I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3604
To establish the Carrizo Plain National Conservation Area in the State
of California, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 31, 1998
Mrs. CAPPS (for herself and Mr. THOMAS) 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Carrizo Plain National
Conservation Area Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The public lands administered by the Bu-
reau of Land Management in the State of California
within the Carrizo Plain contain the last remnants
of the once vast San Joaquin Valley grasslands that
covered a large expanse of central California.
(2) As a remnant ecosystem, these lands pro-
vide the best remaining contiguous habitat for a
number of State or federally listed endangered spe-
cies or threatened species, including the San Joa-
quin kit fox, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the
giant kangaroo rat, and the San Joaquin antelope
squirrel, and numerous other federally or State list-
ed or sensitive plant and animal species. Many other
important species of native wildlife inhabit the area,
such as pronghorn antelope and tule elk.
(3) In addition to its biological diversity,
Carrizo Plain contains nationally significant cultural
and historical sites which are very important to in-
digenous peoples in the area for religious and tradi-
tional cultural purposes.
(4) The Carrizo Plain area also contains one of
the best and most visible exposures of the geologi-
cally unique San Andreas fault, which is the bound-
ary between the Pacific Plate (on the west) which
moves northward relative to the North American
Plate (on the east) and has and will continue to play
a critical role in the evolution and future of Califor-
nia.
(5) The Carrizo Plain offers unique research,
interpretive, and educational opportunities, and sig-
nificant recreation opportunities for the public.
(6) Since 1985, the Carrizo Plain has been co-
operatively managed by the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, the California Department of Fish and
Game, and The Nature Conservancy, each of which
owns a part of the Carrizo Plain and all of which
work closely together in a manner that makes juris-
dictional differences among them nearly transparent.
(7) A cooperative management plan has been
prepared for the Carrizo Plain by the Bureau of
Land Management, the California Department of
Fish and Game, and The Nature Conservancy, with
full public involvement, that sets the stage for long-
term joint management of the area for public use
and enjoyment.
(8) This management plan is based on the
agencies’ joint primary mission as set forth in the
plan to ‘‘manage the Carrizo Plain . . .
so indige-
nous species interact within a dynamic and fully
functioning ecosystem in perpetuity while conserving
unique natural and cultural resources and maintain-
ing opportunities for compatible scientific, cultural,
social, and recreational activities’’. In this context,
and under the basic principles of multiple use and
sustained yield, other resource uses, such as live-
stock grazing and recreation use, are allowed under
the management plan in the conservation area if
they are managed in a manner compatible with that
primary mission.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CONSERVA-
TION AREA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES.—To preserve
the nationally significant biological, geological, cultural,
and recreation values found in the Carrizo Plain, Califor-
nia, as an enduring legacy of our heritage, and to secure
for future generations the opportunity to experience those
values in an environment rich in biological diversity and
natural beauty, the area described in subsection (b) is
hereby designated as the Carrizo Plain National Conserva-
tion Area.
(b) AREA DESCRIBED.—
(1) BOUNDARY MAP.—The area referred to in
subsection (a) consists of approximately 250,000
acres of lands and waters, and interests therein, as
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Boundary
Map, Carrizo Plain National Conservation Area’’,
dated October 1997.
(2) LEGAL
DESCRIPTION.—As soon as prac-
ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall file a legal description of the con-
servation area with the Committee on Resources of
the House of Representatives and with the Commit-
tee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
Such legal description shall have the same force and
effect as if included in this Act, subject to paragraph
(3).
(3) REVISIONS AND CORRECTIONS.—The Sec-
retary may—
(A) make minor revisions in the boundary
of the conservation area; and
(B) correct clerical and typographical er-
rors in the map and legal description referred
to in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.
(4) 
PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY.—The 
Secretary
shall keep the map and legal description referred to
in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, on file and
available for public inspection in the offices of the
Director in the District of Columbia and in Sac-
ramento and Bakersfield, California.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE CONSERVATION AREA.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the
Director, shall manage the public lands within the con-
servation area in accordance with all applicable laws and
the management plan.
