S. 1366

119 S1366 IS: Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-04-09
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 1366  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   April 9, 2025   Ms. Smith  introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry    A BILL
To protect, for current and future generations, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal land and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection Act  .
2.
Withdrawal of certain Federal land and waters in the State of Minnesota
(a)
Definitions
In this section:
(1)
Map
The term  Map  means the map attached to Public Land Order No. 7917 (88 Fed. Reg. 6308 (January 31, 2023)).
(2)
Boundary
The term  Boundary  means the boundary labeled  Withdrawal Application Boundary  in the legend of the figure entitled  Withdrawal application area  and identified as figure 1, as included in the environmental assessment prepared by the Forest Service entitled  Rainy River Withdrawal Environmental Assessment  and dated June 2022.
(b)
Withdrawal
Except as provided in subsection (c), subject to valid existing rights, the approximately 225,504 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy River Watershed of the Superior National Forest in the State of Minnesota, as depicted on the Map (including any land or waters or interest in land or waters that are acquired by the United States after the date of enactment of this Act within the Boundary), are withdrawn from—
(1)
all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
(2)
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3)
operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
(c)
Removal of sand, gravel, granite, iron ore, and taconite
The Chief of the Forest Service may permit the removal of sand, gravel, granite, iron ore, and taconite from National Forest System land within the area withdrawn under subsection (b) if the Chief of the Forest Service determines that the removal is not detrimental to the water quality, air quality, and health of the forest habitat within the Rainy River Watershed.
(d)
Availability of Map and figure
The Map and the figure depicting the Boundary shall be kept on file and made available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.