Oregon and California Land Grant Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-1784
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2013-12-09 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Air quality
Birds
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Dams and canals
Ecology
Electric power generation and transmission
Endangered and threatened species
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fires
Fishes
Forests, forestry, trees
Indian lands and resources rights
Lakes and rivers
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Licensing and registrations
Monuments and memorials
Oregon
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Railroads
Roads and highways
Rural conditions and development
Water quality
Water storage
Water use and supply
Watersheds
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2013-12-09
text: 
Oregon and California Land Grant Act of 2013 - Names the Act of August 28, 1937, as the Oregon and California Land Grant Act. 
 
Requires the management of those parts of certain revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands that are classified as timberland or power-site land valuable for timber (the covered land) in accordance with specified requirements. 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) prohibit the cutting or removal of any old growth in a covered area, (2) carry out an aquatic conservation strategy to promote specified objectives, and (3) determine moist forests and dry forests. 
Declares that timber harvest in riparian reserves shall only occur in stands less than or equal to 80 years of age. 
Establishes the Rogue and Molalla National Recreation Areas in Oregon. 
Establishes in Oregon: (1) the McKenzie Drinking Water Special Management Unit, (2) the Hillsboro Drinking Water Special Management Unit, (3) the Clackamas Drinking Water Special Management Unit, and (4) the Springfield Drinking Water Special Management Unit. 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer 2,050 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land as part of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon. 
Establishes a special resources management unit in Oregon as the Illinois Valley Salmon and Botanical Area. 
Establishes a protection and management corridor in Oregon as the Pacific Crest Trail Corridor. 
Provides for the management of specified Primitive Backcountry Areas. 
Establishes Special Environmental Zones. 
Directs the Secretary to seek a specified land consolidation involving exchanges of the covered land and private or Oregon-owned land. Requires the sale of certain of the covered land identified as Land Tenure, Zone 3. 
Excludes certain eligible activities on the covered land categorically from the requirements for an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement and exempts such activities from administrative review. 
Directs the Secretary to seek to close or decommission nonessential BLM roads on the covered land. Establishes a Legacy Roads and Trails Program to provide urgently needed road decommissioning. 
Directs the Secretary to designate 50,000 acres across two to five sites in moist and dry forests, to be comanaged by the Secretary and Oregon State University as special management and research areas. 
 
Requires the Secretary to establish guidelines to ensure that specified trees are not cut in covered areas. 
 
Directs the Secretary to convene a scientific and technical advisory panel to review whether this Act's provisions been implemented so as to result in robust timber harvests and to maintain environmental values. 
 
Requires the annual distribution of all funds deposited in the Oregon and California Railroad Land-Grant Fund to counties containing the covered land. 
 
Designates specified river segments in Oregon as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
 
Holds approximately 14,804 acres of specified federal land in trust for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians.
 
Holds approximately 17,826 acres of specified federal land in trust for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. 
 
 Adds approximately 56,100 acres of specified federal land in Oregon to the Wild Rogue Wilderness. 
 
Adds also to the Wild Rogue Wilderness certain public land in Oregon administered by the Secretary and comprising approximately 600 acres as potential wilderness.
 
 Adds specified segments of creeks to the designation of the Rogue River in Oregon as a component of the national wild and scenic rivers system. 
 
 Designates approximately 30,540 acres of certain Forest Service and BLM land in Oregon as the Devil's Staircase Wilderness and as wilderness and a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. 
 
Designates the Franklin and Wasson Creeks in Oregon as wild rivers and as components of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Designates specified segments of the Molalla River in Oregon as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Renames the Squaw Creek in Oregon as Wychus Creek.

Makes corrections to the segment designations for the Chetco River, Oregon, including revising segment lengths. 

action_date: 2014-12-11
text: 
Oregon and California Land Grant Act of 2014 - Amends the O&C Lands Act of 1937 to establish uses and management requirements for the Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road grant land and other Oregon land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Forest Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Designates separate portions of the land for conservation and timber harvesting. 
 
Specifies requirements for managing the land, including: prohibiting the harvesting of trees of a specified age in certain areas, stating that Oregon retains jurisdiction over fish and wildlife, restricting the use of pesticides, and authorizing treatment of hazardous fuels on adjacent private lands.
 
Directs the Department of the Interior to identify projects proposed under this Act, assess implementation, and complete other specified reports and analyses. 
 
Establishes requirements for timber harvests on designated lands, including calculating projected harvests, restricting roads, harvesting timber to reduce the likelihood of wildfires, and prioritizing treatments near communities. 
 
Designates lands for conservation purposes and establishes requirements for management, including restricting timber harvesting, motorized vehicles, and roads. 
 
Sets forth procedures for administrative and judicial review of projects under this Act. Specifies a formula for sharing receipts generated on land between the U.S. Treasury, the BLM, and counties. 
 
Transfers specified BLM-administered lands to be held in trust as reservations for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians; and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. 
 
Establishes and modifies specified wilderness areas and designations under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-12-11
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 646.
action_date: 2014-12-11
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Landrieu with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-307.
action_date: 2014-12-11
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Landrieu with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-307.
action_date: 2014-11-13
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2014-02-06
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-349.
action_date: 2013-12-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2013-12-09
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8572)
action_date: 2013-12-09
text: Introduced in Senate