§460vv–4 Wilderness Review

Summary

Congress says the Department of Agriculture’s second roadless area review (RARE II) and its Final Environmental Impact Statement (January 1979) cover National Forest lands in Oklahoma and cannot be reviewed by courts for those Oklahoma lands. The RARE II work (and certain lands listed below) will count as enough study when making the initial land management plans required by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and the National Forest Management Act of 1976. The Department does not have to re-check the wilderness option before the first plan revision, but must consider the wilderness option whenever plans are revised. Plan revisions normally happen every 10 years or at least every 15 years, unless the Secretary finds major changes. Roadless areas in Oklahoma that were reviewed and not made wilderness when this law takes effect will be managed for multiple uses under the land plans and do not have to be managed to protect their wilderness suitability before or during the initial plan revisions. When plans are revised later, areas not recommended for wilderness still need not be managed to protect wilderness suitability, while areas recommended for wilderness must be managed to protect that suitability as required by law. The Department may not do another statewide roadless review in Oklahoma for wilderness suitability unless Congress allows it. “Revision” does not mean an “amendment.” The rules also apply to Ouachita National Forest lands evaluated in the Rich Mountain and Beech Creek unit plans and to National Forest roadless lands under 5,000 acres.