I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4850

To designate as wilderness certain lands within Rocky Mountain National

Park, in Colorado.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 16, 1998

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

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To designate as wilderness certain lands within Rocky

Mountain National Park, in Colorado.

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 AND PURPOSE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Act of 1998’’.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to include

7 certain lands within Rocky Mountain National Park in the

8 National Wilderness Preservation System in order to pro9 tect their enduring scenic and historic wilderness char10 acter and unique wildlife values as well as their scientific,
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1 educational, inspirational, and recreational resources, val2 ues, and opportunities.

3 SEC. 2. WILDERNESS DESIGNATION AND MAP.

4 (a) DESIGNATION.—(1) In furtherance of the pur5 pose of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), cer6 tain lands within Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo7 rado, which comprise approximately 249,562 acres, as

8 generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Rocky Mountain

9 National Park Wilderness—Proposed’’ and dated June,

10 1998, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore,

11 as components of the National Wilderness Preservation

12 System and shall be known as the Rocky Mountain Na13 tional Park Wilderness.

14 (b) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

16 the Interior shall file a map and a boundary description

17 of the lands designated as wilderness by this section with

18 the Committee on Resources of the United States House

19 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and

20 Natural Resources of the United States Senate. Such map

21 and description shall have the same force and effect as

22 if included in this Act, except that the Secretary is author23 ized to correct clerical and typographical errors in such

24 map and description. Such map and description shall be

25 on file and available for public inspection in the office of
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1 the Director of the National Park Service, Department of

2 the Interior.

3 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

4 (a)(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,

5 lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be man6 aged by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with

7 the Wilderness Act and this Act, except that, with respect

8 to the lands designated as wilderness by this Act, any ref9 erence in the Wilderness Act to the effective date of the

10 Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the

11 date of enactment of this Act.

12 (2) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS.—

13 (A) DEFINITION.—As used in this paragraph,

14 the term ‘‘potential wilderness lands’’ means:

15 (i) lands within the boundaries of the areas

16 designated as wilderness by this Act that are

17 identified as ‘‘potential wilderness’’ on the map

18 referred to in section 2(a); and

19 (ii) lands and interests therein acquired by

20 the United States on or after the date of enact21 ment of this Act that are located within the

22 boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park

23 and contiguous with lands designated as wilder24 ness by this Act.
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1 (B) MANAGEMENT.—Potential wilderness lands

2 shall be managed as components of the National

3 Wilderness Preservation System upon publication in

4 the Federal Register of a notice by the Secretary of

5 the Interior that all uses thereon inconsistent with

6 the Wilderness Act have ceased.

7 (b) WATER RIGHTS.—(1) The Congress finds that,

8 according to decisions of courts of the State of Colorado,

9 the United States has existing rights to substantial quan10 tities of water within Rocky Mountain National Park, and

11 that consequently there is no need for this Act to effect

12 a reservation by the United States of any additional water

13 rights to fulfill the purposes for which the wilderness des14 ignations made by this Act are made.

15 (2) Nothing in this Act or any action taken pursuant

16 thereto shall constitute either an express or implied res17 ervation of water or water rights for any purpose.

18 (c) COLORADO-BIG THOMPSON PROJECT.—

19 (1) EXISTING ACTIVITIES.—Activities on,

20 under, or affecting the lands designated as wilder21 ness by this Act relating to the monitoring, oper22 ation, maintenance, repair, replacement, or use of

23 the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and its facilities

24 which were allowed as of June 1, 1998, shall be al-
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1 lowed to continue, and shall not be affected by the

2 designation of such lands as wilderness.

3 (2) NEW ACTIVITIES.—In addition to the activi4 ties described in paragraph (1), any other activities

5 on, under, or affecting the lands designated as wil6 derness by this Act that are necessary to respond to

7 catastrophic events or emergencies and that affect

8 the continued operation, maintenance, repair, re9 placement or use of the Colorado-Big Thompson

10 Project and its facilities shall be allowed, subject to

11 reasonable restrictions established by the Secretary

12 of the Interior in order to protect the wilderness val13 ues of such lands; Provided, however, That any such

14 restrictions shall not permanently reduce the water

15 supply capability of the Colorado-Big Thompson

16 Project or the Windy Gap Project.

17 (3) OTHER PROJECTS.—Nothing in section 1 of

18 the Act of January 26, 1915 (16 U.S.C. 191; 38

19 State. 798) shall be construed to permit development

20 within the lands designated as wilderness by this Act

21 of any reclamation project not in existence on the

22 date of enactment of this Act.

23 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—(1) Boundaries for the wilderness

24 and potential wilderness areas designated by this Act spe25 cifically exclude—
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1 (A) the Grand Ditch (including both the main

2 canal of the Grand Ditch and a branch thereof

3 known as the Specimen Ditch) and its right-of-way

4 as well as associated appurtenances, structures,

5 buildings, camps, and work sites in existence as of

6 June 1, 1998; and

7 (B) lands owned by the St. Vrain & Left Hand

8 Water Conservancy District, including Copeland

9 Reservoir and the inlet ditch to such reservoir from

10 the North St. Vrain Creek, amounting to approxi11 mately 35.38 acres.

12 (2) Nothing in this Act shall affect management or

13 use of any lands not included within the boundaries of the

14 areas designated as wilderness or potential wilderness by

15 this Act.

16 (e) NO BUFFER ZONES.—Congress does not intend

17 that the designation by this Act of wilderness areas in the

18 State of Colorado creates or implies the creation of protec19 tive perimeters or buffer zones around any wilderness

20 area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can

21 be seen or heard from within a wilderness area shall not,

22 of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the bound23 ary of the wilderness area.

Æ