I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4818 

To establish the South Park National Heritage Area in the State of Colorado, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2006 

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

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the South Park National Heritage Area in the 

State of Colorado, 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 ‘‘South Park National 

5 Heritage Area Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the rich natural resources, the variety of 

9 recreational opportunities, the cultural legacy, and 

10 the unparalleled history of South Park, Colorado, 


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1 are of national importance and are deserving of rec2 ognition, conservation, interpretation, and con3 tinuing use; 

4 (2) the people of South Park respect, protect 

5 and defend the rights and desires of private property 

6 owners, and support the power and right of individ7 uals to shape their own destiny; 

8 (3) the South Park National Heritage Area 

9 builds upon existing local initiatives to spur eco10 nomic development while conserving, preserving and 

11 interpreting the resources on which the local econ12 omy depends; 

13 (4) in 1997 the Governor of Colorado des14 ignated South Park as Colorado’s second State Her15 itage Area; 

16 (5) in 2006 the President of the United States 

17 recognized and designated South Park as a Preserve 

18 America Community that protects and celebrates its 

19 heritage, uses its historic assets for economic devel20 opment and community revitalization, and encour21 ages people to experience and appreciate local his22 toric resources through education and heritage tour23 ism programs; 

24 (6) the Federal, State, and local governments, 

25 organizations, and residents of South Park broadly 


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1 support the establishment of a national heritage 

2 area to coordinate and assist in the conservation, in3 terpretation, and continuing use of the heritage re4 sources of South Park; 

5 (7) the agrarian landscape, culture, and histor6 ical resources of South Park assist citizens in experi7 encing how native peoples, early explorers, trappers, 

8 miners, ranchers, and settlers lived on the frontier 

9 of the United States; 

10 (8) the ideals of self governance and individ11 ualism of the United States gave rise to laws that— 

12 (A) were developed within the remote land13 scape of South Park; 

14 (B) were among the first legislative initia15 tives of the western settlers; and 

16 (C) reinforced the democratic traditions of 

17 the United States; 

18 (9) the average elevation of South Park exceeds 

19 9,000 feet and ranks among the highest basins in 

20 North America; 

21 (10) native peoples have inhabited the land22 scape of South Park for over 10,000 years; 

23 (11) Porcupine Cave and its wealth of animal 

24 fossils, including a now-extinct North American 

25 cheetah, is one of the most important paleontological 


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1 sites for the study of Ice Age vertebrates in the 

2 world, and contains the richest and most diverse 

3 vertebrate fauna known from the middle Pleistocene 

4 on the North American continent; 

5 (12) in addition to high summits, pristine 

6 streams, and open prairies, the unmatched landscape 

7 of the Heritage Area also contains— 

8 (A) portions of the Lost Creek Wilderness 

9 and Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Areas, featuring 

10 disappearing streams, ancient pine trees, glob11 ally rare plants, and State-endangered boreal 

12 toads; 

13 (B) the Lost Creek National Natural 

14 Landmark, characterized by stunning rock 

15 spires and pinnacles, narrow ridges, steep nar16 row gorges, and a stream that disappears and 

17 reappears at the surface at least nine times; 

18 (C) National Forest System lands that are 

19 home to the federally-threatened Penland alpine 

20 fen mustard, Canada lynx and greenback cut21 throat trout; 

22 (D) 12 State wildlife areas that protect 

23 large herds of elk, deer, pronghorn antelope; 

24 and many other species; 


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1 (E) 45 miles of ‘‘Gold Medal’’ trout water 

2 that provide world-class trout fishing opportuni3 ties; 

4 (F) nationally rare and unusual high-alti5 tude wetlands known as extreme rich fens; and 

6 (G) 4 majestic mountain peaks that stand 

7 higher than 14,000 feet above sea level; 

8 (13) the South Park National Heritage Area of9 fers outstanding recreational opportunities for hik10 ing, fishing, camping, climbing, sightseeing, hunting, 

11 wildlife viewing, and off-highway vehicle use; and 

12 (14) the South Park National Heritage Area 

13 contains buildings, structures, sites, and stories that 

14 preserve and interpret the frontier heritage of the 

15 United States, including— 

16 (A) the Salt Works Ranch, Colorado Salt 

17 Works, EM Ranch, Buckley Ranch, Wahl 

18 Ranch, Jefferson Depot, Como Depot, Como 

19 Roundhouse, Como Hotel, Como School, Boreas 

20 Pass Railroad Station, Summer Saloon, South 

21 Park Brewery, Park County Courthouse, South 

22 Park Community Church, and Tarryall School, 

23 each of which is listed in the National Register 

24 of Historic Places; 


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1 (B) the Colorado Midland Railroad, the 

2 Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad, and 

3 their associated stations, depots, and passes; 

4 (C) the Paris Mill and Snowstorm Dredge, 

5 which are among the last intact structures of 

6 their type in the United States, and are in7 cluded on Colorado’s ‘‘most endangered places’’ 

8 list; 

9 (D) the Present Help Mine which, being 

10 located at an elevation of 14,157 feet, qualifies 

11 as the highest gold mine ever to operate in the 

12 United States; and 

13 (E) the highest incorporated town (Alma), 

14 vehicular mountain pass (Mosquito), and cattle 

15 ranches in the United States. 

