Shenandoah Mountain Act
Key claim: The Shenandoah Mountain Act would establish an approximately 92,562-acre Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area and designate four new wilderness areas in Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.
Abstract
(S1681 · 119th Congress) Shenandoah Mountain Act This bill establishes the Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area, consisting of approximately 92,562 acres of National Forest System land in Virginia in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. The bill designates specified lands in the forest as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, including (1) 5,088 acres as the Skidmore Fork Wilderness, (2) 3,568 acres as the Lynn Hollow Wilderness, (3) 12,461 acres as the Little River Wilderness, and (4) 5,779 acres as the Beech Lick Knob Wilderness. Latest action (2025-10-27): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 214.
Why this matters
Site-specific wilderness and scenic-area designations on national forest land shape which USDA Forest Service activities—timber, grazing leases, road building, motorized recreation—can occur on the affected acreage, and they lock in a management regime that is difficult to reverse. While consumer food-price impacts are minimal, adjacent rural communities feel effects through changes in recreation-based economic activity, hunting/fishing access, and Payments in Lieu of Taxes calculations.