106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4275
AN ACT
To establish the Colorado Canyons National Con-
servation Area and the Black Ridge Canyons
Wilderness, and for other purposes.
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4275
AN ACT
To establish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation
Area and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, 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 ‘‘Colorado Canyons Na-
tional Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wil-
derness Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that certain areas lo-
cated in the Grand Valley in Mesa County, Colorado, and
Grand County, Utah, should be protected and enhanced
for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future gen-
erations. These areas include the following:
(1) The areas making up the Black Ridge and
Ruby Canyons of the Grand Valley and Rabbit Val-
ley, which contain unique and valuable scenic, rec-
reational, multiple use opportunities (including graz-
ing), paleontological, natural, and wildlife compo-
nents enhanced by the rural western setting of the
area, provide extensive opportunities for recreational
activities, and are publicly used for hiking, camping,
and grazing, and are worthy of additional protection
as a national conservation area.
(2) The Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Study
Area has wilderness value and offers unique geologi-
cal, paleontological, scientific, and recreational re-
sources.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to con-
serve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment
of present and future generations the unique and nation-
ally important values of the public lands described in sec-
tion 4(b), including geological, cultural, paleontological,
natural, scientific, recreational, environmental, biological,
wilderness, wildlife education, and scenic resources of such
public lands, by establishing the Colorado Canyons Na-
tional Conservation Area and the Black Ridge Canyons
Wilderness in the State of Colorado and the State of Utah.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CONSERVATION
AREA.—The term ‘‘Con-
servation Area’’ means the Colorado Canyons Na-
tional Conservation Area established by section 4(a).
(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the
Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area Advi-
sory Council established under section 8.
(3) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage-
ment plan’’ means the management plan developed
for the Conservation Area under section 6(h).
(4) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en-
titled ‘‘Proposed Colorado Canyons National Con-
servation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness
Area’’ and dated July 18, 2000.
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-
rector of the Bureau of Land Management.
(6) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘‘Wilderness’’
means the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness so des-
ignated in section 5.
SEC. 4. COLORADO CANYONS NATIONAL CONSERVATION
AREA.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Colorado
Canyons National Conservation Area in the State of Colo-
rado and the State of Utah.
(b) AREAS INCLUDED.—The Conservation Area shall
consist of approximately 122,300 acres of public land as
generally depicted on the Map.
SEC. 
5. 
BLACK 
RIDGE 
CANYONS 
WILDERNESS
DESIGNATION.
Certain lands in Mesa County, Colorado, and Grand
County, Utah, which comprise approximately 75,550 acres
as generally depicted on the Map, are hereby designated
as wilderness and therefore as a component of the Na-
tional Wilderness Preservation System. Such component
shall be known as the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness.
SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT.
(a) CONSERVATION AREA.—The Secretary shall man-
age the Conservation Area in a manner that—
(1) conserves, protects, and enhances the re-
sources of the Conservation Area specified in section
2(b); and
(2) is in accordance with—
(A) the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
(B) other applicable law, including this
Act.
(b) USES.—The Secretary shall allow only such uses
of the Conservation Area as the Secretary determines will
further the purposes for which the Conservation Area is
established.
(c) WITHDRAWALS.—Subject to valid existing rights,
all Federal land within the Conservation Area and the Wil-
derness and all land and interests in land acquired for the
Conservation Area or the Wilderness by the United States
are withdrawn from—
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal
under the public land laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining
laws; and
(3) the operation of the mineral leasing, min-
eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all
amendments thereto.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect dis-
cretionary authority of the Secretary under other Federal
laws to grant, issue, or renew rights-of-way or other land
use authorizations consistent with the other provisions of
this Act.
(d) OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE USE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), use of motorized vehicles in the Conserva-
tion Area—
(A) before the effective date of a manage-
ment plan under subsection (h), shall be al-
lowed only on roads and trails designated for
use of motor vehicles in the management plan
that applies on the date of the enactment of
this Act to the public lands in the Conservation
Area; and
(B) after the effective date of a manage-
ment plan under subsection (h), shall be al-
lowed only on roads and trails designated for
use of motor vehicles in that management plan.
(2) ADMINISTRATIVE
AND
EMERGENCY
RE-
SPONSE USE.—Paragraph (1) shall not limit the use
of motor vehicles in the Conservation Area as needed
for administrative purposes or to respond to an
emergency.
