I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2955

To establish the Rio Grande Outstanding Natural Area in the State of 

Colorado, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. MCINNIS (for himself, Mr. TANCREDO, and Mr. HEFLEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To establish the Rio Grande Outstanding Natural Area in 

the State of Colorado, 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 ‘‘Rio Grande Out5 standing Natural Area Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Preservation and restoration of the land in 

9 the Area are required to preserve the Area’s unique 

10 scientific, scenic, educational, and environmental val-
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1 ues, including unique land forms, scenic beauty, cul2 tural sites, and habitats used by various species of 

3 raptors and other birds, mammals, reptiles, and am4 phibians. 

5 (2) There are archeological and historic sites in 

6 the Area resulting from at least 10,000 years of use 

7 for subsistence and commerce. 

8 (3) The archeological sites represent regional 

9 ancestry, including Paleo-Indian and nomadic bands 

10 of Ute and Apache. 

11 (4) The Area contains exceptional scenic values 

12 and opportunities for wildlife viewing. 

13 (5) Approximately 2,771 acres of land within 

14 the Area are owned by the United States and admin15 istered by the Secretary, acting through the Director 

16 of the Bureau of Land Management, and approxi17 mately 7,885 acres of land within the Area are 

18 owned by private landowners. 

19 (6) The Area is located downstream from areas 

20 in Colorado of significant and longstanding water 

21 development and use. 

22 (7) The availability of water for use in Colorado 

23 is governed, in significant part, by the Compact, 

24 which obligates the State of Colorado to deliver cer25 tain quantities of water to the Colorado-New Mexico 
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1 State line for the benefit of the States of New Mex2 ico and Texas in accordance with the terms of the 

3 Compact. 

4 (8) Because of the allocations of water made by 

5 the Compact to downstream States, the levels of use 

6 and development of water in Colorado, and the un7 predictable and seasonal nature of the water supply, 

8 the Secretary shall manage the land within the Area 

9 to accomplish the purposes of this Act without as10 serting reserved water rights for instream flows or 

11 appropriating or acquiring water rights for that pur12 pose. 

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to con14 serve, restore, and protect for future generations the nat15 ural, ecological, historic, scenic, recreational, wildlife, and 

16 environmental resources of the Area. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) AREA.—The term ‘‘Area’’ means the Rio 

20 Grande Outstanding Natural Area established under 

21 section 4. 

22 (2) AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 

23 ‘‘Area Management Plan’’ means the plan developed 

24 by the Commission in cooperation with Federal, 
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1 State, and local agencies and approved by the Sec2 retary. 

3 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Rio Grande Outstanding Natural Area 

5 Commission as established in this Act. 

6 (4) COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Compact’’ means 

7 the Rio Grande Compact, consented to by Congress 

8 in the Act of May 31, 1939 (53 Stat. 785, chapter 

9 155). 

10 (5) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en11 titled ‘‘ll’’, dated ll, and numbered ll. 

12 (6) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

13 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 

14 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

15 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

16 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of the Interior. 

18 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

19 of Colorado. 

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF AREA. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Rio 

22 Grande Outstanding Natural Area. 

23 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Area shall consist of approxi24 mately 10,656 acres extending for a distance of 33.3 miles 

25 along the Rio Grande River in southern Colorado from the 
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1 southern boundary of the Alamosa National Wildlife Ref2 uge to the Colorado-New Mexico State line, encompassing 

3 the Rio Grande River and its adjacent riparian areas ex4 tending not more than 1,320 feet on either side of the 

5 river. 

6 (c) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—

7 (1) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as prac8 ticable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

9 Secretary shall file a legal description of the Area in 

10 the office of the Director of the Bureau of Land 

11 Management, Department of the Interior, in Wash12 ington, District of Columbia, and the Office of the 

13 Colorado State Director of the Bureau of Land 

14 Management. 

15 (2) FORCE AND EFFECT.—The Map and legal 

16 description of the Area shall have the same force 

17 and effect as if they were included in this Act, ex18 cept that the Secretary may correct clerical and ty19 pographical errors in such legal description as they 

20 may appear from time to time. 

