Ventana Wild Rivers Campaign
Overview: Federal Wild & Scenic Designation
and its Classifications
- Wild Rivers are vestiges of primitive America, where access is primarily by trail and is non-motorized.
- Scenic Rivers have largely undeveloped shorelines, but may have occasional road or bridge crossings and structures adjacent to but unseen from the shoreline. Access may be motorized or non-motorized.
- Recreational Rivers may have parallel roads and adjacent structures and other development visible from the shoreline. Access is primarily motorized.
The National Wild & Scenic Rivers Act was passed by Congress in 1968 specifically to complement our existing national policy of developing rivers for their water and power resources, with a new federal policy to protect the free flowing conditions, water quality, and outstanding scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, and cultural values. The intent of Congress was to protect certain selected rivers and their immediate environments to fulfill vital national conservation purposes.
Federal protection ensures that no new dams or large diversions will be constructed on designated rivers, which are to be protected in perpetuity for future generations. In addition, the federal public lands through which designated rivers flow are managed to protect the river's free flowing character and outstanding values.
Federal permits required for water resource projects (defined as any project that touches the water, such as bridges, bank protection, etc) must ensure that such projects do not have a direct and adverse effect on the values of designated rivers. Water resource projects upstream or downstream of protected rivers may not invade or unreasonably diminish the river's outstanding values.
Upon designation, a protected river corridor averaging 320 acres per mile (approximately ¼ mile on each side of the river) is established. The river corridor is classified as Wild, Scenic, or Recreational based on the level of existing development at the time of designation. Wild Rivers are vestiges of primitive America, where access is primarily by trail and is non-motorized. Scenic Rivers have largely undeveloped shorelines, but may have occasional road or bridge crossings and structures adjacent to but unseen from the shoreline. Access may be motorized or non-motorized. Recreational Rivers may have parallel roads and adjacent structures and other development visible from the shoreline. Access is primarily motorized.
A comprehensive river management plan is developed and adopted by the appropriate federal management agency within three years after designation by Congress. The final river corridor boundaries, classifications, specific management standards to ensure protection of outstanding river values, and determination of the river's recreational use carrying capacity are all key components of the management plan. The process for developing comprehensive river management plans includes extensive public input.
Many protected rivers have private lands or inholdings within their corridors. Federal designation confers no additional authority over private lands or local land use, except to prohibit or limit federal permits or support for dams, diversions, and other water resource projects. Local zoning and land use regulations still apply to all private lands on protected rivers. Local governments may but are not required to adopt zoning and land use regulations that are complementary to the purposes of federal designation.
Federal agencies may pay fair market value to acquire private property from willing sellers along designated rivers. No private lands have ever been condemned on a Wild & Scenic River in California. Federal condemnation authority on designated rivers is actually limited in comparison to pre-designation authority. Fee title condemnation is prohibited if 50 percent or more of the designated river corridor is already public land. Scenic easements may be condemned to prevent inappropriate development along protected rivers. All of the rivers proposed for designation in the Ventana Wild Rivers Campaign are more than 50 percent public. But as a practical matter, the use of condemnation is limited because it is politically unpopular and most federal agencies do not have funding to condemn private property.
