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[107th Congress Public Law 216]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]

<DOC>
[DOCID: f:publ216.107]

[[Page 116 STAT. 1055]]

Public Law 107-216
107th Congress

                                 An Act

 
   To designate the James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area in the 
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in the State of Colorado, and for 
         other purposes. <<NOTE: Aug. 21, 2002 -  [H.R. 1576]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in <<NOTE: James Peak Wilderness and Protection 
Act.>> Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l.>> SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``James Peak Wilderness and Protection 
Area Act''.

SEC. 2. WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.

    (a) Inclusion With Other Colorado Wilderness Areas.--Section 2(a) of 
the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-77; 107 Stat. 756; 
16 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(21) Certain lands in the Arapaho/Roosevelt National 
        Forest which comprise approximately 14,000 acres, as generally 
        depicted on a map entitled `Proposed James Peak Wilderness', 
        dated September 2001, and which shall be known as the James Peak 
        Wilderness.''.

    (b) Addition to the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area.--Section 3 of the 
Indian Peaks Wilderness Area and Arapaho National Recreation Area and 
the Oregon Islands Wilderness Area Act (Public Law 95-450; 92 Stat. 
1095; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsections:
    ``(c) The approximately 2,232 acres of Federal lands in the Arapaho/
Roosevelt National Forest generally depicted on the map entitled `Ranch 
Creek Addition to Indian Peaks Wilderness' dated September 2001, are 
hereby added to the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area.
    ``(d) The approximately 963 acres of Federal lands in the Arapaho/
Roosevelt National Forest generally depicted on the map entitled `Fourth 
of July Addition to Indian Peaks Wilderness' dated September 2001, are 
hereby added to the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area.''.
    (c) Maps and Boundary Descriptions.--As soon as practicable after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 
(hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall file with 
the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a map and a 
boundary description of the area designated as wilderness by subsection 
(a) and of the area added to the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area by 
subsection (b). The maps and boundary descriptions shall have the same 
force and effect as if included in the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 
and the Indian Peaks

[[Page 116 STAT. 1056]]

Wilderness Area and Arapaho National Recreation Area and the Oregon 
Islands Wilderness Area Act, respectively, except that the Secretary may 
correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps and boundary 
descriptions. The maps and boundary descriptions shall be on file and 
available for public inspection in the office of the Chief of the Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture and in the office of the Forest 
Supervisor of the Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest.

SEC. 3. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l.>> DESIGNATION OF JAMES PEAK PROTECTION 
            AREA, COLORADO.

    (a) Findings and Purpose.--
            (1) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
                    (A) The lands covered by this section include 
                important resources and values, including wildlife 
                habitat, clean water, open space, and opportunities for 
                solitude.
                    (B) These lands also include areas that are suitable 
                for recreational uses, including use of snowmobiles in 
                times of adequate snow cover as well as use of other 
                motorized and nonmotorized mechanical devices.
                    (C) These lands should be managed in a way that 
                affords permanent protection to their resources and 
                values while permitting continued recreational uses in 
                appropriate locales and subject to appropriate 
                regulations.
            (2) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to provide for 
        management of certain lands in the Arapaho/Roosevelt National 
        Forest in a manner consistent with the 1997 Revised Land and 
        Resources Management Plan for this forest in order to protect 
        the natural qualities of these areas.

    (b) Designation.--The approximately 16,000 acres of land in the 
Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest generally depicted on the map entitled 
``Proposed James Peak Protection Area'', dated September 2001, are 
hereby designated as the James Peak Protection Area (hereafter in this 
Act referred to as the ``Protection Area'').
    (c) Map and Boundary Description.--As soon as practicable after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file with the 
Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a map and a boundary 
description of the Protection Area. The map and boundary description 
shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except 
that the Secretary may correct clerical and typographical errors in the 
map and boundary description. The map and boundary description shall be 
on file and available for public inspection in the office of the Chief 
of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, and in the office of 
the Forest Supervisor of the Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest.
    (d) Management.--
            (1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        section, the Protection Area shall be managed and administered 
        by the Secretary in the same manner as the management area 
        prescription designations identified for these lands in the 1997 
        Revision of the Land and Resource Management Plan for the 
        Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National 
        Grasslands. Such management and administration shall be in 
        accordance with the following:
                    (A) Grazing.--Nothing in this Act, including the 
                establishment of the Protection Area, shall affect 
                grazing on lands within or outside of the Protection 
                Area.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1057]]

