II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1195
To promote conservation, improve public land management, and provide for
sensible development in Pershing County, Nevada, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH27, 2025
Ms. R
OSENintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To promote conservation, improve public land management,
and provide for sensible development in Pershing County,
Nevada, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Pershing County Economic Development and Conserva-5
tion Act’’. 6
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7
this Act is as follows: 8
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
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TITLE I—CHECKERBOARD LAND RESOLUTION
Sec. 101. Findings.
Sec. 102. Sale or exchange of eligible land.
Sec. 103. Sale of encumbered land.
Sec. 104. Disposition of proceeds.
TITLE II—WILDERNESS AREAS
Sec. 201. Additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Sec. 202. Administration.
Sec. 203. Wildlife management.
Sec. 204. Release of wilderness study areas.
Sec. 205. Native American cultural and religious uses.
TITLE III—TRIBAL TRUST LAND
Sec. 301. Transfer of land to be held in trust for the Lovelock Paiute Tribe.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
1
In this Act: 2
(1) A
PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -3
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-4
mittees’’ means— 5
(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 6
Resources of the Senate; and 7
(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 8
of the House of Representatives. 9
(2) C
OUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means Per-10
shing County, Nevada. 11
(3) E
LIGIBLE LAND.—The term ‘‘eligible land’’ 12
means any land administered by the Director of the 13
Bureau of Land Management— 14
(A) that is within the area identified on 15
the Map as ‘‘Checkerboard Lands Resolution 16
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Area’’ that is designated for disposal by the 1
Secretary through— 2
(i) the Winnemucca Consolidated Re-3
source Management Plan; or 4
(ii) any subsequent amendment or re-5
vision to the management plan that is un-6
dertaken with full public involvement; 7
(B) that is identified on the Map as ‘‘Addi-8
tional Lands Eligible for Disposal’’; and 9
(C) that is not encumbered land. 10
(4) E
NCUMBERED LAND .—The term ‘‘encum-11
bered land’’ means any land administered by the Di-12
rector of the Bureau of Land Management within 13
the area identified on the Map as ‘‘Checkerboard 14
Lands Resolution Area’’ that is encumbered by min-15
ing claims, millsites, or tunnel sites. 16
(5) M
AP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en-17
titled ‘‘Pershing County Checkerboard Lands Reso-18
lution’’ and dated July 8, 2024. 19
(6) Q
UALIFIED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘qualified 20
entity’’ means, with respect to a portion of encum-21
bered land— 22
(A) the owner of a mining claim, millsite, 23
or tunnel site located on a portion of the en-24
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cumbered land on the date of enactment of this 1
Act; and 2
(B) a successor in interest of an owner de-3
scribed in subparagraph (A). 4
(7) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 5
the Secretary of the Interior. 6
(8) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 7
of Nevada. 8
(9) W
ILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘wilderness 9
area’’ means a wilderness area designated by section 10
201(a). 11
TITLE I—CHECKERBOARD LAND 12
RESOLUTION 13
SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 14
Congress finds that— 15
(1) since the passage of the Act of July 1, 1862 16
(12 Stat. 489, chapter 120) (commonly known as 17
the ‘‘Pacific Railway Act of 1862’’), under which 18
railroad land grants along the Union Pacific Rail-19
road right-of-way created a checkerboard land pat-20
tern of alternating public land and privately owned 21
land, management of the land in the checkerboard 22
area has been a constant source of frustration for 23
the County government, private landholders in the 24
County, and the Federal Government; 25
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(2) management of Federal land in the checker-1
board area has been costly and difficult for the Fed-2
eral land management agencies, creating a disincen-3
tive to manage the land effectively; 4
(3) parcels of land within the checkerboard area 5
in the County will not vary significantly in appraised 6
value by acre due to the similarity of highest and 7
best use in the County; and 8
(4) consolidation of appropriate land within the 9
