An act to designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Arkansas for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.
PL 98-508 (S.2125), enacted 10/19/1984

PUBLIC LAW 98-508—OCT. 19, 1984 
98 STAT. 2349 
Public Law 98-508 
98th Congress 
An Act 
To designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Arkansas for 
inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That this Act may 
be cited as the "Arkansas Wilderness Act of 1984". 
SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds that— 
(1) many areas of undeveloped national forest system lands in 
the State of Arkansas possess outstanding natural characteris-
tics which give them high values as wilderness and will, if 
properly preserved, contribute as an enduring resource of wil-
derness for the benefit of the American people; 
(2) the Department of Agriculture's second roadless area 
review and evaluation (RARE II) of national forest system lands 
in the State of Arkansas and the related congressional review of 
such lands have identified areas which, on the basis of their 
land-form, ecosystem, associated wildlife, and location, will help 
to fulfill the national forest system's share of a quality National 
Wilderness Preservation System; and 
(3) the Department of Agriculture's second roadless area 
review and evaluation of national forest system lands in the 
State of Arkansas and the related congressional review of such 
lands have also identified areas which do not possess outstand-
ing wilderness attributes or which possess outstanding energy, 
mineral, timber, grazing, dispersed recreation, and other values 
and which should not now be designated as components of the 
National Wilderness Preservation System but should be avail-
able for nonwilderness multiple uses under the land manage-
ment planning process and other applicable laws. 
(b) The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) designate certain national forest system lands in the State 
of Arkansas as components of the National Wilderness Preser-
vation System, in order to promote, perpetuate, and preserve 
the wilderness character of the land, protect watersheds and 
wildlife habitat, preserve scenic and historic resources, and 
promote scientific research, primitive recreation, solitude, phys-
ical and mental challenge, and inspiration for the benefit of all 
the American people, to a greater extent than is possible in the 
absence of wilderness designation; and 
(2) insure that certain other national forest system lands in 
the State of Arkansas be available for nonwilderness multiple 
uses. 
SEC. 3. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, the 
following lands in the State of Arkansas are hereby designated as 
wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System: 
(a) certain lands in the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas, 
which comprise approximately seven thousand five hundred 
Oct. 19, 1984 
[S. 2125] 
Arkansas 
Wilderness Act 
of 1984. 
National 
Wilderness 
Preservation 
System. 
National Forest 
System. 
16 u s e 1131 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
98 STAT. 2350 
PUBLIC LAW 98-508—OCT. 19, 1984 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
eonservation. 
and sixty-eight acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled 
"Black Fork Mountain Wilderness—Proposed", dated Septem-
ber 1984, and which shall be known as the Black Fork Mountain 
Wilderness; 
(b) certain lands in the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas, 
which comprise approximately six thousand three hundred and 
ten acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Dry Creek 
Wilderness—Proposed", dated September 1984, and which shall 
be known as the Dry Creek Wilderness; 
(c) certain lands in the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas, 
which comprise approximately ten thousand eight hundred and 
eighty-four acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled 
"Poteau Mountain Wilderness—Proposed", dated September 
1984, and which shall be known as the Poteau Mountain 
Wilderness; 
(d) certain lands in the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas, 
which comprise approximately ten thousand one hundred and 
five acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Flatside 
Wilderness—Proposed', dated September 1984, and which shall 
be known as the Flatside Wilderness; 
c 
(e) certain lands in the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest 
which comprise approximately one thousand five hundred and 
four acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Upper 
Buffalo Addition—Proposed", dated November 1983, and which 
are hereby incorporated in and shall be deemed to be a part of 
the Upper Buffalo Wilderness as designated by Public Law 
93-622; 
(f) certain lands in the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest 
which comprise approximately fifteen thousand one hundred 
and seventy-seven acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled 
"Hurricane Creek Wilderness—Proposed", dated November 
1983, and which shall be known as the Hurricane Creek 
Wilderness; 
(g) certain lands in the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, 
Arkansas, which comprise approximately eleven thousand eight 
hundred and twenty-two acres, as generally depicted on a map 
entitled "Richland Creek Wilderness—Proposed", dated Novem-
ber 1983, and which shall be known as the Richland Creek 
Wilderness; 
(h) certain lands in the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, 
Arkansas, which comprise approximately ten thousand seven 
hundred and seventy-seven acres, as generally depicted on a 
map entitled "East Fork Wilderness—Proposed", dated Septem-
ber 1984, and which shall be known as the East Fork 
Wilderness; and 
(i) certain lands in the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, 
Arkansas, which comprise approximately sixteen thousand nine 
hundred and fifty-six acres, as generally depicted on a map 
entitled "Leatherwood Wilderness—Proposed", dated Novem-
ber 1983, and which shall be known as the Leatherwood 
Wilderness. 