                    (B) Mining withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing 
                rights, all Federal land within the Protection Area and 
                all land and interests in land acquired for the 
                Protection Area by the United States are withdrawn 
                from--
                          (i) all forms of entry, appropriation, or 
                      disposal under the public land laws;
                          (ii) location, entry, and patent under the 
                      mining laws; and
                          (iii) the operation of the mineral leasing, 
                      mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, 
                      and all amendments thereto.
                Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to 
                affect discretionary authority of the Secretary under 
                other Federal laws to grant, issue, or renew rights-of-
                way or other land use authorizations consistent with the 
                other provisions of this Act.
                    (C) Motorized and mechanized travel.--
                          (i) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Review and 
                      inventory.--Not later than two years after the 
                      date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, 
                      in consultation with interested parties, shall 
                      complete a review and inventory of all roads and 
                      trails in the Protection Area on which use was 
                      allowed on September 10, 2001, except those lands 
                      managed under the management prescription referred 
                      to in subparagraph (F). During the review and 
                      inventory, the Secretary may--
                                    (I) connect existing roads and 
                                trails in the inventoried area to other 
                                existing roads and trails in the 
                                inventoried area for the purpose of 
                                mechanized and other nonmotorized use on 
                                any lands within the Protection Area as 
                                long as there is no net gain in the 
                                total mileage of either roads or trails 
                                open for public use within the 
                                Protection Area; and
                                    (II) close or remove roads or trails 
                                within the Protection Area that the 
                                Secretary determines to be undesirable, 
                                except those roads or trails managed 
                                pursuant to paragraph (2) of this 
                                subsection or subsection (e)(3).
                          (ii) After completion of inventory.--After 
                      completion of the review and inventory required by 
                      clause (i), the Secretary shall ensure that 
                      motorized and mechanized travel within the 
                      Protection Area shall be permitted only on those 
                      roads and trails identified as open to use in the 
                      inventory or established pursuant to subparagraph 
                      (D).
                    (D) New roads and trails.--No new roads or trails 
                shall be established within the Protection Area except 
                those which the Secretary shall establish as follows:
                          (i) Roads and trails established to replace 
                      roads or trails of the same character and scope 
                      which have become nonserviceable through reasons 
                      other than neglect.
                          (ii) Nonpermanent roads as needed for 
                      hazardous fuels reduction or other control of 
                      fire, insect or disease control projects, or other 
                      management purposes.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1058]]

                          (iii) Roads determined to be appropriate for 
                      reasonable access under section 4(b)(2).
                          (iv) A loop trail established pursuant to 
                      section 6.
                          (v) Construction of a trail for nonmotorized 
                      use following the corridor designated as the 
                      Continental Divide Trail.
                    (E) Timber harvesting.--No timber harvesting shall 
                be allowed within the Protection Area except to the 
                extent needed for hazardous fuels reduction or other 
                control of fire, insect or disease control projects, or 
                protection of public health or safety.
                    (F) <<NOTE: Applicability.>>  Special interest 
                area.--The management prescription applicable to the 
                lands described in the 1997 Revision of the Land and 
                Resource Management Plan as the James Peak Special 
                Interest Area shall also be applicable to all the lands 
                in the Protection Area that are bounded on the north by 
                Rollins Pass Road, on the east by the Continental 
                Divide, and on the west by the 11,300 foot elevation 
                contour as shown on the map referred to in subsection 
                (b). In addition, motorized vehicle use shall not be 
                permitted on any part of the Rogers Pass trail.
            (2) Natural gas pipeline.--The Secretary shall allow for 
        maintenance of rights-of-ways and access roads located within 
        the Protection Area to the extent necessary to operate the 
        natural gas pipeline permitted under the Arapaho/Roosevelt 
        National Forest master permit numbered 4138.01 in a manner that 
        avoids negative impacts on public safety and allows for 
        compliance with Federal pipeline safety requirements. Such 
        maintenance may include vegetation management, road maintenance, 
        ground stabilization, and motorized vehicle access.
            (3) Permanent federal ownership.--All right, title, and 
        interest of the United States, held on or acquired after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, to lands within the 
        boundaries of the Protection Area shall be retained by the 
        United States.