checkerboard area through sales and exchanges for 10
development and Federal management will— 11
(A) help improve the tax base of the Coun-12
ty; and 13
(B) simplify management for the Federal 14
Government. 15
SEC. 102. SALE OR EXCHANGE OF ELIGIBLE LAND. 16
(a) A
UTHORIZATION OF CONVEYANCE.—Notwith-17
standing sections 202, 203 (other than subsection (b) of 18
that section), 206 (other than subsections (d) and (f) of 19
that section), and 209 of the Federal Land Policy and 20
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713, 1716, 21
1719), as soon as practicable after the date of enactment 22
of this Act, the Secretary, in accordance with this Act and 23
any other applicable law and subject to valid existing 24
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rights, shall conduct sales or exchanges of the eligible land 1
as depicted on the Map. 2
(b) J
OINTSELECTIONREQUIRED.—After providing 3
public notice, the Secretary and the County shall jointly 4
select parcels of eligible land to be offered for sale or ex-5
change under subsection (a). 6
(c) M
ETHOD OFSALE.—A sale of eligible land under 7
subsection (a) shall be— 8
(1) consistent with subsections (d) and (f) of 9
section 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-10
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1713); 11
(2) conducted through a competitive bidding 12
process, under which adjoining landowners are of-13
fered the first option, unless the Secretary deter-14
mines there are suitable and qualified buyers that 15
are not adjoining landowners; and 16
(3) for not less than fair market value, based 17
on an appraisal in accordance with the Uniform 18
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and 19
this Act. 20
(d) L
ANDEXCHANGES.— 21
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 22
the date of enactment of this Act and subject to the 23
joint selection requirements under subsection (b), 24
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the Secretary shall offer to exchange all eligible land 1
under this section for private land. 2
(2) E
QUAL VALUE EXCHANGE .— 3
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The value of the eligi-4
ble land and private land to be exchanged under 5
paragraph (1)— 6
(i) shall be equal; or 7
(ii) shall be made equal in accordance 8
with subparagraph (B). 9
(B) E
QUALIZATION.— 10
(i) S
URPLUS OF ELIGIBLE LAND .— 11
With respect to the eligible land and pri-12
vate land to be exchanged under paragraph 13
(1), if the value of the eligible land exceeds 14
the value of the private land, the value of 15
the eligible land and the private land shall 16
be equalized by— 17
(I) the owner of the private land 18
making a cash equalization payment 19
to the Secretary; 20
(II) adding private land to the 21
exchange; or 22
(III) removing eligible land from 23
the exchange. 24
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(ii) SURPLUS OF PRIVATE LAND .— 1
With respect to the eligible land and pri-2
vate land to be exchanged under paragraph 3
(1), if the value of the private land exceeds 4
the value of the eligible land, the value of 5
the private land and the eligible land shall 6
be equalized by— 7
(I) the Secretary making a cash 8
equalization payment to the owner of 9
the private land, in accordance with 10
section 206(b) of the Federal Land 11
Policy and Management Act of 1976 12
(43 U.S.C. 1716(b)); 13
(II) adding eligible land to the 14
exchange; or 15
(III) removing private land from 16
the exchange. 17
(3) A
DJACENT LAND.—To the extent prac-18
ticable, the Secretary shall seek to enter into agree-19
ments with one or more owners of private land adja-20
cent to the eligible land for the exchange of the pri-21
vate land for the eligible land, if the Secretary deter-22
mines that the exchange would consolidate Federal 23
land ownership and facilitate improved Federal land 24
management. 25
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(4) PRIORITY LAND EXCHANGES .—In acquiring 1
private land under this subsection, the Secretary 2
shall give priority to the acquisition of private land 3
in higher-value natural resource areas in the County. 4
(e) M
ASSAPPRAISALS.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 6
the date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years 7
thereafter, the Secretary shall— 8
(A) conduct a mass appraisal of eligible 9
land to be sold or exchanged under this section; 10
(B) prepare an evaluation analysis for each 11
land transaction under this section; and 12
(C) make available to the public the results 13
of the mass appraisals conducted under sub-14
paragraph (A). 15
(2) U
SE.—The Secretary may use mass ap-16
