S. 3526 — PUBLIC Lands Act

This section establishes the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area, comprising approximately 871,414 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land in California, as generally depicted on a map entitled “South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area” dated May 15, 2020. The purposes of the restoration area include (1) establishing, restoring, and maintaining fire-resilient mature and late successional forests; (2) protecting and restoring aquatic habitat and anadromous fisheries; (3) protecting water quality; (4) reducing wildfire threats to neighboring communities; and (5) allowing public enjoyment of scenic, recreational, natural, cultural, and wildlife values. Not later than two years after enactment, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior must jointly submit to Congress (1) a plan for restoration activities to improve ecological integrity and (2) an updated fire management plan that, to the maximum extent practicable, incorporates prescribed fire and shaded fuel breaks (i.e., vegetation treatments that reduce fuel loads while retaining canopy cover and large trees). In developing these plans, the Secretaries must solicit input from a transparent and inclusive collaborative group that includes state and local government representatives and diverse interests. The Secretaries must manage the area consistent with these plans; existing wilderness and wild and scenic river designations remain unchanged, with the more restrictive provision controlling in any conflict; and the area is withdrawn from public land entry, mining, and mineral/geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights.

This section establishes the California Public Land Remediation Partnership to coordinate Federal, state, Tribal, local, and private sector activities for remediating federal lands in California (i.e., priority lands) damaged by illegal marijuana cultivation or other illegal activities, including trash removal and restoration of ecosystem sustainability and resilience. The partnership comprises representatives from the Forest Service, Department of the Interior bureaus (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service), Office of National Drug Control Policy, California state agencies, federally recognized Tribes, nongovernmental organizations, local governments, law enforcement, a remediation expert, and the National Guard Counterdrug Program. Partnership duties include identifying priority lands, securing resources, supporting remediation efforts and research, and involving stakeholders; authorities include, with Secretary of Agriculture approval, providing grants and technical assistance, hiring staff, and obtaining Federal and non-Federal funds. The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior must convene the partnership and may provide technical and financial assistance; members serve without pay, with preference for local hiring where practicable, and existing authorities of partnership entities are unaffected.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in revising the land and resource management plans for the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests, to consider the purposes of the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area established by section 101(b).

This section directs the Secretary, in revising the fire management plan for a wilderness area or wilderness addition designated by section 301(a), to (1) develop spatial fire management plans in accordance with the Guidance for Implementation of Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy (dated February 13, 2009, including amendments) and other appropriate policies; (2) ensure the plan considers prescribed or managed fire to achieve ecological management objectives and provides consistent fire management direction across the entire wilderness area, including any addition; (3) consult with appropriate state, tribal, and local governmental entities and members of the public; and (4) comply with applicable law (including regulations). (Wilderness areas are federally designated lands managed primarily to preserve natural ecological conditions, where fire management is essential for maintaining forest health and reducing wildfire risks.)

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, to complete not later than three years after funds are made available a feasibility study for a nonmotorized Bigfoot National Recreation Trail from the Ides Cove Trailhead in the Mendocino National Forest to Crescent City, California, as generally depicted on the map entitled "Bigfoot National Recreation Trail—Proposed" dated July 25, 2018. The study must consult Federal, State, Tribal, regional, local agencies; private landowners; nongovernmental organizations; and the public. If feasible and meeting National Recreation Trail criteria under the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1243)—which authorizes designation of trails reasonably accessible to urban areas or meeting established criteria, on federal, state, local, or private lands with consent—the Secretary shall designate and administer the trail in consultation with those entities. Administration includes cooperative agreements with State, Tribal, local governments, and private entities for trail construction, reconstruction, realignment, maintenance, or education; preparation and public filing of a trail map; and protections ensuring no trail placement or land acquisition on non-federal land without owner consent and no required public access to private property.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, after public comment, to designate the Elk Camp Ridge Recreation Trail—a trail or system of trails for off-highway vehicles, mountain bicycles, or both—on routes that are, as of enactment, authorized for such use on Forest Service-managed land in Del Norte County, California, with a map on file in appropriate Forest Service offices. The section requires the Secretary to manage the trail in accordance with applicable law while ensuring user safety and minimizing damage to sensitive habitat or cultural resources; conduct annual assessments of off-highway vehicle and mountain bicycle use on the trail, adjacent lands, plants, wildlife, and habitat; temporarily close or permanently reroute portions of the trail for adverse impacts on resources or traditional uses, public safety, or damage repair (with rerouting limited to existing public roads or trails open to motorized or mechanized use that do not significantly alter trail length); and provide signage, maps, and safety materials. The section states that it does not affect non-Federal land ownership, management, or rights.

