II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2956

To establish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and the Black

Ridge Canyons Wilderness, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27, 2000

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

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation

Area and the Black Ridge Canyons 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 ‘‘Colorado Canyons Na5 tional Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wil6 derness Act of 2000’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that certain areas lo9 cated in the Grand Valley in Mesa County, Colorado, and

10 Grand County, Utah, should be protected and enhanced
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1 for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future gen2 erations. These areas include the following:

3 (1) The areas making up the Black Ridge and

4 Ruby Canyons of the Grand Valley and Rabbit Val5 ley, which contain unique and valuable scenic, rec6 reational, multiple use opportunities (including graz7 ing), paleontological, natural, and wildlife compo8 nents enhanced by the rural western setting of the

9 area, provide extensive opportunities for recreational

10 activities, and are publicly used for hiking, camping,

11 and grazing, and are worthy of additional protection

12 as a national conservation area.

13 (2) The Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Study

14 Area has wilderness value and offers unique geologi15 cal, paleontological, scientific, and recreational re16 sources.

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to con18 serve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment

19 of present and future generations the unique and nation20 ally important values of the public lands described in sec21 tion 4(b), including geological, cultural, paleontological,

22 natural, scientific, recreational, environmental, biological,

23 wilderness, wildlife education, and scenic resources of such

24 public lands, by establishing the Colorado Canyons Na-
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1 tional Conservation Area and the Black Ridge Canyons

2 Wilderness in the State of Colorado and the State of Utah.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) CONSERVATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Con6 servation Area’’ means the Colorado Canyons Na7 tional Conservation Area established by section 4(a).

8 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the

9 Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area Advi10 sory Council established under section 8.

11 (3) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage12 ment plan’’ means the management plan developed

13 for the Conservation Area under section 6(h).

14 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en15 titled ‘‘Proposed Colorado Canyons National Con16 servation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness

17 Area’’ and dated July 18, 2000.

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

19 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di20 rector of the Bureau of Land Management.

21 (6) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘‘Wilderness’’

22 means the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness so des23 ignated in section 5.
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1 SEC. 4. COLORADO CANYONS NATIONAL CONSERVATION

2 AREA.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Colorado

4 Canyons National Conservation Area in the State of Colo5 rado and the State of Utah.

6 (b) AREAS INCLUDED.—The Conservation Area shall

7 consist of approximately 122,300 acres of public land as

8 generally depicted on the Map.

9 SEC. 5. BLACK RIDGE CANYONS WILDERNESS DESIGNA10 TION.

11 Certain lands in Mesa County, Colorado, and Grand

12 County, Utah, which comprise approximately 75,550 acres

13 as generally depicted on the Map, are hereby designated

14 as wilderness and therefore as a component of the Na15 tional Wilderness Preservation System. Such component

16 shall be known as the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness.

17 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT.

18 (a) CONSERVATION AREA.—The Secretary shall man19 age the Conservation Area in a manner that—

20 (1) conserves, protects, and enhances the re21 sources of the Conservation Area specified in section

22 2(b); and

23 (2) is in accordance with—

24 (A) the Federal Land Policy and Manage25 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
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1 (B) other applicable law, including this

2 Act.

3 (b) USES.—The Secretary shall allow only such uses

4 of the Conservation Area as the Secretary determines will

5 further the purposes for which the Conservation Area is

6 established.

7 (c) WITHDRAWALS.—Subject to valid existing rights,

8 all Federal land within the Conservation Area and the Wil9 derness and all land and interests in land acquired for the

10 Conservation Area or the Wilderness by the United States

11 are withdrawn from—

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

13 under the public land laws;

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

15 laws; and

16 (3) the operation of the mineral leasing, min17 eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all

18 amendments thereto.

19 Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect dis20 cretionary authority of the Secretary under other Federal

21 laws to grant, issue, or renew rights-of-way or other land

22 use authorizations consistent with the other provisions of

23 this Act.

24 (d) OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE USE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), use of motorized vehicles in the Conserva3 tion Area—

4 (A) before the effective date of a manage5 ment plan under subsection (h), shall be al6 lowed only on roads and trails designated for

7 use of motor vehicles in the management plan

8 that applies on the date of the enactment of

9 this Act to the public lands in the Conservation

10 Area; and

11 (B) after the effective date of a manage12 ment plan under subsection (h), shall be al13 lowed only on roads and trails designated for

14 use of motor vehicles in that management plan.

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE AND EMERGENCY RE16 SPONSE USE.—Paragraph (1) shall not limit the use

17 of motor vehicles in the Conservation Area as needed

18 for administrative purposes or to respond to an

19 emergency.

20 (e) WILDERNESS.—Subject to valid existing rights,

21 lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be man22 aged by the Secretary, as appropriate, in accordance with

23 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act,

24 except that, with respect to any wilderness areas des25 ignated by this Act, any reference in the Wilderness Act
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1 to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed

2 to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.

