the payment that
would otherwise be made under this section.
(c) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of the pay-
ment to be made to a local government under this section
shall be equal to the amount of the real property tax which
would be due to the local government with respect to Fed-
eral lands in the Preserve in the fiscal year concerned had
such lands been privately rather than publicly held and
used for timber production in the State of California. For
purposes of this section, the amount of the required pay-
ment be referred to as the ‘‘tax-equivalency amount’’.
(d) 
DETERMINATION
OF
TAX-EQUIVALENCY
AMOUNT.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary, after con-
sultation with the Comptroller General, shall determine a
proposed tax-equivalency amount for all Federal lands in
the Preserve. Upon determining the proposed tax-equiva-
lency amount for any political subdivision, the Secretary
shall notify the local government concerned. If the local
government notifies the Secretary that the local govern-
ment accepts the Secretary’s estimate, the Secretary shall
promptly make such payment to the local government.
(e) DISPUTES.—If a local government objects to the
Secretary’s estimate of the tax-equivalency amount pro-
posed to be paid by the Secretary under this section for
any fiscal year, the local government shall notify the Sec-
retary in writing of the amount which the local govern-
ment estimates to be the correct tax-equivalency amount.
Upon receipt of such notice, the Secretary shall appoint
an arbiter. The local government shall also appoint an ar-
biter. The two arbiters shall jointly appoint a third arbiter.
The three arbiters shall comprise an arbitration panel
which shall determine the tax-equivalency amount to be
paid under this section to the local government. The deter-
mination of the arbitration panel shall be binding on the
Secretary and the local government and shall not be sub-
ject to judicial review, except as provided in sections 10
and 11 of title 9, United States Code.
(f) COSTS OF ARBITRATION.—The costs of any arbi-
tration under subsection (e) shall be paid by the Secretary,
except that if the tax-equivalency amount determined by
the arbitration panel is closer to the amount specified by
the Secretary than to the amount estimated by the local
government, the costs of the arbitration shall be deducted
from the tax-equivalency amount paid to the local govern-
ment.
(g) ACCOUNTING.—As a condition for receiving the
tax-equivalency amount, the local government shall agree
to provide an annual accounting to the Secretary of all
purposes for which the tax-equivalency amount is used and
the amount used for each purpose.
SEC. 16. COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE TASK FORCE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish
a Community Assistance Task Force to oversee the provi-
sion of assistance to communities and workers in political
subdivisions whose boundaries include Federal lands in the
Preserve or contain facilities that milled timber from lands
included in the Preserve during any portion of the five-
year period ending on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(b) COMMUNITY REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE.—Any
community described in subsection (a) that is adversely
affected by loss of Federal timber sales as a result of this
Act may request assistance from the Task Force. The
Task Force shall verify the stated need for the assistance
and the purposes for which the assistance will be used.
(c) TYPES OF COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE.—The Task
Force shall provide assistance (including technical assist-
ance) for the establishment of local community task forces,
retraining programs for workers, diversification of local
economies, and job counseling and job placement services.
Such assistance may be in the form of loans and grants.
The Secretary may authorize the use of facilities, equip-
ment, and personnel of the Department of Agriculture to
provide such assistance.
(d) WORKER REQUESTS
FOR ASSISTANCE.—Any
worker displaced from a job in the timber industry because
of the loss of Federal timber sales as a result of this Act
may request assistance from the Task Force to assist the
worker in securing other employment.
(e) DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNI-
TIES.—The Task Force shall encourage and develop em-
ployment opportunities in the political subdivisions de-
scribed in subsection (a) in forest ecosystem restoration,
recreation, and other forms of employment compatible
with the purposes and provisions of this Act.
(f) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall terminate
five years after the date of its establishment by the Sec-
retary.
SEC. 17. PREPARATION OF BUDGET PROPOSAL FOR PRE-
SERVE.
In preparing the budget proposal for the Preserve for
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall not target any of the
budget to any commodity production in the Preserve. The
amount of the budget request shall be proportionate to
the funds which the Sequoia National Forest received be-
fore the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 18. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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