What does National Wild & Scenic River designation mean?
Wild & Scenic protection explicitly prohibits the federal government from licensing or permitting new hydroelectric dams or major diversions on protected stream segments. The federal government may license new water resource projects upstream or downstream of protected segments as long as the projects do not unreasonably diminish the stream. Public lands within an average quarter mile wide corridor on both sides of the streams are managed to protect their outstanding scenic, recreational, historical/cultural, fish, wildlife, ecological, geological, and hydrological values.
