HR1612-119

What This Bill Does

The Flatside Wilderness Additions Act amends the Arkansas Wilderness Act of 1984 to add about 2,212 acres in the Ouachita National Forest to the existing Flatside Wilderness. The added land is the area generally shown as Land Proposed for Wilderness Designation on the November 12, 2024 Flatside Wilderness proposed-addition map. The bill preserves the Secretary of Agriculture's existing Wilderness Act authority to manage fire, insects, and disease, so the designation does not block those existing forest-health authorities. It also renames the wilderness designated by Arkansas Wilderness Act section 3(d) as the Flatside-Bethune Wilderness and treats existing federal references in laws, maps, regulations, documents, papers, and records as references to the new name.

Who Benefits and How

Ouachita National Forest visitors, wilderness hikers, Arkansas conservation organizations, outdoor recreation users, eco-tourism businesses, wildlife habitat advocates, nearby communities that value protected forest land, and future Flatside-Bethune Wilderness users benefit from permanent wilderness protection for the added acreage and a clearer federal name. The reference-continuity clause reduces confusion for maps, regulations, and public land records after the rename.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA Forest Service staff, Ouachita National Forest land managers, federal map editors, federal records staff, timber companies, mining companies, motorized recreation users, and development interests bear the burden of administering the expanded wilderness boundary and losing or managing around development, extraction, road-building, and motorized-use options on the added acreage. Fire, insect, and disease managers retain existing authority but must operate within the renamed and expanded wilderness context.

Key Provisions

• Adds about 2,212 acres in the Ouachita National Forest to the Flatside Wilderness.
• Provides the added land boundary by reference to the November 12, 2024 Flatside Wilderness proposed-addition map.
• Protects the Secretary of Agriculture's existing Wilderness Act authority over fire, insects, and diseases.
• Modifies the federal name of the expanded unit to Flatside-Bethune Wilderness.
• Requires existing federal references to the affected Flatside Wilderness portion to be treated as references to the Flatside-Bethune Wilderness.