An Act to establish the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in the States of Oregon and Idaho, and for other purposes.
PL 94-199 (S.322), enacted 12/31/1975

PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
89 STAT. 1117 
Public Law 94-199 
94th Congress 
An Act 
To establish the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in the States of Oregon 
and Idaho, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of tJie 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) to assure 
that the natural beauty, and historical and archeological values of the 
Hells Canyon area and the seventy-one-mile segment of the Snake 
River between Hells Canyon Dam and the Oregon-Washington 
border, together with portions of certain of its tributaries and adjacent 
lands, are preserved for this and future generations, and that the 
recreational and ecologic values and public enjoyment of the area are 
thereby enhanced, there is hereby established the Hells Canyon 
National Recreation Area. 
(b) The Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (hereinafter 
referred to as the "recreation area"), which includes the Hells Canyon 
Wilderness (hereinafter referred to as the "wilderness"), the com-
ponents of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System designated in section 3 
of this Act, and the wilderness study areas designated in subsections 
8(d) of this Act, shall comprise the lands and waters generally depicted 
on the map entitled "Hells Canyon National Recreation Area" dated 
September 1975, which shall be on file and available for public inspec-
tion in the office of the Chief, Forest Service, United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture 
(hereinafter 
referred to as "the Secretary"), shall, as soon as practicable, but no 
later than eighteen months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
publish a detailed boundary description of the recreation area, the 
wilderness study areas designated in subsection 8(d) of this Act, 
and the wilderness established in section 2 of this Act in the Federal 
Register. 
SEC. 2, (a) The lands depicted as the "Hells Canyon Wilderness" on 
the map referred to in subsection 1(b) of this Act are hereby desig-
nated as wilderness. 
(b) The wilderness designated by this Act shall be administered by 
the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of this Act or in 
accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (78 Stat. 890), 
whichever is the more restrictive, except that any reference in such 
provisions of the Wilderness Act to the effective date of that Act shall 
be deemed to be a reference to the effective date of this Act. The pro-
visions of section 9(b) and section 11 of this Act shall apply to the 
wilderness. The Secretary shall make such boundary revisions to the 
wilderness as may be necessary due to the evercise of his authority 
under subsection 3(b) of this Act. 
SEC. 3. (a) Subsection 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (82 
Stat. 906) is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the 
following clauses: 
"(11) Rapid River, Idaho.—The segment from the headwaters of 
the main stem to the national forest boundary and the segment of the 
West Fork from the wilderness boundary dow^nstream to the confluence 
with the main stem, as a wild river. 
"(12) Snake, Idaho and Oregon.—The segment from Hells Canyon 
Dam downstream to Pittsburgh Landing, as a wild river; and the 
Dec. 31, 1975 
[S. 322] 
Hells Canyon 
National 
Recreation Area, 
Oreg.-Idaho. 
Establishment. 
16 u s e 460gg. 
Publication in 
Federal Register. 
Hells Canyon 
Wilderness, 
designation. 
16USC460gg-l. 
16 u s e 1131 
note. 
16 u s e 1274. 
89 STAT. 1118 
PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
16 use 1274 
note. 
16 use 1271 
note 
16 use 1274. 
16USe460gg-2. 
16 use 791a. 
16 use 1276. 
Asotin Dam, 
deauthorization. 
16USe460gg-3. 
Administration. 
16USe460gg-4. 
segment from Pittsburgh Landing downstream to an eastward exten-
sion of the north boundary of section 1, township 5 north, range 47 
east, Willamette meridian, as a scenic river.". 
(b) The segments of the Snake River and the Rapid River desig-
nated as wild or scenic river areas by this Act shall be administered by 
the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of the Wild and Scenic 
Rivers Act (82 Stat. 906), as amended, and the Secretary shall establish 
detailed boundaries of the Snake River segments thereof in accordance 
with subsection 3(b) of that Act: Provided^ That the Secretary shall 
establish a corridor along the segments of the Rapid River and may 
not undertake or permit to be undertaken any activities on adjacent 
public lands which would impair the water quality of the Rapid River 
segment: Provided further^ That the Secretary is authorized to make 
such minor boundary revisions in the corridors as he deems necessary 
for the provision of such facilities as are permitted under the appli-
cable provisions of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (82 Stat. 906). 
SEC. 4. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, or any 
authorization heretofore given pursuant to law, the Federal Power 
Commission may not license the construction of any dam, water con-
duit, reservoir, powerhouse, transmission line, or other project work 
under the Federal Power Act (41 Stat. 1063), as amended (16 U.S.C. 
