An act to designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Georgia as wilderness, and for other purposes.
PL 98-514 (S.2773), enacted 10/19/1984

98 STAT. 2416 
PUBLIC LAW 98-514—OCT. 19, 1984 
Public Law 98-
98th Congress 
514 
An Act 
Oct. 19, 1984 
[S. 2773] 
Georgia 
Wilderness Act 
of 1984. 
National 
Wilderness 
Preservation 
System. 
National Forest 
System. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
Ante, p. 263. 
To designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Georgia as 
wilderness, 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 "Georgia 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 Georgia are 
hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of 
the National Wilderness Preservation System: 
(1) certain lands in the Chattahoochee National Forest, Geor-
gia, which comprise approximately two thousand acres, as gen-
erally depicted on a map entitled "Ellicott Rock Wilderness 
Addition—Proposed", dated June 1984, and which are hereby 
incorporated in, and shall be deemed to be part of, the Ellicott 
Rock Wilderness as designated by Public Law 93-622; and 
(2) certain lands in the Chattahoochee National Forest, Geor-
gia, which comprise approximately twelve thousand four hun-
dred and thirty-nine acres, as generally depicted on a map 
entitled "Southern Nantahala Wilderness Addition—Proposed", 
dated June 1984, and which are hereby incorporated in, and 
shall be deemed to be part of, the Southern Nantahala Wilder-
ness as designated by Public Law 98-324. 
Public 
availability. 
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. 
16 u s e 1131 
note. 
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 
any reference in such provisions to the effective date of the Wilder-
PUBLIC LAW 98-514—OCT. 19, 1984 
98 STAT. 2417 
ness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
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 the State of Georgia 
and of the 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 question of the legal and factual 
sufficiency of the RARE II final environmental statement 
(dated January 1979) with respect to National Forest System 
lands in States other than Georgia, such statement shall not be 
subject to judicial review with respect to National Forest 
System lands in the State of Georgia; 
(2) with respect to the National Forest System lands in the 
State of Georgia 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 suit- 
16 USC 1600 
ability of such lands for inclusion in the National Wilderness 
note. 
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 Georgia 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 Na-
tional 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 Georgia 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 
98 STAT. 2418 
PUBLIC LAW 98-514—OCT. 19, 1984 
required by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 
Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest 
16 use 1600 
Management Act of 1976, and other applicable law; and 
note. 
(5) unless expressly authorized by Congress, the Department 
Prohibition. 
of Agriculture shall not conduct any further statewide roadless 
area review and evaluation of National Forest System lands in 
the State of Georgia for the purpose of determining their suit-
ability 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. 
(d) The provisions of this section shall also apply to National 
Forest System roadless lands in the State of Georgia which are less 
than five thousand acres in size. 
(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to— 
(1) the Georgia portion of the Big Frog Wilderness Study Area 
16 use 1132 
as designated by Public Law 93-622; and 
note. 
(2) the following areas in the Chattahoochee National Forest, 
Georgia, as generally depicted on a map entitled "Chattahoo-
chee National Forest RARE II Inventory", dated June 1984, and 
which are known as— 
(A) "Raven Cliff, comprising approximately nine thou-
sand one hundred acres; 
(B) "Overflow", comprising approximately five thousand 
acres; 
(C) "Blood Mountain", comprising approximately nine 
thousand four hundred acres; 
(D) "Chattahoochee River", comprising approximately 
twenty-one thousand six hundred acres; 
(E) "Tray Mountain", comprising approximately thirty-
six thousand six hundred acres; 
(F) "Hemp Top", comprising approximately two thousand 
seven hundred acres; 
(G) "Mountain Town", comprising approximately six 
thousand seven hundred acres; 
(H) "Rich Mountain", comprising approximately fifteen 
thousand six hundred acres; 
(I) "Brasstown", comprising approximately three thou-
sand six hundred acres; and 
PUBLIC LAW 98-514—OCT. 19, 1984 
98 STAT. 2419 
(J) "Wolf Pen", comprising approximately seven thou-
sand seven hundred acres. 
These areas shall be considered for all uses, including wilderness, 
during preparation of a forest plan for the Chattahoochee National 
Forest pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 
Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended. 
16 use i«()4. 
Approved October 19, 1984. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2773: 
SENATE REPORT No. 98-611 (Comm. on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 130 (1984): 
Oct. 2, considered and passed Senate. 
Oct. 4, considered and passed House.