[Senate Report 112-115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 277
112th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 112-115
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DEVIL'S STAIRCASE WILDERNESS ACT
_______
January 13, 2012.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of December 17, 2011
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 766]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 766) to provide for the designation of
the Devil's Staircase Wilderness Area in the State of Oregon,
to designate segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the
State of Oregon as wild rivers, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
Purpose
The purpose of S. 766 is to designate approximately 30,540
acres of Federal land in the State of Oregon as the Devil's
Staircase Wilderness and to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act to designate approximately 10.1 miles of Wasson Creek and
4.5 miles of Franklin Creek in the State of Oregon as ``wild
rivers.''
Background and Need
The Devil's Staircase area is part of the Oregon Coast
Range on the west coast of Oregon, northwest of Elkton. The
terrain is steep, wild, and remote, and is home to two
threatened bird species: the northern spotted owl and the
marbled murrelet. The name ``Devil's Staircase'' comes from a
stair-step waterfall on Wasson Creek.
Approximately 23,660 acres of the land proposed for
wilderness designation are managed by the Forest Service as
Late Successional Reserves in the Siuslaw National Forest. The
Bureau of Land Management (``BLM'') manages approximately 6,880
acres of the land proposed for wilderness designation, most of
which is revested Oregon and California Railroad land. The BLM
land currently is administratively protected as an Area of
Critical Environmental Concern and through other protective
classifications.
The creeks proposed for designation under the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act are characterized by outstanding scenic,
recreational, and ecological values, and have been identified
as critical habitat for coho salmon, a threatened species under
the Endangered Species Act.
Legislative History
S. 766 was introduced by Senators Wyden and Merkley on
April 7, 2011. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
held a hearing on the bill on May 18, 2011 (S. Hrg. 112-39). At
its business meeting on November 10, 2011, the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 766 favorably reported
without amendment. The Committee reported an identical bill (S.
1272, as amended) by voice vote in the 111th Congress.
Committee Recommendation
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on November 10, 2011, by a voice vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 766.
Senators Risch, Lee and Paul asked to be recorded as opposing
the measure.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1 provides the short title for the bill, the
``Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act of 2011.''
Section 2 defines key terms used in the bill.
Section 3(a) designates approximately 30,540 acres of
Federal land managed by the Forest Service and BLM as the
Devil's Staircase Wilderness.
Subsection (b) directs the Secretary to prepare a map and
legal description of the Wilderness and to make it publically
available.
Subsection (c) provides that the designation of the Devil's
Staircase Wilderness shall be administered in accordance with
the Wilderness Act, except as provided in paragraphs (1) and
(2) and subject to valid existing rights. The Committee is
aware that the Forest Service's records indicate that some
parcels of National Forest land within the proposed wilderness
are subject to an existing undeveloped easement, including in
sec. 15, T. 21 S., R. 10 W. This provision reiterates that the
application of the Wilderness Act to the Federal land is
subject to and would not interfere with the exercise of any
valid existing easements.
Subsection (d) clarifies that the wilderness designation
does not affect the State of Oregon's jurisdiction with respect
to fish and wildlife.
Subsection (e) clarifies that the wilderness designation
does not create a buffer or preclude non-wilderness activities
outside of the wilderness.
Subsection (f) confirms that the wilderness designation
does not diminish any tribal treaty rights.
Subsection (g) transfers administrative jurisdiction over
approximately 49 acres of BLM land to the Forest Service, to be
administered in accordance with the Weeks Law (16 U.S.C. 480 et
seq.) and other laws applicable to the National Forest System.
Section 4 amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C.
1274(a)) to add approximately 4.5 miles of Franklin Creek and
approximately 10.1 miles in two segments of Wasson Creek to be
administered by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior
as wild rivers.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 766--Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act of 2011
S. 766 would designate about 30,520 acres of federal land
in Oregon as the Devil's Staircase Wilderness. The bill also
would designate about 15 miles of creeks in the area as wild
rivers under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Based on
information provided by the agencies that administer those
areas, CBO estimates that implementing S. 766 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting S. 766 would
not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-
go procedures do not apply.
The acreage and waterways to be added by S. 766 to the
National Wilderness Preservation System or the Wild and Scenic
Rivers System are already owned by the federal government and
are currently administered by either the Forest Service or the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for conservation purposes. CBO
expects that designating those areas as wilderness would not
raise the costs of managing or protecting them. We estimate
that any costs to revise brochures, maps, and signs to reflect
the new designations would be minimal because most such
revisions would take place in conjunction with scheduled
reprinting and routine maintenance.
The lands that would be designated as wilderness under the
bill are already managed for conservation purposes and produce
no income from commercial activities. Therefore, CBO estimates
that enacting S. 766 would have no effect on offsetting
receipts.
