§460uuu Mount Hood National Recreation Area

Summary

Creates the Mount Hood National Recreation Area inside Mount Hood National Forest to protect and improve recreation, wildlife, scenery, water, and cultural resources. The area covers about 34,550 acres shown on three maps dated February 2007. The Secretary must file a map and legal description with the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources as soon as possible after March 30, 2009. That filed map has the same legal effect as if it were written into the law, the Secretary can fix typos, and the map and description must be available for public inspection at Forest Service offices. The area must be managed like other national forest lands and only used in ways that match its protection goals. Any wilderness inside the area must follow Wilderness Act rules. Timber cutting is allowed only to help forest health, keep large trees when appropriate, boost fire resilience, help threatened species, reduce wildfire risk, or as part of approved management or very small personal/administrative use that does not harm the area’s purposes. No new or temporary roads are allowed except for emergencies, required environmental cleanup, honoring reserved rights, stopping damage from an existing road, or fixing a hazardous road. All federal land in the area is withdrawn from public land entry, mining claims, and mineral or geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights. About 130 acres shown as “BLM Lands” on the Shellrock Mountain map (February 2007) are transferred from the Bureau of Land Management to the Forest Service.