This section directs the Secretary to complete, not later than three years after enactment, a feasibility study on constructing a nonmotorized recreational trail around Trinity Lake. If the Secretary determines the trail is feasible and in the public interest, this section authorizes construction subject to appropriations, including through volunteer services and non-Federal contributions to minimize Federal costs, while requiring compliance with National Forest System laws. This section does not affect ownership, management, or other rights to non-Federal lands.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study on the feasibility of, and alternatives for, designating the Condor National Scenic Trail as a National Scenic Trail (i.e., a component of the National Trails System under the National Trails System Act) to connect the northern and southern portions of the Los Padres National Forest across the Santa Lucia Mountains of the southern California Coastal Range. The study must (1) comply with National Trails System Act study requirements; (2) provide for a continual hiking route connecting Los Padres National Forest sections; (3) promote recreational, scenic, wilderness, and cultural values; (4) enhance connectivity with National Forest System trails; (5) consider new connectors and realignments of existing trails; (6) emphasize safe and continuous public access, dispersal from high-use areas, and suitable water sources; and (7) to the extent practicable, provide for all-year use. The Secretary must consult appropriate federal, state, Tribal, regional, local agencies, private landowners, nongovernmental organizations, and the public, and submit the study to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than three years after funds are made available, to conduct a study in consultation with interested parties—(1) to improve motorized and nonmotorized recreation trail opportunities (including mountain bicycling) on non-wilderness lands within portions of the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Counties and portions of the Six Rivers, Shasta-Trinity, and Mendocino National Forests in Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino Counties, California; and (2) to assess the feasibility of opening a new trail for vehicles measuring 50 inches or less in width connecting Forest Service Highway 95 in the Los Padres National Forest to the existing off-highway vehicle trail system in the Ballinger Canyon Off-Highway Vehicle Area. In conducting the study, the Secretary of Agriculture must consult with the Secretary of the Interior on opportunities to improve recreation trails on adjacent lands under Interior jurisdiction through increased coordination.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study, not later than three years after funds are made available, the feasibility and public interest of constructing recreational trails for mountain bicycling and other nonmotorized uses on routes generally depicted in the 2016 report entitled “Trail Study for Smith River National Recreation Area Six Rivers National Forest.” If feasible and in the public interest, the section authorizes the Secretary to construct the routes (with possible modifications), subject to appropriations, using volunteer services and contributions from non-Federal sources to reduce Federal costs, while complying with applicable National Forest System laws and this Act; the section does not affect ownership, management, or other rights to non-Federal land.

This section authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with qualified private and nonprofit organizations to carry out the following activities on federal land in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte Counties in California: (1) trail and campground maintenance; (2) public education, visitor contacts, and outreach; and (3) visitor center staffing. Agreements must define the roles and responsibilities of the Secretary and organizations, comply with existing law, and neither reduce the Secretary's management authority nor amend applicable laws.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish, in cooperation with public or private entities, a visitor center in Weaverville, California, to serve visitors and fulfill the purposes of the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area—a unit of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest managed by the Forest Service. The Secretary must ensure the center interprets the area's scenic, biological, natural, historical, scientific, paleontological, recreational, ecological, wilderness, and cultural resources and those of nearby federal lands and may enter into cooperative agreements with the state and other entities to carry out this section.

