22. PUBLIC LAW 93-622

(POPULARLY KNOWN AS THE EASTERN WILDERNESS ACT) [As amended through December 31, 1996, P.L. 104–333]

22. PUBLIC LAW 93–622

(POPULARLY KNOWN AS THE EASTERN WILDERNESS ACT

(Act of January 3, 1975; 88 Stat. 2096)

AN ACT To further the purposes of the Wilderness Act by designating certain acquired lands for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, to provide for study of certain additional lands for such inclusion, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND POLICY

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds that—

(1) in the more populous eastern half of the United States there is an urgent need to identify, study, designate, and preserve areas for addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System;

(2) in recognition of this urgent need, certain areas in the national forest system in the eastern half of the United States were designated by the Congress as wilderness in the Wilderness Act (78 Stat. 890); certain areas in the national wildlife refuge system in the eastern half of the United States have been designated by the Congress as wilderness or recommended by the President for such designation, and certain areas in the national park system in the eastern half of the United States have been recommended by the President for designation as wilderness; and

(3) additional areas of wilderness in the more populous eastern half of the United States are increasingly threatened by the pressures of a growing and more mobile population, large-scale industrial and economic growth, and development and uses inconsistent with the protection, maintenance, and enhancement of the areas' wilderness character.

(b) Therefore, the Congress finds and declares that it is in the national interest that these and similar areas in the eastern half of the United States by promptly designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System, in order to preserve such areas as an enduring resource of wilderness which shall be managed to promote and perpetuate the wilderness character of the land and its specific values of solitude, physical and mental challenge, scientific study, inspiration, and primitive recreation for the benefit of all of the American people of present and future gen

erations.

DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS

SEC. 3. (a) In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, the following lands (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “wilderness areas"), as generally depicted on maps appropriately referenced, dated April 1974, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System

(1) certain lands in the Bankhead National Forest, Alabama, which comprise about twelve thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Sipsey Wilderness AreaProposed", and shall be known as the Sipsey Wilderness;

(2) certain lands in the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas, which comprise about fourteen thousand four hundred and thirty-three acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Caney Creek Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Caney Creek Wilderness;

(3) certain lands in the Ozark National Forest, Arkansas, which comprise about ten thousand five hundred and ninety acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Upper Buffalo Wilderness;

(4) certain lands in the Appalachicola National Forest, Florida, which comprise about twenty-two thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Bradwell Bay Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Bradwell Bay Wilderness;

(5) certain lands in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, which comprise about five thousand five hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Beaver Creek Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Beaver Creek Wilderness;

(6) certain lands in the White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, which comprise about twenty thousand three hundred and eighty acres, generally depicted on a map entitled "Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness;

(7) certain lands in the Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests, North Carolina and Tennessee, which comprise about fifteen thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness;

(8) certain lands in the Sumter, Nantahala, and Chattahoochee National Forests in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, which comprise about three thousand six hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as Ellicott Rock Wilderness;

(9) certain lands in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, which comprise about two thousand five hundred and seventy acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Gee Creek Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as he Gee Creek Wilderness;

(10) certain lands in the Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont, which comprise about fourteen thousand three hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Lye Brook Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Lye Brook Wilderness;

(11) certain lands in the Jefferson National Forest, Virginia, which comprise about eight thousand eight hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "James River Face Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the James River Face Wilderness;

(12) certain lands in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, which comprise about ten thousand two hundred and fifteen acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Dolly Sods Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Dolly Sods Wilderness;

(13) certain lands in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, which comprise about twenty thousand acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Otter Creek Wilderness Study Area", and shall be known as the Otter Creek Wilderness; and

(14) certain lands in the Chequamegon National Forest, Wisconsin, which comprise about six thousand six hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map entitled "Rainbow Lake Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Rainbow Lake Wilderness.

(b) In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, the following lands are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System:

(1) certain lands in the Chattahoochee and Cherokee National Forests, Georgia and Tennessee, which comprise about thirty-four thousand five hundred acres, are generally depicted on a map dated April 1973, entitled "Cohutta Wilderness Area-Proposed", and shall be known as the Cohutta Wilder

ness.

(2) certain lands in the Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont, which comprise about three thousand seven hundred and seventy-five acres, are generally depicted on a map dated October 1975, entitled "Bristol Cliffs Wilderness Area-Revised", and shall be known as the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness.

DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREA

SEC. 4. (a) In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act and in accordance with the provisions of subsection 3(d) of that Act, the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") shall review, as to its suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness, each area designated by or pursuant to subsection (b) of this section 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 designation as wilderness of each such area on which the review has been completed.

(b) Areas to be reviewed pursuant to this section (hereinafter referred to as "wilderness study areas"), as generally depicted on