21 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Map and legal 

22 description of the Area shall be available for public 

23 inspection in the office of the Colorado State Direc24 tor of the Bureau of Land Management, Depart25 ment of the Interior in Denver, Colorado. 
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1 SEC. 5. COMMISSION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

3 the Rio Grande Outstanding Natural Area Commission. 

4 (b) PURPOSE.—The Commission shall assist appro5 priate Federal, State, and local authorities in the develop6 ment and implementation of an integrated resource man7 agement plan for the Area called the Area Management 

8 Plan. 

9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com10 posed of 9 members, designated or appointed not later 

11 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act 

12 as follows: 

13 (1) 2 officials of Department of the Interior 

14 designated by the Secretary, 1 of whom shall rep15 resent the Federal agency responsible for the man16 agement of the Area and 1 of whom shall be the 

17 manager of the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. 

18 (2) 2 individuals appointed by the Secretary, 1 

19 of whom shall be based on the recommendation of 

20 the State Governor, representing the Colorado Divi21 sion of Wildlife, and 1 representing the Colorado Di22 vision of Water Resources responsible for the Rio 

23 Grande drainage. 

24 (3) 1 representative of the Rio Grande Water 

25 Conservation District appointed by the Secretary 

26 based on the recommendation of the State Governor, 
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1 representing the local region in which the Area is es2 tablished. 

3 (4) 4 individuals appointed by the Secretary 

4 based on recommendations of the State Governor, 

5 representing the general public who are citizens of 

6 the State and of the local region in which the Area 

7 is established, who have knowledge and experience in 

8 the appropriate fields of interest relating to the pres9 ervation and restoration and use of the Area. 2 ap10 pointees from the local area shall represent non11 governmental agricultural interests and 2 appointees 

12 from the local area shall represent nonprofit non13 governmental environmental interests. 

14 (d) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for terms 

15 of 5 years and may be reappointed. 

16 (e) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Commission 

17 shall receive no pay on account of their service on the 

18 Commission. 

19 (f) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the Commis20 sion shall be elected by the members of the Commission. 

21 (g) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall hold its first 

22 meeting not later than 90 days after the date on which 

23 the last of its initial members is appointed, and shall meet 

24 at least quarterly at the call of the chairperson. 
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1 SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

2 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold such 

3 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 

4 testimony, and receive such evidence, as the Commission 

5 considers appropriate. 

6 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem7 ber or agent of the Commission, if so authorized by the 

8 Commission, may take any action which the Commission 

9 is authorized to take by this Act. 

10 (c) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.—Except as 

11 provided in section 12, the Commission may not acquire 

12 any real property or interest in real property. 

13 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—For purposes of 

14 carrying out the Area Management Plan, the Commission 

15 may enter into cooperative agreements with the State, 

16 with any political subdivision of the State, or with any per17 son. Any such cooperative agreement shall, at a minimum, 

18 establish procedures for providing notice to the Commis19 sion of any action proposed by the State, a political sub20 division, or a person which may affect the implementation 

21 of the Area Management Plan. 

22 SEC. 7. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

23 (a) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—Not later than 2 years 

24 after the Commission conducts its first meeting, it shall 

25 submit to the Secretary an Area Management Plan. The 

26 Area Management Plan shall be—
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1 (1) based on existing Federal, State, and local 

2 plans, but shall coordinate those plans and present 

3 a unified preservation, restoration, and conservation 

4 plan for the Area; 

5 (2) developed in accordance with the provisions 

6 of section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Man7 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712); and 

8 (3) consistent, to the extent possible, with the 

9 management plans adopted by the Director of the 

10 Bureau of Land Management for adjacent properties 

11 in Colorado and New Mexico. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The Area Management Plan shall 

13 include the following: 

14 (1) An inventory which includes any property in 

15 the Area which should be preserved, restored, man16 aged, developed, maintained, or acquired because of 

17 its natural, scientific, scenic, or environmental sig18 nificance. 

