H. R. 4275
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand
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 Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Colorado Canyons National
Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Act of
2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that certain areas located in
the Grand Valley in Mesa County, Colorado, and Grand County,
Utah, should be protected and enhanced for the benefit and enjoy-
ment of present and future generations. These areas include the
following:
(1) The areas making up the Black Ridge and Ruby Can-
yons of the Grand Valley and Rabbit Valley, which contain
unique 
and 
valuable 
scenic, 
recreational, 
multiple 
use
opportunities (including grazing), paleontological, natural, and
wildlife components 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 geological, paleontological,
scientific, and recreational resources.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to conserve, protect,
and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future
generations the unique and nationally important values of the
public lands described in section 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 National
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 ‘‘Conservation Area’’
means the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area estab-
lished by section 4(a).
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(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the Colorado Can-
yons National Conservation Area Advisory Council established
under section 8.
(3) MANAGEMENT
PLAN.—The term ‘‘management plan’’
means the management plan developed for the Conservation
Area under section 6(h).
(4) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Pro-
posed Colorado Canyons National Conservation 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 Director of the Bureau
of Land Management.
(6) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘‘Wilderness’’ means the Black
Ridge Canyons Wilderness so designated 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 Colorado 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 National Wilderness Preservation
System. Such component shall be known as the Black Ridge Can-
yons Wilderness.
SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT.
(a) CONSERVATION AREA.—The Secretary shall manage the Con-
servation Area in a manner that—
(1) conserves, protects, and enhances the resources of the
Conservation Area specified in section 2(b); and
(2) is in accordance with—
(A) the Federal Land Policy and Management 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 Wilderness 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, mineral materials,
and geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments thereto.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect discretionary
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.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), use
of motorized vehicles in the Conservation Area—
(A) before the effective date of a management plan
under subsection (h), shall be allowed only on roads and
trails designated for use of motor vehicles in the manage-
ment 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 management plan under
subsection (h), shall be allowed only on roads and trails
designated for use of motor vehicles in that management
plan.
(2) ADMINISTRATIVE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE USE.—Para-
graph (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 des-
ignated as wilderness by this Act shall be managed 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 wilder-
ness areas designated 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 fishing 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 con-
sultation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in reference
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 regulations designating zones where, and
establishing limited periods when, hunting, trapping, or fishing
shall be prohibited in the Conservation Area or the Wilderness
for reasons of public safety, administration, or public use and
enjoyment.
(g) GRAZING.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided by paragraph (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 orders followed by the Secretary in issuing and
administering grazing leases and permits on other land under
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) GRAZING IN WILDERNESS.—Grazing of livestock in the
Wilderness shall be administered in accordance with the provi-
sions of section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.
1133(d)(4)), in accordance 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
H. R. 4275—4
and management of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness
and the lands described in paragraph (2)(E).
(2) PURPOSES.—The management plan shall—
(A) describe the appropriate uses and management
of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness;
(B) take into consideration any information developed
in studies of the land within the Conservation Area or
the Wilderness;
(C) provide for the continued management of the utility
corridor, Black Ridge Communications Site, and the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration site as such for the land des-
ignated on the Map as utility corridor, Black Ridge Commu-
nications Site, and the Federal Aviation Administration
site;
(D) take into consideration the historical involvement
of the local community in the interpretation and protection
of the resources of the Conservation Area and the Wilder-
ness, as well as the Ruby Canyon/Black Ridge Integrated
Resource Management Plan, dated March 1998, which was
the result of collaborative efforts on the part of the Bureau
of Land Management and the local community; and
(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 intend for the
establishment of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness to lead
to the creation of protective perimeters 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 boundaries of the Conservation
Area or the Wilderness only through purchase from a willing
seller, exchange, or donation.
(2) MANAGEMENT.—Land acquired under paragraph (1)
shall be managed as part of the Conservation Area or the
Wilderness, as the case may be, in accordance with this Act.
(k) INTERPRETIVE FACILITIES
OR SITES.—The Secretary may
establish minimal interpretive facilities or sites in cooperation with
other public or private entities as the Secretary considers appro-
priate. 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;
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(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 legisla-
tion designating as wilderness lands not sharing the
attributes 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 des-
ignated as a national 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 enactment of this Act.
(C) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as
establishing a precedent with regard 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 com-
pacts or equitable apportionment 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 requirements 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 Wilder-
ness.
(4) NEW PROJECTS.—
(A) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘‘water resource
facility’’ means irrigation and pumping facilities, reservoirs,
water conservation works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipe-
lines, 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 section 6(g) or
other provisions of this Act, on and after the date of the
enactment of this Act, neither the President nor any other
officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall fund,
assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for the
development of any new water resource facility 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, oper-
ation, maintenance, repair, modification, or replacement
of water resource facilities in existence on the date of
the enactment of this Act within the boundaries of the
Wilderness.
(5) BOUNDARIES ALONG COLORADO RIVER.—(A) Neither the
Conservation Area nor the Wilderness shall include any part
of the Colorado River to the 100-year high water mark.
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(B) Nothing in this Act shall affect the authority that
the Secretary may or may not have to manage 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 Con-
servation 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 labeled ‘‘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 disposal under
the public land laws;
(ii) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws;
and
(iii) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral mate-
rials, 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 submit 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 descriptions shall
have the same force and effect as if included 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 public inspection
in—
(1) the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment;
(2) the Grand Junction District Office of the Bureau of
Land Management in Colorado;
(3) the appropriate office of the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment in Colorado, if the Grand Junction District Office is
not deemed the appropriate office; and
(4) the appropriate office of the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment in Utah.
(d) MAP CONTROLLING.—Subject to section 6(l)(3), in the case
of a discrepancy between the Map and the descriptions, 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
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(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 Commis-
sion.
(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 Northwest Resource
Advisory Council.
(4) Seven members residing in, or within reasonable prox-
imity to, Mesa County, Colorado, with recognized backgrounds
reflecting—
(A) the purposes for which the Conservation 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, Colo-
rado, in accordance with the decision in Board of County Commis-
sioners of Mesa County v. Watt (634 F. Supp. 1265 (D.Colo.; May
2, 1986)).
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.