3 (f) HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Hunting, trapping, and fish5 ing shall be allowed within the Conservation Area

6 and the Wilderness in accordance with applicable

7 laws and regulations of the United States and the

8 States of Colorado and Utah.

9 (2) AREA AND TIME CLOSURES.—The head of

10 the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in reference to

11 land within the State of Colorado), the head of the

12 Utah Division of Wildlife (in reference to land within

13 the State of Utah), or the Secretary after consulta14 tion with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in ref15 erence to land within the State of Colorado) or the

16 head of the Utah Division of Wildlife (in reference

17 to land within the State of Utah), may issue regula18 tions designating zones where, and establishing lim19 ited periods when, hunting, trapping, or fishing shall

20 be prohibited in the Conservation Area or the Wil21 derness for reasons of public safety, administration,

22 or public use and enjoyment.

23 (g) GRAZING.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by para25 graph (2), the Secretary shall issue and administer
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1 any grazing leases or permits in the Conservation

2 Area and the Wilderness in accordance with the

3 same laws (including regulations) and Executive or4 ders followed by the Secretary in issuing and admin5 istering grazing leases and permits on other land

6 under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Man7 agement.

8 (2) GRAZING IN WILDERNESS.—Grazing of live9 stock in the Wilderness shall be administered in ac10 cordance with the provisions of section 4(d)(4) of

11 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), in ac12 cordance with the guidelines set forth in Appendix A

13 of House Report 101–405 of the 101st Congress.

14 (h) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

17 shall develop a comprehensive management plan for

18 the long-range protection and management of the

19 Conservation Area and the Wilderness and the lands

20 described in paragraph (2)(E).

21 (2) PURPOSES.—The management plan shall—

22 (A) describe the appropriate uses and

23 management of the Conservation Area and the

24 Wilderness;
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1 (B) take into consideration any informa2 tion developed in studies of the land within the

3 Conservation Area or the Wilderness;

4 (C) provide for the continued management

5 of the utility corridor, Black Ridge Communica6 tions Site, and the Federal Aviation Adminis7 tration site as such for the land designated on

8 the Map as utility corridor, Black Ridge Com9 munications Site, and the Federal Aviation Ad10 ministration site;

11 (D) take into consideration the historical

12 involvement of the local community in the inter13 pretation and protection of the resources of the

14 Conservation Area and the Wilderness, as well

15 as the Ruby Canyon/Black Ridge Integrated

16 Resource Management Plan, dated March

17 1998, which was the result of collaborative ef18 forts on the part of the Bureau of Land Man19 agement and the local community; and

20 (E) include all public lands between the

21 boundary of the Conservation Area and the

22 edge of the Colorado River and, on such lands,

23 the Secretary shall allow only such recreational

24 or other uses as are consistent with this Act.
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1 (i) NO BUFFER ZONES.—The Congress does not in2 tend for the establishment of the Conservation Area or

3 the Wilderness to lead to the creation of protective perim4 eters or buffer zones around the Conservation Area or the

5 Wilderness. The fact that there may be activities or uses

6 on lands outside the Conservation Area or the Wilderness

7 that would not be allowed in the Conservation Area or the

8 Wilderness shall not preclude such activities or uses on

9 such lands up to the boundary of the Conservation Area

10 or the Wilderness consistent with other applicable laws.

11 (j) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire

13 non-federally owned land within the exterior bound14 aries of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness

15 only through purchase from a willing seller, ex16 change, or donation.

17 (2) MANAGEMENT.—Land acquired under para18 graph (1) shall be managed as part of the Conserva19 tion Area or the Wilderness, as the case may be, in

20 accordance with this Act.

21 (k) INTERPRETIVE FACILITIES OR SITES.—The Sec22 retary may establish minimal interpretive facilities or sites

23 in cooperation with other public or private entities as the

24 Secretary considers appropriate. Any facilities or sites
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1 shall be designed to protect the resources referred to in

2 section 2(b).

3 (l) WATER RIGHTS.—

4 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

5 (A) the lands designated as wilderness by

6 this Act are located at the headwaters of the

7 streams and rivers on those lands, with few, if

8 any, actual or proposed water resource facilities

9 located upstream from such lands and few, if

10 any, opportunities for diversion, storage, or

11 other uses of water occurring outside such

12 lands that would adversely affect the wilderness

13 or other values of such lands;

14 (B) the lands designated as wilderness by

15 this Act generally are not suitable for use for

16 development of new water resource facilities, or

17 for the expansion of existing facilities;

18 (C) it is possible to provide for proper

19 management and protection of the wilderness

20 and other values of such lands in ways different

21 from those utilized in other legislation desig22 nating as wilderness lands not sharing the at23 tributes of the lands designated as wilderness

24 by this Act.

25 (2) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—
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1 (A) Nothing in this Act shall constitute or

2 be construed to constitute either an express or

3 implied reservation of any water or water rights

4 with respect to the lands designated as a na5 tional conservation area or as wilderness by this

6 Act.

7 (B) Nothing in this Act shall affect any

8 conditional or absolute water rights in the State

9 of Colorado existing on the date of the enact10 ment of this Act.

11 (C) Nothing in this subsection shall be

12 construed as establishing a precedent with re13 gard to any future national conservation area

14 or wilderness designations.

