16 U.S.C. § 460aaa–2: Administration

Summary

Secretary of Agriculture: must manage the national recreation area like other National Forest System lands and follow the same laws and rules. The Secretary must also follow special rules for the area. Private owners of land and homes inside the area must be allowed access across Forest lands, but access can have conditions to protect threatened or endangered species and other natural, cultural, and scenic values. The Secretary must keep traditional public access, including vehicle roads for camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, and trapping, and must allow snowmobiles under National Forest rules and the area’s management plan while protecting resources. Timber work can only be used to improve recreation, scenery, or wildlife and to protect sensitive species; damaged or down trees may be removed when allowed. After buying at least 10,000 acres on Grand Island, the Secretary must provide reasonable water transport from the mainland (by concession, permit, or other means) and may charge a reasonable fee but can suspend service for unsafe conditions. Docking and lodge facilities must be provided under concession or permit consistent with the management plan. The Secretary must act to protect public health and safety and to fight fire, insect, or disease outbreaks. Under existing law, the Secretary must issue 20‑year occupancy permits (renewable for successive 20‑year terms) for privately owned homes present when the land was bought, limited to the original owner and certain relatives, for noncommercial recreation only, with annual fees based on fair market value; changes to homes are limited (no taller and no more than a 25 percent increase in exterior dimensions as of May 17, 1990), the Secretary may buy homes from willing sellers at fair market value, permits may be ended for noncompliance, and unremoved improvements become federal property after one year. Lands on Grand Island bought after January 1, 1990 are treated as added to a National Forest Wilderness Area for certain payment rules.

Title 16, §460aaa–2

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Administration

Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary of Agriculture (hereafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Secretary”) shall administer the national recreation area in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the National Forest System in furtherance of the purposes for which the national recreation area was established.

(b)Special management requirements

The national recreation area also shall be administered according to the following special management requirements:

(1)Subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary, including the protection of threatened and endangered species and the protection of other natural, cultural, and scenic values, owners of privately owned land and homes within the national recreation area shall be afforded access across National Forest System lands.

(2)Consistent with section 460aaa–6 of this title, and the purposes of this subchapter, the Secretary shall provide for and maintain traditional public access, including vehicular roads for general recreational activities such as camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, and trapping.

(3)The Secretary shall permit the use of snowmobiles on Federal lands in the national recreation area in accordance with the rules and regulations of the National Forest System and consistent with the management plan developed pursuant to section 460aaa–6 of this title. Such use shall be regulated to protect the resources of the national recreation area in a way that minimizes the degradation of these resources.

(4)Timber management shall be utilized only as a tool to enhance public recreation, scenic quality, game and nongame wildlife species, and the protection and enhancement of threatened, endangered, or sensitive species. Trees damaged or downed due to fire, insects, disease, or blowdown may be utilized, salvaged, or removed from the recreation area as authorized by the Secretary to further the purposes of the national recreation area.

(5)The Secretary shall, after acquiring fee title to at least 10,000 acres of land on Grand Island, provide reasonable water transportation from the mainland to Grand Island. Transportation may be provided through concession, permit, or other means, and a reasonable charge may be imposed. Transportation shall be subject to reasonable regulation by the Secretary and shall not be required when the Secretary deems it to be unsafe because of factors such as weather and water conditions.

(6)The Secretary shall provide through concession, permit, or other means docking and lodge facilities consistent with the management plan developed pursuant to section 460aaa–6 of this title.

(7)The Secretary shall take reasonable actions to provide for public health and safety and for the protection of the national recreation area in the event of fire or infestation of insects or disease.

(8)Under the authority of the Act of March 4, 1915, as amended (16 U.S.C. 497), the Secretary shall, as a condition of acquisition, issue occupancy and use permits for any privately owned home as of the date of Federal acquisition of the land within the national recreation area on which the home is located. Any such permit shall be issued for an initial period of 20 years and shall be renewed thereafter for successive 20-year periods so long as the permittee is in compliance with the purposes of this subchapter, the terms of the permit, and other applicable rules and regulations. Any such permit shall be issued in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations of the Secretary pertaining to the National Forest System, except that such permit shall be subject to the following special provisions:

(A)Such permit may only be issued to the owner of such home as of the date of Federal acquisition of the property, such owner’s spouse, the children, stepchildren, and grandchildren of such owner and spouse, and their direct lineal descendants (natural or adopted offspring).

(B)Only noncommercial recreation occupancy may be permitted.

(C)The Secretary shall collect fees on an annual basis based on the fair market value of the occupancy permitted.

(D)The expansion, remodeling, or reconstruction of such homes shall be subject to approval of and regulation by the Secretary. No expansion, remodeling, or reconstruction may increase the height of structure or result in an increase of more than 25 percent of the sum of the exterior dimensions of a structure as it existed on May 17, 1990. Any expansion, remodeling, or reconstruction shall be consistent with the criteria developed pursuant to section 460aaa–6(b)(4) of this title and shall be subject to such other terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe.

(E)Any such home may be purchased at the fair market value of the structure and improvements by the Secretary on a willing seller basis.

(F)The permit may be terminated at any time for failure to comply with its terms and conditions and applicable regulations without cost to the Federal Government in accordance with the permit.

(G)After termination of any such permit, if any improvements or property are not removed by their owner within one year of the termination, they shall become the property of the Federal Government.

(9)Solely for purposes of payments pursuant to section 6904 of title 31, lands on Grand Island acquired by the United States after January 1, 1990 shall be considered to have been acquired for addition to a National Forest Wilderness Area (national forest portion of the National Wilderness Preservation System).

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Act of March 4, 1915, referred to in subsec. (b)(8), is act Mar. 4, 1915, ch. 144, 38 Stat. 1086. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

§460aaa–2 Administration

Summary

Title 16, §460aaa–2

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

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