I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 631
To designate certain lands in the State of Colorado as components of the
National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 26, 1993
Mr. SKAGGS (for himself, Mr. MCINNIS, and Mrs. SCHROEDER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To designate certain lands in the State of Colorado as com-
ponents of the National Wilderness Preservation System,
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 Wilderness
Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO THE WILDERNESS PRESERVATION
SYSTEM.
(a) ADDITIONS.—The following lands in the State of
Colorado are hereby designated as wilderness and, there-
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fore, as components of the National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System:
(1) Certain lands in the Gunnison Basin Re-
source Area administered by the Bureau of Land
Management which comprise approximately 3,390
acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled
‘‘America Flats Additions to the Big Blue Wilder-
ness-Proposal (American Flats)’’, dated January,
1993, and which are hereby incorporated in and
shall be deemed to be a part of the wilderness area
designated by Public Law 96–560 and renamed
‘‘Uncompahgre Wilderness’’ by section 3(f) of this
Act.
(2) Certain lands in the Gunnison Resource
Area administered by the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment which comprise approximately 815 acres, as
generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Bill Hare
Gulch and Larson Creek Additions to the Big Blue
Wilderness’’, dated January, 1993, and which are
hereby incorporated in and shall be deemed to be a
part of the wilderness area designated by Public
Law 96–560 and renamed ‘‘Uncompahgre Wilder-
ness’’ by section 3(f) of this Act.
(3) Certain lands in the Pike and San Isabel
National Forests which comprise approximately
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43,410 acres, as generally depicted on a map enti-
tled ‘‘Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Proposal’’, dated
January, 1993, and which shall be known as the
Buffalo Peaks Wilderness.
(4) Certain lands in the Gunnison National
Forest and in the Bureau of Land Management
Powderhorn Primitive Area which comprise approxi-
mately 60,100 acres as generally depicted on a map
entitled ‘‘Powderhorn Wilderness Proposal’’, dated
January, 1993, and which shall be known as the
Powderhorn Wilderness.
(5) Certain lands in the Routt National Forest
which comprise approximately 20,750 acres, as gen-
erally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Davis Peak Addi-
tions to Mount Zirkel Wilderness Proposal’’, dated
January, 1993, and which are hereby incorporated
in and shall be deemed to be a part of the Mount
Zirkel Wilderness designated by Public Law 88–555.
(6) 
Certain 
lands 
in 
the 
Grand 
Mesa,
Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests
which comprise approximately 33,060 acres as gen-
erally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Fossil Ridge Wil-
derness Proposal’’, dated January, 1993, and which
shall be known as the Wren and Tim Wirth Wilder-
ness Area.
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(7) Certain lands in the San Isabel National
Forest which comprise approximately 22,040 acres
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Greenhorn
Mountain Wilderness Proposal’’, dated January,
1993, and which shall be known as the Greenhorn
Mountain Wilderness.
(8) Certain lands within the Pike and San Isa-
bel National Forests which comprise approximately
14,700 acres, as generally depicted on a map enti-
tled ‘‘Lost Creek Wilderness Addition Proposal’’,
dated January, 1993, which are hereby incorporated
in and shall be deemed to be a part of the Lost
Creek Wilderness designated by Public Law 96–560:
Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture (herein-
after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) is
authorized to acquire, only by donation or exchange,
various mineral reservations held by the State of
Colorado within the boundaries of the Lost Creek
Wilderness additions designated by this Act.
(9) 
Certain 
lands 
in 
the 
Grand 
Mesa,
Uncompahgre, and the Gunnison National Forests
which comprise approximately 5,500 acres, as gen-
erally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Oh-Be-Joyful Ad-
dition to the Raggeds Wilderness Proposal’’, dated
January, 1993, and which are hereby incorporated
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in and shall be deemed to be a part of the Raggeds
Wilderness designated by Public Law 96–560.
(10) Certain lands in the Rio Grande National
Forest which comprise approximately 226,455 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Sangre de
Cristo Wilderness Proposal’’, dated January, 1993,
and which shall be known as the Sangre de Cristo
Wilderness.
(11) Certain lands in the Routt National Forest
which comprise approximately 47,140 acres, as gen-
erally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Sarvis Creek Wil-
derness Proposal (Sarvis Creek Wilderness)’’, dated
January, 1993, which shall be known as the Sarvis
Creek Wilderness: Provided, That the Secretary is
authorized to acquire by purchase, donation, or ex-
change, lands or interests therein within the bound-
aries of the Sarvis Creek Wilderness only with the
consent of the owner thereof.
(12) Certain lands in the San Juan National
Forest which comprise approximately 31,100 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘South San
Juan Wilderness Expansion Proposal’’ (V-Rock
Trail and Montezuma Peak), dated January, 1993,
and which are hereby incorporated in and shall be
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deemed to be a part of the South San Juan Wilder-
ness designated by Public Law 96–560.