16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

17 (1) establish the Heritage Area in the State of 

18 Colorado; 

19 (2) carry out the national heritage area alter20 native as described in the document entitled ‘‘South 

21 Park National Heritage Area Feasibility Study, 

22 2006’’; 

23 (3) provide a management framework to foster 

24 an effective working relationship with all levels of 

25 government, not for profit organizations, the private 


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1 sector, and the local communities in South Park 

2 to— 

3 (A) preserve the outstanding heritage of 

4 the region; 

5 (B) develop new heritage tourism pro6 grams, attractions and opportunities; and 

7 (C) continue to pursue the development of 

8 compatible economic opportunities and heritage 

9 products; 

10 (4) assist communities, organizations, and citi11 zens in the State of Colorado in identifying, pre12 serving, interpreting, developing, and promoting the 

13 historical, cultural, scenic, recreational, agricultural, 

14 and natural resources of the region for the edu15 cational, inspirational, and economic benefit of cur16 rent and future generations. 

17 SEC. 3. PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION. 

18 (a) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.—Nothing in 

19 this Act— 

20 (1) requires any private property owner to allow 

21 public access (including Federal, State, or local gov22 ernment access) to private property; or 

23 (2) modifies any provision of Federal, State, or 

24 local law with regard to public access to or use of 

25 private property. 


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1 (b) LIABILITY.—Designation of the Heritage Area 

2 shall not impose any liability on, or have any effect on 

3 any liability under any other law on, any private property 

4 owner with respect to any person injured on the private 

5 property. 

6 (c) RECOGNITION OF AUTHORITY TO CONTROL LAND

7 USE.—Nothing in this Act modifies, enlarges, or dimin8 ishes the authority of the Federal Government or State 

9 or local governments to regulate land use. 

10 (d) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE PROP11 ERTY OWNERS IN HERITAGE AREA.—Nothing in this Act 

12 requires the owner of any private property located within 

13 the boundaries of the Heritage Area to participate in or 

14 be associated with the Heritage Area; participation by in15 dividual landowners is strictly on a voluntary basis only. 

16 (e) EFFECT OF ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The boundaries designated 

18 for the Heritage Area shall constitute the area with19 in which Federal funds made available to carry out 

20 this Act may be expended. 

21 (2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The establish22 ment of the Heritage Area and the boundaries of the 

23 Heritage Area shall not provide any regulatory au24 thority that would not otherwise apply to govern 

25 land use within the Heritage Area or the viewshed 


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1 of the Heritage Area by the Secretary, the National 

2 Park Service, the management entity, or any other 

3 governmental entity. 

4 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

7 Board of Directors of the South Park National Her8 itage Area, comprised initially of the individuals, 

9 agencies, organizations, and governments that were 

10 involved in the planning and development of the 

11 Heritage Area before the date of enactment of this 

12 Act. 

13 (2) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 

14 Area’’ means the South Park National Heritage 

15 Area established by section 4(a). 

16 (3) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘man17 agement entity’’ means the management entity for 

18 the Heritage Area designated by section 5(d)(1). 

19 (4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage20 ment plan’’ means the management plan for the 

21 Heritage Area required by section 7. 

22 (5) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en23 titled ‘‘South Park National Heritage Area Map 

24 (Proposed), dated January 30, 2006’’. 


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1 (6) PARTNER.—The term ‘‘partner’’ means a 

2 Federal, State, or local governmental entity, organi3 zation, private industry, educational institution, or 

4 individual involved in the conservation, preservation, 

5 interpretation, development or promotion of heritage 

6 sites or resources of the Heritage Area. 

7 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

10 of Colorado. 

11 (9) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘tech12 nical assistance’’ means any guidance, advice, help, 

13 or aid, other than financial assistance, provided by 

14 the Secretary. 

15 SEC. 5. SOUTH PARK NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

17 State the South Park National Heritage Area. 

18 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall consist 

19 of the areas included in the map. 

20 (c) MAP.—A map of the Heritage Area shall be— 

21 (1) included in the management plan; and 

22 (2) on file and available for public inspection in 

23 the appropriate offices of the National Park Service. 

