I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1751

To establish the Carrizo Plain National Conservation Area in the State

of California, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1999

Mrs. CAPPS (for herself, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. LEWIS

of California, Mr. FILNER, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. LANTOS) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish the Carrizo Plain National Conservation Area

in the State of California, 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 ‘‘Carrizo Plain National

5 Conservation Area Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The public lands administered by the Bu9 reau of Land Management in the State of California

10 within the Carrizo Plain contain the last remnants
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1 of the once vast San Joaquin Valley grasslands that

2 covered a large expanse of central California.

3 (2) As a remnant ecosystem, these lands pro4 vide the best remaining contiguous habitat for a

5 number of State or federally listed endangered spe6 cies or threatened species, including the San Joa7 quin kit fox, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the

8 giant kangaroo rat, and the San Joaquin antelope

9 squirrel, and numerous other federally or State list10 ed or sensitive plant and animal species. Many other

11 important species of native wildlife inhabit the area,

12 such as pronghorn antelope and tule elk.

13 (3) In addition to its biological diversity,

14 Carrizo Plain contains nationally significant cultural

15 and historical sites which are very important to in16 digenous peoples in the area for religious and tradi17 tional cultural purposes.

18 (4) The Carrizo Plain area also contains one of

19 the best and most visible exposures of the geologi20 cally unique San Andreas fault, which is the bound21 ary between the Pacific Plate (on the west) which

22 moves northward relative to the North American

23 Plate (on the east) and has and will continue to play

24 a critical role in the evolution and future of Cali25 fornia.
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1 (5) The Carrizo Plain offers unique research,

2 interpretive, and educational opportunities, and sig3 nificant recreation opportunities for the public.

4 (6) Since 1985, the Carrizo Plain has been co5 operatively managed by the Bureau of Land Man6 agement, the California Department of Fish and

7 Game, and The Nature Conservancy, each of which

8 owns a part of the Carrizo Plain and all of which

9 work closely together in a manner that makes juris10 dictional differences among them nearly transparent.

11 (7) A cooperative management plan has been

12 prepared for the Carrizo Plain by the Bureau of

13 Land Management, the California Department of

14 Fish and Game, and The Nature Conservancy, with

15 full public involvement, that sets the stage for long16 term joint management of the area for public use

17 and enjoyment.

18 (8) This management plan is based on the

19 agencies’ joint primary mission as set forth in the

20 plan to ‘‘manage the Carrizo Plain . . . so indige21 nous species interact within a dynamic and fully

22 functioning ecosystem in perpetuity while conserving

23 unique natural and cultural resources and maintain24 ing opportunities for compatible scientific, cultural,

25 social, and recreational activities’’. In this context,
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1 and under the basic principles of multiple use and

2 sustained yield, other resource uses, such as live3 stock grazing and recreation use, are allowed under

4 the management plan in the conservation area if

5 they are managed in a manner compatible with that

6 primary mission.

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CONSERVA8 TION AREA.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES.—To preserve

10 the nationally significant biological, geological, cultural,

11 and recreation values found in the Carrizo Plain, Cali12 fornia, as an enduring legacy of our heritage, and to se13 cure for future generations the opportunity to experience

14 those values in an environment rich in biological diversity

15 and natural beauty, the area described in subsection (b)

16 is hereby designated as the Carrizo Plain National Con17 servation Area.

18 (b) AREA DESCRIBED.—

19 (1) BOUNDARY MAP.—The area referred to in

20 subsection (a) consists of approximately 250,000

21 acres of lands and waters, and interests therein, as

22 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Boundary

23 Map, Carrizo Plain National Conservation Area’’,

24 dated February 1999.
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1 (2) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as prac2 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act,

3 the Secretary shall file a legal description of the con4 servation area with the Committee on Resources of

5 the House of Representatives and with the Com6 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen7 ate. Such legal description shall have the same force

8 and effect as if included in this Act, subject to para9 graph (3).

10 (3) REVISIONS AND CORRECTIONS.—The Sec11 retary may—

12 (A) make minor revisions in the boundary

13 of the conservation area; and

14 (B) correct clerical and typographical er15 rors in the map and legal description referred

16 to in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.

17 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary

18 shall keep the map and legal description referred to

19 in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, on file and

20 available for public inspection in the offices of the

21 Director in the District of Columbia and in Sac22 ramento and Bakersfield, California.

23 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE CONSERVATION AREA.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the

25 Director, shall manage the public lands within the con-
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1 servation area in accordance with all applicable laws and

2 the management plan.

