As reported by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on October 27, 2025
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars | 2026 | 2026-2031 | 2026-2036 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct Spending (Outlays) | 0 | * | * | ||||||||
Revenues | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit | 0 | * | * | ||||||||
Spending Subject to Appropriation (Outlays) | 0 | * | not estimated | ||||||||
Increases net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037? | No | Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply? | Yes | ||||||||
Mandate Effects | |||||||||||
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037? | No | Contains intergovernmental mandate? | No | ||||||||
Contains private-sector mandate? | No | ||||||||||
* = between zero and $500,000. | |||||||||||
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S. 1680 would designate roughly 1,000 acres in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia as part of the Rough Mountain Wilderness and about 4,600 acres as potential wilderness in the Rich Hole Wilderness. Subject to valid existing rights, the bill would generally withdraw those areas from rights-of-way, commercial timber production, mineral extraction, mining, and geothermal leasing. The bill also would authorize the Forest Service to use motorized vehicles in the potential wilderness area for up to five years after enactment to complete an ongoing water restoration project.
Designating those lands as wilderness or potential wilderness would reduce their availability for income-generating activities. Income from such activities is classified in the budget as an offsetting receipt; that is, as a reduction in direct spending. Some of those receipts are available for the Forest Service to spend without further appropriation. Using information from the agency, CBO estimates that forgone receipts under S. 1680 would be insignificant over the 2026-2036 period. Because the Forest Service also would forgo any associated spending, the net increase in direct spending would be negligible.
Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1680 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Emma Uebelhor. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel
Director, Congressional Budget Office