---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 544a"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "544a"
heading: "Purposes"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/544a"
units:
  - "Chapter 2 — National Forests"
  - "Subchapter II — Scenic Areas"
---

# §544a. Purposes


The purposes of sections [544](/usc/16/544.md) to [544p](/usc/16/544p.md) of this title are—

- (1) to establish a national [scenic area](/usc/16/544.md?p=o) to protect and provide for the enhancement of the scenic, cultural, recreational, and natural resources of the Columbia River Gorge; and
- (2) to protect and support the economy of the Columbia River Gorge [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) by encouraging growth to occur in existing [urban areas](/usc/16/544.md?p=s) and by allowing future economic development in a manner that is consistent with [paragraph (1)](#1).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 99–663, § 3, Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4276.)