24 (d) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The management entity for 

2 the Heritage Area shall be the Park County Tourism 

3 & Community Development Office, in conjunction 

4 with the South Park National Heritage Area Board 

5 of Directors. 

6 (2) MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS.—Members 

7 of the Board shall include representatives from a 

8 broad cross-section of individuals, agencies, organi9 zations, and governments that were involved in the 

10 planning and development of the Heritage Area be11 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

13 (a) PROHIBITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF REAL

14 PROPERTY.—The management entity shall not use Fed15 eral funds made available under this Act to acquire real 

16 property or any interest in real property. 

17 (b) AUTHORITIES.—For purposes of carrying out the 

18 management plan, the Secretary, acting through the man19 agement entity, may use amounts made available under 

20 this Act to— 

21 (1) make grants to the State or a political sub22 division of the State, nonprofit organizations, and 

23 other persons; 

24 (2) enter into cooperative agreements with, or 

25 provide technical assistance to, the State or a politVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:36 Mar 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4818.IH H4818

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1 ical subdivision of the State, nonprofit organizations, 

2 and other interested parties; 

3 (3) hire and compensate staff, which shall in4 clude individuals with expertise in natural, cultural, 

5 and historical resources protection, fundraising, her6 itage facility planning and development, and heritage 

7 tourism programming; 

8 (4) obtain funds or services from any source, 

9 including funds or services that are provided under 

10 any other Federal law or program; 

11 (5) enter into contracts for goods or services; 

12 and 

13 (6) to facilitate the conduct of other projects 

14 and activities that further the Heritage Area and are 

15 consistent with the approved management plan. 

16 (c) DUTIES.—The management entity shall— 

17 (1) in accordance with section 6, prepare and 

18 submit a management plan for the Heritage Area to 

19 the Secretary; 

20 (2) assist units of local government, local prop21 erty owners and businesses, and nonprofit organiza22 tions in carrying out the approved management plan 

23 by— 


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1 (A) carrying out programs and projects 

2 that recognize, protect, enhance, and promote 

3 important resource values in the Heritage Area; 

4 (B) establishing and maintaining interpre5 tive exhibits and programs in the Heritage 

6 Area; 

7 (C) developing economic, recreational and 

8 educational opportunities in the Heritage Area; 

9 (D) increasing public awareness of, and 

10 appreciation for, historical, cultural, scenic, rec11 reational, agricultural, and natural resources of 

12 the Heritage Area; 

13 (E) protecting and restoring historic sites 

14 and buildings in the Heritage Area that are 

15 consistent with Heritage Area themes; 

16 (F) ensuring that clear, consistent, and ap17 propriate signs identifying points of public ac18 cess, and sites of interest are posted throughout 

19 the Heritage Area; 

20 (G) promoting a wide range of partner21 ships among governments, organizations, and 

22 individuals to further the Heritage Area; and 

23 (H) planning and developing new heritage 

24 attractions, products and services. 


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1 (3) consider the interests of diverse units of 

2 government, businesses, organizations, and individ3 uals in the Heritage Area in the preparation and im4 plementation of the management plan; 

5 (4) conduct meetings open to the public at least 

6 semiannually regarding the development and imple7 mentation of the management plan; 

8 (5) for any year for which Federal funds have 

9 been received under this Act— 

10 (A) submit to the Secretary an annual re11 port that describes the activities, expenses, and 

12 income of the management entity (including 

13 grants to any other entities during the year 

14 that the report is made); 

15 (B) make available to the Secretary for 

16 audit all records relating to the expenditure of 

17 the Federal funds and any matching funds; and 

18 (C) require, with respect to all agreements 

19 authorizing expenditure of Federal funds by 

20 other organizations, that the organizations re21 ceiving the funds make available to the Sec22 retary for audit all records concerning the ex23 penditure of the funds; 

24 (6) encourage by appropriate means economic 

25 viability that is consistent with the Heritage Area. 


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1 (d) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para3 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any activ4 ity carried out using any assistance made available 

5 under this Act shall be 50 percent. 

6 (2) EXCEPTION.—Before the date on which the 

7 management entity completes the management plan, 

8 the Federal share of the cost of any activity de9 scribed in paragraph (1) may be 100 percent. 