S. 766 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Regulatory Impact Evaluation
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 766.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 766, as ordered reported.
Congressionally Directed Spending
S. 766, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
Executive Communications
The views of the Department of Agriculture and the
Department of the Interior were included in testimony received
by the Committee at the May 18, 2011, hearing (S. Hrg. 112-39),
which is provided below.
Statement of Mary Wagner, Associate Chief, Forest Service, Department
of Agriculture
Mr. Chairman, Honorable Ranking Member and distinguished
members of the Committee, I am Mary Wagner, Associate Chief of
the Forest Service. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with
you today about a bill that addresses Wilderness designation in
the coastal Douglas-fir forests of Oregon.
S. 766 would designate an area known as the Devil's
Staircase as wilderness under the National Wilderness
Preservation System. In addition, S. 766 would designate
segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State of Oregon
and within the proposed Devil's Staircase Wilderness as wild
rivers under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
The Department supports the designation of the Devil's
Staircase Wilderness as well as the Wild and Scenic River
designations on National Forest System lands. We would like to
offer minor modifications to S. 766 that would enhance
wilderness values and improve our ability to manage resources
in the area.
The Devil's Staircase area lies in the central Oregon Coast
Range, north of the Umpqua River and south of the Smith River.
Elevations in the area range from near sea level to about 1,600
feet. The area is characterized by steep, highly dissected
terrain. It is quite remote and difficult to access. A stair
step waterfall on Wasson Creek is the source of the name
Devil's Staircase.
The area that would be designated as wilderness by S. 766
encompasses approximately 30,540 acres of National Forest
System (NFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. NFS
lands are approximately 24,000 acres, and BLM lands are
approximately 6,500 acres.
All NFS lands that would be designated as wilderness are
classified as Late Successional Reserve under the Northwest
Forest Plan, which amended the Siuslaw National Forest LRMP in
1994. This land allocation provides for the preservation of old
growth (late successional) habitat and is compatible with a
wilderness designation. There are no planned resource
management or developed recreation projects within the NFS
portion of the lands to be designated as wilderness.
Most of the area is forested with older stands of Douglas-
fir and western hemlock, and red alder in riparian areas. All
three tree species are under-represented in the National
Wilderness Preservation System, relative to their abundance on
NFS lands in Washington and Oregon. These older stands provide
critical habitat and support nesting pairs of the northern
spotted owl and marbled murrelet, which are listed as
threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The proposed Devil's Staircase Wilderness provides an
outstanding representation of the Oregon Coast Range and would
enhance the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Oregon
Coast Range has been largely modified with development, roads,
and logging. Three small wilderness areas currently exist along
the Oregon portion of the Pacific Coast Range, and the proposed
Devil's Staircase Wilderness would more than double the acres
of old-growth coastal rainforest in a preservation status.
Wilderness designation would also preserve the Devil's
Staircase, which is a unique landscape feature.
There are approximately 24 miles of National Forest System
roads within the proposed boundary, 10.5 miles of which are not
needed for administrative use and would be decommissioned and
obliterated. The remainder would be converted to a trail as
discussed below. The Department recognizes that decommissioning
and obliteration of this magnitude may require the use of
motorized equipment to remove road related structures and
grading. We anticipate analyzing such use under the Forest
Service's minimum requirements analysis process.
The remaining 13.5 miles of road comprise Forest Service
Road 4100, which bisects the proposed wilderness. The
Department recommends that this road be converted and managed
as a non-motorized, foot and/or horse trail compatible with
wilderness uses. The Forest Service would use a minimum
requirement analysis process to determine the appropriate tools
necessary to complete activities associated with the road.
The bill would transfer administrative jurisdiction over 49
acres of BLM land to the Forest Service. The Forest Service
supports the transfer of jurisdiction.
S. 766 also would designate approximately 10.4 miles of
streams on National Forest System lands as part of the National
Wild and Scenic Rivers System: 5.9 miles of Wasson Creek and
4.5 miles of Franklin Creek, both on the Siuslaw National
Forest.
Both Wasson and Franklin Creeks have been identified by the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as critical habitat
for coho salmon (Oregon Coast ESU [Evolutionarily Significant
Unit] of coho salmon), a threatened species under the
Endangered Species Act. While the critical habitat portion of
Wasson Creek is below the Devil's Staircase waterfall and thus
largely outside the proposed wild and scenic designation, the
designation will nevertheless help ensure that the lower
portion of the creek remains suitable as coho habitat.
The Department defers to, and agrees with, the Department
of the Interior concerning the proposal to designate the 4.2-
mile segment of Wasson Creek flowing on lands administered by
BLM.
