Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

Summary

Creates new wilderness areas on about 126,554 acres of Forest Service land in Olympic National Forest and adds multiple river segments in Washington to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. It sets how the lands and rivers will be managed, preserves existing private and State DNR rights, withdraws newly designated river lands from many mineral and mining claims, allows limited forest health actions in wilderness, and expressly preserves tribal treaty hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural rights.

• Designates roughly 126,554 acres of Olympic National Forest as new wilderness and adds 14 named wilderness units or additions.
• Creates about 5,346 acres of "potential wilderness" that convert to full wilderness after nonconforming uses end and are published in the Federal Register.
• Adds multiple Washington river segments (including Elwha, Dungeness, Dosewallips, Duckabush, Hamma Hamma, Big Quilcene, and South Fork Skokomish) to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System with wild/scenic/recreational classifications.
• Specifies management responsibilities between the Secretary of Agriculture (Forest Service) and Secretary of the Interior (in portions inside Olympic National Park), and requires some cooperative State agreements.
• Withdraws lands within river boundaries from public land disposal, mining claims, and mineral/geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights.
• Affirms it does not affect private contracts or the Washington Department of Natural Resources' land management or disposition.
• Preserves tribal treaty rights for hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural or religious practices; does not diminish those rights.
• Requires maps and legal descriptions to be filed with Congress and made public, but sets no explicit funding or effective date for the statute as a whole.
• Allows limited forest-health actions (fire, insect, disease control) within the new wilderness areas consistent with wilderness law.