SEC. 4. (a) The Congress finds that— 
(1) the Department of Agriculture has completed the second 
roadless area review and evaluation program (RARE II); 
(2) the Congress has made its own review and examination of 
national forest system roadless areas in Arkansas and of the 
PUBLIC LAW 98-508—OCT. 19, 1984 
98 STAT. 2351 
environmental impacts associated with alternative allocations 
of such areas. 
(b) On the basis of such review, the Congress hereby determines Congress. 
and directs that— 
(1) without passing on the questions of the legal and factual 
sufficiency of the RARE II Final Environmental Impact State-
ment (dated January 1979) with respect to national forest 
system lands in States other than ArkansEis, such statement 
shall not be subject to judicial review with respect to national 
forest system lands in the State of Arkansas; 
(2) with respect to the national forest system lands in the 
State of Arkansas which were reviewed by the Department of 
Agriculture in the second roadless area review and evaluation 
(RARE II) and those lands referred to in subsection (d), that 
review and evaluation or reference shall be deemed for the 
purposes of the initial land management plans required for such 
lands by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 
Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest 
Management Act of 1976, to be an adequate consideration of the 
16 USC 1601 
suitability of such lands for inclusion in the National Wilder- note. 
ness Preservation System and the Department of Agriculture 
shall not be required to review the wilderness option prior to 
the revisions of the plans, but shall review the wilderness option 
when the plans are revised, which revisions will ordinarily 
occur on a ten-year cycle, or at least every fifteen years, unless, 
prior to such time the Secretary of Agriculture finds that 
conditions in a unit have significantly changed; 
(3) areas in the State of Arkansas reviewed in such final 
environmental statement or referenced in subsection (d) and not 
designated wilderness upon enactment of this Act shall be 
managed for multiple use in accordance with land management 
plans pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renew-
able Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the 
National Forest Management Act of 1976: Provided, That such 
16 USC 1604. 
areas need not be managed for the purpose of protecting their 
suitability for wilderness designation prior to or during revision 
of the initial land management plans; 
(4) in the event that revised land management plans in the 
State of Arkansas are implemented pursuant to section 6 of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 
1976, and other applicable law, areas not recommended for 
wilderness designation need not be managed for the purpose of 
protecting their suitability for wilderness designation prior to or 
during revision of such plans, and areas recommended for 
wilderness designation shall be managed for the purpose of 
protecting their suitability for wilderness designation as may be 
required by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 
Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest 
Management Act of 1976, and other applicable law; and 
(5) unless expressly authorized by Congress, the Department 
of Agriculture shall not conduct any further statewide roadless 
area review and evaluation of national forest system lands in 
the State of Arkansas for the purpose of determining their 
suitability for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System. 
98 STAT. 2352 
PUBLIC LAW 98-508—OCT. 19, 1984 
(c) As used in this section, and as provided in section 6 of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, 
1
6 use 1604. 
as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, the 
term "revision" shall not include an "amendment" to a plan. 
(d) The provisions of this section shall also apply to national forest 
system roadless lands in the State of Arkansas which are less than 
five thousand acres in size. 
SEC. 5. As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall file maps and legal descrip-
tions of each wilderness area designated by this Act with the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States 
Senate, and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, and 
each map and legal description shall have the same force and effect 
Public 
as if included in this Act: Provided, however, That correction of 
availability. 
clerical and typographical errors in such legal descriptions shall be 
on file and available for public inspection in the office of the Chief, 
United States Forest Service, Department of Agriculture. 
SEC. 6. Subject to valid existing rights, each wilderness area 
designated by this Act shall be administered by the Secretary of 
Agriculture in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act 
16 use 1131 
of 1964 (78 Stat. 892) governing areas designated by that Act as 
^°^- 
wilderness areas, except that, with respect to any area designated in 
this Act, any reference in such provisions to the effective date of the 
Wilderness Act of 1964 shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
effective date of this Act. 
SEC. 7. Congress does not intend that designation of wilderness 
areas in the State of Arkansas lead to the creation of protective 
perimeters or buffer zones around each wilderness area. The fact 
that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from 
areas within the wilderness shall not, of itself, preclude such activi-
ties or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness area. 
Approved October 19, 1984. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2125: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 98-1097, Pt. 1 (eomm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 98-462 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 130 (1984): 
Aug. 9, considered and passed House. 
Oct. 2, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Oct. 4, Senate concurred in House amendment.