Within conservation system units established or expanded by this Act, reasonable access to, and operation and maintenance of, existing air and water navigation aids, communications sites and related facilities and existing facilities for weather, climate, and fisheries research and monitoring shall be permitted in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to units of such systems, as appropriate. Reasonable access to and operation and maintenance of facilities for national defense purposes and related air and water navigation aids within or adjacent to such areas shall continue in accordance with the laws and regulations governing such facilities notwithstanding any other provision of this Act. Nothing in the Wilderness Act [16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.] shall be deemed to prohibit such access, operation and maintenance within wilderness areas designated by this Act.

The establishment, operation, and maintenance within any conservation system unit of new air and water navigation aids and related facilities, facilities for national defense purposes, and related air and water navigation aids, and facilities for weather, climate, and fisheries research and monitoring shall be permitted but only (1) after consultation with the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate, by the head of the Federal department or agency undertaking such establishment, operation, or maintenance, and (2) in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed in order to minimize the adverse effects of such activities within such unit.

(Pub. L. 96–487, title XIII, § 1310, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2481.)