1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Pine Forest Range Recreation
Enhancement Act of 2011
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Addition to National Wilderness Preservation
System.
Sec. 5. Administration.
Sec. 6. Adjacent management.
Sec. 7. Military overflights.
Sec. 8. Native American cultural and religious
uses.
Sec. 9. Release of wilderness study areas.
Sec. 10. Wildlife management.
Sec. 11. Wildfire, insect, and disease management.
Sec. 12. Climatological data collection.
Sec. 13. Land exchanges.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)public land in the
Pine Forest Range contains unique and spectacular natural resources,
including—
(A)priceless habitat
for numerous species of plants and wildlife; and
(B)thousands of acres
of land that remain in a natural state;
(2)continued
preservation of the public land would benefit the County and the United States
by—
(A)ensuring the
conservation of ecologically diverse habitat;
(B)protecting
prehistoric cultural resources;
(C)conserving
primitive recreational resources; and
(D)protecting air and
water quality; and
(3)designation of the
Pine Forest Range as a wilderness area is supported by the State, units of
local governments, and the surrounding communities.
3.In this Act:
(1)The
term County means Humboldt County, Nevada.
(2)The
term Map means the map entitled Pine Forest Range
Wilderness
and dated __, 2011.
(3)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(4)The
term State means the State of Nevada.
4.Addition to
National Wilderness Preservation System
(a)Certain
Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, comprising approximately
26,000 acres, as generally depicted on the Map is designated as wilderness and
as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to be known as
the Pine Forest Range Wilderness
.
(b)
(1)The boundary of any portion of the wilderness area
designated by subsection (a) that is bordered by a road shall be at least 100
feet away from the edge of the road to allow public access.
(2)The Secretary shall—
(A)reroute the road
running through Long Meadow to the west to remove the road from the riparian
area;
(B)reroute the road
currently running through Rodeo Flat Meadow to the east to remove the road from
the riparian area; and
(C)close, except for
administrative use, the road along Lower Alder Creek south of Bureau of Land
Management road #2083.
(3)The boundary of the wilderness area designated by
subsection (a) shall be at least 160 feet downstream from the dam at Little
Onion Reservoir to allow public access.
(c)Map and legal
description
(1)As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall file a map and legal description of the
wilderness area designated by subsection (a) with—
(A)the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and
(B)the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(2)The
map and legal description filed under paragraph (1) shall have the same force
and effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary may correct
clerical and typographical errors in the map or legal description.
(3)Each
map and legal description filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of
Land Management.
(d)Subject
to valid existing rights, the wilderness area designated by subsection (a) is
withdrawn from—
(1)all forms of
entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
(2)location, entry,
and patent under the mining laws; and
(3)disposition under
all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral
materials.
5.
(a)Subject
to valid existing rights, the land designated as wilderness by this Act shall
be administered by the Secretary in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16
U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that—
(1)any reference in
that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be considered to be a
reference to the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2)any reference in
that Act to the Secretary of Agriculture shall be considered to be a reference
to the Secretary.
(b)Within
the wilderness area designated by this Act, the grazing of livestock in areas
administered by the Bureau of Land Management in which grazing is established
as of the date of enactment of this Act shall be allowed to continue—
(1)subject to such
reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as the Secretary considers to
be necessary; and
(2)consistent with
section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), including the
guidelines set forth in Appendix A of House Report 101–405.
(c)Incorporation of
acquired land and interestsAny land or interest in land within
the boundaries of the area designated as wilderness by this Act that is
acquired by the United States after the date of enactment of this Act shall be
added to and administered as part of the wilderness area.