    (e) Issues Related to Water.--
            (1) Statutory construction.--
                    (A) Nothing in this Act shall constitute or be 
                construed to constitute either an express or implied 
                reservation of any water or water rights with respect to 
                the lands within the Protection Area.
                    (B) Nothing in this Act shall affect any conditional 
                or absolute water rights in the State of Colorado 
                existing on the date of the enactment of this Act.
                    (C) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as 
                establishing a precedent with regard to any future 
                protection area designation.
                    (D) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as 
                limiting, altering, modifying, or amending any of the 
                interstate compacts or equitable apportionment decrees 
                that apportion water among and between the State of 
                Colorado and other States.
            (2) Colorado water law.--The Secretary shall follow the 
        procedural and substantive requirements of the law of the State 
        of Colorado in order to obtain and hold any new water rights 
        with respect to the Protection Area.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1059]]

            (3) Water infrastructure.--Nothing in this Act (including 
        the provisions related to establishment or management of the 
        Protection Area) shall affect, impede, interfere with, or 
        diminish the operation, existence, access, maintenance, 
        improvement, or construction of water facilities and 
        infrastructure, rights-of-way, or other water-related property, 
        interests, and uses, (including the use of motorized vehicles 
        and equipment existing or located on lands within the Protection 
        Area) on any lands except those lands managed under the 
        management prescription referred to in subsection (d)(1)(F).

SEC. 4. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l-1.>> INHOLDINGS.

    (a) State Land Board Lands.--If the Colorado State Land Board 
informs the Secretary that the Board is willing to transfer to the 
United States some or all of the lands owned by the Board located within 
the Protection Area, the Secretary shall promptly seek to reach 
agreement with the Board regarding terms and conditions for acquisition 
of such lands by the United States by purchase or exchange.
    (b) Jim Creek Inholding.--
            (1) Acquisition of lands.--The Secretary shall enter into 
        negotiations with the owner of lands located within the portion 
        of the Jim Creek drainage within the Protection Area for the 
        purpose of acquiring the lands by purchase or exchange, but the 
        United States shall not acquire such lands without the consent 
        of the owner of the lands.
            (2) Landowner rights.--Nothing in this Act shall affect any 
        rights of the owner of lands located within the Jim Creek 
        drainage within the Protection Area, including any right to 
        reasonable access to such lands by motorized or other means as 
        determined by the Forest Service and the landowner consistent 
        with applicable law and relevant and appropriate rules and 
        regulations governing such access.

    (c) Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
        on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
        on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 
        concerning any agreement or the status of negotiations conducted 
        pursuant to--
                    (A) subsection (a), upon conclusion of an agreement 
                for acquisition by the United States of lands referred 
                to in subsection (a), or 1 year after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act, whichever occurs first; and
                    (B) subsection (b), upon conclusion of an agreement 
                for acquisition by the United States of lands referred 
                to in subsection (b), or 1 year after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act, whichever occurs first.
            (2) Funding information.--The report required by this 
        subsection shall indicate to what extent funds are available to 
        the Secretary as of the date of
the report for the acquisition of the relevant lands and whether 
additional funds need to be appropriated or otherwise made available to 
the Secretary for such purpose.

    (d) Management of Acquisitions.--Any lands within the James Peak 
Wilderness or the Protection Area acquired by the United States after 
the date of the enactment of this Act shall

[[Page 116 STAT. 1060]]

be added to the James Peak Wilderness or the Protection Area, 
respectively, and managed accordingly.

SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l-2.>> JAMES PEAK FALL RIVER TRAILHEAD.

