16 U.S.C. § 460vv-8 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 16. Conservation § 460vv-8. Indian Nations National Scenic and Wildlife Area

(a)Designation

In order to protect and enhance certain scenery and wildlife within the Ouachita National Forest, Oklahoma, certain lands within such national forest, as generally depicted on a map entitled “Indian Nations National Scenic and Wildlife Area--Proposed”, dated March 1988, are hereby designated as the “Indian Nations National Scenic and Wildlife Area” (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “national scenic and wildlife area”).

(b)Map and description

The Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) shall, as soon as practicable after October 18, 1988, file a map and a legal description of the national scenic and wildlife area with the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Agriculture of the United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the United States Senate. Each such map and legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this subchapter; except that correction of clerical and typographical errors in such legal description and map may be made. The map and legal description shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.

(c)Administration

The Secretary shall administer the national scenic and wildlife area in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations applicable to the national forests in such manner as will best further the purposes of this section, as set forth in subsection (a). Management practices within the national scenic and wildlife area that would detract from the scenic quality and natural beauty of the Talimena Drive and Holson Valley Road viewsheds shall be prohibited. Timber management practices within the national scenic and wildlife area shall promote a mixed hardwood and conifer forest with species and age class diversity approximating natural succession and with significant mast production and den trees for wildlife. Unevenaged timber management shall be the timber management practice in the national scenic and wildlife area, except that the Secretary may use evenaged management practices in order to promote public safety, mitigate the effects of fire, insects, and disease, or if such practices result in irregular cuts behind geographic barriers blocking the view from the Talimena Drive and the Holson Valley Road.