I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2909

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 

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Utah Test and Train5 ing Range Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) The term ‘‘Utah Test and Training Range’’ 

9 means those portions of the military operating area 
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1 of the Utah Test and Training Area located solely 

2 in the State of Utah. The term includes the Dugway 

3 Proving Ground. 

4 (2) The term ‘‘covered wilderness’’ means the 

5 wilderness area designated by this Act and wilder6 ness study areas located near lands withdrawn for 

7 military use and beneath special use airspace critical 

8 to the support of military test and training missions 

9 at the Utah Test and Training Range, including the 

10 Deep Creek, Fish Springs, Swasey Mountain, Howell 

11 Peak, Notch Peak, King Top, Wah Wah Mountain, 

12 and Conger Mountain units designated by the De13 partment of the Interior. 

14 SEC. 3. MILITARY OPERATIONS AND OVERFLIGHTS, UTAH 

15 TEST AND TRAINING RANGE. 

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

17 (1) The testing and development of military 

18 weapons systems and the training of military forces 

19 are critical to ensuring the national security of the 

20 United States. 

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

22 State of Utah is a unique and irreplaceable national 

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

24 the Department of Defense. 
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1 (3) The Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area des2 ignated by section 5, as well as several wilderness 

3 study areas, are located near lands withdrawn for 

4 military use or are beneath special use airspace crit5 ical to the support of military test and training mis6 sions at the Utah Test and Training Range. 

7 (4) The Utah Test and Training Range and 

8 special use airspace withdrawn for military uses cre9 ate unique management circumstances for the cov10 ered wilderness in this Act, and it is not the intent 

11 of Congress that passage of this Act shall be con12 strued as establishing a precedent with respect to 

13 any future national conservation area or wilderness 

14 designation. 

15 (5) Continued access to the special use airspace 

16 and lands that comprise the Utah Test and Training 

17 Range, under the terms and conditions described in 

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

19 incompatible with the protection and proper manage20 ment of the natural, environmental, cultural, and 

21 other resources of such lands. 

22 (b) OVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act or the Wil23 derness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) shall preclude low24 level overflights and operations of military aircraft, heli25 copters, missiles, or unmanned aerial vehicles over the cov-
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1 ered wilderness, including military overflights and oper2 ations that can be seen or heard within the covered wilder3 ness. 

4 (c) SPECIAL USE AIRSPACE AND TRAINING

5 ROUTES.—Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall 

6 preclude the designation of new units of special use air7 space, the expansion of existing units of special use air8 space, or the use or establishment of military training 

9 routes over the covered wilderness. 

10 (d) COMMUNICATIONS AND TRACKING SYSTEMS.—

11 Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall prevent 

12 any required maintenance of existing communications, in13 strumentation, or electronic tracking systems (or infra14 structure supporting such systems) in the covered wilder15 ness or prevent the installation of new communication, in16 strumentation, or other equipment necessary for effective 

17 testing and training to meet military requirements so long 

18 as the Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with 

19 the Secretary of the Air Force, determines that the instal20 lation and maintenance of such systems, when considered 

21 both individually and collectively—

22 (1) create a similar or lesser impact on the en23 vironment; 
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1 (2) do not expand the size or significantly ex2 pand the number of such systems, as in existence on 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

4 (3) do not require construction of any roads in 

5 the covered wilderness. 

6 (e) EMERGENCY ACCESS AND RESPONSE.—Nothing 

7 in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall preclude the con8 tinuation of the memorandum of understanding in exist9 ence as of the date of enactment of this Act between the 

10 Department of the Interior and the Department of the Air 

11 Force with respect to emergency access and response. 

12 (f) PROHIBITION ON GROUND MILITARY OPER13 ATIONS.—Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e), 

14 nothing in this section shall be construed to permit mili15 tary operations to be conducted on the ground in covered 

16 wilderness in the Utah Test and Training Range. 

