I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3914 

To designate certain lands in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan Counties, 

Colorado, as wilderness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2009 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To designate certain lands in San Miguel, Ouray, and San 

Juan Counties, 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 ‘‘San Juan Mountains 

5 Wilderness Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 

9 means— 


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1 (A) lands designated as wilderness under 

2 section 3 or section 4; and 

3 (B) lands designated as a special manage4 ment area under section 4. 

5 (2) NONCONFORMING USE.—The term ‘‘non6 conforming use’’ means any commercial helicopter7 assisted skiing or snowboarding activities within the 

8 lands designated as a special management area 

9 under section 4 that have been authorized by the 

10 Secretary as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

12 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag13 riculture, as appropriate. 

14 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

15 of Colorado. 

16 SEC. 3. ADDITIONS TO THE WILDERNESS PRESERVATION 

17 SYSTEM. 

18 (a) DESIGNATION.—In accordance with the Wilder19 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following areas in 

20 the State are designated as wilderness areas and as com21 ponents of the National Wilderness Preservation System: 

22 (1) Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, 

23 Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests com24 prising approximately 3,170 acres, as generally de25 picted on a map titled ‘‘Proposed Wilson, Sunshine, 


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1 Black Face and San Bernardo Additions to the Liz2 ard Head Wilderness’’, dated May 2009, and which 

3 are hereby incorporated into the Lizard Head Wil4 derness area. 

5 (2) Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, 

6 Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests com7 prising approximately 8,375 acres, as generally de8 picted on a map titled ‘‘Proposed Liberty Bell and 

9 Last Dollar Additions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilder10 ness’’, dated May 2009, and which are hereby incor11 porated into the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness area. 

12 (3) Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, 

13 Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests com14 prising approximately 13,224 acres, as generally de15 picted on a map titled ‘‘Proposed Whitehouse Addi16 tions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness’’, dated May 

17 2009, and which are hereby incorporated into the 

18 Mt. Sneffels Wilderness area. 

19 (4)(A) Certain lands in the San Juan Resource 

20 Area of the Bureau of Land Management com21 prising approximately 8,614 acres, as generally de22 picted on a map titled ‘‘Proposed McKenna Peak 

23 Wilderness’’, dated May 2009, and which shall be 

24 known as the McKenna Peak Wilderness. 


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1 (B) The lands designated under subparagraph 

2 (A) shall be administered as a component of the Na3 tional Landscape Conservation System. 

4 (b) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

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

7 shall file a map and a legal description of each wil8 derness area designated by this Act with— 

9 (A) the Committee on Natural Resources 

10 of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

12 Resources of the Senate. 

13 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—A map and legal descrip14 tion filed under paragraph (1) shall have the same 

15 force and effect as if included in this Act, except 

16 that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo17 graphical errors in the map and legal description. 

18 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and 

19 legal description filed under paragraph (1) shall be 

20 filed and made available for public inspection in the 

21 Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Man22 agement and in the Office of the Chief of the Forest 

23 Service, as appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 4. SHEEP MOUNTAIN SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA. 

2 (a) DESIGNATION.—Certain lands in the Grand 

3 Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison and San Juan Na4 tional Forests comprising approximately 21,697 acres as 

5 generally depicted on a map titled ‘‘Proposed Sheep Moun6 tain Special Management Area’’ and dated May 2009, are 

7 hereby designated as the Sheep Mountain Special Manage8 ment Area. 

9 (b) MAPS AND DESCRIPTIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

12 shall file maps and legal descriptions of the Federal 

13 land described in subsection (a) with— 

14 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

15 Resources of the Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

17 of the House of Representatives. 

18 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—The maps and legal de19 scriptions filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 

20 same force and effect as if included in this Act, ex21 cept that the Secretary may correct typographical 

22 errors in the maps and legal descriptions. 

23 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and 

24 legal description filed under paragraph (1) shall be 

25 on file and available for public inspection in the ap26 propriate offices of the United States Forest Service. 


