I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1356

To redesignate the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument as

a national park, to create the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National

Conservation Area, to include the Gunnison River in the Nation’s Wild

and Scenic River System, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1993

Mr. MCINNIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To redesignate the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National

Monument as a national park, to create the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Conservation Area, to include the Gunnison River in the Nation’s Wild and Scenic River System, 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 ‘‘Black Canyon

5 Conservation Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 The Congress finds and declares that:
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1 (1) The resources within the Black Canyon of

2 the Gunnison National Monument and on the adja3 cent Federal lands are nationally and internationally

4 significant.

5 (2) These resources offer exceptional opportuni6 ties to expand and interpret ecological components

7 and geologic features.

8 (3) These resources offer a superlative oppor9 tunity for recreation.

10 (4) These resources coincide with, compliment,

11 and expand the purposes for which the Black Can12 yon of the Gunnison National Monument was estab13 lished.

14 (5) Therefore, given that the historic boundary

15 of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National

16 Monument was statutorily established and enlarged

17 by Public Law 98–357.

18 (6) The lands in the lower Gunnison Gorge

19 have been studied and recommended for wilderness

20 designation by the Bureau of Land Management in

21 1987.

22 (7) The Gunnison River was studied by the Bu23 reau of Land Management in 1979 and was found

24 to be eligible for wild and scenic designation.
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1 (8) The fishery in the Gunnison River that

2 flows through the Gunnison Gorge has been recog3 nized by the State of Colorado as a ‘‘Gold Medal

4 Stream’’ and ‘‘Wild Trout Water’’.

5 (9) The creation of a national park, national

6 conservation area and the designation of the Gunni7 son River as a wild and scenic river is appropriate

8 and necessary to protect and enhance the Black

9 Canyon, the Gunnison Gorge, and the surrounding

10 natural resources for future generations.

11 SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AS

12 A NATIONAL PARK.

13 (a) REDESIGNATION.—In order to protect, interpret,

14 and promote the spectacular gorges formed by the erosive

15 work of the Gunnison River, the Black Canyon of the Gun16 nison National Monument is hereby redesignated as the

17 Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

18 (b) AREA INCLUDED.—The national park shall con19 sist of the existing Black Canyon of the Gunnison Na20 tional Monument. Any funds available for the purposes of

21 the monument shall be made available for the purposes

22 of the park. All valid existing rights within the monument

23 shall be included in the national park.

24 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of the Interior

25 (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) shall administer
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1 the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in ac2 cordance with this Act and with the provisions of law gen3 erally applicable to units of the National Park System, in4 cluding, but not limited to, the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to

5 establish a National Park Service, and for other pur6 poses’’, approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16

7 U.S.C. 1–4), and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat.

8 666; 16 U.S.C. 461–467).

9 (d) WATER RIGHT.—Designation of the Black Can10 yon of the Gunnison National Park shall not constitute

11 a reservation of water, water rights, or instream flows be12 yond the water right described in section 6(c) of this Act.

13 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BLACK CANYON OF THE

14 GUNNISON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to protect that area

16 in Colorado containing the Gunnison Gorge and other

17 unique and nationally important recreational, geological,

18 ecological, scenic, educational, scientific, and wilderness

19 resources of the public lands in and around the lower Gun20 nison Gorge for the benefit and enjoyment of future gen21 erations, there is hereby established the Gunnison Gorge

22 National Conservation Area (hereinafter referred to as the

23 ‘‘conservation area’’).

24 (b) AREA INCLUDED.—The conservation area shall

25 consist of approximately sixty-four thousand one hundred
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1 and thirty-nine acres as generally depicted on the map en2 titled ‘‘Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area’’

3 numbered and dated . The map shall

4 be on file and available for inspection in the offices of the

5 Director of the Bureau of Land Management of the

6 Department of the Interior.

7 (c) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

9 file a legal description of the conservation area designated

10 under this section with the Committee on Energy and Nat11 ural Resources of the United States Senate and the Com12 mittee on Natural Resources of the United States House

13 of Representatives. Such legal description shall have the

14 same force and effect as if included in this Act, except

15 that the Secretary may correct clerical and typographical

16 errors in such legal description. The legal description shall

17 be on file and available for public inspection in the offices

18 of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management,

19 Department of the Interior.

20 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary, acting

21 through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management,

22 shall manage the conservation area to protect its resources

23 in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land Manage24 ment and Policy Act of 1976 and other applicable provi25 sions of law.
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1 (e) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,

2 all Federal lands within the conservation area and all

3 lands and interests therein which are hereafter acquired

4 by the United States are hereby withdrawn from all forms

5 of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land

6 laws and from location, entry, and patent under the min7 ing laws, and from operation of the mineral leasing and

8 geothermal leasing laws and all amendments thereto.

9 (f) HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING.—The Sec10 retary shall permit hunting, trapping, and fishing within

11 the conservation area in accordance with applicable laws

12 and regulations of the United States and the State of Col13 orado; except that the Secretary, after consultation with

14 the Colorado Division of Wildlife, may issue regulations

15 designating zones where and establishing periods when no

16 hunting or trapping shall be permitted for reasons of

17 public safety, administration, or public use and enjoyment.

18 (g) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock in the con19 servation area designated by this Act, where established

20 prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be

21 administered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the

22 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and section 108

23 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to designate certain National

24 Forest System lands in the State of Colorado, South Da25 kota, Missouri, South Carolina, and Louisiana for inclu-
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1 sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and

2 for other purposes’’ (Public Law 96–560).

