103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 63

AN ACT

To establish the Spring Mountains National

Recreation Area in Nevada, and for other purposes.
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 63

AN ACT

To establish the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area

in Nevada, 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 ‘‘Spring Mountains Na5 tional Recreation Area Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act:
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1 (1) NATIONAL FOREST LANDS.—The term ‘‘Na2 tional Forest lands’’ means lands included in the

3 National Forest System (as defined in section 11(a)

4 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources

5 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))).

6 (2) RECREATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Recreation

7 Area’’ means the Spring Mountains National Recre8 ation Area established by this Act.

9 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

10 the Secretary of Agriculture.

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

12 The purposes of this Act are to—

13 (1) preserve scenic, scientific, historic, cultural,

14 natural, wilderness, watershed, riparian, wildlife,

15 threatened and endangered species, and other values

16 contributing to public enjoyment and biological di17 versity in the Spring Mountains of Nevada;

18 (2) ensure appropriate conservation and man19 agement of natural and recreation resources in the

20 Spring Mountains; and

21 (3) provide for the development of public recre22 ation opportunities in the Spring Mountains for the

23 enjoyment of present and future generations.
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF RECREATION AREA.

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

3 there is established the Spring Mountains National Recre4 ation Area in Nevada.

5 (b) BOUNDARIES AND MAP.—The Recreation Area

6 shall consist of approximately 316,000 acres of federally

7 owned lands and waters in the Toiyabe National Forest,

8 as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Spring Mountain

9 National Recreation Area—Proposed’’, numbered NV–

10 CH, and dated August 2, 1992.

11 (c) MAP FILING.—As soon as practicable after the

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file a

13 map of the Recreation Area with the Committee on En14 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Com15 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa16 tives.

17 (d) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—The map shall be on file

18 and available for public inspection in the offices of the

19 Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.

20 (e) DISCREPANCIES.—In the case of any discrepancy

21 between or among the acreage referred to in subsection

22 (b) and the map described in subsection (b), the map de23 scribed in subsection (b) shall control any question con24 cerning the boundaries of the Recreation Area.
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1 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the

3 Chief of the Forest Service, shall manage the Recreation

4 Area in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations

5 pertaining to the National Forest System and this Act to

6 provide for—

7 (1) the conservation of scenic, scientific, his8 toric, cultural, and other values contributing to pub9 lic enjoyment;

10 (2) the conservation of fish and wildlife popu11 lations and habitat, including the use of prescribed

12 fire to improve or maintain habitat;

13 (3) the protection of watersheds and the main14 tenance of free flowing streams and the quality of

15 ground and surface waters in accordance with appli16 cable Federal and State law;

17 (4) public outdoor recreation benefits, includ18 ing, but not limited to, hunting, fishing, trapping,

19 hiking, horseback riding, backpacking, rock climb20 ing, camping, and nature study;

21 (5) wilderness areas as designated by Congress;

22 and

23 (6) the management, utilization, and disposal of

24 natural resources in a manner compatible with the

25 purposes for which the Recreation Area is estab26 lished.
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1 (b) HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

3 the Secretary shall permit hunting, trapping, fishing,

4 and habitat management within the Recreation Area

5 in accordance with the laws of the United States and

6 the State of Nevada.

7 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary, after con8 sultation with the Nevada Department of Wildlife,

9 may designate zones where and periods when hunt10 ing, trapping, or fishing shall not be permitted for

11 reasons of public safety, administration, or public

12 use and enjoyment.

13 (c) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock may be per14 mitted to continue pursuant to Federal law and subject

15 to such reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as

16 the Secretary considers necessary.

17 (d) PREVENTIVE MEASURES.—Nothing in this Act

18 shall preclude such reasonable measures as the Secretary

19 considers necessary to protect the land and resources from

20 fire or insect or disease infestation in the Recreation Area.

21 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—

23 (1) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 3 full fiscal

24 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the

25 Secretary shall develop a general management plan
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1 for the Recreation Area as an amendment to the

2 Toiyabe National Forest Land and Resource Man3 agement Plan. Such an amendment shall reflect the

4 establishment of the Recreation Area and conform to

5 the provisions of this Act, except that nothing in this

6 Act shall require the Secretary to revise the Toiyabe

7 National Forest Land and Resource Management

8 Plan pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Range9 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.

10 The provisions of the national forest land and re11 source management plan relating to the recreation

12 area shall also be available to the public in a docu13 ment separate from the rest of the forest plan.