The Forest Service conducted an evaluation of the Wasson
and Franklin Creeks to determine their eligibility for wild and
scenic rivers designation as part of the forest planning
process for the Siuslaw National Forest. However, the agency
has not conducted a wild and scenic river suitability study,
which provides the basis for determining whether to recommend a
river as an addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers
System. Wasson Creek was found eligible as it is both free-
flowing and possesses outstandingly remarkable scenic,
recreational and ecological values. The Department supports
designation of the 5.9 miles of the Wasson Creek on NFS lands
based on the segment's eligibility.
At the time of the evaluation in 1990, Franklin Creek,
although free flowing, was found not to possess river-related
values significant at a regional or national scale and was
therefore determined ineligible for designation. Subsequent to
the 1990 eligibility study, the Forest Service has found that
Franklin Creek provides critical habitat for coho salmon,
currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species
Act, and also serves as a reference stream for research because
of its relatively pristine character, which is rare in the
Oregon Coast Range. Due to the presence of coho salmon and the
pristine character the Department does not oppose its
designation. Designation of the proposed segments of both
Wasson and Franklin Creeks is consistent with the proposed
designation of the area as wilderness. The actual Devil's
Staircase landmark is located on Wasson Creek.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I am happy to
answer any questions that you may have on Devil's Staircase
Wilderness Act.
Statement of Mike Pool, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management,
Department of the Interior
Thank you for inviting the Department of the Interior to
testify on S. 766, the Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act of
2011. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) supports S. 766 as it
applies to lands we manage.
Background
The proposed Devil's Staircase Wilderness, near the coast
of southwestern Oregon, is not for the faint of heart. Mostly
wild land and difficult to access, the Devil's Staircase
reminds us of what much of this land looked like hundreds of
years ago. A multi-storied forest of Douglas fir and western
hemlock towers over underbrush of giant ferns, providing
critical habitat for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl and
Marbled Murrelet. The remote and rugged nature of this area
provides a truly wild experience for any hiker.
S. 766
S. 766 proposes to designate over 30,000 acres as
wilderness, as well as portions of both Franklin Creek and
Wasson Creek as components of the Wild and Scenic Rivers
System. The majority of these designations are on lands managed
by the U.S. Forest Service. The Department of the Interior
defers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on those
designations.
Approximately 6,830 acres of the proposed Devil's Staircase
Wilderness and 4.2 miles of the Wasson Creek proposed
designation are within lands managed by the BLM. The Department
of the Interior supports these designations.
We note that while the vast majority of the acres proposed
for designation are Oregon & California (O&C) lands, identified
under the 1937 O&C Lands Act for timber production, the BLM
currently restricts timber production on these lands. These
lands are administratively withdrawn from timber production by
the BLM through various administrative classifications.
Additionally, the BLM estimates that nearly 90 percent of the
area proposed for designation is comprised of forest stands
that are over 100 years old, and provides critical habitat for
the threatened Marbled Murrelet and Northern Spotted Owl.
The 4.2 miles of Wasson Creek would be designated as a wild
river to be managed by the BLM under S. 766. The majority of
the acres protected through this designation would be within
the proposed Devil's Staircase wilderness designation, though
376 acres would be outside the proposed wilderness on adjacent
BLM lands.
The designations identified on BLM-managed lands under S.
766 would result in only minor modification of current
management of the area and would preserve these wild lands for
future generations.
Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of
these important Oregon designations. The Department of the
Interior looks forward to welcoming these units into the BLM's
National Landscape Conservation System.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill S. 766, as ordered reported, are shown as follows
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):
WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS ACT
(Public Law 90-542; Approved October 2, 1968)
AN ACT To provide a National Wild and Scenic Rivers System,
and for other purposes.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 3.(a) The following rivers and the land adjacent
thereto are hereby designed as components of the national wild
and scenic rivers system:
* * * * * * *
(210) Franklin creek, oregon.--The 4.5-mile segment
from its headwaters to the line of angle points within
sec. 8, T. 22 S., R. 10 W., shown on the survey
recorded in the Official Records of Douglas County,
Oregon, as M64-62, to be administered by the Secretary
of Agriculture as a wild river.
(211) Wasson creek, oregon.--The 10.1-mile segment in
the following classes:
(A) The 4.2-mile segment from the eastern
boundary of sec. 17, T. 21 S., R. 9 W.,
downstream to the western boundary of sec. 12,
T. 21 S., R. 10 W., to be administered by the
Secretary of the Interior as a wild river.
(B) The 5.9-mile segment from the western
boundary of sec. 12, T. 21 S., R. 10 W.,
downstream to the eastern boundary of the
northwest quarter of sec. 22, T. 21 S., R. 10
W., to be administered by the Secretary of
Agriculture as a wild river.
* * * * * * *