In order to ensure the conservation and protection of certain natural, scenic, historic, pastoral, and fish and wildlife values and to provide for the enhancement of the recreational values associated therewith, there is hereby established the Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area located in the Ouachita National Forest, Oklahoma.

The Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area (hereafter in this subchapter referred to as the “recreation area”) shall comprise approximately 26,445 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled “Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area—Proposed”, dated March 1988, which shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.

The Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) shall, as soon as practicable after October 18, 1988, file a map and a legal description of the recreation area with the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Agriculture of the United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the United States Senate and each such map and legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this subchapter; except that correction of clerical and typographical errors in such legal description and map may be made. The map and legal description shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.

The Secretary shall administer the recreation area in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations applicable to the national forests in such manner as will best further the purposes of this section, as set forth in subsection (a). Management and utilization of natural resources within the recreation area shall be permitted to the extent such management and utilization is compatible with and does not impair the purposes for which the recreation area is established.

Any sales of timber from within the recreation area shall be designed so as to not detract from the scenic values of the recreation area. Management practices that would detract from the scenic quality and natural beauty within view from the Talimena Drive or the Holson Valley Road shall not be conducted in the recreation area. Unevenaged timber management shall be the timber management practice in the recreation area, except that the Secretary may use evenaged management practices in order to promote public safety, mitigate the effects of fire, insects, and disease, or allow scenic vistas and recreational development or if such practices result in irregular cuts behind geographic barriers blocking the view from the Talimena Drive and the Holson Valley Road.

(Pub. L. 100–499, § 8, Oct. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 2494.)