The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968, during the same week as the National Trails System Act, in the shadow of the Wilderness Act (1964), and in the aftermath of a heated controversy involving dams in the Grand Canyon. The main focus of the law is to prevent designated rivers from being dammed.

The act establishes three categories of rivers: wild, scenic, and recreational. Wild rivers are completely undeveloped and accessible only by trail. Scenic rivers are mainly undeveloped but are accessible by roads. Recreational rivers have frequent road access and may have been developed in some way. As was the case in the Wilderness Act, there would be no transfer of lands from one agency to another after designations were made. That is, for example, designated rivers in national forests are managed by the Forest Service, and designated...