praisals and evaluation analyses conducted under 17
paragraph (1) to facilitate exchanges of eligible land 18
for private land. 19
(3) A
PPLICABLE LAW.—An appraisal under 20
paragraph (1) shall be conducted in accordance with 21
nationally recognized appraisal standards, including, 22
as appropriate— 23
(A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 24
Federal Land Acquisitions; and 25
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(B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 1
Appraisal Practice. 2
(4) D
URATION.—An appraisal conducted under 3
paragraph (1) shall remain valid for 5 years after 4
the date on which the appraisal is approved by the 5
Secretary. 6
(f) D
EADLINE FOR SALE OREXCHANGE; EXCLU-7
SIONS.— 8
(1) D
EADLINE.—Not later than 90 days after 9
the date on which the eligible land is jointly selected 10
under subsection (b), the Secretary shall offer for 11
sale or exchange the parcels of eligible land jointly 12
selected under that subsection. 13
(2) P
OSTPONEMENT OR EXCLUSION .—The Sec-14
retary or the County may postpone, or exclude from, 15
a sale or exchange of all or a portion of the eligible 16
land jointly selected under subsection (b) for emer-17
gency ecological or safety reasons. 18
(g) W
ITHDRAWAL.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing 20
rights and mining claims, millsites, and tunnel sites, 21
effective on the date on which a parcel of eligible 22
land is jointly selected under subsection (b) for sale 23
or exchange, that parcel is withdrawn from— 24
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(A) all forms of entry and appropriation 1
under the public land laws, including the min-2
ing laws; 3
(B) location, entry, and patent under the 4
mining laws; and 5
(C) operation of the mineral leasing and 6
geothermal leasing laws. 7
(2) T
ERMINATION.—The withdrawal of a parcel 8
of eligible land under paragraph (1) shall termi-9
nate— 10
(A) on the date of sale or, in the case of 11
exchange, the conveyance of title of the parcel 12
of eligible land under this section; or 13
(B) with respect to any parcel of eligible 14
land selected for sale or exchange under sub-15
section (b) that is not sold or exchanged, not 16
later than 2 years after the date on which the 17
parcel was offered for sale or exchange under 18
this section. 19
(h) M
APS ANDLEGALDESCRIPTIONS.— 20
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 21
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 22
shall finalize maps and legal descriptions of the par-23
cels of eligible land to be sold or exchanged under 24
this section. 25
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(2) AVAILABILITY.—The maps and legal de-1
scriptions finalized under paragraph (1) shall be on 2
file and available for public inspection in appropriate 3
offices of the Bureau of Land Management. 4
(3) C
ORRECTIONS.—The Secretary and the 5
County may, by mutual agreement— 6
(A) make minor boundary adjustments to 7
the eligible land to be sold or exchanged under 8
this section; and 9
(B) correct any minor errors, including 10
clerical and typographical errors, on the Map or 11
any maps, acreage estimates, or legal descrip-12
tions finalized under this subsection. 13
SEC. 103. SALE OF ENCUMBERED LAND. 14
(a) A
UTHORIZATION OF CONVEYANCE.—Notwith-15
standing sections 202, 203, 206, and 209 of the Federal 16
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 17
1712, 1713, 1716, 1719), not later than 90 days after 18
the date of enactment of this Act and subject to valid ex-19
isting rights held by third parties, the Secretary shall offer 20
to convey to qualified entities, for fair market value, the 21
remaining right, title, and interest of the United States, 22
in and to the encumbered land as depicted on the Map. 23
(b) C
OSTS OFSALES TOQUALIFIEDENTITIES.—As 24
a condition of each conveyance of encumbered land under 25
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this section, the qualified entity shall pay all costs related 1
to the conveyance of the encumbered land, including the 2
costs of surveys and other administrative costs associated 3
with the conveyance. 4
(c) O
FFERTOCONVEY.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 6
after the date on which the Secretary receives a fair 7
market offer from a qualified entity for the convey-8
ance of encumbered land, the Secretary shall accept 9
the fair market value offer. 10
(2) A
PPRAISAL.—Fair market value of the in-11
terest of the United States in and to encumbered 12
land shall be determined by an appraisal conducted 13
in accordance with the Uniform Standards of Pro-14
fessional Appraisal Practice. 15
(d) C
ONVEYANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 16
date of acceptance by the Secretary of an offer from a 17
qualified entity under subsection (c)(1) and completion of 18
a sale for all or part of the applicable portion of encum-19
bered land to the qualified entity, the Secretary, by deliv-20
ery of an appropriate deed, patent, or other valid instru-21
ment of conveyance, shall convey to the qualified entity 22
all remaining right, title, and interest of the United States 23
in and to the applicable portion of the encumbered land. 24
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(e) MERGER.—Subject to valid existing rights held 1
by third parties, on delivery of the instrument of convey-2
ance to the qualified entity under subsection (d), the prior 3
interests in the locatable minerals and the right to use 4
the surface for mineral purposes held by the qualified enti-5
ty under a mining claim, millsite, tunnel site, or any other 6
Federal land use authorization applicable to the encum-7
bered land included in the instrument of conveyance, shall 8
merge with all right, title, and interest conveyed to the 9
qualified entity by the United States under this section 10
to ensure that the qualified entity receives fee simple title 11
to the purchased encumbered land. 12
SEC. 104. DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS. 13
(a) D
ISPOSITION OFPROCEEDS.—Of the proceeds 14
from the sale of land under this title— 15
(1) 5 percent shall be disbursed to the State for 16
use in the general education program of the State; 17
(2) 10 percent shall be disbursed to the County 18
for use as determined through normal County budg-19
eting procedures; and 20
(3) the remainder shall be deposited in a special 21
account in the Treasury of the United States, to be 22
known as the ‘‘Pershing County Special Account’’, 23
which shall be available to the Secretary, in con-24
sultation with the County, for— 25
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(A) the acquisition of land from willing 1
sellers (including interests in land) in the Coun-2
ty— 3
(i) within a wilderness area; 4
(ii) that protects other environ-5
mentally significant land; 6
(iii) that secures public access to Fed-7
eral land for hunting, fishing, and other 8
recreational purposes; or 9
(iv) that improves management of 10
Federal land within the area identified as 11
‘‘Checkerboard Lands Resolution Area’’ on 12
the Map; and 13
(B) the reimbursement of costs incurred by 14
the Secretary in preparing for the sale or ex-15
change of land under this title. 16
(b) I
NVESTMENT OF SPECIALACCOUNT.—Any 17
amounts deposited in the special account established 18
under subsection (a)(3)— 19
(1) shall earn interest in an amount determined 20
by the Secretary of the Treasury, based on the cur-21
rent average market yield on outstanding marketable 22
obligations of the United States of comparable ma-23
turities; and 24
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(2) may be expended by the Secretary in ac-1
cordance with this section. 2
(c) R
EPORTS.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than September 4
30 of the fifth fiscal year after the date of enact-5
ment of this Act, and every 5 fiscal years thereafter, 6
the Secretary shall submit to the State, the County, 7
and the appropriate congressional committees a re-8
port on the operation of the special account estab-9
lished under subsection (a)(3) for the preceding 5 10
fiscal years. 11
(2) C
ONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 12
paragraph (1) shall include, for the fiscal year cov-13
ered by the report— 14
(A) a statement of the amounts deposited 15
into the special account; 16
(B) a description of the expenditures made 17
from the special account for the fiscal year, in-18
cluding the purpose of the expenditures; 19
(C) recommendations for additional au-20
thorities to fulfill the purpose of the special ac-21
count; and 22
(D) a statement of the balance remaining 23
in the special account at the end of the fiscal 24
year. 25
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TITLE II—WILDERNESS AREAS 1
SEC. 201. ADDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WILDERNESS 2
PRESERVATION SYSTEM. 3
(a) A
DDITIONS.—In accordance with the Wilderness 4
Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following parcels of Fed-5
eral land in the State are designated as wilderness and 6
as components of the National Wilderness Preservation 7
System: 8
(1) C
AIN MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS ADDITION .— 9
Certain Federal land managed by the Bureau of 10
Land Management, comprising approximately 11
12,339 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti-12
