Volume 100 · 1802
Public Law 99–504
To establish the Pine Ridge National Recreation Area and Soldier Creek Wilderness in the State of Nebraska, and for other purposes.
Approved October 20, 1986
Statutory text
An Act
To establish the Pine Ridge National Recreation Area and Soldier Creek Wilderness in the State of Nebraska, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Sec. 1.
That this Act may be cited as the “Nebraska Wilderness Act of 1985”.
TITLE I— WILDERNESS
Sec. 101.
In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act of
National Forest System.
Conservation.
1964, certain lands in the Nebraska National Forest, which comprise approximately eight thousand one hundred acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled “Soldier Creek Wilderness—Proposed”, dated February 1985, are hereby designated wilderness and, therefore,
as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and shall be known as the Soldier Creek Wilderness.
administration of wilderness
Sec. 102.
Subject to valid existing rights and the provisions of subsection (b), the wilderness area designated under section 101 shall be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Secretary") 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 Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the effective date of this Act.
In the administration of the wilderness in the State of
Animals.
Nebraska—
grazing of livestock in wilderness areas established by this Act, if established prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be administered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the and Wilderness Act and section 108 of Public Law 96–560; and
the Secretary is directed to review all policies, practices, and regulations of the Department of Agriculture regarding livestock grazing in national forest wilderness areas in Nebraska 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.
maps and descriptions
Sec. 103.
As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a map and legal description of the wilderness area designated by section 101 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources or the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives. Such map and legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that any clerical or typographical error in such map or legal description may be corrected. The Secretary shall place such map and legal
Public information.
description on file, and make them available for public inspection, in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
wilderness review concerns
Sec. 104.
The Congress finds that—
Environmental protection.
the Department of Agriculture has completed the second roadless area review and evaluation program (RARE II); and
the Congress has made its own review and examination of National Forest System roadless areas in the State of Nebraska and of the environmental impacts associated with alternative allocations of such areas.
On the basis of such review, the Congress hereby determines and directs that—
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 Nebraska, such statement shall not be subject to judicial review with respect to National Forest System lands in the State of Nebraska;
with respect to the National Forest System lands in the State of Nebraska, which were reviewed by the Department of Agriculture in the second roadless area review and evaluation (RARE II), that review and evaluation 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 an adequate consideration of the
suitability of such lands for 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 Secretary of Agriculture finds that conditions in a unit have significantly changed;
areas in the State of Nebraska reviewed in such final environmental statement 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 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
the purpose of protecting their suitability for wilderness designation prior to or during revision of the initial land management plans;
in the event that revised land management plans in the State of Nebraska 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
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 Nebraska for the purpose of determining their suitability for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
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.
TITLE II— PINE RIDGE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
designation of pine ridge national recreation area
Sec. 201.
Certain lands in the Nebraska National Forest, Nebraska,
which comprise approximately six thousand six hundred acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled “Pine Ridge National Recreation Area—Proposed”, dated September 1986, are hereby designated as the Pine Ridge National Recreation Area.
map and description
Sec. 202.
As soon as practicable after enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and legal description of the national recreation area designated by this title 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 Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate. Such map and description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this title, except that correction of clerical and typographical errors in such map and description may be made by the Secretary. Such map and description shall be on file and available
Public information.
for public inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
administration of the national recreation area
Sec. 203.
Subject to valid existing rights, the Pine Ridge
National Recreation Area designated by this title shall be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the national forests in a manner compatible with the following objectives:
the continuation of existing primitive and semiprimitive recreational use in a natural environment;
preservation and protection of forest, aquatic and grassland habitat;
protection and conservation of special areas having uncommon or outstanding wilderness, biological, geological, recreational, cultural, historical or archeological, and scientific, or other values contributing to the public benefit;
the continuation of existing livestock grazing uses;
Animals.
the control of noxious weeds and insects and prevention of their spreading onto the nearby private and Federal lands; and
the control of fires and prevention of their spreading onto nearby private and Federal lands.
The Secretary shall enter into a Memorandum of Agreement
Contracts.
State and local governments.
with local and State firefighting agencies and individuals to assure the best utilization of the firefighting resources available in the nearby communities for control of fire in the national recreation area.
The Secretary shall permit hunting, fishing, and trapping on
Hunting.
Fish and fishing.
Trapping.
lands and waters under the Secretary's jurisdiction within the boundaries of the national recreation area designated by this title in accordance with applicable laws of the United States and the State of Nebraska.
Subject to valid existing rights, all Federal lands within the
Minerals and mining.
national recreation area are hereby withdrawn from location, entry, and patent under the United States mining laws, and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing and all amendments thereto.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction
Fish and fishing.
or responsibilities of the State of Nebraska with respect to wildlife and fish in the national recreation area.
Within eighteen months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop and submit to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Agriculture of the United States House of Representatives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate a comprehensive management plan for the national recreation area designated by this title.
In conducting the reviews and preparing the comprehensive management plan required by subsection (d), the Secretary shall provide for full public participation, and shall consider the views of all interested agencies, organizations, and individuals.
Approved October 20, 1986.