§ 543c. — Administration.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC543c]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 2--NATIONAL FORESTS
SUBCHAPTER II--SCENIC AREAS
Sec. 543c. Administration
(a) Scenic Area and other lands to be administered as part of Inyo
National Forest
(1) Except as otherwise provided in sections 543 to 543h of this
title, the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service,
shall administer the Scenic Area as a separate unit within the boundary
of the Inyo National Forest in accordance with the laws, rules, and
regulations applicable to the National Forest System. All Bureau of Land
Management administered lands that fall within the boundaries of the
Scenic Area are hereby added to the Inyo National Forest and shall be
administered in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations
applicable to the National Forest System.
(2) In addition, the following parcels administered by the Bureau of
Land Management are hereby added to the Inyo National Forest and shall
be administered in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations
applicable to the National Forest System:
township 1 south; range 26 east; Mount Diablo Meridian:
east half of southwest quarter and south half of southeast
quarter of section 10; and
township 1 north; range 26 east; Mount Diablo Meridian:
southwest quarter of northeast quarter and west half of
southeast quarter of section 9;
southwest quarter of southwest quarter of section 15;
southwest quarter of northwest quarter and northwest quarter
of southwest quarter of section 25;
north half of southeast quarter of section 26, west half of
northwest quarter and northwest quarter of southwest quarter of
section 27;
township 1 north; range 27 east; Mount Diablo Meridian:
east half of southeast quarter of section 34;
southwest quarter of northwest quarter of section 35; and
west half of section 30 as intersected by Scenic Area
Boundary.
(b) Water rights; protection of geologic, ecologic and cultural
resources; recreational use of Scenic Area; related facilities
and programs; scientific study and research; commercial timber
harvesting
(1) In a manner consistent with the protection of the water rights
of the State of California or any political subdivision thereof
(including the city of Los Angeles) or of any person to the extent that
such water rights have been granted or modified under the laws of the
State of California, the Secretary shall manage the Scenic Area to
protect its geologic, ecologic, and cultural resources. The Secretary
shall provide for recreational use of the Scenic Area and shall provide
recreational and interpretive facilities (including trails and
campgrounds) for the use of the public which are compatible with the
provisions of sections 543 to 543h of this title, and may assist
adjacent affected local governmental agencies in the development of
related interpretive programs. The Secretary shall permit the full use
of the Scenic Area for scientific study and research in accordance with
such rules and regulations as he may prescribe.
(2) Except as specifically provided in this subsection, no
commercial timber harvesting shall be permitted in the Scenic Area, but
the Secretary shall permit the utilization of wood material such as
firewood, posts, poles, and Christmas trees by individuals for their
domestic purposes under such regulations as he may prescribe to protect
the natural and cultural resources of the Scenic Area. The Secretary may
take action including the use of commercial timber harvest to the
minimum extent necessary to control fires, insects and diseases that
might--
(A) endanger irreplaceable features within the Scenic Area, or
(B) cause substantial damage to significant resources adjacent
to the Scenic Area.
(c) Grazing permits
The Secretary shall permit those persons holding currently valid
grazing permits within the boundary of the Scenic Area to continue to
exercise such permits consistent with other applicable law.
(d) Cooperative agreements
The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the State
of California and any political subdivision thereof (including the city
of Los Angeles) for purposes of protecting Scenic Area resources and
administering areas owned by the State or by any such political
subdivision which are within the Scenic Area.
(e) Management plan
Within three years after September 28, 1984, the Secretary shall
submit to the committees referred to in section 543 of this title, a
detailed and comprehensive management plan for the Scenic Area which is
consistent with the protection of water rights as provided in subsection
(b)(1) of this section. The plan shall include but not be limited to--
(1) an inventory of natural (including geologic) and cultural
resources;
(2) general development plans for public use facilities,
including cost estimates; and
(3) measures for the preservation of the natural and cultural
resources of the Scenic Area in accordance with subsections (a) and
(b) of this section.
Such plan shall provide for hunting and fishing (including commercial
brine shrimp operations authorized under State law) within the Scenic
Area in accordance with applicable Federal and State law, except to the
extent otherwise necessary for reasons of public health and safety, the
protection of resources, scientific research activities, or public use
and enjoyment.