tled ‘‘Proposed Cain Mountain Wilderness’’ and 13
dated July 8, 2024, which is incorporated in, and 14
considered to be a part of, the Cain Mountain Wil-15
derness designated by sections 2905(b)(1)(C) and 16
2932(a)(1) of the James M. Inhofe National De-17
fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Pub-18
lic Law 117–263; 136 Stat. 3040; 136 Stat. 3048). 19
(2) B
LUEWING WILDERNESS .—Certain Federal 20
land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, 21
comprising approximately 24,900 acres, as generally 22
depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Bluewing 23
Wilderness’’ and dated July 8, 2024, which shall be 24
known as the ‘‘Bluewing Wilderness’’. 25
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(3) SELENITE PEAK WILDERNESS .—Certain 1
Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Man-2
agement, comprising approximately 22,822 acres, as 3
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed 4
Selenite Peak Wilderness’’ and dated July 8, 2024, 5
which shall be known as the ‘‘Selenite Peak Wilder-6
ness’’. 7
(4) M
OUNT LIMBO WILDERNESS .—Certain Fed-8
eral land managed by the Bureau of Land Manage-9
ment, comprising approximately 11,855 acres, as 10
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed 11
Mt. Limbo Wilderness’’ and dated July 8, 2024, 12
which shall be known as the ‘‘Mount Limbo Wilder-13
ness’’. 14
(5) N
ORTH SAHWAVE WILDERNESS .—Certain 15
Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Man-16
agement, comprising approximately 13,875 acres, as 17
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed 18
North Sahwave Wilderness’’ and dated July 8, 2024, 19
which shall be known as the ‘‘North Sahwave Wil-20
derness’’. 21
(6) G
RANDFATHERS WILDERNESS .—Certain 22
Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Man-23
agement, comprising approximately 35,339 acres, as 24
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed 25
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Grandfathers Wilderness’’ and dated July 8, 2024, 1
which shall be known as the ‘‘Grandfathers Wilder-2
ness’’. 3
(7) F
ENCEMAKER WILDERNESS .—Certain Fed-4
eral land managed by the Bureau of Land Manage-5
ment, comprising approximately 14,942 acres, as 6
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed 7
Fencemaker Wilderness’’ and dated July 8, 2024, 8
which shall be known as the ‘‘Fencemaker Wilder-9
ness’’. 10
(b) B
OUNDARY.—The boundary of any portion of a 11
wilderness area that is bordered by a road shall be 100 12
feet from the centerline of the road. 13
(c) M
AP ANDLEGALDESCRIPTION.— 14
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 15
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 16
shall file a map and legal description of each wilder-17
ness area. 18
(2) E
FFECT.—Each map and legal description 19
prepared under paragraph (1) shall have the same 20
force and effect as if included in this Act, except 21
that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo-22
graphical errors in the map or legal description. 23
(3) A
VAILABILITY.—Each map and legal de-24
scription prepared under paragraph (1) shall be on 25
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file and available for public inspection in the appro-1
priate offices of the Bureau of Land Management. 2
(4) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing 3
rights, the wilderness areas designated by subsection 4
(a) are withdrawn from— 5
(A) all forms of entry, appropriation, and 6
disposal under the public land laws; 7
(B) location, entry, and patent under the 8
mining laws; and 9
(C) disposition under all laws relating to 10
mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral ma-11
terials. 12
SEC. 202. ADMINISTRATION. 13
(a) M
ANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing rights, 14
the wilderness areas shall be administered by the Sec-15
retary in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 16
1131 et seq.), except that with respect to the wilderness 17
areas— 18
(1) any reference in that Act to the effective 19
date shall be considered to be a reference to the date 20
of enactment of this Act; and 21
(2) any reference in that Act to the Secretary 22
of Agriculture shall be considered to be a reference 23
to the Secretary. 24
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(b) LIVESTOCK.—The grazing of livestock in the wil-1
derness areas, if established before the date of enactment 2
of this Act, shall be allowed to continue, subject to such 3
reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as the Sec-4
retary considers to be necessary in accordance with— 5
(1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 6
