Utah Wilderness Act of 1984
PL 98-428 (S.2155), enacted 09/28/1984

PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
STAT. 1657 
Public Law 98-
98th Congress 
•428 
An Act 
To designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Utah for inclusion in 
the National Wilderness Preservation System to release other forest lands for 
multiple use management, 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 "Utah Wilderness Act of 1984". 
TITLE I-FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND WILDERNESS 
DESIGNATION 
SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds that— 
(1) many areas of undeveloped national forest system lands in 
the State of Utah possess outstanding natural characteristics 
which give them high values as wilderness and will, if properly 
preserved, contribute as an enduring resource of wilderness for 
the benefit of the American people; 
(2) review and evaluation of roadless and undeveloped lands 
in the national forest system in Utah have identified those 
areas which, on the basis of their landform, ecosystem, associ-
ated wildlife, and location, will help to fulfill the national forest 
system's share of a quality National Wilderness Preservation 
System; and 
(3) review and evaluation of roadless and undeveloped lands 
in the national forest system in Utah have also identified those 
areas which do not possess outstanding wilderness attributes or 
which possess outstanding energy, mineral, timber, grazing, 
dispersed recreation, or other values and which should not be 
designated as components of the National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System but should be available for nonwilderness multiple 
uses under the land management planning process, other appli-
cable laws and the provisions of this Act. 
(b) The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) designate certain national forest system lands in Utah as 
components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 
order to preserve the wilderness character of the land and to 
protect watersheds and wildlife habitat, preserve scenic and 
historic resources, and promote scientific research, primitive 
recreation, solitude, physical and mental challenge, and inspira-
tion for the benefit of all of the American people; and 
(2) insure that certain other national forest system lands in 
the State of Utah be available for nonwilderness multiple uses. 
SEC. 102. (a) In furtherance of the purpose of the Wilderness Act 
(78 Stat. 890), the following national forest system lands in the State 
of Utah are hereby designated as wilderness, and, therefore, as 
components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: 
(1) certain lands in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest which 
comprise approximately forty-four thousand three hundred and 
fifty acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled, "Mt. Naomi 
Sept^28, 1984 
[S. 2155] 
Utah Wilderness 
Act of 1984. 
National 
Wilderness 
Preservation 
System. 
National Forest 
System. 
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98 STAT. 1658 
PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
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Wilderness—Proposed", dated June 1984, and which shall be 
known as the Mount Naomi Wilderness; 
(2) certain lands in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest which 
comprise approximately twenty-three thousand eight hundred 
and fifty acres as generally depicted on a map entitled "Wells-
ville Mountain Wilderness—Proposed", dated November 1983, 
and which shall be known as the Wellsville Mountain 
Wilderness; 
(3) certain lands in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest which 
comprise approximately sixteen thousand acres as generally 
depicted on a map entitled "Mt. Olympus Wilderness—Pro-
posed", dated August 1984, and which shall be known as the 
Mount Olympus Wilderness; 
(4) certain lands in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest which 
comprise approximately thirteen thousand one hundred acres 
as generally depicted on a map entitled "Twin Peaks Wilder-
ness—Proposed", dated June 1984, and which shall be known as 
the Twin Peaks Wilderness; 
(5) certain lands in the Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National 
Forests which comprise approximately four hundred and sixty 
thousand acres as generally depicted on a map entitled "High 
Uintas Wilderness—Proposed", dated June 1984, and which 
shall be known as the High Uintas Wilderness; 
(6) certain lands in the Uinta National Forest which comprise 
approximately ten thousand seven hundred and fifty acres as 
generally depicted on a map entitled "Mt. Timpanogos Wilder-
ness—Proposed", dated November 1983, and which shall be 
known as the Mount Timpanogos Wilderness; 
(7) certain lands in the Uinta National Forest which comprise 
approximately twenty-eight thousand acres as generally de-
picted on a map entitled "Mt. Nebo Wilderness—Proposed", 
dated June 1984, and which shall be known as the Mount Nebo 
Wilderness; 
(8) certain lands in the Manti-LaSal National Forest which 
comprise approximately forty-five thousand acres as generally 
depicted on a map entitled "Dark Canyon Wilderness—Pro-
posed", dated November 1983, and which shall be known as the 
Dark Canyon Wilderness; 
(9) certain lands in the Dixie National Forest which comprise 
approximately seven thousand acres as generally depicted on a 
map entitled "Ashdown Gorge Wilderness—Proposed", dated 
November 1983, and which shall be known as the Ashdown 
Gorge Wilderness; 
(10) certain lands in the Dixie National Forest which comprise 
approximately twenty-six thousand acres as generally depicted 
on a map entitled "Box-Death Hollow Wilderness—Proposed", 
dated June 1984, and which shall be known as the Box-Death 
Hollow Wilderness; 
(11) certain lands in the Dixie National Forest which comprise 
approximately fifty thousand acres as generally depicted on a 
map entitled "Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness—Proposed", 
dated June 1984, and which shall be known as the Pine Valley 
Mountain Wilderness; and 
(12) certain lands in the Wasatch National Forest which 
comprise approximately twenty-five thousand five hundred 
acres as generally depicted on a map entitled "Deseret Peak 
PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
98 STAT. 1659 
Wilderness—Proposed", dated June 1984, and which shall be 
known as the Deseret Peak Wilderness. 
