§ 543c — Administration

(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; andtownship 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; andwest half of section 30 as intersected by Scenic Area Boundary. (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) 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) 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) 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). 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. (f) 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. (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) 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. (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. (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, as of September 28, 1984, shall be permitted at the levels and locations customarily exercised.