I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3339

To designate certain lands in Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 25, 1996

Mr. SKAGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To designate certain lands in Rocky Mountain National Park

as wilderness, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rocky Mountain Na5 tional Park Wilderness Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) it is in the national interest to include cer9 tain lands in Rocky Mountain National Park within

10 the National Wilderness Preservation System so as
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1 to protect those lands’ enduring scenic and historic

2 wilderness character and unique wildlife and to pre3 serve the lands’ scientific, educational, recreational,

4 and inspirational resources and challenges;

5 (2) to fulfill the purposes of the wilderness des6 ignation of those lands, as expressed in this Act and

7 the Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et

8 seq.), it is necessary for the United States to have

9 rights to water within Rocky Mountain National

10 Park; and

11 (3) the existing rights of the United States to

12 water within Rocky Mountain Park for national park

13 purposes, which are being adjudicated in the courts

14 of the State of Colorado, may be sufficient to fulfill

15 the purposes of the wilderness designation of those

16 lands.

17 SEC. 3. WILDERNESS DESIGNATION AND MAPS.

18 (a) DESIGNATION.—(1) In furtherance of the pur19 poses of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), cer20 tain lands in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado,

21 which comprise approximately 240,700 acres, as generally

22 depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Rocky Mountain National

23 Park Wilderness—Proposed’’ and dated April 1996, are

24 hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as compo25 nents of the National Wilderness Preservation System,
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1 and, together with the lands referred to in paragraph (2),

2 shall be known as the Rocky Mountain National Park Wil3 derness.

4 (2) Those lands within the Indian Peaks Wilderness

5 (as designated by Public Law 94–450 (92 Stat. 1099))

6 that were transferred to Rocky Mountain National Park

7 by section 111(a) of Public Law 96–580 (94 Stat. 3272),

8 which comprise approximately 2,917 acres, shall be in9 cluded in, and administered as part of, the Rocky Moun10 tain National Park Wilderness designated by paragraph

11 (1).

12 (b) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

14 the Interior shall file a map and a boundary description

15 of the area designated as wilderness by this section with

16 the Committee on Natural Resources of the United States

17 House of Representatives and with the Committee on En18 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate.

19 That map and description shall have the same force and

20 effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary

21 is authorized to correct clerical and typographical errors

22 in such map and description. That map and boundary de23 scription shall be on file and available for public inspection

24 in the office of the Director of the National Park Service,

25 Department of the Interior.
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1 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,

3 lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be man4 aged by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with

5 the Wilderness Act and this Act, except that, with respect

6 to the wilderness area designated by this Act, any ref7 erence in the Wilderness Act to the effective date of the

8 Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the

9 date of enactment of this Act.

10 (b) RESERVED WATER RIGHTS.—(1) Within the area

11 designated as wilderness by section 3(a)(1), there is here12 by reserved a quantity of water sufficient to fulfill the pur13 poses of that wilderness designation.

14 (2) The priority date of the water rights reserved in

15 paragraph (1) shall be the date of enactment of this Act.

16 (3) The Secretary of the Interior and other appro17 priate officers of the United States shall take all steps nec18 essary to protect the rights reserved by paragraph (1), in19 cluding the filing by the Secretary of a claim for the quan20 tification of such right in any present or future appro21 priate stream adjudication in the courts of the State of

22 Colorado in which the United States has been or is here23 after properly joined in accordance with section 208 of the

24 Act of July 10, 1952 (43 U.S.C. 666), commonly referred

25 to as the ‘‘McCarran Amendment’’.
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1 (4) The water rights reserved by paragraph (1) shall

2 be in addition to any water rights which may have been

3 previously reserved or appropriated by the United States

4 in the State of Colorado before the date of enactment of

5 this Act.

6 (5) In the case of any lands designated as wilderness

7 by section 3(a)(1) for which the United States has re8 served rights for national park purposes to all the water

9 within those lands that was unappropriated at the time

10 those lands were included in Rocky Mountain National

11 Park, those existing rights shall be deemed sufficient to

12 fulfill the purposes of the wilderness designation of those

13 lands made by section 3(a)(1).

14 (c) COLORADO-BIG THOMPSON PROJECT.—(1) This

15 Act shall not be construed to prevent or impede activities

16 under the surface of lands designated as wilderness by this

17 Act to operate, maintain, repair, or replace the Alva B.

18 Adams Tunnel of the Colorado-Big Thompson project.

19 (2) Section 1 of the Act of January 26, 1915 (16

20 U.S.C. 191; 38 Stat. 798), is amended by striking the last

21 sentence.

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