17 SEC. 4. PLANNING PROCESS FOR FEDERAL LANDS IN UTAH 

18 TEST AND TRAINING RANGE. 

19 (a) ANALYSIS OF MILITARY READINESS AND OPER20 ATIONAL IMPACTS.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

21 develop, maintain, and revise land use plans pursuant to 

22 section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

23 Act of 1976 (43 U.S. C. 1712) for Federal lands located 

24 in the Utah Test and Training Range in consultation with 

25 the Secretary of Defense. As part of the required consulta-
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1 tion in connection with a proposed revision of a land use 

2 plan, the Secretary of Defense shall prepare and transmit 

3 to the Secretary of the Interior an analysis of the military 

4 readiness and operational impacts of the proposed revision 

5 within six months of a request from the Secretary of Inte6 rior. 

7 (b) LIMITATION ON RIGHTS-OF-WAYS.—The Sec8 retary of the Interior shall not grant or issue any author9 izations pursuant to section 501(a)(6) of the Federal 

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

11 1761(a)(6)) upon Federal lands identified as inventory 

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

13 UTU–020–096, UTU–020–100, UTU–020–101, UTU–

14 020–103, UTU–020–104, UTU–020–105, and UTU–

15 020–110 as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Wil16 derness Inventory, State of Utah’’, dated August 1979, 

17 until the later of the following: 

18 (1) The completion of a full revision of the 

19 Pony Express Area Resource Management Plan, 

20 dated January 12, 1990, by the Salt Lake Field Of21 fice of the Bureau of Land Management. 

22 (2) January 1, 2015. 
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1 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CEDAR MOUN2 TAIN WILDERNESS, UTAH. 

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

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

5 ‘‘Cedar Mountain Wilderness’’ and dated llllll

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

7 component of the National Wilderness Preservation Sys8 tem to be known as the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area. 

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

10 the Federal lands in the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area 

11 are hereby withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropria12 tion, or disposal under the public land laws, from location, 

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

14 and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral 

15 and geothermal leasing, and mineral materials, and all 

16 amendments to such laws. 

17 (c) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—(1) As soon as prac18 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

19 Secretary of the Interior shall transmit a map and legal 

20 description of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area to the 

21 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

23 the Senate. 

24 (2) The map and legal description shall have the 

25 same force and effect as if included in this Act, except 
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1 that the Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical and 

2 typographical errors in the map and legal description. 

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

4 available for public inspection in the office of the Director 

5 of the Bureau of Land Management and the office of the 

6 State Director of the Bureau of Land Management in the 

7 State of Utah. 

8 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 

9 rights and this Act, the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area 

10 shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior in 

11 accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 

12 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in such 

13 provisions to the effective date of the Wilderness Act (or 

14 any similar reference) shall be deemed to be a reference 

15 to the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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

17 lands within the boundaries of the Cedar Mountain Wil18 derness Area acquired by the United States after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act shall be added to and admin20 istered as part of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area. 

21 (f) FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.—As pro22 vided in section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act, nothing in 

23 this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction 

24 of the State of Utah with respect to fish and wildlife on 

25 the Federal lands located in that State. 
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1 (g) GRAZING.—Within the Cedar Mountain Wilder2 ness Area, the grazing of livestock, where established be3 fore the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be per4 mitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations, 

5 policies, and practices as the Secretary of the Interior con6 siders necessary, as long as such regulations, policies, and 

7 practices fully conform with and implement the intent of 

8 Congress regarding grazing in such areas, as such intent 

9 is expressed in the Wilderness Act, section 101(f) of Pub10 lic Law 101–628 (104 Stat. 4473), and appendix A of the 

11 Report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs 

12 to accompany H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 

13 101–405). 

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

15 the designation of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area 

16 to lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer 

17 zones around the wilderness area. The fact that nonwilder18 ness activities or uses can be seen or heard within the wil19 derness area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities 

20 or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness area. 

21 SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LANDS AND LAWS. 

22 (a) OTHER LANDS.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

23 construed to affect any Federal lands located outside of 

24 the covered wilderness or the management of such lands. 
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1 (b) OTHER LAWS.—Section 2815(d) of the National 

2 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public 

3 Law 106–65; 113 Stat. 852) shall not apply to the Cedar 

4 Mountain Wilderness Area.

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