Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation Act

Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation Act

This bill establishes the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in California to promote environmentally responsible off-highway vehicle recreation and support other public recreational uses, including hunting, hiking, and rock and gem collecting.

The Department of the Interior shall (1) use the 2006 Clear Creek Management Area Travel Management Plan, as modified by this bill or by Interior, to incorporate natural resource protection information unavailable in 2006 as the basis for an interim management plan to govern off-highway vehicle recreation in the area; and (2) create a comprehensive management plan for the area, which shall include a hazards education program and a user fee program for motorized vehicle use.

Landowners must be given adequate access to inholdings (i.e., privately-owned land inside the boundary of a national park) within the area. The use of motorized vehicles on public land in the area shall be permitted only on roads, trails, and areas designated by the management plan. Livestock grazing shall be allowed to continue in certain parts of the area.

The bill (1) designates approximately 21,000 acres of identified federal lands in Fresno and San Benito Counties, California, as the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System; and (2) releases the San Benito Mountain wilderness study area from wilderness review requirements.