§460nnn–23 Land Use Authorities

Summary

The Secretary must allow only uses of the federal lands in the Cooperative Management and Protection Area that help the area meet its goals. No commercial logging is allowed. Trees may be removed only when clearly needed for ecological restoration or public safety. The Secretary can sell wood from those removals except in the Wilderness Area and certain wilderness study areas. The Secretary must work to restore the area's natural fire patterns and native plants by actively managing Western Juniper, including natural and prescribed burns. Hunting, fishing, and trapping are allowed under U.S. and Oregon rules, but after talking with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife the Secretary may set places or times when those activities are closed for safety, management, or public enjoyment. Grazing follows the usual Bureau of Land Management rules unless this law says otherwise. Grazing in the parts of the Fish Creek/Big Indian, East Ridge, and South Steens allotments shown as the “no livestock grazing area” on the map must be canceled, and future grazing there is banned; the Secretary must put up and keep any needed fencing. Forage is reallocated as follows: O’Keefe pasture within the Miners Field allotment to Stafford Ranches; Fields Seeding and Bone Creek Pasture east of the county road within the Miners Field allotment to Amy Ready; Miners Field Pasture, Schouver Seeding and Bone Creek Pasture west of the county road within the Miners Field allotment to Roaring Springs Ranch; and 800 animal unit months within the Crows Nest allotment to Lowther (Clemens) Ranch. The Secretary must build fences and water systems as needed so livestock can use those areas efficiently. New facilities are allowed only if they are small, fit the area’s purposes, and are needed for habitat, public information/health/safety, livestock management, or managing recreation (not for promoting recreation). Subject to valid existing rights, these federal lands are removed from normal public land claims and land sales, except land exchanges that further the area’s goals if the Secretary tells Congress.