16 U.S.C. § 460nnn–81 — Designation of mineral withdrawal area

(a) Designation. Subject to any valid existing rights, the federal land and land interests inside the mineral withdrawal boundary — shown on the map named in section 460nnn–11(a) — are withdrawn from two things: (1) staking mining claims and getting mining patents under the mining laws, and (2) mineral leasing, geothermal leasing, and mineral-materials laws and their amendments, except as subsection (b) allows. (b) Road maintenance. If it fits the purposes of this subchapter and the Cooperative Management and Protection Area's management plan, the Secretary can still permit mining of "saleable" minerals like gravel — but only for road maintenance, and only at spots the map marks as an existing "gravel pit" inside the mineral withdrawal boundary. This doesn't apply in the Wilderness Area, wilderness study areas, or designated Wild and Scenic River segments. It also only applies where that mining was already authorized before October 30, 2000.