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1 (c) MANAGEMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Until Congress determines 

3 otherwise, activities within the area designated in 

4 subsection (a) shall be managed by the Secretary of 

5 Agriculture so as to maintain the area’s presently 

6 existing wilderness character and potential for inclu7 sion in the National Wilderness Preservation Sys8 tem. 

9 (2) PROHIBITIONS.—The following shall be pro10 hibited on the Federal land described in subsection 

11 (a): 

12 (A) Permanent roads. 

13 (B) Except as necessary to meet the min14 imum requirements for the administration of 

15 the Federal land and to protect public health 

16 and safety— 

17 (i) the use of motorized or mechanized 

18 vehicles, except as described in paragraph 

19 (3); and 

20 (ii) the establishment of temporary 

21 roads. 

22 (3) ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 

23 may allow activities, including helisking, that have 

24 been authorized as of the date of the enactment of 

25 this Act to continue within the area designated in 


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1 subsection (a). The designation under subsection (a) 

2 shall not impact future permit processes relating to 

3 such activities. 

4 (4) APPLICABLE LAW.—Any uses of the Fed5 eral land described in subsection (a), including ac6 tivities described in paragraph (3), shall be in ac7 cordance with applicable law. 

8 (d) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

9 the Federal land described in subsection (a) is withdrawn 

10 from— 

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

12 under the public land laws; 

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

14 laws; and 

15 (3) disposition under all laws relating to min16 eral and energy leasing. 

17 (e) DESIGNATION AS WILDERNESS.—Lands de18 scribed in subsection (a) shall be designated as wilderness 

19 on the date on which the Secretary publishes in the Fed20 eral Register notice that the nonconforming use has termi21 nated. 

22 (f) ADMINISTRATION AS WILDERNESS.—Upon its 

23 designation as wilderness under subsection (e), the Sheep 

24 Mountain Special Management Area shall be— 


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1 (1) known as the Sheep Mountain Wilderness; 

2 and 

3 (2) administered in accordance with the Wilder4 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) and section 3. 

5 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (1) Subject to valid rights in existence on the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, land designated 

9 as wilderness under section 3 or section 4 shall be 

10 administered by the Secretary in accordance with— 

11 (A) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 

12 seq.); and 

13 (B) this Act. 

14 (2) The Secretary may continue to authorize 

15 the competitive running event permitted since 1992 

16 in the vicinity of the boundaries of the Sheep Moun17 tain Special Management Area designated by section 

18 4(a) and the Liberty Bell addition to the Mt. 

19 Sneffels Wilderness designated by section 3(a)(2) in 

20 a manner compatible with the preservation of such 

21 areas as wilderness. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE WILDERNESS ACT.— 

23 With respect to land designated as wilderness under sec24 tion 3 or section 4, any reference in the Wilderness Act 

25 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date of the WilVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:34 Oct 23, 2009 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3914.IH H3914

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1 derness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act or the date of the Secretary 

3 designating the land as wilderness. 

4 (c) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this Act shall 

5 affect the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with 

6 respect to wildlife and fish. 

7 (d) NO BUFFER ZONES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall 

9 create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around 

10 covered land. 

11 (2) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE WILDERNESS.—The 

12 fact that a nonwilderness activity or use can be seen 

13 or heard from within covered land shall not preclude 

14 the conduct of the activity or use outside the bound15 ary of the covered land. 

16 (e) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist17 ence on the date of the enactment of this Act, covered 

18 land is withdrawn from all forms of— 

19 (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under pub20 lic land laws; 

21 (2) location, entry, and patent under mining 

22 laws; and 

23 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min24 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 


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1 (f) ACQUIRED LAND.—Any land or interest in land 

2 located inside the boundaries of covered land that is ac3 quired by the United States after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act shall become part of the relevant wilder5 ness or special management area and shall be managed 

6 in accordance with this Act and other applicable law. 