3 (h) WATER RIGHTS.—Designation of the conserva4 tion area shall not constitute a reservation of water, water

5 rights or instream flows beyond the water right described

6 in section 6(c) of this Act.

7 (i) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.—The use of motorized ve8 hicles in the conservation area shall be allowed on routes

9 specifically designated for such use as part of the manage10 ment plan prepared pursuant to section 7 of this Act, ex11 cept where needed for administrative or emergency pur12 poses. The Secretary shall have the power to implement

13 such reasonable limits to visitation and use of the con14 servation area as he finds appropriate for the protection

15 of the resources of the conservation area, including requir16 ing permits for public use, or closing portions of the

17 conservation area to public use.

18 (j) ENFORCEMENT.—Any person who violates the

19 provisions of this Act or any regulation promulgated by

20 the Secretary to implement this Act shall be subject to

21 a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to one year,

22 or both.
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1 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS WITHIN THE CON2 SERVATION AREA.

3 (a) DESIGNATION.—Within the conservation area

4 there are hereby designated as wilderness, and as a com5 ponent of the National Wilderness Preservation System,

6 the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness of approximately twenty7 one thousand thirty-eight acres, as generally depicted on

8 the map entitled the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area

9 numbered and dated . The map

10 shall be on file and available for inspection in the offices

11 of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, De12 partment of the Interior.

13 (b) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

15 shall file a legal description of the wilderness area des16 ignated by this Act with the Committee on Natural Re17 sources of the United States House of Representatives and

18 with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

19 the United States Senate. Such legal description shall

20 have the same force and effect as if included in this Act,

21 except that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo22 graphical errors in such legal description. The legal de23 scription shall be on file and available for public inspection

24 in the offices of the Director of the Bureau of Land

25 Management, Department of the Interior.
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1 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing

2 rights, the wilderness area designated by this Act shall

3 be administered by the Secretary in accordance with the

4 provisions of the Wilderness Act (78 Stat. 890; 16 U.S.C.

5 131), governing areas designated by that Act as wilder6 ness.

7 (d) NO BUFFER ZONES.—The Congress does not in8 tend for the designation of this wilderness area to lead

9 to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones

10 around any such wilderness area. The fact that

11 nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from

12 areas within a wilderness shall not, of itself, preclude such

13 activities or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness

14 areas.

15 (e) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—As provided in paragraph

16 (7) of section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act, nothing in this

17 Act or in the Wilderness Act shall be construed as affect18 ing the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State of Colo19 rado with respect to wildlife and fish on the public lands

20 located in that State.

21 (f) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock in the con22 servation area designated by this Act, where established

23 prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be

24 administered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the

25 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and section 108
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1 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to designate certain National

2 Forest System lands in the State of Colorado, South Da3 kota, Missouri, South Carolina, and Louisiana for inclu4 sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and

5 for other purposes’’ (Public Law 96–560).

6 (g) WATER RIGHTS.—Designation of the Gunnison

7 Gorge Wilderness shall not constitute a reservation of

8 water, water rights or instream flows beyond the water

9 right described in section 6(c) of this Act.

10 SEC. 6. DESIGNATING THE GUNNISON RIVER AS A WILD

11 AND SCENIC RIVER.

12 (a) DESIGNATION.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and

13 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by add14 ing the following new paragraph at the end:

15 ‘‘( ) Gunnison, Colorado—the Gunnison River from

16 the upstream boundary of the Black Canyon of the Gunni17 son National Monument down stream to the confluence

18 of the North Fork of the Gunnison River to be adminis19 tered by the Secretary of the Interior.’’.

20 (b) WATER DEVELOPMENT.—For the purposes of

21 this Act, the storage and diversion of water outside of the

22 designated reach shall not be considered to have an ad23 verse effect on the values for which the reach was estab24 lished.
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1 (c) WATER RIGHTS.—No water rights or the reserva2 tion of water which would expand on the existing reserved

3 water right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Na4 tional Monument, shall be created by this designation.

5 SEC. 7. GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLANS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within three full fiscal years fol7 lowing the fiscal year of enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary shall develop and transmit to the Committee on

9 Natural Resources of the United States House of Rep10 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural

11 Resources of the United States Senate, a comprehensive

12 plan for the long-range protection and management of the

13 conservation area which shall describe the appropriate

14 uses and development of the conservation area consistent

15 with the purposes of this Act. This plan shall incorporate

16 appropriate decisions contained in the Uncompahgre

17 Basin Resource Management Plan (completed in Septem18 ber, 1988), the Gunnison Gorge Recreation Area Manage19 ment Plan (completed on July 24, 1985 and supplemented

20 on July 21, 1988). The conservation area plan shall also

21 incorporate wildlife habitat management plans that have

22 been prepared for the area, and will be prepared in close

23 consultation with appropriate agencies of the State of

24 Colorado and consider previous studies of the area.
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1 (b) PUBLIC LANDS.—For the purpose of this Act, the

2 term ‘‘public lands’’ shall have the same meaning as such

3 term has when used in the Federal Land Policy and

4 Management Act of 1976.

5 (c) MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED LANDS.—Any non6 Federal lands or interests within or adjacent to the bound7 aries of the conservation area which after the date of en8 actment of this Act may be acquired by the United States

9 shall be incorporated into the conservation area, and shall

10 be managed in accordance with all the provisions of this

11 Act and other laws applicable to the conservation area.

12 (d) LIMITATIONS.—No federally owned lands located

13 within the boundaries of the conservation area shall be

14 transferred out of Federal ownership, or be placed in

15 trust, by exchange or otherwise.

16 SEC. 8. APPROPRIATIONS.

17 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such

18 sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of

19 this Act.

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