[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 783 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 783

    To increase the accessibility of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
                  Wilderness, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 1997

   Mr. Grams introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To increase the accessibility of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
                  Wilderness, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
Wilderness Accessibility and Fairness Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) it is in the national interest to protect, preserve, 
        and improve for the long term the diverse resources of the 
        Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for the benefit of the 
        people of the United States;
            (2) the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a unique 
        wilderness area dedicated to appropriate public access and use 
        through historically recognized motorized and nonmotorized 
        recreational activities consistent with the protections 
        afforded by and the commitments made in the Wilderness Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and the Act entitled ``An Act to designate 
        the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to establish the 
        Boundary Waters Canoe Area Mining Protection Area, and for 
        other purposes'', approved October 21, 1978 (Public Law 95-495; 
        92 Stat. 1649);
            (3) few other units of the National Wilderness Preservation 
        System have been created from more densely populated and 
        heavily utilized regions than the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
        Wilderness; and
            (4) the cessation of traditional motorized transport on 3 
        portages between lakes on which the use of a motorboat is 
        permitted in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness unfairly 
        restricts traditional and recognized public use of the 
        wilderness and causes unnecessary hardship to individuals and 
        families who have physical difficulty accessing the area.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF ALLOWABLE USES WITHIN CERTAIN PORTIONS OF THE 
              BOUNDARY WATER CANOE AREA WILDERNESS.

    (a) Seagull Lake.--Section 4(c) of the Act entitled ``An Act to 
designate the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to establish the 
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Mining Protection Area, and for other 
purposes'', approved October 21, 1978 (Public Law 95-495; 92 Stat. 
1650) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``Sea Gull, that portion 
        generally east of Threemile Island, Cook County;''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``Sea Gull, Cook County, 
        that portion generally west of Threemile Island, until January 
        1, 1999;''.
    (b) Motorized Portages.--Section 4 of the Act entitled ``An Act to 
designate the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to establish the 
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Mining Protection Area, and for other 
purposes'', approved October 21, 1978 (Public Law 95-495; 92 Stat. 
1650) is amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(g) Motorized Portages.--The Secretary shall permit the operation 
of motorized vehicles and associated equipment to transport boats 
across the portage between the Moose Lake chain and Basswood Lake, 
between Fall Lake and Basswood Lake, or between Vermilion Lake and 
Trout Lake.''.
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