§1273 National Wild and Scenic Rivers System

Summary

Establishes the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and explains how rivers can be put into it and run. A river can be added by an act of Congress or by a State law if the State asks the Secretary of the Interior and the river meets the law’s rules. When a State applies, the Secretary must tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and publish the application in the Federal Register. If a State manages a river it adds, the State must pay for that management except the United States pays for managing federally owned land. Money given to a State under chapter 2003 of title 54 or other law is not counted as a U.S. expense. Federal lands inside a river’s boundary are not transferred to the State. It also says eligible areas are free‑flowing streams and nearby lands with one or more values listed in another part of the law, and classifies included rivers as: wild rivers — flow naturally and are mostly unreachable except by trail; scenic rivers — flow naturally and are largely undeveloped but reachable in spots by road; recreational rivers — easier to reach, may have development or past dams or diversions. It allows inclusion, on State request, of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine; the Wolf River segment in Langlade County, Wisconsin; and the New River segment in North Carolina from its confluence with Dog Creek downstream approximately 26.5 miles to the Virginia State line.