Oregon Wilderness Act of 1979
Latest action. Referred jointly to House Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs; and Agriculture.
Oregon Wilderness Act of 1979 - Designates specified wilderness lands in the following national forests in Oregon as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Mount Hood National Forest; (2) Willamette National Forest; (3) Ochoco National Forest; (4) Fremont National Forest; (5) Siuslaw National Forest; (6) Umpqua National Forest; (7) Umatilla National Forest; (8) Rogue River National Forest; (9) Winema National Forest; (10) Deschutes National Forest; (11) Malheur National Forest; and (12) Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Establishes the Oregon Cascades National Conservation Area within the Umpqua, Willamette, Winema, and Deschutes National Forests, to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to the National Forest System. Withdraws the minerals located within such Conservation Area from location, entry, and patent under the United States mining laws and disposition under the mineral leasing laws, effective January 1, 1984, and subject to valid existing rights. Allows the Secretary to permit, under appropriate regulations, those limited activities and facilities which are determined necessary for resource protection and management or for visitor safety and comfort. Designates specified lands within the Conservation Area as wilderness, to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act. Requires the Secretary to prepare, within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, an integrated management plan for the Conservation Area and the wilderness area. Declares that lands within the National Forest System in Oregon which have been studied as a part of the Secretary of Agriculture's Roadless Area Review and Evaluation Program (RARE II) and which are not identified by the Secretary for further planning, not designated as wilderness, or included in the Conservation Area by this Act are: (1) not intended by Congress to be designated as lands for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System; (2) lands which shall continue to be available for uses other than wilderness; and (3) lands which no department or agency of the United States shall study for the single purpose of determining their suitability or nonsuitability for inclusion in the National Preservation System.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on November 20, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 27, 1979: Referred jointly to House Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs; and Agriculture.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MARK HATFIELD (R-OR) introduced it on November 20, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 20, 1979, 17096 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17089 days ago, on November 27, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers