II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3400 

To designate certain Federal land in the San Juan National Forest in the 

State of Colorado as wilderness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2012 

Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To designate certain Federal land in the San Juan National 

Forest in the State of 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 ‘‘Hermosa Creek Water5 shed Protection Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the ecological health and integrity of the 

9 Hermosa Creek Watershed and the economic health 


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1 of the surrounding communities that rely on the Wa2 tershed are connected; 

3 (2) the Watershed— 

4 (A) is the only area in the State that is not 

5 a unit of National Wilderness Preservation Sys6 tem to achieve a designation of outstanding 

7 waters by the State; 

8 (B) provides a crucial source of clean 

9 drinking water for the residents of the Animas 

10 River Valley and the city of Durango, Colorado; 

11 and 

12 (C) provides high quality agricultural 

13 water supplies from Hermosa Creek and the 

14 Animas River; 

15 (3) the Watershed helps ensure the economic 

16 prosperity of local communities in the area that de17 pend on the Watershed for water supplies, recre18 ation, hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, camping, ski19 ing and related winter activities, off-road vehicle 

20 travel for the conduct of scientific activities, sci21 entific research, mineral extraction, and sustainable 

22 natural resource development; 

23 (4) the world-class Hermosa Creek trail net24 work contains outstanding single track mountain 


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1 bike riding, backcountry hiking, equestrian riding, 

2 and motorcycle riding; 

3 (5) the Watershed provides visitors the oppor4 tunity to enjoy the tremendous scenic, natural, cul5 tural, and recreational resources of the area; 

6 (6) ecologically sustainable grazing has been 

7 conducted in a manner that has preserved the high 

8 quality of the Watershed; 

9 (7) the native Colorado River cutthroat trout 

10 fishery located in the Watershed— 

11 (A) is one of the most important fisheries 

12 in the State; 

13 (B) is crucial for the long-term survival of 

14 the cutthroat trout; and 

15 (C) provides an opportunity for anglers to 

16 have a catch and release fishery for the cut17 throat trout; 

18 (8) the work of the State Division of Wildlife to 

19 enhance the fishery referred to in paragraph (7) has 

20 been a tremendous success and a great example of 

21 cooperative conservation efforts to recover an imper22 iled species of fish; 

23 (9) the Watershed— 

24 (A) provides some of the best backcountry 

25 elk habitat in the State; and 


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1 (B) supports outstanding hunting opportu2 nities; 

3 (10) the large areas of undisturbed forest in the 

4 Watershed (including some of the best stands of old 

5 growth ponderosa pine in the State) provide excel6 lent wildlife habitat and excellent opportunities for 

7 solitude and backcountry recreation; and 

8 (11) designation of the Hermosa Creek Wilder9 ness Area, Watershed Protection Area, and Special 

10 Management Area would protect those areas in per11 petuity for the benefit of the people of the United 

12 States. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en16 titled ‘‘Hermosa Creek Proposed Watershed Protec17 tion Area, 2012’’ and dated March 28, 2012. 

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

19 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

20 (3) SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA.—The term 

21 ‘‘Special Management Area’’ means the Hermosa 

22 Creek Special Management Area designated by sec23 tion 5(a). 

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

25 of Colorado. 


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1 (5) WATERSHED PROTECTION AREA.—The 

2 term ‘‘Watershed Protection Area’’ means the 

3 Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Area des4 ignated by section 4(a). 

5 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HERMOSA CREEK WATERSHED 

6 PROTECTION AREA. 

7 (a) DESIGNATION.—Certain Federal land in the San 

8 Juan National Forest comprising approximately 107,886 

9 acres, as generally depicted on the Map, is designated as 

10 the ‘‘Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Area’’. 

11 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Watershed Pro12 tection Area are— 

13 (1) to maintain the cultural, economic, and eco14 logical health of the Hermosa Creek Watershed and 

15 the surrounding communities that rely on the Wa16 tershed; 

17 (2) to protect the purity of water that comes 

18 from the Hermosa Creek Watershed and supplies 

19 residents of the Animas River Valley and the city of 

20 Durango, Colorado, with clean drinking water; 

21 (3) to protect the purity of, and water supply 

22 from, the Hermosa Creek Watershed for agricultural 

23 purposes, including irrigation and stockwater uses; 

24 (4) to enhance the economic prosperity of local 

25 communities in the area who depend on the area for 


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1 water, recreation, and sustainable natural resource 

2 uses; 

3 (5) to protect and provide visitors the oppor4 tunity to enjoy the recreational, geological, cultural, 

5 natural, scientific, recreational, wildlife, riparian, 

6 historical, educational, and scenic resources of the 

7 Watershed; 

8 (6) to provide world class opportunities for ski9 ing, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, horseback 

10 riding, snowmobiling, motorcycle riding, 

11 snowshoeing, and camping; 

12 (7) to provide for economic and natural re13 source development (including sustainable grazing, 

14 vegetation management, beneficial uses of water, 

15 and mineral extraction) in a manner consistent with 

16 protecting the overall integrity of the Watershed; 

17 (8) to protect the native Colorado River cut18 throat trout fishery located in the Watershed; 

19 (9) to designate the Hermosa Creek Wilderness 

20 Area and the Special Management Area; and 

21 (10) to conserve, protect, and manage for a 

22 healthy Hermosa Creek Watershed for the long-term 

23 ecological integrity of the Watershed and the long24 term economic health of surrounding communities 

25 by allowing sustainable economic development and 


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1 traditional natural resource development in a matter 

2 consistent with the purposes described in paragraphs 

3 (1) through (9). 

4 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF HERMOSA CREEK SPECIAL MAN5 AGEMENT AREA. 

6 (a) DESIGNATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

7 certain Federal land in the San Juan National Forest 

8 comprising approximately 68,289 acres, as generally de9 picted on the Map, is designated as the ‘‘Hermosa Creek 

10 Special Management Area’’. 

11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Special Manage12 ment Area is to conserve and protect for the benefit of 

13 present and future generations the watershed, geological, 

14 cultural, natural, scientific, recreational, wildlife, riparian, 

15 historical, educational, and scenic resources and values of 

16 the Special Management Area. 

17 (c) ADMINISTRATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall admin19 ister the Special Management Area— 

20 (A) in a manner that— 

21 (i) conserves, protects, and enhances 

22 the resources and values of the Special 

23 Management Area described in subsection 

24 (b); and 


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1 (ii) protects a viable population of 

2 Colorado River Cutthroat Trout; and 

3 (B) in accordance with— 

4 (i) the National Forest Management 

5 Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 

6 (ii) this Act; and 

7 (iii) any other applicable laws. 

8 (2) USES.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 allow only such uses of the Special Management 

11 Area that the Secretary determines would fur12 ther the purposes described in subsection (b). 

13 (B) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

15 in clause (ii) and as needed for administra16 tive purposes or to respond to an emer17 gency, the use of motorized vehicles in the 

18 Special Management Area shall be per19 mitted only on roads and trails designated 

20 for use by such vehicles by the Secretary. 

21 (ii) OVER-SNOW VEHICLES.—The Sec22 retary may authorize the use of snowmo23 biles and other over-snow vehicles within 

24 the Special Management Area— 


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1 (I) during periods of adequate 

2 snow cover during the winter season; 

3 and 

4 (II) subject to such terms and 

5 conditions as the Secretary may re6 quire. 

7 (C) GRAZING.—The Secretary shall permit 

8 grazing within the Special Management Area, 

9 where established before the date of enactment 

10 of this Act— 

11 (i) subject to all applicable laws (in12 cluding regulations) and Executive orders; 

13 and 

14 (ii) consistent with the purpose de15 scribed in subsection (b). 

16 (D) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—Within the 

17 area of the Special Management Area identified 

18 on the Map as ‘‘East Hermosa Area’’ the fol19 lowing activities shall be prohibited: 

20 (i) New road construction or the ren21 ovation of existing nonsystem roads, except 

22 as necessary to protect public health and 

23 safety. 

24 (ii) Projects undertaken for the pur25 pose of harvesting commercial timber 


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1 (other than activities relating to the har2 vest of merchantable products that are by3 products of activities conducted for ecologi4 cal restoration or to further the purposes 

5 described in this Act). 

6 (d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 

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

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

9 shall prepare a map and a legal description of the 

10 Special Management Area. 

11 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—The map and legal de12 scription prepared under paragraph (1) shall have 

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

14 except that the Secretary may correct clerical and 

15 typographical errors in the map and legal descrip16 tion. 

17 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal 

18 description prepared under paragraph (1) shall be 

19 on file and available for public inspection in the ap20 propriate offices of the Forest Service. 

21 (e) INCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND INTER22 ESTS IN LAND.—Any land or interest in land that is ac23 quired by the United States within the boundary of the 

24 Special Management Area shall— 


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1 (1) become part of the Special Management 

2 Area; 

3 (2) be withdrawn in accordance with subsection 

4 (h); and 

5 (3) be managed in accordance with— 

6 (A) this Act; and 

7 (B) any other applicable laws. 

8 (f) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this Act af9 fects the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with 

10 respect to fish and wildlife in the State. 