10 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the management entity, 

13 with public participation, shall submit to the Secretary for 

14 approval a proposed management plan for the Heritage 

15 Area. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The management plan shall— 

17 (1) incorporate an integrated and cooperative 

18 approach for the protection, enhancement, interpre19 tation, development, and promotion of the historical, 

20 cultural, scenic, recreational, agricultural, and nat21 ural resources of the Heritage Area; 

22 (2) take into consideration State and local 

23 plans; 

24 (3) include— 

25 (A) an inventory of— 


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1 (i) the resources located in the core 

2 area described in section 5(b); and 

3 (ii) any other eligible and partici4 pating property in the core area that— 

5 (I) is related to the themes of the 

6 Heritage Area; and 

7 (II) should be preserved, re8 stored, managed, maintained, devel9 oped, or promoted because of the sig10 nificance of the property; 

11 (B) comprehensive policies, strategies, and 

12 recommendations for conservation, funding, 

13 management, development, and promotion of 

14 the Heritage Area; 

15 (C) a description of actions that govern16 ments, private organizations, and individuals 

17 have agreed to take to manage and protect the 

18 historical, cultural, scenic, recreational, agricul19 tural, and natural resources of the Heritage 

20 Area; 

21 (D) a program of implementation for the 

22 management plan by the management entity 

23 that includes a description of— 

24 (i) actions to facilitate ongoing and ef25 fective collaboration among partners to 


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1 promote plans for resource protection, en2 hancement, interpretation, restoration, and 

3 construction; and 

4 (ii) specific commitments for imple5 mentation that have been made by the 

6 management entity or any government, or7 ganization, or individual for the first 5 

8 years of operation; 

9 (E) the identification of sources of funding 

10 for carrying out the management plan; 

11 (F) an analysis of and recommendations 

12 for means by which Federal, State, and local 

13 programs, including the role of the National 

14 Park Service in the Heritage Area, may best be 

15 coordinated to carry out this Act; and 

16 (G) an interpretive plan for the Heritage 

17 Area; 

18 (4) recommend policies and strategies for re19 source management that consider and detail the ap20 plication of appropriate land and water management 

21 techniques, including the development of intergov22 ernmental and interagency cooperative agreements 

23 to protect the historical, cultural, scenic, rec24 reational, agricultural, and natural resources of the 

25 Heritage Area. 


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1 (c) DEADLINE.—If a proposed management plan is 

2 not submitted to the Secretary by the date that is 3 years 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the management 

4 entity shall be ineligible to receive additional funding 

5 under this Act until the date on which the Secretary re6 ceives and approves the management plan. 

7 (d) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF MANAGEMENT

8 PLAN.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

10 the date of receipt of the management plan under 

11 subsection (a), the Secretary, in consultation with 

12 the State, shall approve or disapprove the manage13 ment plan. 

14 (2) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—In determining 

15 whether to approve the management plan, the Sec16 retary shall consider whether— 

17 (A) the management entity is representa18 tive of the diverse interests of the Heritage 

19 Area, including governments, natural and his20 torical resource protection organizations, edu21 cational institutions, local businesses and indus22 tries, community organizations, recreational or23 ganizations, and tourism organizations; 

24 (B) the management entity has afforded 

25 adequate opportunity, including public hearings, 


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1 for public and governmental involvement in the 

2 preparation of the management plan; and 

3 (C) strategies contained in the manage4 ment plan, if implemented, would adequately 

5 balance the voluntary protection, development, 

6 and interpretation of the natural, historical, 

7 cultural, scenic, recreational, and agricultural 

8 resources of the Heritage Area. 

9 (3) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—If the 

10 Secretary disapproves the management plan under 

11 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

12 (A) advise the management entity in writ13 ing of the reasons for the disapproval; 

14 (B) make recommendations for revisions to 

15 the management plan; and 

16 (C) not later than 60 days after the receipt 

17 of any proposed revision of the management 

18 plan from the management entity, approve or 

19 disapprove the proposed revision. 

20 (4) AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ap22 prove or disapprove each amendment to the 

23 management plan that the Secretary determines 

24 makes a substantial change to the management 

25 plan. 


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1 (B) USE OF FUNDS.—The management 

2 entity shall not use Federal funds authorized by 

3 this Act to carry out any amendments to the 

4 management plan until the Secretary has ap5 proved the amendments. 

6 SEC. 8. DUTIES OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

7 Any Federal agency conducting or supporting an ac8 tivity that directly affects the Heritage Area as designated 

9 by the Secretary shall— 

10 (1) consult with the Secretary and the manage11 ment entity regarding the activity; 

12 (2) cooperate with the Secretary and the man13 agement entity in carrying out the duties of the 

14 Federal agency under this Act; 

15 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, coordi16 nate the activity with carrying out those duties; and 

17 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct 

18 the activity in a manner that the management entity 

19 determines will not have an adverse effect on the 

20 Heritage Area. 

21 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

23 this Act $6,110,000, of which not more than $1,000,000 

24 may be made available for any fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 10. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

2 The authority of the Secretary to provide assistance 

3 under this Act terminates on the date that is 15 years 

4 after the date on which funds are first made available to 

5 carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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