(b) REVIEW
AND
REVISION
OF
MANAGEMENT
PLAN.—The Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with
the Director, the California Department of Fish and
Game, affected landowners, and The Nature Conser-
vancy—
(1) shall, by not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, review the management
plan referred to in section 9(4) and make such revi-
sions in that plan as are necessary to ensure that it
is consistent with the this Act and with the con-
servation, enhancement, and protection of the con-
servation area; and
(2) may from time to time thereafter make
such revisions as are necessary to ensure that con-
sistency.
(c) GIFTS.—The Secretary may accept, receive, hold,
administer, and use any gift, devise, or bequest, absolutely
or in trust, of real or personal property, including any in-
come from or interest in property or any funds, for man-
agement of the conservation area for the purposes for
which the conservation area is established under section
3(a).
(d) FUNDING ACCOUNT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To fund management activi-
ties for the conservation area, there is established in
the Treasury a separate account to be known as the
Carizzo Plain National Conservation Area Manage-
ment Fund.
(2) CONTENTS.—The account shall consist of—
(A) amounts received as fees for activities
in the conservation area;
(B) amounts received by the United States
as a gift, devise, or bequest authorized by sub-
section (c); and
(C) amounts appropriated to the account.
(3) USE.—Amounts in the account shall be
available to the Secretary for management of the
conservation area pursuant to the purposes for
which the conservation is established under section
3(a).
SEC. 5. LAND ACQUISITION.
(a) LAND ACQUISITION.—The Secretary may acquire
nongovernment, privately owned lands and interests there-
in within the conservation area by donation, by exchange,
or by purchase with the consent of the owner thereof.
(b) MANAGEMENT.—Lands or interests therein with-
in the conservation area so acquired by the United States
shall, after the date of the enactment of this Act, be incor-
porated into and managed as part of the conservation
area.
SEC. 6. WITHDRAWAL; MINERAL DEVELOPMENT.
(a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,
all Federal lands within the conservation area, including
all lands or interests acquired by the United States after
the date of enactment of this Act, are hereby withdrawn
from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under
the public land laws and from location, entry, and patent
under the mining laws of the United States.
(b) MINERAL DEVELOPMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), mineral development may occur in the
conservation area pursuant to the Act of February
25, 1920 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.; popularly known
as the Mineral Leasing Act), and laws supple-
mentary thereto, or the Act of July 31, 1947 (30
U.S.C. 601 et seq.; popularly known as the Mate-
rials Act of 1947), and laws supplementary thereto,
only to the extent that development is consistent
with the management plan.
(2) STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS AND INTER-
ESTS NOT AFFECTED.—This subsection shall not af-
fect any State or privately owned lands or interests
in lands.
SEC. 7. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.
The Secretary may, consistent with the management
plan, enter into any cooperative agreements or shared
management arrangements with any person for the pur-
poses of management, interpretation, and research of the
conservation area’s resources.
SEC. 8. NATIVE AMERICAN USES.
(a) NATIVE AMERICAN USES.—The Secretary shall
ensure nonexclusive access to and use of the public lands
in the conservation area by Native Americans for tradi-
tional cultural and religious purposes consistent with the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C.
1996).
(b) TEMPORARY CLOSURE.—To implement this sec-
tion, the Secretary may from time to time temporarily
close to general public use any specific areas of public
lands in the conservation area in order to protect the pri-
vacy of Native American religious activities in such areas.
Any such closure shall be made in such manner as will
affect the smallest practicable area for the minimum pe-
riod necessary for such purposes.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CONSERVATION
AREA.—The term ‘‘con-
servation area’’ means the Carrizo Plain National
Conservation Area designated under section 3(a).
(2) CALIFORNIA
DEPARTMENT
OF
FISH
AND
GAME.—The term ‘‘California Department of Fish
and Game’’ means the public entity within the State
of California’s Resources Agency established by the
laws of the State of California to administer the fish
and wildlife resources in the State on behalf of the
people of California.
(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means
the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
(4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage-
ment plan’’ means the management plan developed
cooperatively by the Bureau of Land Management,
the California Department of Fish and Game, and
The Nature Conservancy, entitled ‘‘The Carrizo
Plain Natural Area Management Plan’’ and dated
November 1996, as such plan may be revised by the
Secretary under section 4(b).
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior.
(6) THE
NATURE
CONSERVANCY.—The term
‘‘The Nature Conservancy’’ means the nonprofit or-
ganization established under laws of the State of
Virginia and doing business in that name.
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