republic-os/legal/us/code/title-16/chapter-28/section-1273.md

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LegalText	16 U.S.C. § 1273	National wild and scenic rivers system	us	united_states_code	code_section	16	CONSERVATION	28	WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS	1273	16 U.S.C. § 1273	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc16@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t16/s1273	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-16/usc16.xml	4331ad94a6d3663926d7ce166bbf4a10252dc49362ca511356cbc55a3db60ed6	7be8950da5a93cac7c98e4576ce00340f2aba5e8e46d29915382c203c421d503	6faad8cae3b3c04bdd8ba0c9c060cc6bf9f7196c29fc2d4d5acf6c19da8cff35	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

16 U.S.C. § 1273 - National wild and scenic rivers system

Text

(a) Composition; application; publication in Federal Register; expense; administration of federally owned lands The national wild and scenic rivers system shall comprise rivers (i) that are authorized for inclusion therein by Act of Congress, or (ii) that are designated as wild, scenic or recreational rivers by or pursuant to an act of the legislature of the State or States through which they flow, that are to be permanently administered as wild, scenic or recreational rivers by an agency or political subdivision of the State or States concerned that are found by the Secretary of the Interior, upon application of the Governor of the State or the Governors of the States concerned, or a person or persons thereunto duly appointed by him or them, to meet the criteria established in this chapter and such criteria supplementary thereto as he may prescribe, and that are approved by him for inclusion in the system, including, upon application of the Governor of the State concerned, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine; that segment of the Wolf River, Wisconsin, which flows through Langlade County; and that segment of the New River in North Carolina extending from its confluence with Dog Creek downstream approximately 26.5 miles to the Virginia State line. Upon receipt of an application under clause (ii) of this subsection, the Secretary shall notify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and publish such application in the Federal Register. Each river designated under clause (ii) shall be administered by the State or political subdivision thereof without expense to the United States other than for administration and management of federally owned lands. For purposes of the preceding sentence, amounts made available to any State or political subdivision under chapter 2003 of title 54 or any other provision of law shall not be treated as an expense to the United States. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to provide for the transfer to, or administration by, a State or local authority of any federally owned lands which are within the boundaries of any river included within the system under clause (ii).

(b) Classification, designation, and administration of rivers A wild, scenic or recreational river area eligible to be included in the system is a free-flowing stream and the related adjacent land area that possesses one or more of the values referred to in section 1271 of this title. Every wild, scenic or recreational river in its free-flowing condition, or upon restoration to this condition, shall be considered eligible for inclusion in the national wild and scenic rivers system and, if included, shall be classified, designated, and administered as one of the following:

(1) Wild river areas—Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.

(2) Scenic river areas—Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.

(3) Recreational river areas—Those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.

(Pub. L. 90–542, § 2, Oct. 2, 1968, 82 Stat. 906; Pub. L. 94–407, § 1(1), Sept. 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 1238; Pub. L. 95–625, title VII, § 761, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3533; Pub. L. 113–287, § 5(d)(29), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3267.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments2014—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 113–287 substituted “chapter 2003 of title 54” for “the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965”. 1978—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–625 provided for notification of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and publication of any application in the Federal Register; made it an expense of the United States for administration and management of federally owned lands; treated amounts available to the States under provisions of law not as an expense of the United States; and made federally owned lands within boundaries of State rivers free of ownership or administration of State or local authority. 1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–407 inserted provision for inclusion of specified segment of New River in North Carolina.