16 U.S.C. § 460ww–1 — Administration

(a) In general: The Secretary of the Interior runs the recreation area following this Act and the general laws that apply to all National Park System units, including the 1916 law that created the National Park Service. (b) Hunting and fishing; fish stocking: The Secretary must allow hunting, trapping, and fishing in the recreation area, following applicable federal and state laws. After talking with West Virginia's Department of Natural Resources, the Secretary may close certain zones or periods to these activities — for safety, management, habitat protection, or public enjoyment reasons. The Secretary must let West Virginia keep stocking fish in the recreation area's waters, working together with the Secretary. Nothing here changes West Virginia's authority over fish and wildlife. (c) Cooperative agreements with State: The Secretary may make agreements with West Virginia, or its local governments, so that nearby agencies can provide rescue, firefighting, and law enforcement help, with the government paying them back for the cost. (d) Application of other provisions: The rules in section 1278(a) of this title apply to the recreation area the same way they apply to the river segments that section already covers. (e) Recreational access: (1) The Secretary may agree with West Virginia to maintain and improve existing public roads and rights-of-way, to make it easier to reach the recreation area at current access points — as long as doing so doesn't unreasonably hurt the area's scenery and natural value. (2) The Secretary must build facilities — like parking and river access for whitewater rafting — just downstream of the Summersville Dam, to the extent section 460ww–4 of this title doesn't already provide them, and as long as they're within the recreation area's boundaries. Building these facilities must follow the agreement described in subsection (f). (3) With the landowner's permission, the Secretary may also buy land up to one mile outside the recreation area's boundaries to build parking and similar facilities elsewhere, if that's needed for public access. Any land bought this way is managed the same as the rest of the recreation area. (4) The Secretary must acquire land and take whatever action is needed to give noncommercial users access to the north side of the Gauley River at Woods Ferry, using existing roads and rights-of-way, and must build parking there. If needed to limit environmental or visual damage, the Secretary may also arrange transportation, at a reasonable cost, between the parking area and the river for noncommercial visitors. This doesn't affect anyone's right to keep using an existing road under a lease that was in effect on April 1, 1993. Except for the access work required downstream of the Summersville Dam, the Secretary can't build any other river access points within the recreation area until this access requirement at Woods Ferry is met. (f) Properties and facilities of Federal agencies: The Secretary must talk with any other federal agency that manages land or water in or next to the recreation area, and then sign a written agreement with that agency. The agreement must identify which areas are (1) under that other agency's control, (2) directly tied to running the Summersville project, and (3) essential to that project. The agreement must also cover how those lands and waters will be managed in a way that fits both the project's operation and the recreation area's management.