ESTABLISHMENT

Photo By: Dick Groat

 
Little River Canyon National Preserve was established and made a unit of the National Park System by Public Law 102-427 on October 21, 1992. According to the legislation, the Preserve was established to protect and preserve the natural, scenic, recreational and cultural resources of the area and to provide for public enjoyment of those resources.

The Preserve's authorizing legislation goes on to state that the Preserve will be administered in accordance with laws generally applicable to units of the National Park System. Besides general direction in these laws that resources be protected and appropriate visitor uses be accommodated, Congress requires that "...authorization of activities shall be construed and the protection, management and administration of these areas shall be conducted in light of the high public value and integrity of the National Park System and shall not be exercised in derogation of the values and purposes for which these various areas have been established, except as may have been or shall be directly and specifically provided by Congress." (92 Stat. 163, 16 U.S.C. 1a-1)

One such exception provided by Congress for Little River Canyon National Preserve is that hunting and trapping will be permitted in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. The legislation provides that the times and places for hunting within the Preserve will be established by the National Park Service (NPS) in consultation with the State of Alabama and adjacent land owners. Public safety and resource protection are the primary considerations of such consultation.

The Preserve's legislation also establishes a boundary and prohibits expansion of that boundary without the express approval of Congress.

Preserve legislation also provides for the application of section 7(a) of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to Little River within the Preserve. This section protects Little River from federal or federally assisted water resource projects that would adversely affect the river's qualities.