(e) WILDERNESS.—Subject to valid existing rights,
lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be man-
aged by the Secretary, as appropriate, in accordance with
the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act,
except that, with respect to any wilderness areas des-
ignated by this Act, any reference in the Wilderness Act
to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed
to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.
(f) HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Hunting, trapping, and fish-
ing shall be allowed within the Conservation Area
and the Wilderness in accordance with applicable
laws and regulations of the United States and the
States of Colorado and Utah.
(2) AREA AND TIME CLOSURES.—The head of
the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in reference to
land within the State of Colorado), the head of the
Utah Division of Wildlife (in reference to land within
the State of Utah), or the Secretary after consulta-
tion with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in ref-
erence to land within the State of Colorado) or the
head of the Utah Division of Wildlife (in reference
to land within the State of Utah), may issue regula-
tions designating zones where, and establishing lim-
ited periods when, hunting, trapping, or fishing shall
be prohibited in the Conservation Area or the Wil-
derness for reasons of public safety, administration,
or public use and enjoyment.
(g) GRAZING.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by para-
graph (2), the Secretary shall issue and administer
any grazing leases or permits in the Conservation
Area and the Wilderness in accordance with the
same laws (including regulations) and Executive or-
ders followed by the Secretary in issuing and admin-
istering grazing leases and permits on other land
under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement.
(2) GRAZING IN WILDERNESS.—Grazing of live-
stock in the Wilderness shall be administered in ac-
cordance with the provisions of section 4(d)(4) of
the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), in ac-
cordance with the guidelines set forth in Appendix A
of House Report 101–405 of the 101st Congress.
(h) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall develop a comprehensive management plan for
the long-range protection and management of the
(E) include all public lands between the
boundary of the Conservation Area and the
edge of the Colorado River and, on such lands,
the Secretary shall allow only such recreational
or other uses as are consistent with this Act.
(i) NO BUFFER ZONES.—The Congress does not in-
tend for the establishment of the Conservation Area or
the Wilderness to lead to the creation of protective perim-
eters or buffer zones around the Conservation Area or the
Wilderness. The fact that there may be activities or uses
on lands outside the Conservation Area or the Wilderness
that would not be allowed in the Conservation Area or the
Wilderness shall not preclude such activities or uses on
such lands up to the boundary of the Conservation Area
or the Wilderness consistent with other applicable laws.
(j) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire
non-federally owned land within the exterior bound-
aries of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness
only through purchase from a willing seller, ex-
change, or donation.
(2) MANAGEMENT.—Land acquired under para-
graph (1) shall be managed as part of the Conserva-
tion Area or the Wilderness, as the case may be, in
accordance with this Act.
(k) INTERPRETIVE FACILITIES OR SITES.—The Sec-
retary may establish minimal interpretive facilities or sites
in cooperation with other public or private entities as the
Secretary considers appropriate. Any facilities or sites
shall be designed to protect the resources referred to in
section 2(b).
(l) WATER RIGHTS.—
(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(A) the lands designated as wilderness by
this Act are located at the headwaters of the
streams and rivers on those lands, with few, if
any, actual or proposed water resource facilities
located upstream from such lands and few, if
any, opportunities for diversion, storage, or
other uses of water occurring outside such
lands that would adversely affect the wilderness
or other values of such lands;
(B) the lands designated as wilderness by
this Act generally are not suitable for use for
development of new water resource facilities, or
for the expansion of existing facilities;
(C) it is possible to provide for proper
management and protection of the wilderness
and other values of such lands in ways different
from those utilized in other legislation desig-
nating as wilderness lands not sharing the at-
tributes of the lands designated as wilderness
by this Act.
(2) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—
(A) Nothing in this Act shall constitute or
be construed to constitute either an express or
implied reservation of any water or water rights
with respect to the lands designated as a na-
tional conservation area or as wilderness by this
Act.
(B) Nothing in this Act shall affect any
conditional or absolute water rights in the State
of Colorado existing on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(C) Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed as establishing a precedent with re-
gard to any future national conservation area
or wilderness designations.
(D) Nothing in this Act shall be construed
as limiting, altering, modifying, or amending
any of the interstate compacts or equitable ap-
portionment decrees that apportion water
among and between the State of Colorado and
other States.
(3) COLORADO
WATER
LAW.—The Secretary
shall follow the procedural and substantive require-
ments of the law of the State of Colorado in order
to obtain and hold any new water rights with respect
to the Conservation Area and the Wilderness.
