Find Legal Information

Within five years from December 31, 1975, the Secretary shall develop and submit to the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States Senate and House of Representatives a comprehensive management plan for the recreation area which shall provide for a broad range of land uses and recreation opportunities.

In the development of such plan, the Secretary shall consider the historic, archeological, and paleontological resources within the recreation area which offer significant opportunities for anthropological research. The Secretary shall inventory such resources and may recommend such areas as he deems suitable for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Secretary’s comprehensive plan shall include recommendations for future protection and controlled research use of all such resources.

The Secretary shall, as a part of his comprehensive planning process, conduct a detailed study of the need for, and alternative routes of, scenic roads and other means of transit to and within the recreation area. In conducting such study the Secretary shall consider the alternative for upgrading existing roads and shall, in particular, study the need for and alternative routes of roads or other means of transit providing access to scenic views of and from the Western rim of Hells Canyon.

The Secretary shall review, as to their suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness, the areas generally depicted on the map referred to in section 460gg of this title as the “Lord Flat-Somers Point Plateau Wilderness Study Area”, and the “West Side Reservoir Face Wilderness Study Area”, and the “Mountain Sheep Wilderness Study Area” and report his findings to the President. The Secretary shall complete his review and the President shall, within five years from December 31, 1975, advise the United States Senate and House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to the designation of lands within such area as wilderness. In conducting his review the Secretary shall comply with the provisions of section 1132 (d) of this title and shall give public notice at least sixty days in advance of any hearings or other public meeting concerning the wilderness study area. The Secretary shall administer all Federal lands within the study areas so as not to preclude their possible future designation by the Congress as wilderness. Nothing contained herein shall limit the President in proposing, as part of this recommendation to Congress, the designation as wilderness of any additional area within the recreation area which is predominately of wilderness value.

In conducting the reviews and preparing the comprehensive management plan required by this section, the Secretary shall provide for full public participation and shall consider the views of all interested agencies, organizations, and individuals including but not limited to, the Nez Perce Tribe of Indians, and the States of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The Secretaries or Directors of all Federal departments, agencies, and commissions having a relevant expertise are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the Secretary in his review and to make such studies as the Secretary may request on a cost reimbursable basis.

Such activities as are compatible with the provisions of this subchapter, but not limited to, timber harvesting by selective cutting, mining, and grazing may continue during development of the comprehensive management plan, at current levels of activity and in areas of such activity on December 31, 1975. Further, in development of the management plan, the Secretary shall give full consideration to continuation of these ongoing activities in their respective areas.