335 



pertain to or affect such area, including, but not 

 limited to, the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225) : 

 section 796(2) ; and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 

 Stat. 666 of this title) . 



(b) Agency responsibility for preservation and ad- 

 ministration to preserve wilderness character; 

 public purposes of wilderness areas. 



Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, each 

 agency administering any area designated as wilder- 

 ness shall be responsible for preserving the wilder- 

 ness character of the area and shall so administer 

 such area for such other purposes for which it may 

 have been established as also to preserve its wilder- 

 ness character. Except as otherwise provided in this 

 chapter, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the 

 public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, 

 educational, conservation, and historical use. 



(c) Prohibition provisions: commercial enterprise, 

 permanent or temporary roads, mechanical trans- 

 ports, and structures or installations; exceptions: 

 area administration and personal health and 

 safety emergencies. 



Except as specifically provided for ii this chapter, 

 and subject to existing private rights. I'lere shall be 

 no commercial enterprise and no pern inent road 

 within any wilderness area designated by this chap- 

 ter and, excejjt as necessary to meet minlmiun re- 

 quirements for the administration of the area for 

 the purpose of this chapter (including measures re- 

 quired in emergencies involving the health and 

 safety of persons within the area) . there shall be no 

 temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized 

 equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no 

 other form of mechanical transport, and no struc- 

 ture or installation within any such area. 



(d) Special provisions. 



The following special provisions are hereby made: 



Aircraft or motorboats; fire, insects, and diseases. 



(1) Within wilderness areas designated by this 

 chapter the use of aircraft or motorboats, where 

 these uses have already become established, may be 

 permitted to continue subject to such restrictions as 

 the Secretary of Agriculture deems desirable. In 

 addition, such measures may be taken as may be 

 necessary in the control of fire, insects, and diseases, 

 subject to such conditions as the Secretary deems 

 desirable. 



Mineral activities, surveys for mineral value. 



(2) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent within 

 national forest wilderness areas any activity, includ- 

 ing prospecting, for the purpose of gathering infor- 

 mation about mineral or other resources, if such 

 activity is carried on in a manner compatible with 

 the preservation of the wilderness environment. 

 Furthermore, in accordance with such program as 

 the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and con- 

 duct in consultation with the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture, such areas shall be surveyed on a planned, re- 

 curring basis consistent with the concept of wilder- 

 ness preservation by the Geological Survey and the 

 Bureau of Mines to determine the mineral values, if 

 any, that may be present; and the results of such 

 surveys shall be made available to the public and sub- 

 mitted to the President and Congress. 



Mining and mineral leasing laws; leases, permits, and 

 licenses; withdrawal of minerals from appropri- 

 ation and disposition. 

 (3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this 

 chapter, until midnight December 31, 1983, the 

 United States mining laws and all laws pertaining 

 to mineral leasing shall, to the same extent as ap- 

 plicable prior to September 3, 1964, extend to those 

 national forest lands designated by this chapter as 

 "wilderness areas"; subject, however, to such reason- 

 able regulations governing ingress and egress as may 

 be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture consist- 

 ent with the use of the land for mineral location and 

 development and exploration, drilling, and produc- 

 tion, and use of land for transmission lines, water- 

 lines, telephone lines, or facilities necessary in ex- 

 ploring, drilling, producing, mining, and processing 

 operations, including where essential the use of 

 mechanized ground or air equipment and restoration 

 as near as practicable of the surface of the land dis- 

 turbed in performing prespecting, location, and. in 

 oil and gas leasing, discovery work, exploration, 

 drUling, and production, as soon as they have served 

 their purpose. Mining locations lying within the 

 boundaries of said wilderness areas shall be held and 

 used solely for mining or processing operations and 

 uses reasonably incident thereto; and hereafter, sub- 

 ject to valid existing rights, all patents issued under 

 the mining laws of the United States affecting na- 

 tional forest lands designated by this chapter as 

 wilderness areas shall convey title to the mineral 

 deposits within the claim, together with the right to 

 cut and use so much of the mature timber there- 

 from as may be needed in the extraction, removal, 

 and beneficiation of the mineral deposits, if needed 

 timber is not otherwise reasonably available, and if 

 the timber is cut under sound principles of forest 

 management as defined by the national forest rules 

 and regulations, but each such patent shall reserve 

 to the United States all title in or to the surface of 

 the lands and products thereof, and no use of the 

 surface of the claim or the resources therefrom not 

 reasonably required for carrying on mining or 

 prospecting shall be allowed except as otherwise ex- 

 pressly provided in this chapter: Provided. That, 

 unless hereafter specifically authorized, no patent 

 within wilderness areas designated by this chapter 

 shall issue after December 31, 1983, except for the 

 valid claims existing on or before December 31, 1983. 

 Mining claims located after September 3, 1964, within 

 the boundaries of wilderness areas designated by this 

 chapter shall create no rights in excess of those 

 rights which may be patented under the provisions 

 of this subsection. Mineral leases, permits, and 

 licenses covering lands within national forest wilder- 

 ness areas designated by this chapter shall contain 

 such reasonable stipulations as may be prescribed 

 by the Secretary of Agriculture for the protection of 

 the wilderness character of the land consistent with 

 the use of the land for the purposes for which they 

 are leased, permitted, or licensed. Subject to valid 

 rights then existing, effective January 1. 1984, the 

 minerals in lands designated by this chapter as 

 wilderness areas are withdrawn from all forms of 

 appropriation under the mining laws and from dis- 