(4) NEW PROJECTS.—
(A) As used in this paragraph, the term
‘‘water resource facility’’ means irrigation and
pumping facilities, reservoirs, water conserva-
tion works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines,
wells, hydropower projects, and transmission
and other ancillary facilities, and other water
diversion, storage, and carriage structures.
Such term does not include any such facilities
related to or used for the purpose of livestock
grazing.
(B) Except as otherwise provided by sec-
tion 6(g) or other provisions of this Act, on and
after the date of the enactment of this Act, nei-
ther the President nor any other officer, em-
ployee, or agent of the United States shall fund,
assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for
the development of any new water resource fa-
cility within the wilderness area designated by
this Act.
(C) Except as provided in this paragraph,
nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect
or limit the use, operation, maintenance, repair,
modification, or replacement of water resource
facilities in existence on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act within the boundaries of the
Wilderness.
(5) BOUNDARIES ALONG COLORADO RIVER.—
(A) Neither the Conservation Area nor the Wilder-
ness shall include any part of the Colorado River to
the 100-year high water mark.
(B) Nothing in this Act shall affect the author-
ity that the Secretary may or may not have to man-
age recreational uses on the Colorado River, except
as such authority may be affected by compliance
with paragraph (3). Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to affect the authority of the Secretary to
manage the public lands between the boundary of
the Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado
River.
(C) Subject to valid existing rights, all lands
owned by the Federal Government between the 100-
year high water mark on each shore of the Colorado
River, as designated on the Map from the line la-
beled ‘‘Line A’’ on the east to the boundary between
the States of Colorado and Utah on the west, are
hereby withdrawn from—
(i) all forms of entry, appropriation, or dis-
posal under the public land laws;
(ii) location, entry, and patent under the
mining laws; and
(iii) the operation of the mineral leasing,
mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
SEC. 7. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to Congress a copy of the Map and a legal description
of the Conservation Area and of the Wilderness.
(b) FORCE AND EFFECT.—The Map and legal de-
scriptions shall have the same force and effect as if in-
cluded in this Act, except that the Secretary may correct
clerical and typographical errors in the Map and the legal
descriptions.
(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the Map and
the legal descriptions shall be on file and available for pub-
lic inspection in—
(1) the Office of the Director of the Bureau of
Land Management;
(2) the Grand Junction District Office of the
Bureau of Land Management in Colorado;
(3) the appropriate office of the Bureau of
Land Management in Colorado, if the Grand Junc-
tion District Office is not deemed the appropriate of-
fice; and
(4) the appropriate office of the Bureau of
Land Management in Utah.
(d) MAP CONTROLLING.—Subject to section 6(l)(3),
in the case of a discrepancy between the Map and the de-
scriptions, the Map shall control.
SEC. 8. ADVISORY COUNCIL.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
establish an advisory council to be known as the ‘‘Colorado
Canyons National Conservation Area Advisory Council’’.
(b) DUTY.—The Council shall advise the Secretary
with respect to preparation and implementation of the
management plan, including budgetary matters, for the
Conservation Area and the Wilderness.
(c) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Council shall be subject
to—
(1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
U.S.C. App.); and
(2) the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
(d) MEMBERS.—The Council shall consist of 10
members to be appointed by the Secretary including, to
the extent practicable:
(1) A member of or nominated by the Mesa
County Commission.
(2) A member nominated by the permittees
holding grazing allotments within the Conservation
Area or the Wilderness.
(3) A member of or nominated by the North-
west Resource Advisory Council.
(4) Seven members residing in, or within rea-
sonable proximity to, Mesa County, Colorado, with
recognized backgrounds reflecting—
(A) the purposes for which the Conserva-
tion Area or Wilderness was established; and
(B) the interests of the stakeholders that
are affected by the planning and management
of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness.
SEC. 9. PUBLIC ACCESS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall continue to
allow private landowners reasonable access to inholdings
in the Conservation Area and Wilderness.
(b) GLADE PARK.—The Secretary shall continue to
allow public right of access, including commercial vehicles,
to Glade Park, Colorado, in accordance with the decision
in Board of County Commissioners of Mesa County v.
Watt (634 F. Supp. 1265 (D.Colo.; May 2, 1986)).
Passed the House of Representatives July 25, 2000.
Attest:
Clerk.