(b) The previous classifications are hereby abolished: the Mount 
Timpanogos Scenic Area and the High Uintas Primitive Area. 
SEC. 103. (a) As soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Agriculture shall file the maps referred to in this 
Act and a legal description 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 of the House of Representatives, and each such map and 
legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included 
in this Act: Provided, however, That correction of clerical and 
typographical errors in such legal descriptions and maps may be 
made. Each such map and legal description shall be on file and 
available for public inspection in the office of the Chief of the Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture. 
(b) Subject to valid existing rights, each wilderness area desig-
nated by this Act shall be administered by the Secretary of Agricul-
ture in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act 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 Wilder-
ness Act of 1964 shall be deemed to be a reference to the effective 
date of this Act. 
Public 
availability. 
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TITLE II—RELEASE OF LANDS FOR NONWILDERNESS USES 
SEC. 201. (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 Utah and of the envi-
ronmental impacts associated with alternative allocations of 
such areas. 
(b) On the basis of such review, the Congress hereby determines 
and directs that— 
(1) without passing on the question of the legal and factual 
sufficiency of the RARE II final environmental statement 
(dated January 1979) with respect to national forest lands in 
States other than Utah, such statement shall not be subject to 
judicial review with respect to national forest system lands in 
the State of Utah; 
(2) with respect to the national forest system lands in the 
State of Utah 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 Plan-
ning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest Manage-
ment Act of 1976, to be an adequate consideration of the 
suitability of such lands for inclusion in the National Wilder-
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, 
Conservation. 
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98 STAT. 1660 
PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
prior to such time the Secretary finds that conditions in a unit 
have significantly changed; 
(3) areas in the State of Utah reviewed in such final environ-
mental statement or referenced in subsection (d) and not desig-
nated 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 Renewable 
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National 
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Forest Management Act of 1976: Provided, That such 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 plan; 
(4) in the event that revised land management plans in the 
State of Utah 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 
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Management Act of 1976, and other applicable law; and 
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(5) unless expressly authorized by Congress, Department of 
Agriculture shall not conduct any further statewide roadless 
area review and evaluation of national forest system lands in 
the State of Utah for the purpose of determining their 
suitability for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System. 
(c) As used in this section, and as provided in section 6 of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Planning Act of 1974, as amended 
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by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, the term "revi-
sion" shall not include an "amendment" to a plan. 
(d) The provisions of this section shall also apply to— 
(1) those national forest system roadless areas in the State of 
Utah which were evaluated in any unit plan or which are being 
managed pursuant to a multiple use plan; and 
(2) national forest system roadless lands in the State of Utah 
which are less than five thousand acres in size. 
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
GRAZING IN WILDERNESS AREAS 
Livestock. 
SEC. 301. (a) Grazing of livestock in wilderness areas established 
by this Act, where established prior to the date of the enactment of 
this Act, shall be administered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of 
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(b) The Secretary is directed to review all policies, practices, and 
regulations of the Department of Agriculture regarding livestock 
grazing in national forest system wilderness areas in Utah in order 
to insure that such policies, practices, and regulations fully conform 
with and implement the intent of Congress regarding grazing in 
such areas, as such intent is expressed in this Act. 
PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
98 STAT. 1661 
(c) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Report. 
Act, and at least every five years thereafter, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Interior and Insular 
Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States 
Senate a report detailing the progress made by the Forest Service in 
carrying out the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. 
STATE WATER ALLOCATION AUTHORITY 
SEC. 302. (a) As provided in section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act of 
1964, nothing in this Act shall constitute an express or implied 
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claim or denial on the part of the Federal Government as to the 
exemption from Utah water laws. 
(b) Within the Mount Naomi, Wellsville Mountain, Mount Olym-
pus, Twin Peaks, High Uintas, Mount Nebo, Pine Valley Mountain, 
Deseret Peak, Mount Timpanogos, and Ashdown Gorge Wilderness 
areas as designated by this Act, the Forest Service is directed to 
utilize whatever sanitary facilities are necessary, including but not 
limited to vault toilets which may require service by helicopter, to 
insure the continued health and safety of the communities serviced 
by the watersheds in such wilderness areas in the State of Utah; 
furthermore, nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit motor-
ized access and road maintenance by local municipalities for those 
minimum maintenance activities necessary to guarantee the contin-
ued viability of whatsoever watershed facilities currently exist or 
which may be necessary in the future to prevent the degradation of 
the water supply in such wilderness areas within the State of Utah, 
subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(c) As provided in section 4(d)(8) of the Wilderness Act of 1964, 
nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or 
responsibilities of the State of Utah with respect to wildlife and fish 
in the national forests in Utah. 