(d)
(1)Congress
finds that—
(A)the land
designated as wilderness by this Act is located—
(i)in
the semiarid region of the Great Basin; and
(ii)at
the headwaters of the streams and rivers on land with respect to which there
are few, if any—
(I)actual or proposed
water resource facilities located upstream; and
(II)opportunities for
diversion, storage, or other uses of water occurring outside the land that
would adversely affect the wilderness values of the land;
(B)the land
designated as wilderness by this Act is generally not suitable for use or
development of new water resource facilities; and
(C)because of the
unique nature of the land designated as wilderness by this Act, it is possible
to provide for proper management and protection of the wilderness and other
values of land in ways different from those used in other laws.
(2)The
purpose of this section is to protect the wilderness values of the land
designated as wilderness by this Act by means other than a federally reserved
water right.
(3)Nothing in this Act—
(A)constitutes an
express or implied reservation by the United States of any water or water
rights with respect to a wilderness designated by this Act;
(B)affects any water
rights in the State (including any water rights held by the United States) in
existence on the date of enactment of this Act;
(C)establishes a
precedent with regard to any future wilderness designations;
(D)affects the
interpretation of, or any designation made under, any other Act; or
(E)limits, alters,
modifies, or amends any interstate compact or equitable apportionment decree
that apportions water among and between the State and other States.
(4)The Secretary shall follow the procedural and substantive
requirements of State law in order to obtain and hold any water rights not in
existence on the date of enactment of this Act with respect to the wilderness
area designated by this Act.
(5)
(A)Definition of
water resource facility
(i)In this paragraph, the term water resource
facility means irrigation and pumping facilities, reservoirs, water
conservation works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines, wells, hydropower
projects, transmission and other ancillary facilities, and other water
diversion, storage, and carriage structures.
(ii)In
this paragraph, the term water resource facility
does not
include wildlife guzzlers.
(B)Restriction on
new water resource facilitiesExcept as otherwise provided in
this Act, on or after the date of enactment of this Act, neither the President
nor any other officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall fund,
assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for the development of any new
water resource facility within a wilderness area, any portion of which is
located in the County.
6.
(a)Congress does not intend for the designation of land as
wilderness by this Act to create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around
the wilderness area.
(b)The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be
seen or heard from areas within the wilderness designated by this Act shall not
preclude the conduct of the activities or uses outside the boundary of the
wilderness area.
7.Nothing in this
Act restricts or precludes—
(1)low-level
overflights of military aircraft over the area designated as wilderness by this
Act, including military overflights that can be seen or heard within the
wilderness area;
(2)flight testing and
evaluation; or
(3)the designation or
creation of new units of special use airspace, or the establishment of military
flight training routes, over the wilderness area.
8.Native American
cultural and religious usesNothing in this Act diminishes—
(1)the rights of any
Indian tribe; or
(2)tribal rights
regarding access to Federal land for tribal activities, including spiritual,
cultural, and traditional food-gathering activities.
9.Release of
wilderness study areas
(a)Congress
finds that, for the purposes of section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), the Bureau of Land Management land in
any portion of the Blue Lakes and Alder Creek wilderness study areas not
designated as wilderness by section 4(a) has been adequately studied for
wilderness designation.
(b)Any
public land described in subsection (a) that is not designated as wilderness by
this Act—
(1)is no longer
subject to section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c));
(2)shall be managed
in accordance with—
(A)land management
plans adopted under section 202 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1712); and
(B)cooperative
conservation agreements in existence on the date of enactment of this Act;
and
(3)shall be subject
to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
10.
(a)In accordance with section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act
(16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), nothing in this Act affects or diminishes the
jurisdiction of the State with respect to fish and wildlife management,
including the regulation of hunting, fishing, and trapping, in the wilderness
area designated by this Act.
(b)In furtherance of the purposes and principles of the
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), management activities to maintain or
restore fish and wildlife populations and the habitats to support the
populations may be carried out within the wilderness area designated by this
Act, if the activities are carried out—
(1)consistent with
relevant wilderness management plans; and
(2)in accordance
with—
(A)the Wilderness Act
(16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and
(B)appropriate
policies, such as those set forth in Appendix B of House Report 101–405,
including the occasional and temporary use of motorized vehicles if the use, as
determined by the Secretary, would promote healthy, viable, and more naturally
distributed wildlife populations that would enhance wilderness values with the
minimal impact necessary to reasonably accomplish those tasks.