19 (2) Recommended policies for resource manage20 ment which consider and detail the application of 

21 appropriate land and water management techniques, 

22 including the development of intergovernmental co23 operative agreements, that will protect the Area’s 

24 natural, scenic, and wildlife resources and environ25 ment. 
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1 (3) Recommended policies for resource manage2 ment to provide for protection of the Area for soli3 tude, quiet use, and pristine natural values. 

4 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.—Upon ap5 proval of the Area Management Plan by the Secretary, 

6 as provided in section 9, the Commission shall assist the 

7 Secretary in implementing the Area Management Plan by 

8 taking appropriate steps to preserve and interpret the nat9 ural resources of the Area and its surrounding area. These 

10 steps may include the following: 

11 (1) Assisting the State in preserving the Area. 

12 (2) Assisting the State and local governments, 

13 and political subdivisions of the State in increasing 

14 public awareness of and appreciation for the natural, 

15 historical, and wildlife resources in the Area. 

16 (3) Encouraging local governments and political 

17 subdivisions of the State to adopt land use policies 

18 consistent with the management of the Area and the 

19 goals of the Area Management Plan, and to take ac20 tions to implement those policies. 

21 (4) Encouraging and assisting private land22 owners within the Area in understanding and accept23 ing the provisions of the Area Management Plan and 

24 cooperating in its implementation. 
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1 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION. 

2 (a) TERMINATION.—Except as provided in subsection 

3 (b), the Commission shall terminate 10 years and 6 

4 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 (b) EXTENSIONS.—The Commission may be extended 

6 for a period of not more than 5 years beginning on the 

7 day of termination specified in subsection (a) if, not later 

8 than 180 days before that day, the Commission—

9 (1) determines that such an extension is nec10 essary in order to carry out the purpose of this Act; 

11 and 

12 (2) submits such proposed extension to the 

13 Committee on Resources of the House of Represent14 atives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

15 Resources of the Senate. 

16 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATION BY SECRETARY. 

17 (a) PLAN APPROVAL; PUBLICATION.—Not later than 

18 60 days after the Secretary receives a proposed manage19 ment plan from the Commission, the Secretary, with the 

20 assistance of the Commission, shall initiate the environ21 mental compliance activities which the Secretary deter22 mines to be appropriate in order to allow the review of 

23 the proposed plan and any alternatives thereto and to 

24 allow public participation in the environmental compliance 

25 activities. Thereafter, the Secretary shall approve an Area 

26 Management Plan for the Area consistent with the Com-
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1 mission’s proposed plan to the extent possible, that re2 flects the results of the environmental compliance activi3 ties undertaken. Not later than 18 months after the Sec4 retary receives the proposed management plan, the Sec5 retary shall publish the Area Management Plan in the 

6 Federal Register. 

7 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin8 ister the lands owned by the United States within the Area 

9 in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to 

10 public lands and the Area Management Plan in such a 

11 manner as shall provide for the following: 

12 (1) The conservation, restoration, and protec13 tion of the Area’s unique scientific, scenic, edu14 cational, recreational, and wildlife values. 

15 (2) The continued use of the Area for purposes 

16 of education, scientific study, and limited public 

17 recreation in a manner that does not substantially 

18 impair the purposes for which the Area is estab19 lished. 

20 (3) The protection of the wildlife habitat of the 

21 Area. 

22 (4) The elimination of opportunities to con23 struct water storage facilities within the Area. 
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1 (5) The reduction or elimination of roads and 

2 motorized vehicles from the public lands to the 

3 greatest extent possible within the Area. 

4 (6) The elimination of roads and motorized use 

5 on the public lands within the area on the western 

6 side of the river from Lobatos Bridge south to the 

7 State line. 

8 (c) NO RESERVATION OF WATER RIGHTS.—Public 

9 lands affected by this Act shall not be subject to reserved 

10 water rights for any Federal purpose. 

11 (d) CHANGES IN STREAMFLOW REGIME.—To the ex12 tent that changes to the streamflow regime beneficial to 

13 the Area can be accommodated through negotiation with 

14 the State of Colorado, the Rio Grande Water Conservation 

15 District, and water users within Colorado, such changes 

16 should be encouraged, but may not be imposed as a re17 quirement. 