791a et seq.), within the recreation area: Provided^ That the provisions 
of the Federal Power Act (41 Stat. 1063) shall continue to apply to 
any project (as defined in such Act), and all of the facilities and 
improvements required or used in connection with the operation and 
maintenance of said project, in existence within the recreation area 
which project is already constructed or under construction on the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(b) No department or agency of the United States may assist by 
loan, grant, license, or otherwise the construction of any water resource 
facility within the recreation area which the Secretary determines 
would have a direct and adverse effect on the values for which the 
waters of the area are protected. 
SEC. 5. (a) Section 5(a) of the Act of October 2,1968 (82 Stat. 906), 
as amendecl, is further amended by adding the following new 
paragraph: 
" (57) Snake, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho: the segment from an 
eastward extension of the north boundary of section 1, township 5 
north, range 47 east, Willamette meridian, downstream to the town of 
Asotin, Washington.". 
(b) The Asotin Dam, authorized under the provisions of the Flood 
Control Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 1173), is hereby deauthorized. 
SEC. 6. (a) No provision of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (82 
Stat. 906), nor of this Act, nor any guidelines, rules, or regulations 
issued hereunder, shall in any way limit, restrict, or conflict with pres-
ent and future use of the waters of the Snake River and its tribu-
taries upstream from the boundaries of the Hells Canyon National 
Recreation Area created hereby, for beneficial uses, whether consump-
tive or nonconsumptive, now or hereafter existing, including, but not 
limited to, domestic, municipal, stockwater, irrigation, mining, power, 
or industrial uses. 
(b) No flow requirements of any kind may be imposed on the waters 
of the Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam under the provisions of 
the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (82 Stat. 906), of this Act, or any 
guidelines, rules, or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. 
SEC. 7. Except as otherwise provided in sections 2 and 3 of this Act, 
and subject to the provisions of section 10 of this Act, the Secretary 
PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
89 STAT. 1119 
shall administer the recreation area in accordance with the laws, rules, 
and regulations applicable to the national forests for public outdoor 
recreation in a manner compatible with the following objectives: 
(1) the maintenance and protection of the free-flowing nature 
of the rivers within the recreation area; 
(2) conservation of scenic, wilderness, cultural, scientific, and 
other values contributing to the public benefit; 
(3) preservation, especially in the area generally known as 
Hells Canyon, of all features and peculiarities believed to be bio-
logically unique including, but not limited to, rare and endemic 
plant species, rare combinations of aquatic, terrestrial, and atmos-
pheric habitats, and the rare combinations of outstanding and 
diverse ecosystems and parts of ecosystems associated therewith; 
(4) protection and maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat; 
(5) protection of archeological and paleontologic sites and 
interpretation of these sites for the public benefit and knowledge 
insofar as it is compatible with protection; 
(6) preservation and restoration of historic sites associated 
with and typifying the economic and social history of the region 
and the American West; and 
(7) such management, utilization, and disposal of natural 
resources on federally owned lands, including, but not limited to, 
timber harvesting by selective cutting, mining, and grazing and 
the continuation of such existing uses and developments as are 
compatible with the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 8. (a) Within five years from the date of enactment of this Act 
the Secretary shall develop and submit to the Committees on Interior 
and Insular Affairs of the United States Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives a comprehensive management plan for the recreation area 
which shall provide for a broad range of land uses and recreation 
opportunities. 
(b) In the development of such plan, the Secretary shall consider 
the historic, archeological, and paleontological resources within the 
recreation area which offer significant opportunities for anthropolog-
ical research. The Secretary shall inventory such resources and may 
reconnuend such areas as he deems suitable for listing in the National 
Register of Historic Places. The Secretary's comprehensive plan shall 
include recommendations for future protection and controlled research 
use of all such resources. 
(c) The Secretary shall, as a part of his comprehensive planning 
process, conduct a detailed study of the need for, and alternative 
routes of, scenic roads and other means of transit to and within the 
recreation area. In conducting such study the Secretary shall con-
sider the alternative for upgrading existing roads and shall, in par-
ticular, study the need for and alternative routes of roads or other 
means of transit providing access to scenic views of and from the 
Western rim of Hells Canyon. 
(d) The Secretary shall review, as to their suitability or nonsuitabil-
ity for preservation as wilderness, the areas generally depicted on the 
map referred to in section 1 of this Act as the "Lord Flat-Somers Point 
Plateau Wilderness Study Area", and the "West Side Reservoir Face 
Wilderness Study Area", and the "Mountain Sheep Wilderness Study 
Area" and report his findings to the President. The Secretary shall 
complete his review and the President shall, within five years from 
the date of enactment of this Act, advise the LTnited States Senate 
and House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect 
to the designation of lands within such area as wilderness. In conduct-
ing his review the Secretary shall comply with the provisions of section 
Management 
plan, submittal to 
congressional 
committees. 
