II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1971 

To designate certain National Forest System lands in the Pike and San 

Isabel National Forests and certain lands in the Royal Gorge Resource 

Area of the Bureau of Land Management in the State of Colorado 

as wilderness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2005 

Mr. ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To designate certain National Forest System lands in the 

Pike and San Isabel National Forests and certain lands 

in the Royal Gorge Resource Area of the Bureau of 

Land Management in the State of Colorado 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 ‘‘Browns Canyon Wil5 derness Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF BROWNS CANYON WILDERNESS, 

2 PIKE AND SAN ISABEL NATIONAL FORESTS 

3 AND ROYAL GORGE RESOURCE AREA, COLO4 RADO. 

5 (a) DESIGNATION.— 

6 (1) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the Wil7 derness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following 

8 lands in the State of Colorado are hereby designated 

9 as wilderness and as a component of the National 

10 Wilderness Preservation System to be know as 

11 Browns Canyon Wilderness: 

12 (A) Certain lands in the Pike and San Isa13 bel National Forests, comprising approximately 

14 12,104 acres, as generally depicted on the wil15 derness map. 

16 (B) Certain lands in the Royal Gorge Re17 source Area, which comprise approximately 

18 7,921 acres, as generally depicted on the wilder19 ness map. 

20 (2) WILDERNESS MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—As 

21 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

23 Secretary of the Interior shall file a legal description 

24 of the wilderness area with the Committee on Re25 sources of the House of Representatives and the 

26 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
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1 Senate. The wilderness map and legal description 

2 shall have the same force and effect as if included 

3 in this Act, except that the Secretary concerned may 

4 correct clerical and typographical errors in the wil5 derness map and legal description. The wilderness 

6 map shall be on file and available for public inspec7 tion in appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land 

8 Management and the Forest Service. 

9 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREA.—Sub10 ject to valid existing rights, the Secretary concerned shall 

11 manage the wilderness area in accordance with the Wilder12 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this section. With 

13 respect to the wilderness area, any reference in the Wilder14 ness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall 

15 be deemed to be a reference to the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 (c) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock and the 

18 maintenance of facilities related to grazing in the wilder19 ness areas, if established before the date of the enactment 

20 of this Act, shall be permitted to continue in accordance 

21 with section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

22 1133(d)(4)), as further interpreted by section 108 of Pub23 lic Law 96–560 (16 U.S.C. 1133 note), and the guidelines 

24 set forth in appendix A of the report of the Committee 

25 on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Represent-
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1 atives accompanying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. 

2 Rept. 101–405). 

3 (d) STATE JURISDICTION.—As provided in section 

4 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), 

5 nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the ju6 risdiction or responsibilities of the State of Colorado with 

7 respect to wildlife and fish in Colorado. 

8 (e) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND INTER9 ESTS.—Any land acquired by the United States that is 

10 immediately adjacent to the boundary of the wilderness 

11 area and that the Secretary concerned determines is suit12 able for inclusion within the National Wilderness Preser13 vation System shall become part of the wilderness area. 

14 (f) WATER RIGHTS.— 

15 (1) EFFECT ON WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in 

16 this section shall constitute an express or implied 

17 reservation of water for any purpose relating to the 

18 wilderness area or affect any water rights decreed 

19 under the laws of Colorado before the date of the en20 actment of this Act, including water rights held by 

21 the United States. 

22 (2) ADDITIONAL WATER RIGHTS.—If the Sec23 retary concerned determines that a water right is 

24 necessary for the purposes of administering the wil25 derness area, such water right shall be established in 
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1 accordance with the procedural and substantive re2 quirements of the laws of Colorado. 

3 (g) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist4 ence on the date of enactment of this Act, the wilderness 

5 area is withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropriation, 

6 or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and 

7 patent under the mining laws, and disposition under all 

8 laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or min9 eral materials. 

10 (h) FIRE, INSECT, AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT AC11 TIVITIES.— 

12 (1) CONTROL AND PREVENTION ACTIVITIES.— 

13 The Secretary concerned may undertake such meas14 ures in the wilderness area as are necessary for the 

15 control and prevention of fire, insects, and diseases, 

16 in accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness 

17 Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) and the report of the 

18 Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the 

19 House of Representatives to accompany H.R. 1437 

20 of the 98th Congress (H. Rept. 98–40). 

21 (2) REVIEW.—Not later than one year after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary con23 cerned shall review existing policies applicable to the 

24 wilderness area to ensure that authorized approval 

25 procedures for any fire management measures allow 
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1 a timely and efficient response to fire emergencies in 

2 the wilderness area. 

3 (i) BUFFER ZONES.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

4 construed to create or imply the creation of protective pe5 rimeters or buffer zones around the wilderness area. Ac6 tivities in or uses of non-wilderness areas that can be seen 

7 or heard from within the wilderness area shall not be pre8 cluded as a result of this Act. 

9 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec11 retary concerned’’ means— 

12 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re13 spect to the National Forest System lands des14 ignated as wilderness by subsection (a)(1)(A); 

15 and 

16 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re17 spect to the lands in the Royal Gorge Resource 

18 Area of the Bureau of Land Management des19 ignated as wilderness by subsection (a)(1)(B). 

20 (2) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘wilderness 

21 area’’ means the Browns Canyon Wilderness des22 ignated by subsection (a). 
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1 (3) WILDERNESS MAP.—The term ‘‘wilderness 

2 map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Browns Canyon Pro3 posed Wilderness’’ and dated August 9, 2005. 

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