7 (g) GRAZING.—Grazing in covered land shall be ad8 ministered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the Wil9 derness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), as further inter10 preted by section 108 of Public Law 96–560, and the 

11 guidelines set forth in appendix A of the Report of the 

12 Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany 

13 H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 101–405). 

14 (h) AMES HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT.—The inclu15 sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System or 

16 designation under section 4 of this Act as a Special Man17 agement Area as described in section 4 of this Act, shall 

18 not be construed to interfere with the operation and main19 tenance of the Ames Hydroelectric Project, as currently 

20 licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

21 or as reauthorized in the future, including reasonable use 

22 of National Wilderness Preservation System lands or Spe23 cial Management Area for any necessary repair or replace24 ment of existing facilities, transport of water and aerial 

25 or land access. All means of access to the project that are 


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1 currently permitted by the Secretary on the date of enact2 ment of this Act shall be maintained. 

3 SEC. 6. WATER. 

4 (a) FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND DEFINITION.— 

5 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

6 (A) the lands designated as wilderness or 

7 a Special Management Area by this Act are lo8 cated at the headwaters of the streams and riv9 ers on those lands, with few, if any, actual or 

10 proposed water resource facilities located up11 stream from such lands and few, if any, oppor12 tunities for diversion, storage, or other uses of 

13 water occurring outside such lands that would 

14 adversely affect the wilderness values of such 

15 lands; 

16 (B) the lands designated as wilderness or 

17 Special Management Area by this Act are not 

18 suitable for use for development of new water 

19 resource facilities, or for the expansion of exist20 ing facilities; and 

21 (C) therefore, it is possible to provide for 

22 proper management and protection of the wil23 derness value of such lands in ways different 

24 from those utilized in other legislation desig25 nating as wilderness lands not sharing the atVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:34 Oct 23, 2009 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3914.IH H3914

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1 tributes of the lands designated as wilderness or 

2 Special Management Area by this Act. 

3 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is 

4 to protect the wilderness values of the lands des5 ignated as wilderness or Special Management Area 

6 by this Act by means other than those based on a 

7 Federal reserved water right. 

8 (3) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the 

9 term ‘‘water resource facility’’ means irrigation and 

10 pumping facilities, reservoirs, water conservation 

11 works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines, wells, 

12 hydropower projects, and transmission and other an13 cillary facilities, and other water diversion, storage, 

14 and carriage structures. 

15 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON RIGHTS AND DISCLAIMER OF

16 EFFECT.— 

17 (1) WATER RIGHTS CLAIMS.—Neither the Sec18 retary of Agriculture nor the Secretary of the Inte19 rior, nor any other officer, employee, representative, 

20 or agent of the United States, nor any other person, 

21 shall assert in any court or agency, nor shall any 

22 court or agency consider, any claim to or for water 

23 or water rights in the State of Colorado, which is 

24 based on any construction of any portion of this Act, 

25 or the designation of any lands as wilderness or SpeVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:34 Oct 23, 2009 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3914.IH H3914

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1 cial Management Area by this Act, as constituting 

2 an express or implied reservation of water or water 

3 rights. 

4 (2) NO AFFECT ON WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing 

5 in this Act shall be construed as a creation, recogni6 tion, disclaimer, relinquishment, or reduction of any 

7 water rights of the United States in the State of 

8 Colorado existing before the date of enactment of 

9 this Act. 

10 (3) NO INTERPRETATION OR DESIGNATION.— 

11 Except as provided in subsection (g), nothing in this 

12 Act shall be construed as constituting an interpreta13 tion of any other Act or any designation made by or 

14 pursuant thereto. 

15 (4) NO PRECEDENT.—Nothing in this section 

16 shall be construed as establishing a precedent with 

17 regard to any future wilderness designations. 