U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 7
(2) the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of 8
the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular 9
Affairs of the House of Representatives accom-10
panying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (House 11
Report 101–405). 12
(c) I
NCORPORATION OF ACQUIREDLAND ANDINTER-13
ESTS.—Any land or interest in land within the boundary 14
of a wilderness area that is acquired by the United States 15
after the date of enactment of this Act shall be added to 16
and administered as part of the wilderness area. 17
(d) A
DJACENTMANAGEMENT.— 18
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Congress does not intend for 19
the designation of the wilderness areas to create pro-20
tective perimeters or buffer zones around the wilder-21
ness areas. 22
(2) N
ONWILDERNESS ACTIVITIES .—The fact 23
that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or 24
heard from areas within a wilderness area shall not 25
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preclude the conduct of those activities or uses out-1
side the boundary of the wilderness area. 2
(e) M
ILITARYOVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this title 3
restricts or precludes— 4
(1) low-level overflights of military aircraft over 5
the wilderness areas, including military overflights 6
that can be seen or heard within the wilderness 7
areas; 8
(2) flight testing and evaluation; or 9
(3) the designation or creation of new units of 10
special use airspace, or the establishment of military 11
flight training routes, over the wilderness areas. 12
(f) W
ILDFIRE, INSECT, ANDDISEASEMANAGE-13
MENT.—In accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilder-14
ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the Secretary may take 15
such measures in the wilderness areas as are necessary 16
for the control of fire, insects, and diseases (including, as 17
the Secretary determines to be appropriate, the coordina-18
tion of the activities with a State or local agency). 19
(g) C
LIMATOLOGICAL DATACOLLECTION.—In ac-20
cordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) 21
and subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary 22
may prescribe, the Secretary may authorize the installa-23
tion and maintenance of hydrologic, meteorologic, or cli-24
matological data collection devices in the wilderness areas 25
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if the Secretary determines that the facilities and access 1
to the facilities are essential to flood warning, flood con-2
trol, or water reservoir operation activities. 3
(h) W
ATERRIGHTS.— 4
(1) F
INDINGS.—Congress finds that— 5
(A) the wilderness areas are located— 6
(i) in the semiarid region of the Great 7
Basin; and 8
(ii) at the headwaters of the streams 9
and rivers on land with respect to which 10
there are few, if any— 11
(I) actual or proposed water re-12
source facilities located upstream; and 13
(II) opportunities for diversion, 14
storage, or other uses of water occur-15
ring outside the land that would ad-16
versely affect the wilderness values of 17
the land; 18
(B) the wilderness areas are generally not 19
suitable for use or development of new water re-20
source facilities; and 21
(C) because of the unique nature of the 22
wilderness areas, it is possible to provide for 23
proper management and protection of the wil-24
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derness and other values of land in ways dif-1
ferent from those used in other laws. 2
(2) P
URPOSE.—The purpose of this section is 3
to protect the wilderness values of the wilderness 4
areas by means other than a federally reserved water 5
right. 6
(3) S
TATUTORY CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in 7
this title— 8
(A) constitutes an express or implied res-9
ervation by the United States of any water or 10
water rights with respect to the wilderness 11
areas; 12
(B) affects any water rights in the State 13
(including any water rights held by the United 14
States) in existence on the date of enactment of 15
this Act; 16
(C) establishes a precedent with regard to 17
any future wilderness designations; 18
(D) affects the interpretation of, or any 19
designation made under, any other Act; or 20
(E) limits, alters, modifies, or amends any 21
interstate compact or equitable apportionment 22
decree that apportions water among and be-23
tween the State and other States. 24
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(4) NEVADA WATER LAW .—The Secretary shall 1
follow the procedural and substantive requirements 2
of State law in order to obtain and hold any water 3