18 (e) PRIVATE LANDS.—Private lands within the Area 

19 will be affected by the designation and management of the 

20 Area only to the extent that the private landowner agrees 

21 in writing to be bound by the Area Management Plan. 

22 SEC. 10. MANAGEMENT. 

23 (a) AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall imple25 ment the Area Management Plan for all of the land 
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1 within the Area that accomplishes the purposes of 

2 and is consistent with the provisions of this Act. 

3 (2) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The Area Manage4 ment Plan shall apply to all land within the Area 

5 owned by the United States and may be made to 

6 apply to non-Federal land within the Area only when 

7 written acceptance of the Area Management Plan is 

8 given by the owners of such land. 

9 (b) COORDINATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOV10 ERNMENTS.—The Area Management Plan shall be devel11 oped and adopted in coordination with the appropriate 

12 State agencies and local governments in Colorado. 

13 (c) COOPERATION BY PRIVATE LANDOWNERS.—In 

14 implementing the Area Management Plan, the Secretary 

15 shall encourage full public participation and seek the co16 operation of all private landowners within the Area, re17 gardless of whether the landowners are directly or indi18 rectly affected by the Area Management Plan. If accepted 

19 by private landowners, in writing, the provisions of the 

20 Area Management Plan may be applied to the individual 

21 parcels of private land. 

22 (d) NEW IMPOUNDMENTS.—In managing the Area, 

23 neither the Secretary nor any other Federal agency or offi24 cer may approve or issue any permit for, or provide any 

25 assistance for, the construction of any new dam, reservoir, 
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1 or impoundment on any segment of the Rio Grande River 

2 or its tributaries within the exterior boundaries of the 

3 Area. 

4 SEC. 11. RESTORATION TO PUBLIC LANDS STATUS. 

5 (a) EXISTING RESERVATIONS.—All reservations of 

6 public lands within the Area for Federal purposes that 

7 have been made by an Act of Congress or Executive order 

8 prior to the date of enactment of this Act are revoked. 

9 (b) PUBLIC LANDS.—Subject to subsection (c), pub10 lic lands within the Area that were subject to a reservation 

11 described in subsection (a)—

12 (1) are restored to the status of public lands; 

13 and 

14 (2) shall be administered in accordance with the 

15 Area Management Plan. 

16 (c) WITHDRAWAL.—All public lands within the Area 

17 are withdrawn from settlement, sale, location, entry, or 

18 disposal under the laws applicable to public lands, includ19 ing the following: 

20 (1) Sections 910, 2318 through 2340, and 2343 

21 through 2346 of the Revised Statutes (commonly 

22 known as the ‘‘General Mining Law of 1872’’) (30 

23 U.S.C. 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 through 30, 33 through 

24 43, 46 through 48, 50 through 53). 
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1 (2) The Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 

2 1970 (30 U.S.C. 21a). 

3 (3) The Act of April 26, 1882 (22 Stat. 49, 

4 chapter 106; 30 U.S.C. 25, 31). 

5 (4) Public Law 85–876 (30 U.S.C. 28–1, 28–

6 2). 

7 (5) The Act of June 21, 1949 (63 Stat. 214, 

8 chapter 232; 30 U.S.C. 28b through 28e, 54). 

9 (6) The Act of March 3, 1991 (21 Stat. 505, 

10 chapter 140; 30 U.S.C. 32). 

11 (7) The Act of May 5, 1876 (19 Stat. 52, chap12 ter 91; 30 U.S.C. 49). 

