Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

THE LAW: U.S. federal law establishing a system of free-flowing rivers for the protection of their natural, scenic, and recreational values

DATE: Enacted on October 2, 1968

Since the late 1960s, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act has been an important legislative tool for protecting America’s pristine and free-flowing rivers from impoundments and unrestricted development.

During the 1950s and 1960s, federal agencies such as the Bureau of Reclamation and US Army Corps of Engineers were engaged in hundreds of projects for building large and small river impoundments for irrigation, flood control, recreation, and hydroelectric power generation. Seeing the loss of free-flowing rivers, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, a federal panel of resource experts, suggested that legislation was needed to create a river preservation system. Under the sponsorship of Senator Frank Church of Idaho, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1968. Segments of eight rivers received protection as part of the original legislation: the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, the Eleven Point in Missouri, the Feather in California, the Rio Grande in New Mexico, the Rogue in Oregon, the St. Croix in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the Wolf in Wisconsin.

A key provision of the act is the way new rivers can be added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. To qualify for protection, a river has to be free-flowing and must possess outstanding scenic, recreational, geological, or other qualities. In lieu of an entire river being designated, the act enables river segments, including tributaries, to be added through congressional action, by nomination by the governor of the state in which the river is located, or through recommendation of the secretary of the interior or the secretary of agriculture. Along with state governments, four federal agencies are responsible for managing rivers in the system: the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service.

River segments are designated within one of three categories—wild, scenic, or recreational—corresponding to their level of development. Segments categorized as wild must be inaccessible except by trail and free of impoundments. Scenic segments must also be free of impoundments and must have shorelines that are mostly undeveloped, with accessibility to roads located in a minimum of locations. Segments designated as recreational are the most developed and may have experienced some type of in the past. The act also includes stipulations concerning how rivers should be managed. For example, river management should not interfere with public use or enjoyment and should be respectful of private property rights.

By 2023, more than 13,457 miles (21,673 kilometers) of 228 rivers located in forty-one states and Puerto Rico had become part of the National Wild and Scenic River System. This included wild or natural, scenic, and recreational rivers, yet this number was less than one-half of the rivers in the United States.

Bibliography

Cech, Thomas V. “Water, Fish, and Wildlife.” In Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management, and Policy. 3d ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Echeverria, John D., Pope Barrow, and Richard Roos-Collins. Rivers at Risk: The Concerned Citizen’s Guide to Hydropower. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1989.

Palmer, Tim. Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement. 2d ed. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.

Paveglio, Travis B. et al. "The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act at 50: Managers' Views of Actions, Barriers, and Partnerships." Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, vol. 37, Mar. 2022, doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2021.100459. Accessed 24 July 2024.

River Network and David M. Bolling. How to Save a River: A Handbook for Citizen Action. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1994.