In order to provide for the immediate and future protection of the lands in Federal ownership within the framework of a program of multiple use and sustained yield and for the maintenance of environmental quality, the Steese National Conservation Area is hereby established.

The Steese National Conservation Area shall include approximately one million two hundred twenty thousand acres of public lands, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Steese National Conservation Area—proposed”, and dated October 1978. Special values to be considered in planning and management of the area are: caribou range and Birch Creek.

Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary, through the Bureau of Land Management, shall administer the Steese National Conservation Area established in section 460mm of this title pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 [43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.] dealing with the management and use of land in Federal ownership, and shall, within five years of Dec. 2, 1980, develop a land use plan for each such area, and for the area established in section 460mm–2 of this title.

No public lands within the national conservation area shall be transferred out of Federal ownership except by exchange pursuant to section 206 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act [43 U.S.C. 1716]. Where consistent with the land use plans for the area, mineral development may be permitted pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, and supplemented (30 U.S.C. 181–287) or the Materials Act of 1947, as amended (30 U.S.C. 601–603). Subject to valid existing rights, the minerals in Federal lands within national conservation areas are hereby withdrawn from location, entry, and patent under the United States mining laws (30 U.S.C. 22–54). Where consistent with the land use plan for the area, the Secretary may classify lands within national conservation areas as suitable for locatable mineral exploration and development and open such lands to entry, location, and patent under the United States mining laws (30 U.S.C. 22–54).

Subject to valid existing rights, all mining claims located within any such unit shall be subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may prescribe to assure that mining will, to the maximum extent practicable, be consistent with protection of the scenic, scientific, cultural, and other resources of the area and any patent issued after December 2, 1980, shall convey title only to the minerals together with the right to use the surface of lands for mining purposes subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may prescribe as aforesaid.

The term “unperfected mining claim” as used in this section, means a mining claim which is located on lands within the boundaries of the White Mountains National Recreation Area or Steese National Conservation Area established pursuant to this subchapter with respect to which a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States, was not made as of the date of the withdrawal of such area from further appropriation under the mining laws of the United States.

Any holder of an unperfected mining claim seeking to protect such claim pursuant to this section must have maintained and must continue to maintain such claim in compliance with applicable Federal and State laws, and where applicable, must have obtained and complied with any mining access permit requirements imposed by the Department of the Interior during the 1979 mining season. Prior to September 30, 1982, no unperfected mining claim which has been maintained in accordance with this subsection shall be contested by the United States for failure to have made a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States: Provided, That such claim shall be diligently prosecuted during this moratorium on contest proceedings as a condition for the moratorium. Any mining operation undertaken pursuant to this subsection, including but not limited to exploration, development, and extraction, shall be subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may prescribe to assure that such operations will, to the maximum extend practicable, be consistent with protection of the scenic, scientific, cultural, and other resources of the Steese National Conservation Area or the White Mountains National Recreation Area or any affected conservation system units established or expanded by this Act.

If the holder of an unperfected mining claim notifies the Secretary by filing an application for a patent that, as a result of mining operations in compliance with the requirements of subsection (b), he has made a valid mineral discovery of such claim within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States, and if the Secretary determines that such claim contains a valid mineral discovery, the holder of such claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent only to the minerals in such claim pursuant to the mining laws of the United States. The holder of such a patent shall also be entitled to the use of so much of the surface estate of the lands comprising the claim as may be necessary for mining purposes: Provided, That all mining operations conducted upon a claim after such a valid mineral discovery has been made, shall be in accordance with such reasonable regulations as may be issued by the Secretary pursuant to the authority granted in subsection (b) of this section.

If an application for a patent is filed by the holder of an unperfected mining claim pursuant to subsection (c) or if a contest proceeding is initiated by the United States after September 30, 1982, the validity of each claim shall be determined as of the date of the patent application or September 30, 1982, whichever is earlier. the holder of an unperfected mining claim not subject to a patent application filed prior to September 30, 1982, shall submit to the Secretary within one hundred and eighty days after such date all mineral data compiled during the contest proceeding moratorium which would support a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States. Failure to submit such data within the one-hundred-and-eighty-day period shall preclude its consideration in a subsequent determination of the validity of each affected claim. Except as specifically provided for in this section, nothing shall alter the criteria applied under the general mining laws of the United States to adjudicate the validity of unperfected mining claims.

Pursuant to the provisions of this section and section 3170 of this title, reasonable access shall be granted to an unperfected mining claim for purposes of making a valid discovery of mineral until September 30, 1982.

The holder of any unperfected mining claim which was, prior to November 16, 1978, located, recorded, and maintained in accordance with applicable Federal and State laws on lands located within the boundaries of the Steese National Conservation Area, or the White Mountains National Recreation Area established by this subchapter, shall be entitled during a two-year period after the date that the Secretary exercises his authority under section 460mm–1 or 460mm–4 of this title to open an area containing such claim to mining, (1) to a preference right to rerecord his claim under applicable law and to develop such claim under section 460mm–1 of this title or (2) to obtain a lease to remove nonleasable minerals from the claim under section 460mm–4 of this title.

The White Mountains National Recreation area established by this Act shall be administered by the Secretary in order to provide for public outdoor recreation use and enjoyment and for the conservation of the scenic, scientific, historic, fish and wildlife, and other values contributing to public enjoyment of such area. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Secretary shall administer the recreation area in a manner which in his judgment will best provide for (1) public outdoor recreation benefits; (2) conservation of scenic, scientific, historic, fish and wildlife, and other values contributing to public enjoyment; and (3) such management, utilization, and disposal of natural resources and the continuation of such existing uses and developments as will promote, or are compatible with, or do not significantly impair public recreation and conservation of the scenic, scientific, historic, fish and wildlife, or other values contributing to public enjoyment. In administering the recreation area, the Secretary may utilize such statutory authorities available to him for the conservation and management of natural resources as he deems appropriate for recreation and preservation purposes and for resource development compatible therewith.

The lands within the recreation area, subject to valid existing rights, are hereby withdrawn from State selection under the Alaska Statehood Act or other law, and from location, entry, and patent under the United States mining laws. The Secretary under such reasonable regulations as he deems appropriate, may permit the removal of the nonleasable minerals from lands or interests in lands within the recreation area in the manner described by section 387 of title 43, and he may permit the removal of leasable minerals from lands or interests in lands within the recreation areas in accordance with the mineral leasing laws, if he finds that such disposition would not have significant adverse effects on the administration of the recreation areas.

All receipts derived from permits and leases issued on lands or interest in lands within the recreation area under the mineral leasing laws shall be disposed of as provided in such laws; and receipts from the disposition of nonleasable minerals within the recreation area shall be disposed of in the same manner as moneys received from the sale of public lands.