II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2034

To establish the Canyons of the Ancients National Conservation Area.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 3, 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 Canyons of the Ancients National

Conservation Area.

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 ‘‘Canyons of the An5 cients National Conservation Area Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that certain areas lo8 cated in Dolores and Montezuma Counties, Colorado—

9 (1) contain unique and valuable historical, cul10 tural, scientific, archaeological, natural, and edu11 cational resources; and
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1 (2) should be protected and enhanced for the

2 benefit and enjoyment of present and future genera3 tions.

4 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab5 lish the Canyons of the Ancients, Colorado, as a National

6 Conservation Area.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:

9 (1) CONSERVATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Con10 servation Area’’ means the Canyons of the Ancients

11 National Conservation Area established by section

12 4(a).

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

14 Canyons of the Ancients National Conservation Area

15 Advisory Council established under section 5(a).

16 (3) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage17 ment plan’’ means the management plan developed

18 for the Conservation Area under section 4(e).

19 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en20 titled ‘‘Canyon of the Ancients National Conserva21 tion Area Proposal’’ and dated January 6, 2000.

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

23 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di24 rector of the Bureau of Land Management.
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1 SEC. 4. CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS NATIONAL CONSERVA2 TION AREA.

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

4 of the Ancients National Conservation Area in the State

5 of Colorado.

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

7 consist of approximately 164,000 acres of public land in

8 Dolores and Montezuma Counties, Colorado, as generally

9 depicted on the Map.

10 (c) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

13 shall submit to Congress a map and legal description

14 of the Conservation Area.

15 (2) FORCE AND EFFECT.—The map and legal

16 description shall have the same force and effect as

17 if included in this Act, except that the Secretary

18 may correct clerical and typographical errors in the

19 map and legal description.

20 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the map

21 and legal description shall be on file and available

22 for public inspection in—

23 (A) the Office of the Director of the Bu24 reau of Land Management;

25 (B) the appropriate office of the Bureau of

26 Land Management in Colorado; and
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1 (C) the offices of the county clerks of Mon2 tezuma and Dolores Counties, Colorado.

3 (d) MANAGEMENT.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage

5 the Conservation Area in a manner that—

6 (A) conserves, protects, and enhances the

7 resources of the Conservation Area specified in

8 section 2(a); and

9 (B) is in accordance with—

10 (i) the Federal Land Policy and Man11 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et

12 seq.); and

13 (ii) other applicable law, including this

14 Act.

15 (2) USES.—The Secretary shall allow only such

16 uses of the Conservation Area as the Secretary de17 termines will further the purposes for which the

18 Conservation Area is established.

19 (3) VEHICULAR ACTIVITY.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

21 subparagraph (B) and as needed for adminis22 trative purposes or to respond to an emergency,

23 use of motorized vehicles or mechanized trans24 port in the Conservation Area shall be per-
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1 mitted only on roads and trails designated for

2 vehicular use under the management plan.

3 (B) ACCESS TO LEASES.—Nothing in this

4 Act prohibits vehicular access to any oil, gas, or

5 carbon dioxide lease by road or pipeline right6 of-way.

7 (4) WITHDRAWALS.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid exist9 ing rights (including lease rights) and historic

10 rights of access, and except as provided in sub11 paragraph (B), all Federal land within the Con12 servation Area and all land and interests in

13 land acquired for the Conservation Area by the

14 United States are withdrawn from—

15 (i) all forms of entry, appropriation,

16 or disposal under the public land laws;

17 (ii) location, entry, and patent under

18 the mining laws; and

19 (iii) disposal under the mineral leas20 ing, mineral materials, and geothermal

21 leasing laws.

22 (B) OIL AND GAS LEASING.—Notwith23 standing subparagraph (A), nothing in this Act

24 prohibits the leasing of oil, gas, or carbon diox25 ide (including resulting operations) within the
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1 Conservation Area under the mineral leasing

2 laws.

3 (5) HUNTING AND TRAPPING.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

5 subparagraph (B), nothing in this Act affects

6 hunting and trapping within the Conservation

7 Area conducted in accordance with applicable

8 laws (including regulations) of—

9 (i) the United States; and

10 (ii) the State of Colorado.