rights not in existence on the date of enactment of 4
this Act with respect to the wilderness areas. 5
(5) N
EW PROJECTS.— 6
(A) D
EFINITION OF WATER RESOURCE FA -7
CILITY.— 8
(i) I
N GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 9
the term ‘‘water resource facility’’ means 10
irrigation and pumping facilities, res-11
ervoirs, water conservation works, aque-12
ducts, canals, ditches, pipelines, wells, hy-13
dropower projects, transmission and other 14
ancillary facilities, and other water diver-15
sion, storage, and carriage structures. 16
(ii) E
XCLUSION.—In this paragraph, 17
the term ‘‘water resource facility’’ does not 18
include wildlife guzzlers. 19
(B) R
ESTRICTION ON NEW WATER RE -20
SOURCE FACILITIES.—Except as otherwise pro-21
vided in this Act, on and after the date of en-22
actment of this Act, neither the President nor 23
any other officer, employee, or agent of the 24
United States shall fund, assist, authorize, or 25
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issue a license or permit for the development of 1
any new water resource facility within the wil-2
derness areas. 3
(i) T
EMPORARYTELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.— 4
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Nothing in this title pre-5
vents the placement of a temporary telecommuni-6
cations device for law enforcement or agency admin-7
istrative purposes in the Selenite Peak Wilderness in 8
accordance with paragraph (2). 9
(2) A
DDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS .—Any tem-10
porary telecommunications device authorized by the 11
Secretary under paragraph (1) shall— 12
(A) be carried out in accordance with— 13
(i) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 14
1131 et seq.); and 15
(ii) all other applicable laws (including 16
regulations); 17
(B) to the maximum practicable, be located 18
in such a manner as to minimize impacts on the 19
recreational and other wilderness values of the 20
area; and 21
(C) be for a period of not longer than 7 22
years. 23
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SEC. 203. WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT. 1
(a) I
NGENERAL.—In accordance with section 2
4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), 3
nothing in this title affects or diminishes the jurisdiction 4
of the State with respect to fish and wildlife management, 5
including the regulation of hunting, fishing, and trapping, 6
in the wilderness areas. 7
(b) M
ANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—In furtherance of 8
the purposes and principles of the Wilderness Act (16 9
U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the Secretary may conduct any man-10
agement activities in the wilderness areas that are nec-11
essary to maintain or restore fish and wildlife populations 12
and the habitats to support the populations, if the activi-13
ties are carried out— 14
(1) consistent with relevant wilderness manage-15
ment plans; and 16
(2) in accordance with— 17
(A) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 18
seq.); and 19
(B) appropriate policies, such as those set 20
forth in Appendix B of the report of the Com-21
mittee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the 22
House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 23
2570 of the 101st Congress (House Report 24
101–405), including noxious weed treatment 25
and the occasional and temporary use of motor-26
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ized vehicles if the use, as determined by the 1
Secretary, would promote healthy, viable, and 2
more naturally distributed wildlife populations 3
that would enhance wilderness values with the 4
minimal impact necessary to reasonably accom-5
plish those tasks. 6
(c) E
XISTINGACTIVITIES.—In accordance with sec-7
tion 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) 8
and in accordance with appropriate policies such as those 9
set forth in Appendix B of the Committee on Interior and 10
Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives accom-11
panying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (House Report 12
101–405), the State may continue to use aircraft, includ-13
ing helicopters, to survey, capture, transplant, monitor, 14
and provide water for wildlife populations. 15
(d) W
ILDLIFEWATERDEVELOPMENTPROJECTS.— 16
Subject to subsection (f), the Secretary shall authorize 17
structures and facilities, including existing structures and 18
facilities, for wildlife water development projects, including 19
guzzlers, in the wilderness areas if— 20
(1) the structures and facilities will, as deter-21
mined by the Secretary, enhance wilderness values 22
by promoting healthy, viable, and more naturally 23
