Texas Wilderness Act of 1984
PL 98-574 (H.R.3788), enacted 10/30/1984

PUBLIC LAW 98-574-OCT. 30, 1984 
98 STAT. 3051 
Public Law 98-574 
98th Congress 
An Act 
To designate various areas as components of the National Wilderness Preservation 
System in the national forests in the State of Texas. 
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 "Texas 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 in the State of Texas are 
hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of 
the National Wilderness Preservation System: 
(1) certain lands in the Angelina National Forest, Texas, 
which comprise approximately five thousand four hundred 
acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Turkey Hill 
Wilderness—Proposed", dated March 1984, and which shall be 
known as the Turkey Hill Wilderness; 
(2) certain lands in the Angelina National Forest, Texas, 
which comprise approximately twelve thousand acres, as gener-
ally depicted on a map entitled "Upland Island Wilderness— 
Proposed"; dated March 1984, and which shall be known as the 
Upland Island Wilderness; 
(3) certain lands in the Davy Crockett National Forest, Texas, 
which comprise approximately three thousand acres, as 
generally depicted on a map entitled "Big Slough Wilderness— 
Proposed", dated March 1984, and which shall be known as the 
Big Slough Wilderness; 
(4) certain lands in the Sabine National Forest, Texas, which 
comprise approximately nine thousand nine hundred and forty-
six acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Indian 
Mounds Wilderness—Proposed", dated September 1984, and 
which shall be known as the Indian Mounds Wilderness; and 
(5) certain lands in the Sam Houston National Forest, Texas, 
which comprise approximately four thousand acres, as gen-
erally depicted on a map entitled "Little Lake Creek Wilder-
ness—Proposed", dated March 1984, and which shall be known 
as the Little Lake Creek Wilderness. 
Oct. 30, 1984 
[H.R. 3788] 
Texas 
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. 
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note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
MAPS AND DESCRIPTIONS 
SEC. 3. As soon as practicable after enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and 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 
98 STAT. 3052 
PUBLIC LAW 98-574—OCT. 30, 1984 
Public 
availability. 
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. 
16 u s e 1131 
note. 
Contracts with 
U.S. 
ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS 
SEC. 4. (a) 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 
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 
of this Act. 
(b) The Congress finds that the Indian Mounds and Upland Island 
Wilderness areas designated by this Act contain significant amounts 
of intermingled lands owned by the Temple-Eastex Incorporated and 
that in order to manage the wilderness in an efficient and effective 
manner it is in the public interest that these lands be owned by the 
Federal Government. Accordingly, the Secretary is encouraged to 
expeditiously acquire by exchange the intermingled lands owned by 
Temple-Eastex Incorporated. The lands acquired by the United 
States under the provisions of this section shall become parts of the 
Sabine and Angelina National Forests, respectively, and shall be 
administered in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations 
applicable to the National Forest System and the National Wilder-
ness Preservation System, as appropriate. 
(c) Any purchaser under an existing timber sale contract wholly 
or partially within the boundaries of the Indian Mounds, Upland 
Islands, or Little Lake Creek Wilderness areas designated by this 
Act shall be entitled, for a period of ninety days following the date of 
enactment of this Act, to enter into an agreement with the Secre-
tary to mutually cancel the timber sale contract without payment of 
damages by either party if the contract is not in breach and if the 
purchaser has completed its contractual obligations to logical 
stopping points as determined by the Secretary after consultation 
with the purchaser: Provided, That upon satisfaction of all such 
contract requirements, moneys held by the Forest Service for pay-
ment of timber to be cut under the contract shall be returned to the 
purchaser with interest payable from the date the moneys were 
deposited with the Forest Service at the rate published for use under 
section 12 of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 611). 
EFFECT OF RARE II 
Conservation. 
SEC. 5. (a) The Congress finds that— 
(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 the State of Texas, 
and of the environmental impacts associated with alternative 
allocations of such areas. 
Congress. 
(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 
PUBLIC LAW 98-574—OCT. 30, 1984 
98 STAT. 3053 
lands in States other than Texas, such statement shall not be 
subject to judicial review with respect to National Forest 
System lands in the State of Texas; 
(2) with respect to the National Forest System lands in the 
State of Texas 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- 
16 use 1600 
ment Act of 1976, to be an adequate consideration of the 
"o*^-
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, 
prior to such time, the Secretary of Agriculture finds that 
conditions in a unit have significantly changed; 
(3) areas in the State of Texas 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 
Forest Management Act of 1976: Provided, That such areas need 
16 use 1604. 
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 Texas 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 Texas for the purpose of determining their suitabil-
ity for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation 
System. 
(c) As used in this section, and as provided in section 6 of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, 
as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, the 
term "revision" shall not include an "amendment" to a plan. 
98 STAT. 3054 
PUBLIC LAW 98-574—OCT. 30, 1984 
(d) The provisions of this section shall eilso apply to National 
Forest System roadless lands in the State of Texas which are less 
than five thousand acres in size. 
Approved October 30, 1984. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 3788: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 98-730, Pt 1 (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 98-614 (Comm. on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 130 (1984): 
May 8, considered and passed House. 
Oct. 2, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Oct. 4, House concurred in Senate amendment.