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Central Idaho Wilderness Act Public Law 96 -- 312 -- July 23, 1980 by the 96th United States Congress - July 23, 1980

An Act

To designate certain public lands in central Idaho as the River of No Return Wilderness, to designate a segment of the Salmon River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That this Act may be cited as the "Central Idaho Wilderness Act of 1980".

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds that--
(1) certain wildlands in central Idaho lying within the water shed of the Salmon River -- the famous "River of No Return" -- constitute the largest block of primitive and undeveloped land in the conterminous United States and are of immense national significance;
(2) these wildlands and a segment of the Salmon River should be incorporated within the National Wilderness Preservation System and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in order to provide statutory protection for the lands and waters and the wilderness-dependent wildlife and the resident and anadromous fish which thrive within this undisturbed ecosystem; and
(3) such protection can be provided without conflicting with established uses.
(b) The purposes of this Act are to --
(1) provide a comprehensive, statutory framework for the protection, administration, and management of the wildlands of the central Idaho region and a portion of the Salmon River through --
(A) The designation of the River of No Return Wilderness;
(B) The addition of certain lands in the "Magruder corridor" to the existing Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness and
(C) The incorporation of one hundred and twenty-five miles of the Salmon River as a component of the Natonal Wild and Scenic Rivers System;
(2) End the controversy over which lands within the central Idaho region will be designated wilderness -- thereby assuring that certain adjacent lands better suited for multiple uses other than wilderness will be managed by the Forest Service under existing laws and applicable land management plans and
(3) make a comprehensive land allocation decision for the national forest roadless areas of the central Idaho region.

SEC. 3. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act of 1064
(78 Stat. 890; 16 U.S.C 1131), certain lands in the Boise, Challis, Payette, Salmon, Bitteroot, and Nez Perce National Forests, Idaho, situated north and south of the Salmon River which comprise approximately two million two hundred and thirty-nine thousand acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled "River of No Return Wilderness, Proposed", dated June 1980, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and shall be known as the River of No Return Wilderness. The precious classifications of the Idaho and Salmon River Breaks Primitive Areas are hereby abolished.

SEC. 4. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, certain lands in the Bitteroot National Forest, Idaho, which comprise approximately one hundred and five thousand six hundred acres as generally depicted on a map entitled "Magruder Corridor Proposed Additions, Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness", . . .