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The management plan de15 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be developed with full

16 public participation and shall include—

17 (A) implementation plans for a continuing

18 program of interpretation and public education

19 about the resources and values of the Recre20 ation Area;

21 (B) proposals for public facilities to be de22 veloped, expanded, or improved for the Recre23 ation Area, including one or more visitor cen24 ters to accommodate both local and out-of-State

25 visitors;
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1 (C) plans for the management of natural

2 and cultural resources in the Recreation Area,

3 with emphasis on the preservation and long4 term scientific use of archaeological resources,

5 with priority in development given to the en6 forcement of the Archaeological Resources Pro7 tection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.)

8 and the National Historic Preservation Act (16

9 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) within the Recreation Area;

10 (D) wildlife and fish resource management

11 plans for the Recreation Area prepared in con12 sultation with appropriate departments of the

13 State of Nevada and using other available stud14 ies of the Recreation Area;

15 (E) recreation management plans for the

16 Recreation Area in consultation with appro17 priate departments of the State of Nevada;

18 (F) wild horse and burro herd manage19 ment plans for the Recreation Area prepared in

20 consultation with appropriate departments and

21 commissions of the State of Nevada; and

22 (G) an inventory of all lands within the

23 Recreation Area not presently managed as Na24 tional Forest lands that will permit the Sec25 retary to evaluate possible future acquisitions.
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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—The plans for the man2 agement of natural and cultural resources described

3 in paragraph (2)(C) shall be prepared in consulta4 tion with the Advisory Council on Historic Preserva5 tion established by title II of the National Historic

6 Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470i et seq.) and the

7 Nevada State Department of Conservation and Nat8 ural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation

9 and Archaeology.

10 (b) WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS.—

11 (1) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The general manage12 ment plan for the Recreation Area shall include the

13 recommendations of the Bureau of Land Manage14 ment as to the suitability or nonsuitability for pres15 ervation as wilderness of the 89,270 acres identified

16 as the Mt. Stirling, La Madre Mountains, and Pine

17 Creek Wilderness Study Areas on the Bureau of

18 Land Management Wilderness Status Map, dated

19 March 1990.

20 (2) MANAGEMENT.—Pending submission of a

21 recommendation and until otherwise directed by Act

22 of Congress, the Secretary, acting through the Chief

23 of the Forest Service, shall manage the lands and

24 waters within the wilderness study areas referred to

25 in paragraph (1) so as to maintain their potential
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1 for inclusion within the National Wilderness Preser2 vation System.

3 SEC. 7. ACQUISITION OF LANDS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to ac5 quire by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated

6 funds, exchange, bequest, or otherwise any lands, or lesser

7 interests therein, including mineral interests, water rights,

8 and scenic easements, which the Secretary determines are

9 needed for the purposes of this Act.

10 (b) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LANDS.—Any

11 lands, waters, or interests in lands or waters located with12 in the Recreation Area that are acquired by the United

13 States or administratively transferred to the Secretary

14 after the date of enactment of this Act shall be incor15 porated into the Recreation Area and managed in accord16 ance with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to

17 the National Forest System and the provisions of this Act.

18 (c) LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND.—For

19 purposes of section 7 of the Land and Water Conservation

20 Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–9), where such bound21 aries are established for units of the National Forest Sys22 tem, such established boundaries shall be treated as if they

23 were the boundaries of the National Forests as of January

24 1, 1965. Money appropriated from the Land and Water

25 Conservation Fund shall be available for the acquisition
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1 of lands, waters, and interests therein in furtherance of

2 the purposes of this Act.

3 SEC. 8. WITHDRAWAL.

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

5 and except for lands described in subsection (b), all Fed6 eral lands within the Recreation Area and all lands, wa7 ters, and interests in lands and waters within the Recre8 ation Area that are acquired by the United States after

9 the date of enactment of this Act are withdrawn from—

10 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal

11 under the public land laws;

12 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining

13 laws; and

14 (3) operation under the mineral leasing and

15 geothermal leasing laws.

16 (b) EXCEPTION.—The lands referred to in subsection

17 (a) are described as follows:

W1⁄2E1⁄2 and W1 18 ⁄2, Sec. 27, T23S, R58E, Mt. Dia19 blo Meridian.

20 SEC. 9. COORDINATED MANAGEMENT.

21 The Secretary shall coordinate the management of

22 the Recreation Area with the management of all proximate

23 lands in a manner that best meets the present and future

24 needs of the people of the United States.
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1 SEC. 10. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.

2 In order to encourage unified and cost-effective man3 agement and interpretation of natural and cultural re4 sources in southern Nevada, the Secretary may enter into

5 cooperative agreements with other Federal, State, and

6 local agencies, and with nonprofit entities, that provide for

7 the management and interpretation of natural and cul8 tural resources in southern Nevada.

9 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

11 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives April 20, 1993.

Attest:

Clerk.