PROHIBITION ON BUFFER ZONES 
SEC. 303. Congress does not intend that designation of wilder-
ness areas in the State of Utah lead to the creation of protective 
perimeters or buffer zones around any 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. 
MINERAL RESOURCES 
SEC. 304. In furtherance of section 4(d)(2) of the Wilderness Act 
and the policies of the National Materials and Minerals Policy, 
Research and Development Act (94 Stat. 2305), the Secretary of the 
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Interior shall continue to make assessments of the mineral potential 
"ote. 
of national forest wilderness areas in the State of Utah, on a 
recurring basis, consistent with the concept of wilderness preserva-
tion, in order to expand the data base with respect to the mineral 
potential of such lands. 
SEC. 305. Within the Mount Naomi, Wellsville Mountain, Mount 
Olympus, Mount Nebo, Twin Peaks, High Uintas, Pine Valley 
Mountain, Mount Timpanogos, and Deseret Peak Wilderness areas as 
STAT. 1662 
PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
designated by this Act the provisions of the Wilderness Act shall not 
be construed to prevent the installation and maintenance of hydro-
logic, meteorologic, climatological, or telecommunications facilities, 
or any combination of the foregoing, or limited motorized access to 
such facilities when nonmotorized access means are not reasonably 
available or when time is of the essence, subject to such conditions 
as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
deem desirable, where such facilities or access are essential to flood 
warning, flood control, and water reservoir operation purposes. 
SEC. 306. (a) Certain lands adjacent to the Box-Death Hollow 
Wilderness as designated in section 102 of this Act, and generally 
depicted as the "Antone Bench Area" and Areas 2, 3, 4, and 5 on a 
map entitled "Box-Death Hollow Wilderness—Proposed", dated 
June 1984, shall, subject to valid existing rights and until Congress 
determines otherwise, be managed in accordance with the following 
provisions: 
(1) all lands within the Areas are hereby withdrawn from all 
forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from disposi-
tion under all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leas-
ing and all amendments thereto, except that the Secretary of 
the Interior is hereby authorized to issue competitive leases for 
carbon dioxide within the Areas for a period of five years from 
the date of enactment of this Act; 
(2) a lease issued for carbon dioxide in the Area shall be for a 
period of ten years and for so long thereafter as carbon dioxide 
is produced annually in commercial quantities from that lease: 
Provided, That an area covered by a lease shall be withdrawn 
from further carbon dioxide leasing or lease extension in the 
event production in commercial quantities from the lease is not 
occurring within ten years of the date of issuance of the lease; 
and 
(3) exploration in the Antone Bench area shall be permitted 
only by helicopter or other methods which do not involve road 
construction or other significant surface disturbance. 
(b) In the event development of a lease within the Antone Bench 
area is proposed, the following provisions shall apply: 
(1) road construction shall be limited to the minimum stand-
ards necessary for proper development of the carbon dioxide 
resource consistent with safety requirements; 
(2) roads, pipelines, electric lines, buildings, compressor sta-
tions and other facilities shall, to the maximum extent practi-
cable consistent with economic extraction of the carbon dioxide 
resource, be camouflaged, constructed and located in a manner 
that will minimize visual, noise or other intrusions in the area 
and in the surrounding wilderness area; 
(3) fill material, gravel and other material used for road and 
facility construction shall be obtained from outside the wilder-
ness area; 
(4) road or facility construction shall be limited, to the maxi-
mum extent practicable, to seasons or periods where there will 
be minimum impacts on recreation or wildlife uses; 
(5) roads shall be used only in conjunction with carbon dioxide 
development operations and shall be closed to all other vehicu-
lar use, but shall be open for foot or horse travel; 
(6) all roads or other facilities within the area shall, when no 
longer needed for carbon dioxide production, be removed and 
reclaimed to a condition of being substantially unnoticeable; 
PUBLIC LAW 98-428—SEPT. 28, 1984 
98 STAT. 1663 
(7) all waste, debris or other by-products associated with road 
construction, carbon dioxide production, or other development 
activities shall be disposed of outside the Antone Bench area 
and the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness; and 
(8) consistent with State and Federal law no activities shall be 
allowed within the area which could significantly impair water 
quality or quantity in the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness and 
adjacent wilderness or wilderness study areas. 
Approved September 28, 1984. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2155: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 98-1019, Pt. 1 (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 98-581 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 130 (1984): 
Aug. 9, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 17, considered and passed House.