IB
Union Calendar No. 164
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2488
[Report No. 107–269]
To designate certain lands in the Pilot Range in the State of Utah as
wilderness, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 12, 2001
Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
NOVEMBER 5, 2001
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 12, 2001]
A BILL
To designate certain lands in the Pilot Range in the State
of Utah as wilderness, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS.
(a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of
the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain Federal
lands in Box Elder County, Utah, which comprise approxi-
mately 23,021 acres, as generally depicted on a map enti-
tled ‘‘Pilot Range Wilderness’’ and dated October 1, 2001,
are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as com-
ponents of the National Wilderness Preservation System,
and shall be known as the Pilot Range Wilderness.
(b) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)
shall file a map and legal description of the Pilot Range
Wilderness with the Committee on Resources of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources of the Senate. Such map and description
shall have the same force and effect as if included in this
Act, except that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo-
graphical errors in such map and legal description. The
map and legal description shall be on file and available
for public inspection in the office of the Director of the Bu-
reau of Land Management and the office of the State Direc-
tor of the Bureau of Land Management in the State of
Utah, Department of the Interior.
SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATION OF PILOT RANGE WILDERNESS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights and
this Act, the Pilot Range Wilderness shall be administered
by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of the
Wilderness Act, except that any reference in such provisions
to the effective date of the Wilderness Act (or any similar
reference) shall be deemed to be a reference to the effective
date of this Act.
(b) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LANDS AND INTER-
ESTS.—Any privately owned lands or interest in lands
within or abutting the boundaries of the Pilot Range Wil-
derness that are acquired by the United States after the date
of the enactment of this Act shall be added to and adminis-
tered as part of the Pilot Range Wilderness.
(c) STATE FISH AND WILDLIFE.—As provided in sec-
tion 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act, nothing in this Act shall
be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or responsibilities
of the State of Utah with respect to wildlife and fish on
the public lands located in that State.
(d) ACQUISITION OF LANDS AND INTERESTS.—The
Secretary may offer to acquire from nongovernmental enti-
ties lands and interest in lands located within or abutting
the Pilot Range Wilderness. Such lands may be acquired
at fair market value under this subsection by exchange, do-
nation, or purchase from willing sellers.
(e) WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.—In furtherance of the
purposes and principles of the Wilderness Act, management
activities to maintain or restore fish and wildlife popu-
lations and the habitats to support such populations may
be carried out within the Pilot Range Wilderness where con-
sistent with relevant wilderness management plans, in ac-
cordance with appropriate policies and guidelines such as
those set forth in appendix B of the Report of the Committee
on Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany H.R. 2570
of the One Hundred First Congress (H. Rept. 101–405).
(f) NATIONAL DEFENSE LANDS.—
(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(A) The testing and development of military
weapons systems and the training of military
forces are critical to ensuring the national secu-
rity of the United States.
(B) The Utah Test and Training Range
and Dugway Proving Ground are unique and ir-
replaceable national assets at the core of the De-
partment of Defense’s test and training mission.
(C) The Pilot Range Wilderness is located
near lands withdrawn for military use and be-
neath special use airspace critical to the support
of military test and training missions on the
Utah Test and Training Range and Dugway
Proving Ground.
(D) Continued unrestricted access to the
special use airspace and lands which comprise
the Utah Test and Training Range and Dugway
Proving Ground is a national security priority
and is not incompatible with the protection and
proper management of the natural, environ-
mental, cultural, and other resources of the Fed-
eral lands designated as wilderness by this Act.
(2) OVERFLIGHTS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act, the
Wilderness Act, or other land management laws
generally applicable to the Pilot Range Wilder-
ness, shall restrict or preclude low-level over-
flights, low-level military overflights and oper-
ations of military aircraft, helicopters, un-
manned aerial military overflights or military
overflights and operations that can be seen or
heard within those areas. There shall be no re-
strictions or preclusions to altitude or airspeed,
noise level, supersonic flight, route of flight, time
of flight, seasonal usage, or numbers of flights of
any military aircraft, helicopters, unmanned
aerial vehicles, missiles, aerospace vehicles, and
other military weapons systems over the Pilot
Range Wilderness. As used in this paragraph,
the term ‘‘low-level’’ includes any flight down to
and including 10 feet above ground level.
(B) MODIFICATION
IN
USE.—Nothing in
this Act, the Wilderness Act, or other land man-
agement laws generally applicable to the Pilot
Range Wilderness, shall restrict or preclude the
designation of new units of special use airspace,
the expansion of existing units of special use air-
space, or the use or establishment of military
training routes over the Pilot Range Wilderness.
(3) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary
shall enter into a formal memorandum of under-
standing to establish the procedures and guide-
lines for the use of the Pilot Range Wilderness,
including the following:
(i) Procedures and guidelines to ensure
immediate access which may be necessary to
respond to emergency situations, including
the search, rescue, and recovery of personnel
and the recovery and investigation of mili-
tary aircraft or other weapons systems.
(ii) Procedures and guidelines to deter-
mine the control, restriction, or prohibition