15 (D) Nothing in this Act shall be construed

16 as limiting, altering, modifying, or amending

17 any of the interstate compacts or equitable ap18 portionment decrees that apportion water

19 among and between the State of Colorado and

20 other States.

21 (3) COLORADO WATER LAW.—The Secretary

22 shall follow the procedural and substantive require23 ments of the law of the State of Colorado in order

24 to obtain and hold any new water rights with respect

25 to the Conservation Area and the Wilderness.
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1 (4) NEW PROJECTS.—

2 (A) As used in this paragraph, the term

3 ‘‘water resource facility’’ means irrigation and

4 pumping facilities, reservoirs, water conserva5 tion works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines,

6 wells, hydropower projects, and transmission

7 and other ancillary facilities, and other water

8 diversion, storage, and carriage structures.

9 Such term does not include any such facilities

10 related to or used for the purpose of livestock

11 grazing.

12 (B) Except as otherwise provided by sec13 tion 6(g) or other provisions of this Act, on and

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, nei15 ther the President nor any other officer, em16 ployee, or agent of the United States shall fund,

17 assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for

18 the development of any new water resource fa19 cility within the wilderness area designated by

20 this Act.

21 (C) Except as provided in this paragraph,

22 nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect

23 or limit the use, operation, maintenance, repair,

24 modification, or replacement of water resource

25 facilities in existence on the date of the enact-
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1 ment of this Act within the boundaries of the

2 Wilderness.

3 (5) BOUNDARIES ALONG COLORADO RIVER.—

4 (A) Neither the Conservation Area nor the Wilder5 ness shall include any part of the Colorado River to

6 the 100-year high water mark.

7 (B) Nothing in this Act shall affect the author8 ity that the Secretary may or may not have to man9 age recreational uses on the Colorado River, except

10 as such authority may be affected by compliance

11 with paragraph (3). Nothing in this Act shall be

12 construed to affect the authority of the Secretary to

13 manage the public lands between the boundary of

14 the Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado

15 River.

16 (C) Subject to valid existing rights, all lands

17 owned by the Federal Government between the 100-

18 year high water mark on each shore of the Colorado

19 River, as designated on the Map from the line la20 beled ‘‘Line A’’ on the east to the boundary between

21 the States of Colorado and Utah on the west, are

22 hereby withdrawn from—

23 (i) all forms of entry, appropriation, or dis24 posal under the public land laws;
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1 (ii) location, entry, and patent under the

2 mining laws; and

3 (iii) the operation of the mineral leasing,

4 mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.

5 SEC. 7. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub8 mit to Congress a copy of the Map and a legal description

9 of the Conservation Area and of the Wilderness.

10 (b) FORCE AND EFFECT.—The Map and legal de11 scriptions shall have the same force and effect as if in12 cluded in this Act, except that the Secretary may correct

13 clerical and typographical errors in the Map and the legal

14 descriptions.

15 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the Map and

16 the legal descriptions shall be on file and available for pub17 lic inspection in—

18 (1) the Office of the Director of the Bureau of

19 Land Management;

20 (2) the Grand Junction District Office of the

21 Bureau of Land Management in Colorado;

22 (3) the appropriate office of the Bureau of

23 Land Management in Colorado, if the Grand Junc24 tion District Office is not deemed the appropriate of25 fice; and
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1 (4) the appropriate office of the Bureau of

2 Land Management in Utah.

3 (d) MAP CONTROLLING.—Subject to section 6(l)(3),

4 in the case of a discrepancy between the Map and the de5 scriptions, the Map shall control.

6 SEC. 8. ADVISORY COUNCIL.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after

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

9 establish an advisory council to be known as the ‘‘Colorado

10 Canyons National Conservation Area Advisory Council’’.

11 (b) DUTY.—The Council shall advise the Secretary

12 with respect to preparation and implementation of the

13 management plan, including budgetary matters, for the

14 Conservation Area and the Wilderness.

15 (c) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Council shall be subject

16 to—

17 (1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

18 U.S.C. App.); and

19 (2) the Federal Land Policy and Management

20 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

21 (d) MEMBERS.—The Council shall consist of 10

22 members to be appointed by the Secretary including, to

23 the extent practicable:

24 (1) A member of or nominated by the Mesa

25 County Commission.
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1 (2) A member nominated by the permittees

2 holding grazing allotments within the Conservation

3 Area or the Wilderness.

4 (3) A member of or nominated by the North5 west Resource Advisory Council.

6 (4) Seven members residing in, or within rea7 sonable proximity to, Mesa County, Colorado, with

8 recognized backgrounds reflecting—

9 (A) the purposes for which the Conserva10 tion Area or Wilderness was established; and

11 (B) the interests of the stakeholders that

12 are affected by the planning and management

13 of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness.

14 SEC. 9. PUBLIC ACCESS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall continue to

16 allow private landowners reasonable access to inholdings

17 in the Conservation Area and Wilderness.

18 (b) GLADE PARK.—The Secretary shall continue to

19 allow public right of access, including commercial vehicles,

20 to Glade Park, Colorado, in accordance with the decision

21 in Board of County Commissioners of Mesa County v.

22 Watt (634 F. Supp. 1265 (D.Colo.; May 2, 1986)).

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