16USC460gg-5. 
Scenic roads, 
study. 
Wilderness 
suitability reviesw, 
report to 
President. 
Recommenda-
tions to Congress. 
Public notice of 
meetings. 
89 STAT. 1120 
PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
16 use 1132. 
Land acquisition. 
16USC460gg-6. 
Scenic 
easements. 
"Scenic 
easement.' 
3(d) of the Wilderness Act and shall give public notice at least sixty 
days in advance of any hearing or other public meeting concerning 
the wilderness study area. The Secretary shall administer all Federal 
lands within the study areas so as not to preclude their possible future 
designation by the Congress as wilderness. Nothing contained herein 
shall limit the President in proposing, as part of this recommendation 
to Congress, the designation as wilderness of any additional area 
within the recreation area which is predominately of wilderness value. 
(e) In conducting the reviews and preparing the comprehensive 
management plan required by this section, the Secretary shall provide 
for full public participation and shall consider the views of all inter-
ested agencies, organizations, and individuals including but not limited 
to, the Nez Perce Tribe of Indians, and the States of Idaho, Oregon, 
and Washington. The Secretaries or Directors of all Federal depart-
ments, agencies, and commissions having a relevant expertise are 
hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the Secretary in his 
review and to make such studies as the Secretary may request on a 
cost reimbursable basis. 
(f) Such activities as are as compatible with the provisions of this 
Act, but not limited to, timber harvesting by selective cutting, mining, 
and grazing may continue during development of the comprehensive 
management plan, at current levels of activity and in areas of such 
activity at the time of enactment of this Act. Further, in development 
of the management plan, the Secretary shall give full consideration 
to continuation of these ongoing activities in their respective areas. 
SEC. 9. (a) The Secretary is authorized to acquire such lands or 
interests in land (including, but not limited to, scenic easements) as 
he deems necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Act by purchase 
with donated or appropriated funds with the consent of the owner, 
donation, or exchange. 
(b) The Secretary is further authorized to acquire by purchase with 
donated or appropriated funds such lands or interests in lands without 
the consent of the owner only if (1) he deems that all reasonable 
efforts to acquire such lands or interests therein by negotiation have 
failed, and (2) the total acreage of all other lands within the recrea-
tion area to which he has acquired fee simple title or, lesser interests 
therein without the consent of the owner is less than 5 per centum of 
the total acreage which is privately owned within the recreation area 
on the date of enactment of this Act: Provided^ That the Secretary 
may acquire scenic easements in lands without the consent of the 
owner and without restriction to such 5 per centum limitation: Pro-
vided further, That the Secretary may only acquire scenic easements 
in lands without the consent of the owner after the date of publication 
of the regulations required by section 10 of this Act when he deter-
mines that such lands are being used, or are in imminent danger of 
being used, in a manner incompatible with such regulations. 
(c) Any land or interest in land owned by the State of Oregon or 
any of its political subdivisions may be acquired only by donation. 
Any land or interest in land owned by the State of Idaho or any of 
its political subdivisions may be acquired only by donation or 
exchange. 
(d) As used in this Act the term "scenic easement" means the right 
to control the use of land in order to protect esthetic values for the 
purposes of this Act, but shall not preclude the continuation of any 
farming or pastoral use exercised by the owner as of the date of enact-
ment of this Act. 
(e) The Secretary shall give prompt and careful consideration 
to any offer made by a person owning land within the recreation area 
PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
89 STAT. 1121 
to sell such land to the United States. The Secretary shall specifically 
consider any hardship to such person which might result from an 
imdue delay in acquiring his property. 
(f) In exercising his authority to acquire property by exchange, 
the Secretary may accept title to any non-Federal property, or interests 
therein, located within the recreation area and, notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, he may convey in exchange therefor any 
federally owned property within the same State which he classifies as 
suitable for exchange and which is under his administrative juris-
diction: Provided, That the values of the properties so exchanged 
shall be approximately equal, or if they are not approximately equal, 
they shall be equalized by the payment of cash to the grantor or to 
the United States as the circumstances require. In the exercise of his 
exchange authority, the Secretary may utilize authorities and pro-
cedures available to him in connection with exchanges of national 
forest lands. 
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is 
authorized to acquire mineral interests in lands within the recreation 
area, with or without the consent of the owner. Upon acquisition of 
any such interest, the lands and/or minerals covered by such interest 
are by this Act withdrawn from entry or appropriation under the 
United States mining laws and from disposition under all laws per-
taining to mineral leasing and all amendments thereto. 
