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<br />002905 <br /> <br />Chapter I <br />Introduction <br /> <br />In addition to the national system, many rivers are also protected by <br />state wild and scenic river programs. Thirty-two states since 1965 have <br />provided some form of protection to 321 rivers totaling 11,571 miles. <br />State efforts thus afford some protection to 60 percent more river miles <br />than does the national wild and scenic rivers system. <br /> <br />The Federal Wild and <br />Scenic Rivers Study <br />Process <br /> <br />The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act establishes three ways for rivers to <br />become part of the national system. First, the Congress may directly <br />designate a river through specific legislation. Of the 66 rivers and river <br />segments in the system, 38 have been incorporated this way. Second, the <br />Secretary of the Interior is authorized under section 2 (a)(ii) of the act to <br />place rivers already in.a state system into the national system when <br />requested by a state governor. Twelve rivers have been added in this <br />manner.' The third method of adding rivers is the river study process. <br />Since 1968, 91 rivers have been designated for study, 81 studies have <br />been completed, and 16 rivers have been added to the system through <br />this method. <br /> <br />The study process begins with congressional legislation directing a fed- <br />eral agency (the Department of the Interior or, when national forest <br />lands are involved, the Department of Agriculture) to study and report <br />to the President on the merits of adding the river to the national system. <br />On the basis of this study, the President is then required to report to the <br />Congress his recommendations with respect to designating the river or <br />river segment as a component of the system. The Congress must then <br />enact legislation to make the river part of the system. <br /> <br />The act sets out several study requirements. First, the study must pre- <br />sent information about the characteristics or values that make a river <br />eligible for the national wild and scenic rivers system. The values are <br />the same as those found in the act's definition of an eligible river-i.e., <br />the scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or <br />other qualities that make the river outstandingly remarkable. The study <br />agency generally devotes much of its report to describing these qualities <br />and evaluating whether they meet the eligibility criteria. Second, the <br />study must provide estimates of the costs to the federal government of <br />acquiring lands or interests in lands and administering the area should <br />the river be added to the national wild and scenic rivers system. <br /> <br />20ne river, the wwer St. Croix, was added to the nat.ional system by a combination of congressional <br />designation and secretarial designation lmder section 2(aXii). <br /> <br />Page 12 <br /> <br />GAO /RCED-87.39 Wild and Scenic Rivers <br />