3 (b) REVIEW AND REVISION OF MANAGEMENT

4 PLAN.—The Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with

5 the Director, the California Department of Fish and

6 Game, affected landowners, and The Nature

7 Conservancy—

8 (1) shall, by not later than 1 year after the date

9 of the enactment of this Act, review the management

10 plan referred to in section 9(4) and make such revi11 sions in that plan as are necessary to ensure that it

12 is consistent with the this Act and with the con13 servation, enhancement, and protection of the con14 servation area; and

15 (2) may from time to time thereafter make

16 such revisions as are necessary to ensure that con17 sistency.

18 (c) GIFTS.—The Secretary may accept, receive, hold,

19 administer, and use any gift, devise, or bequest, absolutely

20 or in trust, of real or personal property, including any in21 come from or interest in property or any funds, for man22 agement of the conservation area for the purposes for

23 which the conservation area is established under section

24 3(a).

25 (d) FUNDING ACCOUNT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To fund management activi2 ties for the conservation area, there is established in

3 the Treasury a separate account to be known as the

4 Carizzo Plain National Conservation Area Manage5 ment Fund.

6 (2) CONTENTS.—The account shall consist of—

7 (A) amounts received as fees for activities

8 in the conservation area;

9 (B) amounts received by the United States

10 as a gift, devise, or bequest authorized by sub11 section (c); and

12 (C) amounts appropriated to the account.

13 (3) USE.—Amounts in the account shall be

14 available to the Secretary for management of the

15 conservation area pursuant to the purposes for

16 which the conservation is established under section

17 3(a).

18 SEC. 5. LAND ACQUISITION.

19 (a) LAND ACQUISITION.—The Secretary may acquire

20 nongovernment, privately owned lands and interests there21 in within the conservation area by donation, by exchange,

22 or by purchase with the consent of the owner thereof.

23 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Lands or interests therein with24 in the conservation area so acquired by the United States

25 shall, after the date of the enactment of this Act, be incor-
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1 porated into and managed as part of the conservation

2 area.

3 SEC. 6. WITHDRAWAL; MINERAL DEVELOPMENT.

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

5 all Federal lands within the conservation area, including

6 all lands or interests acquired by the United States after

7 the date of enactment of this Act, are hereby withdrawn

8 from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under

9 the public land laws and from location, entry, and patent

10 under the mining laws of the United States.

11 (b) MINERAL DEVELOPMENT.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), mineral development may occur in the

14 conservation area pursuant to the Act of February

15 25, 1920 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.; popularly known

16 as the Mineral Leasing Act), and laws supple17 mentary thereto, or the Act of July 31, 1947 (30

18 U.S.C. 601 et seq.; popularly known as the Mate19 rials Act of 1947), and laws supplementary thereto,

20 only to the extent that development is consistent

21 with the management plan.

22 (2) STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS AND INTER23 ESTS NOT AFFECTED.—This subsection shall not af24 fect any State or privately owned lands or interests

25 in lands.
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1 SEC. 7. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.

2 The Secretary may, consistent with the management

3 plan, enter into any cooperative agreements or shared

4 management arrangements with any person for the pur5 poses of management, interpretation, and research of the

6 conservation area’s resources.

7 SEC. 8. NATIVE AMERICAN USES.

8 (a) NATIVE AMERICAN USES.—The Secretary shall

9 ensure nonexclusive access to and use of the public lands

10 in the conservation area by Native Americans for tradi11 tional cultural and religious purposes consistent with the

12 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C.

13 1996).

14 (b) TEMPORARY CLOSURE.—To implement this sec15 tion, the Secretary may from time to time temporarily

16 close to general public use any specific areas of public

17 lands in the conservation area in order to protect the pri18 vacy of Native American religious activities in such areas.

19 Any such closure shall be made in such manner as will

20 affect the smallest practicable area for the minimum pe21 riod necessary for such purposes.

22 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act:

24 (1) CONSERVATION AREA.—The term ‘‘con25 servation area’’ means the Carrizo Plain National

26 Conservation Area designated under section 3(a).
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1 (2) CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND

2 GAME.—The term ‘‘California Department of Fish

3 and Game’’ means the public entity within the State

4 of California’s Resources Agency established by the

5 laws of the State of California to administer the fish

6 and wildlife resources in the State on behalf of the

7 people of California.

8 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means

9 the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.

10 (4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage11 ment plan’’ means the management plan developed

12 cooperatively by the Bureau of Land Management,

13 the California Department of Fish and Game, and

14 The Nature Conservancy, entitled ‘‘The Carrizo

15 Plain Natural Area Management Plan’’ and dated

16 November 1996, as such plan may be revised by the

17 Secretary under section 4(b).

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior.

20 (6) THE NATURE CONSERVANCY.—The term

21 ‘‘The Nature Conservancy’’ means the nonprofit or22 ganization established under laws of the State of

23 Virginia and doing business in that name.

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