This section authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, acting jointly or separately and in cooperation with other public or private entities, to establish a visitor center in Del Norte County, California, to serve visitors and fulfill the purposes of Redwood National and State Parks, the Smith River National Recreation Area, and nearby federal lands. The Secretaries must design the center to interpret the scenic, biological, natural, historical, scientific, paleontological, recreational, ecological, wilderness, and cultural resources of those areas.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with Federal, State, Tribal, local entities, and private and nonprofit organizations, to conduct a study evaluating the feasibility and suitability of establishing overnight accommodations on federal land within 20 miles of the northern boundary of Redwood National and State Parks and on federal land within 20 miles of the southern boundary. If the Secretary determines based on the study that such accommodations are suitable and feasible, this section authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with qualified private and nonprofit organizations for their development, operation, and maintenance, provided the agreements define respective roles and responsibilities and do not diminish the Secretary's land management authority or modify applicable laws.

This section designates approximately 115,677 acres in California as seven new wilderness areas and incorporates approximately 132,415 acres into seven existing wilderness areas, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in accordance with the Wilderness Act, as follows: **(1) New wilderness areas:** - Black Butte River Wilderness, approximately 11,155 acres in the Mendocino National Forest; - Caliente Mountain Wilderness, approximately 35,116 acres administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); - Chinquapin Wilderness, approximately 31,028 acres in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest; - Condor Peak Wilderness, approximately 8,207 acres in the Angeles National Forest; - Diablo Caliente Wilderness, approximately 17,870 acres in the Los Padres National Forest; - English Ridge Wilderness, approximately 6,204 acres administered by BLM; and - Mad River Buttes Wilderness, approximately 6,097 acres in the Six Rivers National Forest. **(2) Additions to existing wilderness areas:** - Chanchelulla Wilderness, approximately 6,382 acres in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest; - Chumash Wilderness, approximately 23,670 acres in the Los Padres National Forest; - Dick Smith Wilderness, approximately 54,036 acres in the Los Padres National Forest; - Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness, approximately 37 acres administered by BLM; - Garcia Wilderness, approximately 7,289 acres in the Los Padres National Forest and administered by BLM; - Machesna Mountain Wilderness, approximately 10,817 acres in the Los Padres National Forest and administered by BLM; and - Matilija Wilderness, approximately 30,184 acres in the Los Padres National Forest.

This section directs the administering Secretary to manage wilderness areas designated by section 301(a), subject to valid existing rights, in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this subtitle—substituting the date of this Act's enactment for the Wilderness Act's effective date and, for Interior-jurisdiction lands, the Secretary of the Interior for the Secretary of Agriculture. The section further— (1) authorizes fire, insect, and disease control; requires fire management plan revisions as soon as practicable after enactment; prioritizes funding for such activities; and directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to establish fire emergency response procedures (with delegations to field officials) not later than one year after enactment and to enter agreements with state and local firefighting agencies; (2) permits continuation of pre-enactment livestock grazing under Wilderness Act section 4(d)(4), applicable congressional guidelines, and other federal grazing laws; (3) preserves state fish and wildlife jurisdiction under Wilderness Act section 4(d)(7) and authorizes necessary habitat management activities consistent with applicable plans and policies; (4) prohibits buffer zones around wilderness areas and provides that visible or audible nonwilderness activities outside boundaries are permissible; (5) allows military low-level overflights, special airspace designations, and flight training routes; (6) permits horseback riding and recreational or commercial saddle or pack stock use under Wilderness Act section 4(d)(5) and Secretary terms; (7) withdraws the areas from entry, appropriation, disposal, mining, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights; (8) incorporates acquired lands into the applicable wilderness area, subject to withdrawal and management requirements; and (9) authorizes hydrologic, meteorologic, and climatological data collection devices if essential to flood warning, control, or reservoir operations.