(c)Consistent with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act
(16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) and in accordance with appropriate policies such as
those set forth in Appendix B of House Report 101–405, the State may continue
to use aircraft, including helicopters, to survey, capture, transplant,
monitor, and provide water for wildlife populations.
(d)Wildlife water
development projectsSubject to subsection (f), the Secretary
shall authorize structures and facilities, including existing structures and
facilities, for wildlife water development projects, including guzzlers, in the
wilderness areas designated by section 4(a) if—
(1)the structures and
facilities will, as determined by the Secretary, enhance wilderness values by
promoting healthy, viable, and more naturally distributed wildlife populations;
and
(2)the visual impacts
of the structures and facilities on the wilderness areas can reasonably be
minimized.
(e)Hunting,
fishing, and trapping
(1)The Secretary may designate, by regulation, areas in
which, and establish periods during which, for reasons of public safety,
administration, or compliance with applicable laws, no hunting, fishing, or
trapping will be permitted in the wilderness areas designated by section
4(a).
(2)Except
in emergencies, the Secretary shall consult with the appropriate State agency
before promulgating regulations under paragraph (1).
(f)
(1)The State, including a designee of the State, may conduct
wildlife management activities in the wilderness area designated by this
Act—
(A)in accordance with
the terms and conditions specified in the cooperative agreement between the
Secretary and the State entitled Memorandum of Understanding between the
Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Wildlife Supplement No.
9
and signed November and December 2003, including any amendments to
the cooperative agreement agreed to by the Secretary and the State; and
(B)subject to all
applicable laws (including regulations).
(2)For the purposes of this subsection, any reference
to Clark County in the cooperative agreement described in paragraph (1)(A)
shall be considered to be a reference to the Pine Forest Range
Wilderness.
11.Wildfire,
insect, and disease management
(a)Consistent with
section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the Secretary may
take such measures in the wilderness designated by this Act as may be necessary
for the control of fire, insects, and diseases (including, as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate, the coordination of the activities with a State
or local agency).
(b)Nothing in this Act precludes a Federal,
State, or local agency from conducting wildfire management operations
(including operations using aircraft or mechanized equipment).
12.Climatological
data collectionIf the
Secretary determines that hydrologic, meteorologic, or climatological
collection devices are appropriate to further the scientific, educational, and
conservation purposes of the wilderness area designated by this Act, nothing in
this Act precludes the installation and maintenance of the collection devices
within the wilderness area.
13.
(a)In
this section:
(1)The term Federal land means Federal land in the
County that—
(A)is not segregated
or withdrawn on or after the date of enactment of this Act;
(B)is identified for
disposal by the Bureau of Land Management through the Winnemucca Resource
Management Plan; and
(C)is determined by
the Bureau of Land Management to be appropriate for exchange consistent with
section 206 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1716).
(2)The term non-Federal land means land identified
on the Map as private lands available for exchange
.
(b)Acquisition of
land and interests in land
(1)Consistent with applicable law and subject to subsection
(c), the Secretary may exchange the Federal land for non-Federal land.
(2)Incorporation of
acquired landAny non-Federal land or interest in non-Federal
land in, or adjoining the boundary of, the Pine Forest Range Wilderness Area
that is acquired by the United States shall be added to, and administered as
part of, the Pine Forest Range Wilderness Area.
(c)Each
land exchange under subsection (a) shall be subject to—
(1)the condition that
the owner of the non-Federal land pay not less than 50 percent of all costs
relating to the land exchange, including the costs of appraisals, surveys, and
any necessary environmental clearances; and
(2)such additional
terms and conditions as the Secretary may require.
(d)Deadline for
completion of land exchangeIt is the intent of Congress that the
land exchanges under this section be completed by not later than 5 years after
the date of enactment of this Act.