IB 

Union Calendar No. 300 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2909 

[Report No. 108–521] 

To ensure the continued availability of the Utah Test and Training Range 

to support the readiness and training needs of the Armed Forces. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah (for himself, Mr. CANNON, and Mr. MATHESON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

JUNE 3, 2004 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 25, 2003] 

A BILL 

To ensure the continued availability of the Utah Test and 

Training Range to support the readiness and training 

needs of the Armed Forces. 

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Utah Test and Training 

3 Range Protection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘covered wilderness’’ means the 

7 wilderness area designated by this Act and wilderness 

8 study areas located near lands withdrawn for mili9 tary use and beneath special use airspace critical to 

10 the support of military test and training missions at 

11 the Utah Test and Training Range, including the 

12 Deep Creek, Fish Springs, Swasey Mountain, Howell 

13 Peak, Notch Peak, King Top, Wah Wah Mountain, 

14 and Conger Mountain units designated by the De15 partment of the Interior. 

16 (2) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Skull Valley 

17 Band of Goshute Indians. 

18 (3) The term ‘‘Utah Test and Training Range’’ 

19 means those portions of the military operating area 

20 of the Utah Test and Training Area located solely in 

21 the State of Utah. The term includes the Dugway 

22 Proving Ground. 

23 (4) The term ‘‘Wilderness Act’’ means Public 

24 Law 88–577, approved September 3, 1964 (16 U.S.C. 

25 1131 et seq.). 
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1 SEC. 3. MILITARY OPERATIONS AND OVERFLIGHTS, UTAH 

2 TEST AND TRAINING RANGE. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

4 (1) The testing and development of military 

5 weapons systems and the training of military forces 

6 are critical to ensuring the national security of the 

7 United States. 

8 (2) The Utah Test and Training Range in the 

9 State of Utah is a unique and irreplaceable national 

10 asset at the core of the test and training mission of 

11 the Department of Defense. 

12 (3) The Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area des13 ignated by section 5, as well as several wilderness 

14 study areas, are located near lands withdrawn for 

15 military use or are beneath special use airspace crit16 ical to the support of military test and training mis17 sions at the Utah Test and Training Range. 

18 (4) The Utah Test and Training Range and spe19 cial use airspace withdrawn for military uses create 

20 unique management circumstances for the covered 

21 wilderness in this Act, and it is not the intent of Con22 gress that passage of this Act shall be construed as es23 tablishing a precedent with respect to any future na24 tional conservation area or wilderness designation. 

25 (5) Continued access to the special use airspace 

26 and lands that comprise the Utah Test and Training 
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1 Range, under the terms and conditions described in 

2 this section, is a national security priority and is not 

3 incompatible with the protection and proper manage4 ment of the natural, environmental, cultural, and 

5 other resources of such lands. 

6 (b) OVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act or the Wilder7 ness Act shall preclude low-level overflights and operations 

8 of military aircraft, helicopters, missiles, or unmanned aer9 ial vehicles over the covered wilderness, including military 

10 overflights and operations that can be seen or heard within 

11 the covered wilderness. 

12 (c) SPECIAL USE AIRSPACE AND TRAINING ROUTES.— 

13 Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall preclude 

14 the designation of new units of special use airspace, the ex15 pansion of existing units of special use airspace, or the use 

16 or establishment of military training routes over the covered 

17 wilderness. 

18 (d) COMMUNICATIONS AND TRACKING SYSTEMS.— 

19 Nothing in this Act shall prevent any required maintenance 

20 of existing communications, instrumentation, or electronic 

21 tracking systems (or infrastructure supporting such sys22 tems) or prevent the installation of new communication, in23 strumentation, or other equipment necessary for effective 

24 testing and training to meet military requirements in wil25 derness study areas located beneath special use airspace 
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1 comprising the Utah Test and Training Range, including 

2 the Deep Creek, Fish Springs, Swasey Mountain, Howell 

3 Peak, Notch Peak, King Top, Wah Wah Mountain, and 

4 Conger Mountain units designated by the Department of 

5 Interior, so long as the Secretary of the Interior, after con6 sultation with the Secretary of the Air Force, determines 

7 that the installation and maintenance of such systems, 

8 when considered both individually and collectively, comply 

9 with section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage10 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782). 