This section designates as potential wilderness areas (i.e., lands managed as wilderness pending removal of impairments to wilderness character) approximately 31,000 acres in Redwood National Park administered by the National Park Service, as depicted on a map entitled “Redwood National Park—Potential Wilderness” dated October 9, 2019, and approximately 2,918 acres of Bureau of Land Management land in California, as depicted on a map entitled “Yuki Proposed Potential Wilderness” dated May 15, 2020. The Secretary must manage these areas as wilderness, except to allow motorized equipment and mechanized transport for ecological restoration (e.g., non-native species removal, road decommissioning) using the minimum necessary tools, until publishing Federal Register notice that Wilderness Act-incompatible conditions are removed, at which point the areas are designated wilderness and incorporated into the National Wilderness Preservation System. Upon designation, the Redwood National Park land is administered under the Wilderness Act and National Park System laws, and the BLM land is added to the Yuki Wilderness; the Secretary must submit reports to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and House Committee on Natural Resources every three years until designation describing restoration status and progress toward full wilderness designation.

This section designates numerous segments of 13 rivers and tributaries in the Trinity River watershed in California—South Fork Trinity River (68.85 miles across 12 segments), East Fork South Fork Trinity River (11.8 miles), Rattlesnake Creek (5.9 miles), Butter Creek (7 miles), Hayfork Creek (16.4 miles), Olsen Creek (2.8 miles), Rusch Creek (3.2 miles), Eltapom Creek (3.4 miles), Grouse Creek (11.3 miles), Madden Creek (8.4 miles), Canyon Creek (17.8 miles), North Fork Trinity River (27.7 miles), and East Fork North Fork Trinity River (at least 9.5 miles)—as components of the national wild and scenic rivers system, classifying them as wild, scenic, or recreational rivers to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture (except Olsen Creek by the Secretary of the Interior and Canyon Creek jointly by both Secretaries). (The national wild and scenic rivers system preserves designated rivers in their free-flowing condition, protects water quality, and safeguards outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values while generally prohibiting new dams and limiting incompatible development.)

This section designates three segments of rivers in California for potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system by adding them to the list in Section 5(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act: (1) the 12.7-mile segment of the East Fork San Gabriel River from the confluence of the Prairie Fork and Vincent Gulch to 100 yards upstream of the confluence with Williams Canyon; (2) the 4.3-mile segment of the North Fork San Gabriel River from the confluence with Cloudburst Canyon to 0.25 miles upstream of the confluence with the West Fork San Gabriel River; and (3) the 8.3-mile segment of the West Fork San Gabriel River from 0.25 miles downstream of its source near Red Box Gap in sec. 14, T. 2 N., R. 12 W., to the confluence with Bobcat Canyon. (As background, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act authorizes studies of designated river segments to assess suitability for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, which protects rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values from incompatible development.) It further directs the Secretary of Agriculture to complete studies of these segments, including opportunities for partnership administration with state, regional, local, and community stakeholders, and submit a report to Congress not later than three years after funds are made available.

This section establishes the Condor Ridge Scenic Area (approximately 18,666 acres in the Los Padres National Forest) and the Black Mountain Scenic Area (approximately 16,216 acres in the Los Padres National Forest and the Bakersfield Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management). The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior must file maps and legal descriptions of the scenic areas with the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources, which shall have legal force (subject to clerical corrections) and be made publicly available. The scenic areas are to be managed to conserve, protect, and enhance their ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources—in particular their scenic character—consistent with applicable law, with only those uses allowed that further such purposes; Federal lands therein are withdrawn from public land laws, mining laws, and mineral/geothermal leasing (subject to valid existing rights). Prohibited uses include permanent roads or structures, timber harvesting (except as necessary for wildfire, insect, or disease management), transmission lines, motorized vehicles or temporary roads (except as minimally necessary for administration, public health, and safety), and commercial enterprises (except as necessary to realize scenic area purposes); adjacent activities or uses visible or audible from within the scenic areas are not precluded.