13 (8) Sections 15, 16, and 26 of the Act of June 

14 6, 1990 (31 Stat. 327, 328, 329, chapter 786; 30 

15 U.S.C. 49a, 49c, 49d). 

16 (9) Section 2 of the Act of May 4, 1934 (48 

17 Stat. 1243, chapter 2559; 30 U.S.C. 49e, 49f). 

18 (10) The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to promote the 

19 mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and so20 dium on the public domain’’, approved February 25, 

21 1920 (commonly known as the ‘‘Mineral Lands 

22 Leasing Act of 1920’’; 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

23 (11) The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 

24 the disposal of materials on public lands of the 

25 United States’’, approved July 31, 1947 (commonly 
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1 known as the ‘‘Materials Act of 1947’’; 30 U.S.C. 

2 601 et seq.). 

3 (d) WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS.—No land or water 

4 within the Area shall be designated as a wild, scenic, or 

5 recreational river under section 2 of the Wild and Scenic 

6 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1273). 

7 SEC. 12. ACQUISITION OF NONFEDERAL LANDS. 

8 (a) ACQUISITION OF LANDS NOT CURRENTLY IN

9 FEDERAL OWNERSHIP.—The Secretary, with the coopera10 tion and assistance of the Commission, may acquire by 

11 purchase, exchange, or donation all or any part of the land 

12 and interests in land, including conservation easements, 

13 within the Area from willing sellers only. 

14 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Any lands and interests in 

15 lands acquired under this section—

16 (1) shall be administered in accordance with the 

17 Area Management Plan; 

18 (2) shall not be subject to reserved water rights 

19 for any Federal purpose, nor shall the acquisition of 

20 the land authorize the Secretary or any Federal 

21 agency to acquire instream flows in the Rio Grande 

22 River at any place within the Area; 

23 (3) shall become public lands; and 

24 (4) shall upon acquisition be immediately with25 drawn as provided in section 11. 
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1 SEC. 13. STATE INSTREAM FLOW PROTECTION AUTHOR2 IZED. 

3 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the 

4 State from acquiring an instream flow through the Area 

5 pursuant to the terms, conditions, and limitations of Colo6 rado law to assist in protecting the natural environment 

7 to the extent and for the purposes authorized by Colorado 

8 law. 

9 SEC. 14. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

10 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to—

11 (1) authorize, expressly or by implication, the 

12 appropriation or reservation of water by any Federal 

13 agency, or any other entity or individual other than 

14 the State of Colorado, for any instream flow purpose 

15 associated with the Area; 

16 (2) affect the rights or jurisdiction of the 

17 United States, a State, or any other entity over wa18 ters of any river or stream or over any ground water 

19 resource; 

20 (3) alter, amend, repeal, interpret, modify, or 

21 be in conflict with the Compact; 

22 (4) alter or establish the respective rights of 

23 any State, the United States, or any person with re24 spect to any water or water-related right; 

25 (5) impede the maintenance of the free-flowing 

26 nature of the waters in the Area so as to protect—
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1 (A) the ability of the State of Colorado to 

2 fulfill its obligations under the Compact; or 

3 (B) the riparian habitat within the Area; 

4 (6) allow the conditioning of Federal permits, 

5 permissions, licenses, or approvals to require the by6 pass or release of waters appropriated pursuant to 

7 State law to protect, enhance, or alter the water 

8 flows through the Area; 

9 (7) affect the continuing use and operation, re10 pair, rehabilitation, expansion, or new construction 

11 of water supply facilities, water and wastewater 

12 treatment facilities, stormwater facilities, public util13 ities, and common carriers along the Rio Grande 

14 River and its tributaries upstream of the Area; 

15 (8) impose any Federal or State water use des16 ignation or water quality standard upon uses of, or 

17 discharges to, waters of the State or waters of the 

18 United States, within or upstream of the Area, that 

19 is more restrictive than those that would be applica20 ble had the Area not been established; or 

21 (9) modify, alter, or amend title I of the Rec22 lamation Project Authorizing Act of 1972, as 

23 amended (Public Law 92–514, 86 Stat. 964; Public 

24 Law 96–375, 94 Stat. 1507; Public Law 98–570, 98 

25 Stat. 2941; and Public Law 100–516, 100 Stat. 
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1 257), or to authorize the Secretary to acquire water 

2 from other sources for delivery to the Rio Grande 

3 River pursuant to section 102(c) of such title.

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