11 (e) EMERGENCY ACCESS AND RESPONSE.—Nothing in 

12 this Act or the Wilderness Act shall preclude the continu13 ation of the memorandum of understanding in existence as 

14 of the date of enactment of this Act between the Department 

15 of the Interior and the Department of the Air Force with 

16 respect to emergency access and response. 

17 (f) PROHIBITION ON GROUND MILITARY OPER18 ATIONS.—Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e), 

19 nothing in this section shall be construed to permit a mili20 tary operation to be conducted on the ground in covered 

21 wilderness in the Utah Test and Training Range unless 

22 such ground operation is otherwise permissible under Fed23 eral law and consistent with the Wilderness Act. 
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1 SEC. 4. PLANNING PROCESS FOR FEDERAL LANDS IN UTAH 

2 TEST AND TRAINING RANGE. 

3 (a) ANALYSIS OF MILITARY READINESS AND OPER4 ATIONAL IMPACTS.—The Secretary of the Interior shall de5 velop, maintain, and revise land use plans pursuant to sec6 tion 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

7 of 1976 (43 U.S. C. 1712) for Federal lands located in the 

8 Utah Test and Training Range in consultation with the 

9 Secretary of Defense. As part of the required consultation 

10 in connection with a proposed revision of a land use plan, 

11 the Secretary of Defense shall prepare and transmit to the 

12 Secretary of the Interior an analysis of the military readi13 ness and operational impacts of the proposed revision with14 in six months of a request from the Secretary of Interior. 

15 (b) LIMITATION ON RIGHTS-OF-WAYS.—The Secretary 

16 of the Interior shall not grant or issue any authorizations 

17 for rights-of-way under section 501(a)(6) of the Federal 

18 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

19 1761(a)(6)) upon Federal lands identified as inventory 

20 units UTU–020–086, UTU–020–088, UTU–020–095, 

21 UTU–020–096, UTU–020–100, UTU–020–101, UTU–020– 

22 103, UTU–020–104, UTU–020–105, and UTU–020–110, as 

23 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Wilderness Inven24 tory, State of Utah’’ and dated August 1979, until the later 

25 of the following: 
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1 (1) The completion of a full revision of the Pony 

2 Express Area Resource Management Plan, dated Jan3 uary 12, 1990, by the Salt Lake Field Office of the 

4 Bureau of Land Management. 

5 (2) January 1, 2015. 

6 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CEDAR MOUN7 TAIN WILDERNESS, UTAH. 

8 (a) DESIGNATION.—Certain Federal lands in Tooele 

9 County, Utah, as generally depicted on the map entitled 

10 ‘‘Cedar Mountain Wilderness’’ and dated March 7, 2004, 

11 are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as a 

12 component of the National Wilderness Preservation System 

13 to be known as the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area. 

14 (b) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

15 the Federal lands in the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area 

16 are hereby withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropria17 tion, or disposal under the public land laws, from location, 

18 entry, and patent under the United States mining laws, 

19 and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral 

20 and geothermal leasing, and mineral materials, and all 

21 amendments to such laws. 

22 (c) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—(1) As soon as prac23 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of the Interior shall transmit a map and legal de25 scription of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area to the 
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1 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 

2 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

3 the Senate. 

4 (2) The map and legal description shall have the same 

5 force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 

6 Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical and typo7 graphical errors in the map and legal description. 

8 (3) The map and legal description shall be on file and 

9 available for public inspection in the office of the Director 

10 of the Bureau of Land Management and the office of the 

11 State Director of the Bureau of Land Management in the 

12 State of Utah. 

13 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing rights 

14 and this Act, the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area shall 

15 be administered by the Secretary of the Interior in accord16 ance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act, except that 

17 any reference in such provisions to the effective date of the 

18 Wilderness Act (or any similar reference) shall be deemed 

19 to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 (e) LAND ACQUISITION.—Any lands or interest in 

21 lands within the boundaries of the Cedar Mountain Wilder22 ness Area acquired by the United States after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act shall be added to and adminis24 tered as part of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area. 
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1 (f) FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.—As provided 

2 in section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 1133(d)(7)), nothing in this Act shall be construed as affect4 ing the jurisdiction of the State of Utah with respect to fish 

5 and wildlife on the Federal lands located in that State. 