11 (B) HUNTING AND TRAPPING ZONES.—

12 The Secretary, after consultation with the Colo13 rado Division of Wildlife, may promulgate regu14 lations designating zones where and estab15 lishing periods when no hunting or trapping

16 shall be permitted in the Conservation Area for

17 reasons of—

18 (i) public safety;

19 (ii) administration; or

20 (iii) public use and enjoyment.

21 (6) GRAZING.—The Secretary shall issue and

22 administer any grazing leases or permits in the Con23 servation Area in accordance with the same laws (in24 cluding regulations) and executive orders followed by

25 the Secretary in issuing and administering grazing
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1 leases and permits on other land under the jurisdic2 tion of the Bureau of Land Management.

3 (e) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

6 shall develop a comprehensive plan for the long7 range protection and management of the Conserva8 tion Area.

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

10 (A) describe the appropriate uses and

11 management of the Conservation Area in ac12 cordance with—

13 (i) the Federal Land Policy and Man14 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et

15 seq.); and

16 (ii) other applicable law, including this

17 Act;

18 (B) incorporate, as appropriate, decisions

19 contained in any other management or activity

20 plan for the land within or adjacent to the Con21 servation Area;

22 (C) take into consideration any informa23 tion developed in studies of the land within or

24 adjacent to the Conservation Area; and
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1 (D) give appropriate consideration to the

2 historical involvement of the local community in

3 the interpretation and protection of the re4 sources of the Conservation Area.

5 (f) NO BUFFER ZONES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be no protective

7 perimeter or buffer zone around the Conservation

8 Area.

9 (2) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE CONSERVATION

10 AREA.—The fact that an activity on land or a use

11 of land in the Conservation Area is not permitted in12 side the Conservation Area shall not preclude the ac13 tivity on land or use of land outside the boundary

14 of the Conservation Area (or, in the Conservation

15 Area, on land that is privately held), consistent with

16 other applicable law.

17 (g) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—

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

19 non-federally owned land in the Conservation Area

20 only—

21 (A) from a willing seller; and

22 (B) through purchase, exchange, or dona23 tion.

24 (2) MODIFICATION OF BOUNDARY.—On acquisi25 tion of land under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
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1 modify the boundary of the Conservation Area to in2 clude the acquired land.

3 (3) MANAGEMENT.—Land acquired under para4 graph (1) shall be managed as part of the Conserva5 tion Area in accordance with this Act.

6 (h) INTERPRETIVE SITES.—The Secretary may es7 tablish sites in the Conservation Area to interpret the his8 torical, cultural, scientific, archaeological, natural, and

9 educational resources of the Conservation Area.

10 (i) WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act constitutes

11 an express or implied reservation of any water right.

12 (j) WILDERNESS ACTS.—Nothing in this Act alters

13 any provision of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et

14 seq.) or the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

15 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) that applies to wilder16 ness resources within the Conservation Area.

17 (k) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE LANDS.—Nothing in

18 this Act affects the management of land that is within

19 the Conservation Area and under the jurisdiction of the

20 National Park Service.

21 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COUNCIL.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

23 an advisory council to be known as the ‘‘Canyons of the

24 Ancients National Conservation Area Advisory Council’’.
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1 (b) DUTY.—The Council shall advise the Secretary

2 with respect to preparation and implementation of the

3 management plan.

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

5 to—

6 (1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

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

8 (2) the Federal Land Policy and Management

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

10 (d) MEMBERS.—The Council shall consist of 15

11 members, to be appointed by the Secretary, as follows:

12 (1) A member of or nominated by the Dolores

13 County Commission.

14 (2) A member of or nominated by the Monte15 zuma County Commission.

16 (3) 13 members residing in, or within reason17 able proximity to, southwestern Colorado with recog18 nized backgrounds reflecting—

19 (A) the purposes for which the Conserva20 tion Area was established; and

21 (B) the interests of the stakeholders that

22 are affected by the planning and management

23 of the Conservation Area.
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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

3 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Æ