---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 460vv–4"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "460vv–4"
heading: "Wilderness review"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/460vv-4"
units:
  - "Chapter 1 — National Parks, Military Parks, Monuments, and Seashores"
  - "Subchapter CVII — Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation and Wilderness Area"
---

# §460vv–4. Wilderness review

- (a) **Findings—** The Congress finds that—
  - (1) the Department of Agriculture has completed the second roadless [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) review and evaluation program (RARE II); and
  - (2) the Congress has made its own review and examination of National Forest System roadless [areas](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) in Oklahoma and of the environmental impacts associated with alternative allocations of such [areas](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A).
- (b) **Congressional determination and direction—** On the basis of such review, the Congress hereby determines and directs that—
  - (1) without passing on the questions of the legal and factual sufficiency of the RARE II Final Environmental Impact Statement (dated January 1979) with respect to National Forest System lands in [States](/usc/16/544.md?p=r) other than Oklahoma, such statement shall not be subject to judicial review with respect to National Forest System lands in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma;
  - (2) with respect to the National Forest System lands in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma which were reviewed by the Department of Agriculture in the second roadless [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) review and evaluation (RARE II) and those lands referred to in [subsection (d)](#d), that review and evaluation or reference shall be deemed for the purposes of the initial land [management plans](/usc/16/544.md?p=k) required for such lands by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 [[16 U.S.C. 1600](/usc/16/1600.md) et seq.], as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, to be an adequate consideration of the suitability of such lands for inclusion in the [National Wilderness Preservation System](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) and the Department of Agriculture shall not be required to review the [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) option prior to the revision of the plans, but shall review the [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) option when the plans are revised, which revisions will ordinarily occur on a ten-year cycle, or at least every fifteen years, unless, prior to such time the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) of Agriculture finds that conditions in a [unit](/usc/16/430f–7.md?p=4) have significantly changed;
  - (3) [areas](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma reviewed in such final environmental statement or referenced in [subsection (d)](#d) and not designated [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) upon enactment of this subchapter shall be managed for [multiple use](/usc/16/531.md?p=a) in accordance with land [management plans](/usc/16/544.md?p=k) pursuant to [section 6](/usc/16/6.md) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 [[16 U.S.C. 1604](/usc/16/1604.md)], as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, except that such [areas](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) need not be managed for the purpose of protecting their suitability for [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) designation prior to or during revision of the initial land [management plans](/usc/16/544.md?p=k);
  - (4) in the event that revised land [management plans](/usc/16/544.md?p=k) in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma are implemented pursuant to [section 6](/usc/16/6.md) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 [[16 U.S.C. 1604](/usc/16/1604.md)], as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and other applicable law, [areas](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) not recommended for [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) designation need not be managed for the purpose of protecting their suitability for [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) designation prior to or during revision of such plans, and [areas](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) recommended for [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) designation shall be managed for the purpose of protecting their suitability for [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) designation as may be required by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 [[16 U.S.C. 1600](/usc/16/1600.md) et seq.], as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and other applicable law; and
  - (5) unless expressly authorized by Congress, the Department of Agriculture shall not conduct any further statewide roadless [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) review and evaluation of the National Forest System lands in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma for the purpose of determining their suitability for inclusion in the [National Wilderness Preservation System](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13).
- (c) **Use of term—** As used in this section, and as provided in [section 6](/usc/16/6.md) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 [[16 U.S.C. 1604](/usc/16/1604.md)], as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, the term “revision” shall not include an “amendment” to a plan.
- (d) **Application of provisions—** The provisions of this section shall also apply to:
  - (1) those National Forest System roadless lands in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma in the Ouachita National Forest which were evaluated in the Rich Mountain and Beech Creek [unit](/usc/16/430f–7.md?p=4) plans; and
  - (2) National Forest System roadless lands in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Oklahoma which are less than five thousand acres in size.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 100–499, § 6, Oct. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 2493.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), (4), is Pub. L. 93–378, Aug. 17, 1974, 88 Stat. 476, which is classified generally to subchapter I (§ 1600 et seq.) of chapter 36 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1600 of this title and Tables.

The National Forest Management Act of 1976, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2)–(4) and (c), is Pub. L. 94–588, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2949, which enacted sections 472a, 521b, 1600, and 1611 to 1614 of this title, amended sections 500, 515, 516, 518, 576b, and 1601 to 1610 of this title, repealed sections 476, 513, and 514 of this title, and enacted provisions set out as notes under sections 476, 513, 528, 594–2, and 1600 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1976 Amendment note set out under section 1600 of this title and Tables.