18 (c) NEW OR EXPANDED PROJECTS.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of law, on and after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act neither the President nor any 

21 other officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall 

22 fund, assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for the 

23 development of any new water resource facility within the 

24 areas described in sections 3 and 4 or the enlargement 


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1 of any water resource facility within the areas described 

2 in sections 3 and 4. 

3 (d) ACCESS AND OPERATION.— 

4 (1) ACCESS TO WATER RESOURCE FACILI5 TIES.—Subject to the provisions of this subsection, 

6 the Secretary shall allow reasonable access to water 

7 resource facilities in existence on the date of enact8 ment of this Act within the areas described in sec9 tions 3 and 4, including motorized access where nec10 essary and customarily employed on routes existing 

11 as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 (2) ACCESS ROUTES.—Existing access routes 

13 within such areas customarily employed as of the 

14 date of enactment of this Act may be used, main15 tained, repaired, and replaced to the extent nec16 essary to maintain their present function, design, 

17 and serviceable operation, so long as such activities 

18 have no increased adverse impacts on the resources 

19 and values of the areas described in sections 3 and 

20 4 than existed as of the date of enactment of this 

21 Act. 

22 (3) USE OF WATER RESOURCE FACILITIES.— 

23 Subject to the provisions of subsections (c) and (d), 

24 the Secretary shall allow water resource facilities ex25 isting on the date of enactment of this Act within 


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1 areas described in sections 3 and 4 to be used, oper2 ated, maintained, repaired, and replaced to the ex3 tent necessary for the continued exercise, in accord4 ance with Colorado State law, of vested water rights 

5 adjudicated for use in connection with such facilities 

6 by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the date 

7 of enactment of this Act. The impact of an existing 

8 facility on the water resources and values of the area 

9 shall not be increased as a result of changes in the 

10 adjudicated type of use of such facility as of the date 

11 of enactment of this Act. 

12 (4) REPAIR AND MAINTAINENCE.—Water re13 source facilities, and access routes serving such fa14 cilities, existing within the areas described in sec15 tions 3 and 4 on the date of enactment of this Act 

16 shall be maintained and repaired when and to the 

17 extent necessary to prevent increased adverse im18 pacts on the resources and values of the areas de19 scribed in sections 3 and 4. 

20 (e) EXISTING PROJECTS.—Except as provided in 

21 subsections (c) and (d), the provisions of this Act related 

22 to the areas described in sections 3 and 4, and the inclu23 sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System of 

24 the areas described in section 3 and 4, shall not be con25 strued to affect or limit the use, operation, maintenance, 


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1 repair, modification, or replacement of water resources fa2 cilities in existence on the date of enactment of this Act 

3 within the boundaries of the areas described in sections 

4 3 and 4. 

5 (f) MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec6 retaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall monitor the 

7 operation of and access to water resource facilities within 

8 the areas described in sections 3 and 4 and take all steps 

9 necessary to implement the provisions of this section. 

10 (g) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Nothing in this Act, 

11 and nothing in any previous Act designating any lands as 

12 wilderness, shall be construed as limiting, altering, modi13 fying, or amending any of the interstate compacts or equi14 table apportionment decrees that apportion water among 

15 and between the State of Colorado and other States. Ex16 cept as expressly provided in this section, nothing in this 

17 Act shall affect or limit the development or use by existing 

18 and future holders of vested water rights of Colorado’s full 

19 apportionment of such waters. 

20 SEC. 7. NATURITA CANYON MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS. 

21 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist22 ence on the date of the enactment of this Act, land de23 scribed in subsection (b) is withdrawn from all forms of— 

24 (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under pub25 lic land laws; 


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1 (2) location, entry, and patent under mining 

2 laws; and 

3 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min4 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 

5 (b) LAND DESCRIBED.—The land to be protected 

6 under subsection (a) is the approximately 6,596 acres de7 picted on the map titled ‘‘Naturita Canyon Mineral With8 drawal Area’’ and dated May 2009. 

Æ 


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