View all text of Chapter 28 [§ 1271 - § 1287]
§ 1273. National wild and scenic rivers system
(a) Composition; application; publication in Federal Register; expense; administration of federally owned lands
(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.)