11 (g) STATE AND FEDERAL WATER MANAGEMENT.— 

12 Nothing in this section affects the potential development 

13 of a water storage reservoir at the site in the Special Man14 agement Area that is identified in— 

15 (1) pages 17 through 20 of the Statewide 

16 Water Supply Initiative studies prepared by the Col17 orado Water Conservation Board and issued by the 

18 State in November 2004; and 

19 (2) page 27 of the Colorado Dam Site Inven20 tory prepared by the Colorado Water Conservation 

21 Board and dated August 1996. 

22 (h) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist23 ence on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

24 land within the Special Management Area is withdrawn 

25 from— 


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1 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and dis2 posal under the public land laws; 

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

4 laws; and 

5 (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 

6 materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 

7 (i) ADJACENT MANAGEMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Congress does not intend for 

9 the designation of the Special Management Area by 

10 subsection (a) or the wilderness designated by sec11 tion 2(a)(22) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 

12 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77; 

13 107 Stat. 756, 114 Stat. 1955, 116 Stat. 1055) (as 

14 added by section 6(a)) to create a protective perim15 eter or buffer zone around the Special Management 

16 Area or wilderness. 

17 (2) NONWILDERNESS ACTIVITIES.—The fact 

18 that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or 

19 heard from areas within the wilderness designated 

20 by section 2(a)(22) of the Colorado Wilderness Act 

21 of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77; 

22 107 Stat. 756, 114 Stat. 1955, 116 Stat. 1055) (as 

23 added by section 6(a)) shall not preclude the con24 duct of the activities or uses outside the boundary 

25 of the wilderness. 


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1 (j) WINTER SKIING AND RELATED WINTER ACTIVI2 TIES.—Nothing in this Act alters or limits— 

3 (1) a permit held by a ski area; 

4 (2) the implementation of the activities gov5 erned by a ski area permit; or 

6 (3) the authority of the Secretary to modify or 

7 expand an existing ski area permit. 

8 (k) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT.—Nothing in this 

9 section prevents the Secretary from conducting vegetation 

10 management projects within the Special Management 

11 Area— 

12 (1) subject to— 

13 (A) such reasonable regulations, policies, 

14 and practices as the Secretary determines ap15 propriate; and 

16 (B) all applicable laws (including regula17 tions); and 

18 (2) in a manner consistent with— 

19 (A) the purposes described in subsection 

20 (b); and 

21 (B) this section. 

22 (l) WILDFIRE, INSECT, AND DISEASE MANAGE23 MENT.—Consistent with this section, the Secretary may 

24 take any measures that the Secretary determines to be 

25 necessary to control fire, insects, and diseases in the SpeVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:20 Jul 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3400.IS S3400

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1 cial Management Area, including, as the Secretary deter2 mines to be appropriate, the coordination of the measures 

3 with the State or a local agency. 

4 (m) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later than 3 years 

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

6 develop a management plan for the long-term protection 

7 and management of the Special Management Area that 

8 takes into account public input. 

9 SEC. 6. ADDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRES10 ERVATION SYSTEM. 

11 (a) DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS.—Section 2(a) of 

12 the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 

13 note; Public Law 103–77; 107 Stat. 756, 114 Stat. 1955, 

14 116 Stat. 1055) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(22) Certain land within the San Juan Na17 tional Forest which comprise approximately 37,236 

18 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled 

19 ‘Hermosa Creek Proposed Watershed Protection 

20 Area, 2012’ and dated March 28, 2012, and which 

21 shall be known as the ‘Hermosa Creek Wilder22 ness’.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Any reference in the Wilder24 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date 

25 of that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the 


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1 date of enactment of this Act for purposes of admin2 istering the wilderness area designated by section 2(a)(22) 

3 of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 

4 note; Public Law 103–77; 107 Stat. 756, 114 Stat. 1955, 

5 116 Stat. 1055) (as added by subsection (a)). 

6 (c) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—As provided in 

7 section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

8 1133(d)(1)), within the wilderness areas designated by 

9 section 2(a)(22) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 

10 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77; 107 Stat. 756, 

11 114 Stat. 1955, 116 Stat. 1055) (as added by subsection 

12 (a)), the Secretary may take any measure that the Sec13 retary determines to be necessary to control fire, insects, 

14 and diseases, subject to such terms and conditions as the 

15 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

16 SEC. 7. PERINS PEAK AND ANIMAS CITY MOUNTAIN MIN17 ERAL WITHDRAWAL. 

18 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

19 the land and mineral interests described in subsection (b) 

20 are withdrawn from all forms of— 

21 (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under pub22 lic land laws; 

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

24 laws; and 


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1 (3) disposition under all laws relating to min2 eral leasing, geothermal leasing, or mineral mate3 rials. 

4 (b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND AND MINERAL INTER5 ESTS.—The land and mineral interests referred to in sub6 section (a) are— 

7 (1) the approximately 8,549 acres of Federal 

8 land depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Perins Peak and 

9 Animas City Mountain mineral withdrawal’’ and 

10 dated May 3, 2012; and 

11 (2) all Federal mineral interests contained with12 in the boundaries of the map described in paragraph 

13 (1). 

Æ 


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