[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42050-42051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20519]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Designation of a Segment of the Wallowa River as a Component of 
the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System

AGENCY: Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the authority granted the Secretary of the 
Interior by section 2(a)(ii) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (82 Stat 
906, 16 U.S.C. 1273), and upon application by the Governor of the State 
of Oregon, a 10-mile segment of the Wallowa River is hereby designated 
as a state-administered component of the National Wild and Scenic 
Rivers System (National System). This action is based on the 
designation of the river by the State of Oregon and the protection 
offered this river and its immediate environment by and pursuant to 
applicable state laws and regulations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dan Haas, National Park Service, Pacific West Field Area Office, 909 
First Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104-1060, telephone (206) 220-4120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 29, 1994, then Oregon Governor 
Barbara Roberts petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to add a 
segment of the Wallowa River to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 
System. Section 2(a)(ii) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act allows a 
governor to request that rivers already protected in a state river 
protection system be included in the National System. Governor Roberts 
requested that a 10-mile reach of the Wallowa River, from the 
confluence of the Wallowa and Minam Rivers (river mile 10) downstream 
to the confluence of the Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers (river mile 
0), be protected as a wild and scenic river. Pursuant to section 
2(a)(ii),

[[Page 42051]]

the river will be managed by the State of Oregon at no cost to the 
federal government, except for those lands currently managed by the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
    For a state-managed river to be eligible for the National System, 
four conditions must be met: (1) The river is already designated as 
part of a state river protection system; (2) the river has at least one 
``outstandingly remarkable'' natural, cultural or recreational 
resource--i.e., a resource of regional or national significance--and is 
free-flowing as defined by the Departments of the Interior and 
Agriculture; (3) the state has adequate mechanisms in place to protect 
the resources for which the river is eligible for the National System; 
and (4) the state has the institutional framework to manage the river 
at no cost to the federal government, except for those lands already in 
federal management.
    The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for making 
determinations of eligibility under section 2(a)(ii). The NPS Pacific 
West Field Area conducted a study, with the BLM and the U.S. Forest 
Service (USFS) acting as cooperating agencies. In April of 1995, the 
NPS released the Draft Wallowa River 2(a)(ii) Wild & Scenic River Study 
for public review and comment. A period for public comment was provided 
from April 21, 1995, to June 22, 1995. The draft report was finalized 
based on comments received.
    Simultaneous with the release of the draft report, the NPS 
announced it was adopting the Wallowa River Wild and Scenic River Study 
Report and Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) in 
fulfillment of National Environmental Policy Act requirements. The LEIS 
was prepared by the USFS, with the NPS and BLM acting as cooperating 
agencies. The LEIS was prepared at the direction of Congress under the 
1988 Oregon Omnibus Rivers Act which mandated that the USFS study the 
Wallowa River for possible inclusion into the National System. The 
Preferred Alternative of the LEIS was designation of the river as wild 
and scenic through section 2(a)(ii), subsequently leading to Governor 
Roberts' request. The USFS filed the LEIS with the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) on July 14, 1995, and notice was provided in 
the Federal Register on July 21, 1995. Simultaneously, the NPS filed 
with the EPA its notice of adoption of the LEIS, and this was also 
notice in the Federal Register on July 21, 1995.
    This action is taken following public involvement and consultation 
with the Departments of Agriculture, Army, Energy and Transportation; 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; all Department of the 
Interior agencies; the National Marine Fisheries Services; the State of 
Oregon; the EPA; and all other Federal agencies that might have an 
interest.
    Based on the recommendations of the NPS and a review of all 
relevant documents, I have determined that the 10-mile stretch of the 
Wallowa River should be designated as a state-administered component of 
the National System, as provided for in section 2(a)(ii) of the Wild 
and Scenic Rivers Act. Notice is hereby given that effective upon this 
date, the segment of the Wallowa River from the confluence of the 
Wallowa and Minam Rivers in the hamlet of Minam downstream to the 
confluence of the Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers is approved for 
inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System as a National 
Recreational River.

    Dated: July 23, 1996.
Bruce Babbitt,
Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 96-20519 Filed 8-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M