16 U.S.C. § 460nn — Findings and purpose

(a) Findings. Congress found four things. First, Vermont is a small, rural, beautiful state, but it sits near four large cities whose combined population is over 15 million people. Second, Vermont's geography lets many people experience primitive, wild areas — but that same popularity puts unusual pressure on the land to offer many kinds of recreation. Third, the Big Branch and Peru Peak Wilderness Areas, designated elsewhere in this Act, are suitable to be part of a national recreation area. Fourth, other land in the Green Mountain National Forest — land this Act doesn't designate as wilderness — is mostly roadless and has outstanding wild value. That value matters for primitive and semiprimitive recreation, protecting watersheds, wildlife habitat, ecological study, education, and historic and archeological sites. Congress found this land suitable for protection as part of a national recreation area too. (b) Purpose. This subchapter's purpose is to designate certain National Forest System land in Vermont as the Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area. The goal is to preserve and protect the area's existing wilderness and wild values, and to promote wild forest and water habitat for wildlife, watershed protection, chances for primitive and semiprimitive recreation, and scenic, ecological, and scientific values.