distributed wildlife populations; and 24
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(2) the visual impacts of the structures and fa-1
cilities on the wilderness areas can reasonably be 2
minimized. 3
(e) H
UNTING, FISHING, ANDTRAPPING.— 4
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may des-5
ignate areas in which, and establish periods during 6
which, for reasons of public safety, administration, 7
or compliance with applicable laws, no hunting, fish-8
ing, or trapping will be permitted in the wilderness 9
areas. 10
(2) C
ONSULTATION.—Except in emergencies, 11
the Secretary shall consult with the appropriate 12
State agency and notify the public before taking any 13
action under paragraph (1). 14
(f) C
OOPERATIVEAGREEMENT.—The State, includ-15
ing a designee of the State, may conduct wildlife manage-16
ment activities in the wilderness areas— 17
(1) in accordance with the terms and conditions 18
specified in the cooperative agreement between the 19
Secretary and the State entitled ‘‘Wildlife Manage-20
ment in Nevada BLM Wilderness Areas’’ and signed 21
September 2024, including any amendments to the 22
cooperative agreement agreed to by the Secretary 23
and the State; and 24
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(2) subject to all applicable laws (including reg-1
ulations). 2
SEC. 204. RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS. 3
(a) F
INDING.—Congress finds that, for the purposes 4
of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-5
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)), the approximately 6
48,600 acres of public land in the portions of the China 7
Mountain, Mt. Limbo, Selenite Mountains, and Tobin 8
Range wilderness study areas that have not been des-9
ignated as wilderness by subsection (a) of section 201 and 10
the portion of the Augusta Mountains wilderness study 11
area within the County that has not been designated as 12
wilderness by that subsection have been adequately stud-13
ied for wilderness designation. 14
(b) R
ELEASE.—The public land described in sub-15
section (a)— 16
(1) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the 17
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 18
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 19
(2) shall be managed in accordance with the ap-20
plicable land use plans adopted under section 202 of 21
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 22
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712). 23
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SEC. 205. NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS 1
USES. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Nothing in this title alters or di-3
minishes the treaty rights of any Indian Tribe (as defined 4
in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-5
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 6
(b) C
ULTURALUSES.—Nothing in this title precludes 7
the traditional collection of pine nuts in a wilderness area 8
for personal, noncommercial use consistent with the Wil-9
derness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). 10
TITLE III—TRIBAL TRUST LAND 11
SEC. 301. TRANSFER OF LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST FOR 12
THE LOVELOCK PAIUTE TRIBE. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 14
all right, title, and interest of the United States in and 15
to the land described in subsection (b) shall be— 16
(1) held in trust by the United States for the 17
benefit of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe; and 18
(2) part of the reservation of the Lovelock Pai-19
ute Tribe. 20
(b) D
ESCRIPTION OFLAND.—The land referred to in 21
subsection (a) is the approximately 10 acres of land ad-22
ministered by the Bureau of Land Management in the 23
State, as depicted on the map prepared under subsection 24
(d). 25
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(c) SURVEY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 1
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a 2
survey to establish the boundaries of the land taken into 3
trust under subsection (a). 4
(d) M
AP.—As soon as practicable after the date on 5
which the Secretary completes the survey under subsection 6
(c), the Secretary shall prepare a map that depicts the 7
boundaries of the land established under that subsection. 8
(e) G
AMINGPROHIBITED.—The land taken into trust 9
under subsection (a) shall not be eligible, or considered 10
to have been taken into trust, for class II gaming or class 11
III gaming (as those terms are defined in section 4 of the 12
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703)). 13
Æ
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