Tennessee Wilderness Act of 1984
PL 98-578 (H.R.4263), enacted 10/30/1984

98 STAT. 3088 
PUBLIC LAW 98-578—OCT. 30, 1984 
Public Law 98-578 
98th Congress 
An Act 
Oct. 30, 1984 
[H.R. 4263] 
Tennessee 
Wilderness Act 
of 1984. 
National 
Wilderness 
Preservation 
System. 
National Forest 
System. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
Public 
availability. 
16 u s e 1131 
note. 
To designate certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, as wilderness 
areas, and to allow management of certain lands for uses other than wilderness. 
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 "Tennessee Wilderness Act of 1984". 
DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS 
SEC. 2. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act (16 
U.S.C. 1131-1136), the following lands are hereby designated as 
wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System: 
(1) certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, 
which comprise approximately five thousand and fifty-five 
acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Big Frog Wilder-
ness—Proposed", dated April 1984, and which shall be known as 
the Big Frog Wilderness; 
(2) certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, 
which comprise approximately sixteen thousand acres, as gener-
ally depicted on a map entitled "Citico Creek Wilderness— 
Proposed", dated April 1984, and which shall be known as the 
Citico Creek Wilderness; and 
(3) certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, 
which comprise approximately three thousand eight hundred 
and eighty-seven acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled 
"Bald River Gorge Wilderness—Proposed", dated April 1984, 
and which shall be known as the Bald River Gorge Wilderness. 
MAPS AND DESCRIPTIONS 
SEC. 3. As soon as practicable after enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and a legal description of 
each wilderness area designated by this Act with the Committee on 
Interior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Agriculture of 
the United States House of Representatives and with the Committee 
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the United States Senate. 
Each such map and description shall have the same force and effect 
as if included in this Act, except that correction of clerical and 
typographical errors in each such map and description may be made 
by the Secretary. Each such map and description shall be on file and 
available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture. 
ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS 
SEC. 4. 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 
governing areas designated by that Act as wilderness, except that 
PUBLIC LAW 98-578—OCT. 30, 1984 
98 STAT. 3089 
any reference in such provisions to the effective date of the Wilder-
ness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment 
16 USC 1131 
of this Act. 
note. 
EFFECT OF RARE II 
SEC. 5. (a) The Congress finds that— 
Conservation. 
(1) the Department of Agriculture has completed the second 
roadless area review and evaluation program (RARE II); and 
(2) the Congress has made its own review and examination of 
National Forest System roadless areas in Monroe and Polk 
Counties, Tennessee, and of the environmental impacts asso-
ciated 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 System 
lands other than in Monroe and Polk Counties, Tennessee, such 
statement shall not be subject to judicial review with respect to 
National Forest System lands in Monroe and Polk Counties, 
Tennessee; 
(2) with respect to the National Forest System lands in 
Monroe and Polk Counties, Tennessee, 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), except those lands designated for wilderness 
study upon enactment of this Act, 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 
16 USC 1600 
an adequate consideration of the suitability of such lands for 
note, 
inclusion in the National Wilderness 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 Secre-
tary of Agriculture finds that conditions in a unit have signifi-
cantly changed; 
(3) areas in Monroe and Polk Counties, Tennessee, reviewed 
in such final environmental statement or referenced in subsec-
tion (d) and not designated as wilderness or for wilderness study 
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 Forest Management 
Act of 1976: Provided, That such areas need not be managed for 
16 USC 1604. 
the purpose of protecting their suitability for wilderness 
designation prior to or during revision of the initial land man-
agement plans; and 
(4) in the event that revised land management plans in 
Monroe and Polk Counties, Tennessee, are implemented pursu-
ant 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 man-
98 STAT. 3090 
PUBLIC LAW 98-578—OCT. 30, 1984 
aged for the purpose of protecting their suitability for wilder-
ness 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 sis may be required by the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as 
16 use 1600 
amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and 
•^o*^^ 
other applicable law. 
(c) As used in this section, and as provided in section 6 of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, 
16 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 Monroe and Polk Counties, Tennes-
see, which are less than five thousand acres in size. 
DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS 
16 use 1131 
SEC. 6. (a) In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, 
"0^^- 
the following lands shall be reviewed by the Secretary of Agricul-
ture as to their suitability for preservation as wilderness during 
preparation of the initial land management plan for the Cherokee 
National Forest pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 
Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended: 
(1) certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest, which 
comprise approximately four thousand eight hundred acres, as 
generally depicted on a map entitled "Little Frog Wilderness 
Study Area—Proposed," dated April 1984, and which shall be 
known as the Little Frog Wilderness Study Area; and 
(2) certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest which 
comprise approximately three thousand acres, as generally 
depicted on a map entitled "Big Frog Study Area," dated April 
1984. 
(b) Subject to valid existing rights, the Little Frog Wilderness 
Study Area designated by this section shall, until Congress deter-
mines otherwise, be administered by the Secretary so as to maintain 
its presently existing wilderness character and potential for inclu-
sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. 
Approved October 80, 1984. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 4263: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 98-714, Pt. I (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 98-615 (eomm. on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry). 
eONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 130 (1984): 
Apr. 30, May 1, considered and passed House. 
Oct. 2, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Oct. 4, House concurred in Senate amendments.