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Federal prop-
erty located within the recreation area may, with the concurrence of 
the agency having custody thereof, be transferred without considera-
tion to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary for use by him 
in carrying out the purposes of this Act. Lands acquired by the Secre-
tary or transferred to his administrative jurisdiction within the rec-
reation area shall become parts of the national forest within or 
adjacent to which they are located. 
SEC. 10. The Secretary shall promulgate, and may amend, such rules Rules and 
and regulations as he deems necessary to accomplish the purposes of regulations, 
this Act. Such rules and regulations shall include, but are not limited 
^^ ^^^ 460gg-7. 
to— 
(a) standards for the use and development of privately owned 
property within the recreation area, which rules or regulations 
the Secretary may, to the extent he deems advisable, implement 
with the authorities delegated to him in section 9 of this Act, and 
which may differ among the various parcels of land within the 
recreation area; 
(b) standards and guidelines to insure the full protection and 
preservation of the historic, archeological, and paleontological 
resources in the recreation area; 
(c) provision for the control of the use of motorized and 
mechanical equipment for transportation over, or alteration of, 
the surface of any Federal land within the recreation area; 
89 STAT. 1122 
PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
16USC460gg-8. 
16 u s e 1133. 
Hunting and 
fishing. 
16USC460gg-9. 
Recreation area, 
traditional and 
valid uses. 
16 use 
460gg-10. 
Civil and criminal 
jurisdiction. 
16 use 
S - 1 1 . 
16 use 
460gg-12. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
16 use 
460gg-13. 
(d) provision for the control of the use and number of motor-
ized and nonmotorized river craft: Provided^ That the use of such 
craft is hereby recognized as a valid use of the Snake River within 
the recreation area; and 
(e) standards for such management, utilization, and disposal of 
natural resources on federally owned lands, including but not 
limited to, timber harvesting by selective cutting, mining, and 
grazing and the continuation of such existing uses and develop-
ments as are compatible with the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 11. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4(d) (2) of the 
Wilderness Act and subject to valid existing rights, all Federal lands 
located in the recreation area are hereby withdrawn from all forms of 
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of the United States, 
and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing and 
all amendments thereto. 
SEC. 12. The Secretary shall permit hunting and fishing on lands 
and waters under his jurisdiction within the boundaries of the recrea-
tion area in accordance with applicable laws of the United States and 
the States wherein the lands and waters are located except that the 
Secretary may designate zones where, and establish periods when, no 
hunting or fishing shall be permitted for reasons for public safety, 
administration, or public use and enjoyment. Except in emergencies, 
any regulations of the Secretary pursuant to this section shall be put 
into effect only after consultation with the appropriate State fish and 
game department. 
SEC. 13. Ranching, grazing, farming, timber harvesting, and the 
occupation of homes and lands associated therewith, as they exist on 
the date of enactment of this Act, are recognized as traditional and 
valid uses of the recreation area. 
SEC. 14. Nothing in this Act shall diminish, enlarge, or modify any 
right of the States of Idaho, Oregon, or any political subdivisions 
thereof, to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction within the recreation 
area or of rights to tax persons, corporations, franchises, or property, 
including mineral or other interests, in or on lands or waters within 
the recreation area. 
SEC. 15. The Secretary may cooperate with other Federal agencies, 
with State and local public agencies, and with private individuals and 
agencies in the development and operation of facilities and services in 
the area in furtherance of the purposes of this Act, including, but not 
limited to, restoration and maintenance of the historic setting and 
background of towns and settlements within the recreation area. 
SEC. 16. (a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum 
of not more than $10,000,000 for the acquisition of lands and interests 
in lands within the recreation area. 
(b) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of not 
more than $10,000,000 for the development of recreation facilities 
within the recreation area. 
PUBLIC LAW 94-199—DEC. 31, 1975 
89 STAT. 1123 
{c) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of not 
more than $1,500,000 for the inventory, identification, development, 
and protection of the historic and archeological sites described in 
section 5 of this Act. 
SEC. 17. If any provision of this Act is declared to be invalid, such Separability. 
declaration shall not affect the validity of any other provision hereof. 16 U
S
C 460gg 
note. 
Approved December 31, 1975. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 94-607 accompanying H.R. 30 (Comm. on Interior and Insular 
Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 94-153 (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 121 (1975): 
June 2, considered and passed Senate. 
Nov. 18, considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 30. 
Dec. 12, Senate concurred in House amendment with amendments. 
Dec. 19, House concurred in Senate amendments.