    (a) Services and Facilities.--Following the consultation required by 
subsection (c), the Forest Supervisor of the Arapaho/Roosevelt National 
Forest in the State of Colorado (in this section referred to as the 
``Forest Supervisor'') shall establish a trailhead and corresponding 
facilities and services to regulate use of National Forest System lands 
in the vicinity of the Fall River basin south of the communities of 
Alice Township and St. Mary's Glacier in the State of Colorado. The 
facilities and services shall include the following:
            (1) Trailhead parking.
            (2) Public restroom accommodations.
            (3) Trailhead and trail maintenance.

    (b) Personnel.--The Forest Supervisor shall assign Forest Service 
personnel to provide appropriate management and oversight of the area 
described in subsection (a).
    (c) Consultation.--The Forest Supervisor shall consult with the 
Clear Creek County commissioners and with residents of Alice Township 
and St. Mary's Glacier regarding--
            (1) the appropriate location of facilities and services in 
        the area described in subsection (a); and
            (2) appropriate measures that may be needed in this area--
                    (A) to provide access by emergency or law 
                enforcement vehicles;
                    (B) for public health; and
                    (C) to address concerns regarding impeded access by 
                local residents.

    (d) Report.--After the consultation required by subsection (c), the 
Forest Supervisor shall submit to the Committee on Resources and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate a report regarding the amount of any 
additional funding required to implement this section.

SEC. 6. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l-3.>> LOOP TRAIL STUDY; AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) Study.--Not <<NOTE: Deadline.>> later than three years after 
funds are first made available for this purpose, the Secretary, in 
consultation with interested parties, shall complete a study of the 
suitability and feasibility of establishing, consistent with the purpose 
set forth in section 3(a)(2), a loop trail for mechanized and other 
nonmotorized recreation connecting the trail designated as ``Rogers 
Pass'' and the trail designated as ``Rollins Pass Road''.

    (b) Establishment.--If the results of the study required by 
subsection (a) indicate that establishment of such a loop trail would be 
suitable and feasible, consistent with the purpose set forth in section 
3(a)(2), the Secretary shall establish the loop trail in a manner 
consistent with that purpose.

SEC. 7. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l-4.>> OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Buffer Zones.--The designation by this Act or by amendments made 
by this Act of wilderness areas and the Protection Area in the State of 
Colorado shall not create or imply the creation of protective perimeters 
or buffer zones around any wilderness area or the Protection Area. The 
fact that nonwilderness activities

[[Page 116 STAT. 1061]]

or uses can be seen or heard from within a wilderness area or Protection 
Area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the 
boundary of the wilderness area or the Protection Area.
    (b) Rollins Pass Road.--If requested by one or more of the Colorado 
Counties of Grand, Gilpin, and Boulder, the Secretary shall provide 
technical assistance and otherwise cooperate with respect to repairing 
the Rollins Pass road in those counties sufficiently to allow two-wheel-
drive vehicles to travel between Colorado State Highway 119 and U.S. 
Highway 40. If this road is repaired to such extent, the Secretary shall 
close the motorized roads and trails on Forest Service land indicated on 
the map entitled ``Rollins Pass Road Reopening: Attendant Road and Trail 
Closures'', dated September 2001.

SEC. 8. <<NOTE: 16 USC 539l-5.>> WILDERNESS POTENTIAL.

    (a) In General.--Nothing in this Act shall preclude or restrict the 
authority of the Secretary to evaluate the suitability of lands in the 
Protection Area for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation 
System or to make recommendations to Congress for such inclusion.
    (b) Evaluation of Certain Lands.--In connection with the first 
revision of the land and resources management plan for the Arapaho/
Roosevelt National Forest after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall evaluate the suitability of the lands managed under 
the management prescription referred to in section 3(d)(1)(F) for 
inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System and make 
recommendations to Congress regarding such inclusion.

    Approved August 21, 2002.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 1576:
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HOUSE REPORTS: No. 107-316 (Comm. on Resources).
SENATE REPORTS: No. 107-200 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 147 (2001):
                                    Dec. 11, considered and passed 
                                        House.
                                                        Vol. 148 (2002):
                                    Aug. 1, considered and passed 
                                        Senate.

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