
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 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.
