Bill > HR2491

This bill, the Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act of 2013, designates approximately 30,520 acres of federal land in Oregon, managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, as the Devil's Staircase Wilderness Area, to be included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. This designation aims to protect the land in its natural state, in line with the purposes of the Wilderness Act, a foundational law for preserving undeveloped federal lands. The bill also designates specific segments of Wasson Creek and Franklin Creek in Oregon as "wild rivers" under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, meaning they will be managed to preserve their natural qualities. The wilderness area will be jointly administered by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, following the guidelines of the Wilderness Act and the Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984, with specific provisions for decommissioning or converting certain Forest Service roads within the wilderness boundaries to trails. The bill clarifies that acquired land within the wilderness boundary will become part of the designated area and be managed accordingly, and it explicitly states that the designation does not affect Oregon's jurisdiction over fish and wildlife or diminish the existing rights of any Indian tribe. Furthermore, it clarifies that the designation of wilderness does not create protective buffer zones around the area, and non-wilderness activities occurring up to the boundary are permissible. Finally, the federal land designated as wilderness is withdrawn from most forms of entry, appropriation, disposal, and mineral or geothermal leasing, subject to any valid existing rights.