§ 35.6 - Public use.

§ 35.6 Public use.

Public uses of a wilderness unit will be in accordance with the purposes for which the individual national wildlife refuge was established and is administered and laws and regulations governing public uses within the National Wildlife Refuge System.

(a) When public uses are authorized within a wilderness unit, the Refuge Manager may regulate such use. Regulating will include limiting the numbers of persons allowed in the wilderness at a given time, imposing restrictions on time, seasons, kinds and location of public uses, requiring a permit or reservation to visit the area, and similar actions.

(b) All persons entering a wilderness unit will be required to remove such materials as they carry in.

(c) Informational signs for the convenience of visitors will not be permitted in a wilderness unit; however, rustic directional signs for vistor safety may be installed in locations appropriate to a wilderness setting.

(d) Limited public use facilities and improvements may be provided as necessary for the protection of the refuge and wilderness and for public safety. Facilities and improvements will not be provided for the comfort and convenience of wilderness visitors.

(e) Public services and temporary structures generally offered by packers, outfitters, and guides for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of a wilderness may be permitted. Temporary installations and structures which existed for these subsistence purposes under valid special use permit or easement when the wilderness was established may be continued if their use is necessary to administer the refuge for the purposes for which it was established and for wilderness purposes. The number, nature, and extent of such temporary structures and services will be controlled through regulations and special use permits issued by the Refuge Manager so as to provide maximum protection of wilderness resources and values.

(f) Hunting and fishing in a refuge wilderness will be in accordance with Federal and State regulations including special regulations for the specific wildlife refuge. Hunting or fishing which requires motorized equipment will not be permitted except as provided in § 35.5(a) and (b).