[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2206 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2206

   To release certain wilderness study areas in the State of Montana.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 7, 2017

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To release certain wilderness study areas in the State of Montana.

    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 ``Protect Public Use of Public Lands 
Act''.

SEC. 2. RELEASE OF CERTAIN WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS IN THE STATE OF 
              MONTANA.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) under the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977 (Public 
        Law 95-150; 91 Stat. 1243), 9 wilderness study areas comprising 
        a total of 973,000 acres of land in the State of Montana were 
        set aside for the Secretary of Agriculture to evaluate the 
        suitability of the wilderness study areas for designation as 
        wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
        1131 et seq.), with the evaluation to be completed not later 
        than 5 years after the date of enactment of the Montana 
        Wilderness Study Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-150; 91 Stat. 
        1243);
            (2) between 1979 and 1986, the Chief of the Forest Service 
        completed the studies of the 9 wilderness study areas and 
        determined that 608,700 acres of the original 973,000 acres 
        designated as wilderness study areas by the Montana Wilderness 
        Study Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-150; 91 Stat. 1243) were 
        unsuitable for inclusion in the National Wilderness 
        Preservation System;
            (3) since the completion of the studies required under the 
        Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-150; 91 
        Stat. 1243), of the land designated as wilderness study areas 
        by that Act--
                    (A) 171,000 acres have been designated as 
                wilderness by Congress; and
                    (B) 663,000 acres remain as wilderness study areas 
                until Congress acts;
            (4) Congress has failed to act on the recommendations of 
        the Chief of the Forest Service with respect to the remaining 7 
        wilderness study areas;
            (5) the Montana State legislature passed House Joint 
        Resolution 9, a resolution asking Congress to address the 
        remaining 7 wilderness study areas;
            (6) County commissions, sportsmen, farmers and ranchers, 
        and outdoor recreation groups in the State of Montana support 
        Congress acting to remove the land in the State described in 
        subsection (c) to protect public use of public land; and
            (7) for the purposes of section 3(a) of the Montana 
        Wilderness Study Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-150; 91 Stat. 
        1244), the land in the State of Montana described in subsection 
        (c) has been adequately studied for wilderness designation.
    (b) Release.--The land described in subsection (c) is no longer 
subject to section 3(a) of the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977 
(Public Law 95-150; 91 Stat. 1244).
    (c) Description of Land.--The land referred to in paragraphs (6) 
and (7) of subsection (a) and subsection (b) is--
            (1) the approximately 151,000 acres of land comprising the 
        West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area;
            (2) the approximately 32,500 acres of land within the Blue 
        Joint Wilderness Study Area not recommended for wilderness 
        classification in the record of decision prepared by the Forest 
        Service entitled ``Bitterroot National Forest Plan'' and dated 
        September 1987;
            (3) the approximately 94,000 acres of land comprising the 
        Sapphire Wilderness Study Area;
            (4) the approximately 81,000 acres of land comprising the 
        Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area; and
            (5) the approximately 91,000 acres of land comprising the 
        Big Snowies Wilderness Study Area.
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