(f) Visitor center
The Secretary is authorized to construct a visitor center in the
Scenic Area for the purpose of providing information through appropriate
displays, printed material, and other interpretive programs, about the
natural and cultural resources of the Scenic Area.
(g) Withdrawal of lands from operation of other Federal laws; regulation
of mining claims
(1) Subject to valid existing rights, federally owned lands and
interests therein within the Scenic Area are withdrawn from entry or
appropriation under the mining laws of the United States, from the
operation of the mineral leasing laws of the United States, from
operation of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 [30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.],
and from disposition under the public land laws.
(2) Subject to valid existing rights, all mining claims located
within the Scenic Area shall be subject to such reasonable regulations
as the Secretary may prescribe to assure that mining will, to the
maximum extent practicable, be consistent with protection of the scenic,
scientific, cultural, and other resources of the area, and any patent
which may be issued after September 28, 1984, shall convey title only to
the minerals together with the right to use the surface of lands for
mining purposes subject to such reasonable regulations.
(h) Water rights
Nothing in sections 543 to 543h of this title shall be construed to
reserve any water for purposes of the Scenic Area or to affirm, deny, or
otherwise affect the present (or prospective) water rights of any person
or of the State of California or of any political subdivision thereof
(including the city of Los Angeles), nor shall any provision of sections
543 to 543h of this title be construed to cause, authorize, or allow any
interference with or infringement of such water rights so long as, and
to the extent that, those rights remain valid and enforceable under the
laws of the State of California.
(i) Rights-of-way of city of Los Angeles
(1) The Act entitled ``An Act authorizing and directing the
Secretary of the Interior to sell to the city of Los Angeles,
California, certain public lands in California; and granting rights-of-
way over public lands and reserved lands to the city of Los Angeles in
Mono County in the State of California'', approved June 23, 1936 (49
Stat. 1892), is hereby repealed.
(2) The Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior shall grant and
convey rights-of-way easements, at no cost, to the city of Los Angeles
for those rights-of-way on public lands and national forest lands in
Mono County, California, as described and set forth in maps and
accompanying descriptions which were--
(A) filed by the city of Los Angeles with the Secretary of the
Interior on October 24, 1944, and
(B) accepted as proof of construction on behalf of the United
States by the Commissioner of the General Land Office on January 4,
1945.
Such easement conveyances shall provide for the right of the city to
continue its present operations and to maintain, reconstruct, and
replace all existing water and power facilities located within the
bounds of the area described in the maps and descriptions referred to in
the preceding sentence. The United States shall reserve in the
conveyance easements all rights to use and permit the use by others of
the lands so conveyed to the extent that such use does not unreasonably
interfere with the rights granted herein to the city of Los Angeles.
(3) The grant in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall become
effective upon relinquishment in writing by the city of Los Angeles of
its applications dated October 20, 1944, and January 17, 1945, to
purchase twenty-three thousand eight hundred and fifty acres of Federal
land.
(4) The easements granted under paragraph (2) of this subsection
shall provide that whenever the city of Los Angeles ceases to use the
land or any part thereof subject to such easements for the purposes for
which it is currently being used, as of September 28, 1984, all
interests in such land or part thereof shall revert to the United
States.
(j) Existing community recreational uses
Existing community recreational uses, as of September 28, 1984,
shall be permitted at the levels and locations customarily exercised.
(Pub. L. 98-425, title III, Sec. 304, Sept. 28, 1984, 98 Stat. 1634.)
References in Text
The mining laws and the mineral leasing laws of the United States,
referred to in subsec. (g)(1), are classified generally to Title 30,
Mineral Lands and Mining.
The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, referred to in subsec. (g)(1), is
Pub. L. 91-581, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1566, which is classified
principally to chapter 23 (Sec. 1001 et seq.) of Title 30. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out
under section 1001 of Title 30 and Tables.
The public land laws, referred to in subsec. (g)(1), are classified
generally to Title 43, Public Lands.
The Act entitled ``An Act authorizing and directing the Secretary of
the Interior to sell to the city of Los Angeles, California, certain
public lands in California; and granting rights-of-way over public lands
and reserved lands to the city of Los Angeles in Mono County in the
State of California'', referred to in subsec. (i)(1), is act June 23,
1936, ch. 733, 49 Stat. 1892, which was not classified to the Code.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 543e, 543f of this title.