This section establishes three special management areas in National Forest System lands subject to valid existing rights: (1) the Horse Mountain Special Management Area, comprising approximately 7,482 acres in the Six Rivers National Forest, to enhance recreational and scenic values while conserving plants, wildlife, and other natural resources; (2) the Sanhedrin Special Management Area, comprising approximately 12,254 acres in the Mendocino National Forest, to conserve and enhance ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, roadless, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources, including late-successional forest structure, oak woodlands, grasslands, aquatic habitat, and anadromous fisheries, while protecting undeveloped character; and (3) the Fox Mountain Special Management Area, comprising approximately 41,082 acres in the Los Padres National Forest, to conserve and enhance ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, roadless, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources. This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a comprehensive long-term management plan for the areas not later than five years after enactment, in consultation with appropriate state, tribal, and local governmental entities and the public, ensuring that recreational use does not cause significant adverse impacts on plants and wildlife. This section requires management of the areas in furtherance of their purposes and in accordance with applicable National Forest System laws and regulations, allowing only uses that further those purposes; authorizes continued recreational uses—including hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, hang gliding, sightseeing, nature study, horseback riding, rafting, mountain bicycling, motorized recreation on authorized routes, and other activities—if consistent with the purposes, this section, and applicable law; and permits motorized vehicles only on roads, trails, and areas designated for such use as of enactment, with no new or temporary roads except for limited purposes such as resource protection, acquired land route designation (within three years), vegetation management projects (with decommissioning), administrative use, or emergencies.

This section directs the Secretary, as soon as practicable after enactment, to prepare maps and legal descriptions of (1) the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area established by section 101(b), (2) the wilderness areas and wilderness additions designated, renamed, or modified by section 301, (3) the potential wilderness areas designated by section 303(a), and (4) the Horse Mountain, Sanhedrin, and Fox Mountain Special Management Areas established by section 306(a). The maps and legal descriptions have the force of law (subject to correction of clerical and typographical errors) and must be filed and made available for public inspection in appropriate offices of the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, or National Park Service.

This section directs the Secretary to incorporate the designations and studies required by this Act into updated management plans for units covered by this Act, as soon as practicable after enactment and in accordance with applicable law (including regulations).

This section provides that nothing in this Act affects validly issued rights-of-way of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for customary operation, maintenance, upgrade, repair, replacement, or other authorized activities within the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area, Bigfoot National Recreation Trail, Horse Mountain Special Management Area, or Sanhedrin Special Management Area, nor prohibits upgrading or replacing specified existing PG&E utility facilities (e.g., Gas Transmission Line 177A, Electric Transmission Line Humboldt-Trinity 115 kV) in those areas or adjacent rights-of-way issued by the Secretary. The section further directs the Secretary, in consultation with PG&E and by the later of one year after enactment or issuance of a new utility right-of-way in those areas, to publish plans for PG&E's regular and emergency access to such rights-of-way and inholdings.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a special use authorization to owners of a water transport or diversion facility in the Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness—designated by section 1802(8) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11)—for continued operation, maintenance, and reconstruction if (1) the facility existed on the designation date, (2) it has been in substantially continuous use since then to deliver water for beneficial use on the owner's non-Federal land, (3) the owner holds a valid State water right with priority date predating designation, and (4) relocation outside the wilderness to continue the beneficial use is impracticable. Such authorization is subject to terms and conditions protecting wilderness resources and values. (As background, the Wilderness Act generally prohibits new structures and installations in wilderness areas but permits continued use of certain preexisting facilities.)

This section directs the Secretary to ensure Indian Tribes' access, consistent with the Wilderness Act, to the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area, wilderness areas, scenic areas, special management areas, and potential wilderness areas designated by this Act for traditional cultural and religious purposes. It further authorizes the Secretary, upon an Indian Tribe's request, to temporarily close to the general public specific portions of designated wilderness areas, scenic areas, or potential wilderness areas to protect tribal privacy during such activities, with closures limited to the smallest practicable area for the minimum necessary period and consistent with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Wilderness Act, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.