Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 92 Part 1.djvu/94

 92 STAT. 40

PUBLIC LAW 95-237—FEB. 24, 1978

Public Law 95-237 95th Congress An Act Feb. 24, 1978 [H.R. 3454] Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978. 16 USC 1132 note. 16 USC 1132 note.

16 USC 1131.

To designate certain endangered public lands for preservation as wilderness, ,...,,; 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 "Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978". STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND POLICY

1. (a) The Congress finds that— (1) many areas of undeveloped national forest land possess and exhibit outstanding natural characteristics giving them high value as wilderness and will, if properly preserved, contribute as an enduring resource of wilderness for the benefit of the American people; (2) certain of these undeveloped national forest lands meet all statutory criteria for suitability as wilderness as established by subsection 2(c) of the Wilderness Act (78 Stat. 890), but are not adequately protected and lack statutory designation pursuant to the Wilderness Act as units of the National Wilderness Preservation System; (3) these and other undeveloped national forest lands exhibiting wilderness values are immediately threatened by pressures of a growing and more mobile population, large-scale industrial and economic growth, and development and uses inconsistent with the protection, maintenance, restoration, and enhancement of their wilderness character; and (4) among such immediately threatened areas are lands not being adequately protected or fully studied for wilderness suitability by the agency responsible for their administration. (b) Therefore, the Congress finds and declares that it is in the national interest that certain of these endangered areas be promptly designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System, in order to preserve such areas as an enduring resource of wilderness which shall be managed to promote and perpetuate the wilderness character of the land and its specific multiple values for watershed preservation, wildlife habitat protection, scenic and historic preservation, scientific research and educational use, primitive recreation, solitude, physical and mental challenge, and inspiration for the benefit of all of the American people of present and future generations. SECTION

DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS

16 USC 1132 note. 16 USC 1131 note.

SEC. 2. In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act, the following lands (hereinafter referred to as "wilderness areas"), as generally depicted on maps appropriately referenced, dated January 1978, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System— Pusch Ridge (a) certain lands in the Coronado National Forest, Arizona, Wilderness, Ariz. which comprise about fifty-six thousand four hundred and thirty

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