16 U.S.C. § 1131 — National Wilderness Preservation System

Page 1611 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 1131 or of any person employed by, or assigned or de- tailed to, the Commission. (b) Payment; exemption of property from attach- ment, execution, etc. Any liability of the Commission shall be met from funds of the Commission to the extent that it is not covered by insurance, or otherwise. Property belonging to the Commission shall be exempt from attachment, execution, or other process for satisfaction of claims, debts, or judg- ments. (c) Individual members of Commission No liability of the Commission shall be im- puted to any member of the Commission solely on the basis that he occupies the position of member of the Commission. (Pub. L. 88–363, § 11, July 7, 1964, 78 Stat. 301.) § 1111. Exemption from taxation The Commission shall not be subject to Fed- eral, State, or municipal taxation in the United States on any real or personal property held by it or on any gift, bequest, or devise to it of any personal or real property, or on its income, whether from governmental appropriations, ad- mission fees, concessions, or donations. (Pub. L. 88–363, § 12, July 7, 1964, 78 Stat. 301.) § 1112. Tax treatment of any gift, devise or be- quest to the Commission For the purpose of Federal income, estate, and gift taxes, any gift, devise, or bequest to or for the use of the Commission, and accepted by the Commission under authority of this chapter, shall be deemed to be a gift, devise, or bequest to or for the use of the United States, as the case may be, if it is not deducted as a gift, de- vise, or bequest to or for the use of the Govern- ment of Canada under the income, estate, or gift tax laws of the Government of Canada. (Pub. L. 88–363, § 13, July 7, 1964, 78 Stat. 301.) § 1113. Authorization of appropriations There are hereby authorized to be appro- priated to the Department of the Interior with- out fiscal year limitation such sums as may be necessary for the purposes of this chapter and the agreement with the Government of Canada signed January 22, 1964, article 11 of which pro- vides that the Governments of the United States and Canada shall share equally the costs of de- veloping and the annual cost of operating and maintaining the Roosevelt Campobello Inter- national Park. (Pub. L. 88–363, § 14, July 7, 1964, 78 Stat. 301.) CHAPTER 23—NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM Sec. 1131. National Wilderness Preservation System. 1132. Extent of System. 1133. Use of wilderness areas. 1134. State and private lands within wilderness areas. 1135. Gifts, bequests, and contributions. 1136. Annual reports to Congress. § 1131. National Wilderness Preservation System (a) Establishment; Congressional declaration of policy; wilderness areas; administration for public use and enjoyment, protection, preser- vation, and gathering and dissemination of information; provisions for designation as wilderness areas In order to assure that an increasing popu- lation, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American peo- ple of present and future generations the bene- fits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose there is hereby established a Na- tional Wilderness Preservation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as ‘‘wilderness areas’’, and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoy- ment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and no Federal lands shall be designated as ‘‘wilderness areas’’ except as provided for in this chapter or by a subsequent Act. (b) Management of area included in System; ap- propriations The inclusion of an area in the National Wil- derness Preservation System notwithstanding, the area shall continue to be managed by the Department and agency having jurisdiction thereover immediately before its inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System unless otherwise provided by Act of Congress. No appropriation shall be available for the pay- ment of expenses or salaries for the administra- tion of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit nor shall any appro- priations be available for additional personnel stated as being required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas solely because they are included within the National Wilder- ness Preservation System. (c) ‘‘Wilderness’’ defined A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilder- ness is further defined to mean in this chapter an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to pre- serve its natural conditions and which (1) gen- erally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of Page 1612 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 1132 sufficient size as to make practicable its preser- vation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. (Pub. L. 88–577, § 2, Sept. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 890.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 88–577, § 1, Sept. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 890, provided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Wilderness Act’.’’ § 1132. Extent of System (a) Designation of wilderness areas; filing of maps and descriptions with Congressional committees; correction of errors; public records; availability of records in regional of- fices All areas within the national forests classified at least 30 days before September 3, 1964 by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the For- est Service as ‘‘wilderness’’, ‘‘wild’’, or ‘‘canoe’’ are hereby designated as wilderness areas. The Secretary of Agriculture shall— (1) Within one year after September 3, 1964, file a map and legal description of each wilder- ness area with the Interior and Insular Affairs Committees of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, and such de- scriptions shall have the same force and effect as if included in this chapter: Provided, how- ever, That correction of clerical and typo- graphical errors in such legal descriptions and maps may be made. (2) Maintain, available to the public, records pertaining to said wilderness areas, including maps and legal descriptions, copies of regula- tions governing them, copies of public notices of, and reports submitted to Congress regard- ing pending additions, eliminations, or modi- fications. Maps, legal descriptions, and regula- tions pertaining to wilderness areas within their respective jurisdictions also shall be available to the public in the offices of re- gional foresters, national forest supervisors, and forest rangers. (b) Review by Secretary of Agriculture of classi- fications as primitive areas; Presidential rec- ommendations to Congress; approval of Con- gress; size of primitive areas; Gore Range-Ea- gles Nest Primitive Area, Colorado The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten years after September 3, 1964, review, as to its suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness, each area in the national forests classified on September 3, 1964 by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service as ‘‘primitive’’ and report his findings to the President. The President shall advise the United States Senate and House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to the des- ignation as ‘‘wilderness’’ or other reclassifica- tion of each area on which review has been com- pleted, together with maps and a definition of boundaries. Such advice shall be given with re- spect to not less than one-third of all the areas now classified as ‘‘primitive’’ within three years after September 3, 1964, not less than two-thirds within seven years after September 3, 1964, and the remaining areas within ten years after Sep- tember 3, 1964. Each recommendation of the President for designation as ‘‘wilderness’’ shall become effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Areas classified as ‘‘primitive’’ on September 3, 1964 shall continue to be adminis- tered under the rules and regulations affecting such areas on September 3, 1964 until Congress has determined otherwise. Any such area may be increased in size by the President at the time he submits his recommendations to the Congress by not more than five thousand acres with no more than one thousand two hundred and eighty acres of such increase in any one compact unit; if it is proposed to increase the size of any such area by more than five thousand acres or by more than one thousand two hundred and eighty acres in any one compact unit the increase in size shall not become effective until acted upon by Congress. Nothing herein contained shall limit the President in proposing, as part of his recommendations to Congress, the alteration of existing boundaries of primitive areas or recom- mending the addition of any contiguous area of national forest lands predominantly of wilder- ness value. Notwithstanding any other provi- sions of this chapter, the Secretary of Agri- culture may complete his review and delete such area as may be necessary, but not to exceed seven thousand acres, from the southern tip of the Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area, Colorado, if the Secretary determines that such action is in the public interest. (c) Review by Secretary of the Interior of roadless areas of national park system and national wildlife refuges and game ranges and suitability of areas for preservation as wilderness; authority of Secretary of the In- terior to maintain roadless areas in national park system unaffected Within ten years after September 3, 1964 the Secretary of the Interior shall review every roadless area of five thousand contiguous acres or more in the national parks, monuments and other units of the national park system and every such area of, and every roadless island within the national wildlife refuges and game ranges, under his jurisdiction on September 3, 1964 and shall report to the President his rec- ommendation as to the suitability or nonsuit- ability of each such area or island for preserva- tion as wilderness. The President shall advise the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of his rec- ommendation with respect to the designation as wilderness of each such area or island on which review has been completed, together with a map thereof and a definition of its boundaries. Such advice shall be given with respect to not less than one-third of the areas and islands to be re- viewed under this subsection within three years after September 3, 1964, not less than two-thirds within seven years of September 3, 1964 and the remainder within ten years of September 3, 1964. A recommendation of the President for designa- tion as wilderness shall become effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Nothing con- tained herein shall, by implication or otherwise, be construed to lessen the present statutory au-