6 (g) GRAZING.—Within the Cedar Mountain Wilderness 

7 Area, the grazing of livestock, where established before the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, shall be permitted to con9 tinue subject to such reasonable regulations, policies, and 

10 practices as the Secretary of the Interior considers nec11 essary, as long as such regulations, policies, and practices 

12 fully conform with and implement the intent of Congress 

13 regarding grazing in such areas, as such intent is expressed 

14 in the Wilderness Act, section 101(f) of Public Law 101– 

15 628 (104 Stat. 4473), and appendix A of the Report of the 

16 Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany 

17 H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 101–405). 

18 (h) BUFFER ZONES.—Congress does not intend for the 

19 designation of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area to lead 

20 to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones 

21 around the wilderness area. The fact that nonwilderness ac22 tivities or uses can be seen or heard within the wilderness 

23 area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up 

24 to the boundary of the wilderness area. 
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1 (i) RELEASE FROM WILDERNESS STUDY AREA STA2 TUS.—The lands identified as the Browns Spring 

3 Cherrystem on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Browns Spring 

4 Cherrystem’’ and dated May 11, 2004, are released from 

5 their status as a wilderness study area, and shall no longer 

6 be subject to the requirements of section 603(c) of the Fed7 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

8 1782(c)) pertaining to the management of wilderness study 

9 areas in a manner that does not impair the suitability of 

10 those areas for preservation of wilderness. 

11 SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL BUREAU OF LAND 

12 MANAGEMENT LAND IN UTAH AS TRUST LAND 

13 FOR SKULL VALLEY BAND OF GOSHUTES. 

14 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF TRUST LAND.—The Secretary 

15 of the Interior shall identify approximately 640 additional 

16 acres of Bureau of Land Management land in the State of 

17 Utah to be administered in trust for the benefit of the Skull 

18 Valley Band of Goshutes. 

19 (b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In identifying the 

20 land under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior 

21 shall— 

22 (1) consult with leaders of the Tribe and the 

23 Governor of Utah; and 

24 (2) ensure that the land has ready access to 

25 State or Federal highways and, in the judgment of 
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1 the Secretary, provides the best opportunities for com2 mercial economic development in closest proximity to 

3 other lands of the Tribe. 

4 (c) PLACEMENT IN TRUST.—Not later than December 

5 31, 2005, the Secretary of the Interior shall place the land 

6 identified pursuant to subsection (a) into trust for the pur7 poses of economic development for the Tribe. At least 30 

8 days before placing the land in trust for the Tribe, the Sec9 retary shall publish in the Federal Register legal descrip10 tions of the land to be placed in trust. 

11 (d) MANAGEMENT OF TRUST LAND.—The land placed 

12 into trust for the Tribe under subsection (c) shall be admin13 istered in accordance with laws generally applicable to 

14 property held in trust by the United States for Indian 

15 Tribes, except that the land shall immediately revert to the 

16 administrative control of the Bureau of Land Management 

17 if the Tribe sells, or attempts to sell, any part of the land. 

18 (e) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section— 

19 (1) affects any valid right-of-way, lease, permit, 

20 mining claim, grazing permit, water right, or other 

21 right or interest of any person or entity (other than 

22 the United States) in or to the trust land that exists 

23 before the date on which the land is placed in trust 

24 for the Tribe under subsection (c); 
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1 (2) enlarges, impairs, or otherwise affects a right 

2 or claim of the Tribe to any land or interest in land 

3 based on Aboriginal or Indian title that exists before 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act; 

5 (3) constitutes an express or implied reservation 

6 of water or water right for any purpose with respect 

7 to the trust land; or 

8 (4) affects any water right of the Tribe that ex9 ists before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LANDS AND LAWS. 

11 (a) OTHER LANDS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con12 strued to affect any Federal lands located outside of the cov13 ered wilderness or the management of such lands. 

14 (b) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 2815 of the Na15 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Pub16 lic Law 106–65; 113 Stat. 852) is amended by striking sub17 section (d). 

Union Calendar No. 300 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2909 

[Report No. 108–521] 

A BILL 

To ensure the continued availability of the Utah 

ness and training needs of the Armed Forces. Test and Training Range to support the readiJUNE 3, 2004 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,