(13) Certain lands in the White River National
Forest which comprise approximately 8,330 acres, as
generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Spruce Creek
Additions to the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness Pro-
posal’’, dated January, 1993, and which hereby in-
corporated in and shall be deemed to be part of the
Hunter Fryingpan Wilderness designated by Public
Law 95–327: Provided, That no right, or claim of
right, to the diversion and use of the waters of Hun-
ter Creek, the Fryingpan or Roaring Fork Rivers, or
any tributaries of said creeks or rivers, by the
Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Public Law 87–590,
and the reauthorization thereof by Public Law 93–
193, as modified as proposed in the September 1959
report of the Bureau of Reclamation entitled ‘‘Ruedi
Dam and Reservoir, Colorado’’, and as further modi-
fied and described in the description of the proposal
contained in the final environmental statement for
said project, dated April 16, 1975, under the laws
of the State of Colorado, shall be prejudiced, ex-
panded, diminished, altered, or affected by this Act.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to expand,
abate, impair, impede, or interfere with the con-
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struction, maintenance, or repair of said Fryingpan-
Arkansas Project facilities, nor the operation there-
of, pursuant to the Operating Principles, House
Document 187, Eighty-third Congress, and pursuant
to the water laws of the State of Colorado: Provided
further, That nothing in this Act shall be construed
to impede, limit, or prevent the use by the
Fryingpan-Arkansas Project of its diversion systems
to their full extent.
(14) Certain lands in the Arapaho National
Forest which comprise approximately 8,095 acres, as
generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Byers Peak
Wilderness Proposal’’, dated January, 1993, and
which shall be known as the Byers Peak Wilderness.
(15) Certain lands in the Arapaho National
Forest which comprise approximately 12,300 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Vasquez
Peak Wilderness Proposal’’, dated January, 1993,
and which shall be known as the Vasquez Peak Wil-
derness.
(16) Certain lands in the San Juan National
Forest which comprise approximately 28,740 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘West Nee-
dle Wilderness Proposal and Weminuche Additions’’,
dated January, 1993, and which are hereby incor-
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porated in and shall be deemed to be a part of the
Weminuche Wilderness designated by Public Law
93–632.
(17) Certain lands in the Rio Grande National
Forest which comprise approximately 25,640 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Wheeler
Additions to the La Garita Wilderness Proposal’’,
dated January, 1993, and which shall be incor-
porated into and shall be deemed to be a part of the
La Garita Wilderness.
(18) Certain lands in the Arapaho National
Forest which comprise approximately 13,175 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Farr Wil-
derness Proposal’’, dated January, 1993, and which
shall be known as the Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness.
(19) Certain lands in the Arapaho National
Forest which comprise approximately 6,990 acres, as
generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Bowen Gulch
Additions to Never Summer Wilderness Proposal’’,
dated January, 1993, which are hereby incorporated
into and shall be deemed to be a part of the Never
Summer Wilderness.
(b) MAPS AND DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as prac-
ticable after the date of enactment of this Act, the appro-
priate Secretary shall file a map and a legal description
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of each area designated as wilderness by this Act with the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Unit-
ed States Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources
of the United States House of Representatives. Each map
and description shall have the same force and effect as
if included in this Act, except that the Secretary is author-
ized to correct clerical and typographical errors in such
legal descriptions and maps. Such maps and legal descrip-
tions shall be on file and available for public inspection
in the Office of the Chief of Forest Service, Department
of Agriculture and the Office of the Director of the Bu-
reau of Land Management, Department of the Interior,
as appropriate.
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subject to valid existing
rights, lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be
managed by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary
of the Interior (in the case of the portion of Powderhorn
Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management)
in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131
et seq.) and this Act, except that, with respect to any wil-
derness 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 enactment
of this Act.
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(2) Administrative jurisdiction over those lands des-
ignated as wilderness pursuant to paragraph (2) of section
2(a) of this Act, and which, as of the date of enactment
of this Act, are administered by the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, is hereby transferred to the Forest Service.
(b) GRAZING.—Grazing of livestock in wilderness
areas designated by this Act shall be administered in
accordance with the provisions of section 4(d)(4) of the
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), as further
interpreted by section 108 of Public Law 96–560, and,
as regards wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land
Management, the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of
House Report 101–405 of the 101st Congress.
(c) STATE JURISDICTION.—As provided in section
4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)),
nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the ju-
risdiction or responsibilities of the State of Colorado with
respect to wildlife and fish in Colorado.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2(e) of the
Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 (92 Stat.
41) is amended by striking ‘‘Subject to’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘System’’.
(e) BUFFER ZONES.—Congress does not intend that
the designation by this Act of wilderness areas in the State
of Colorado creates or implies the creation of protective
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perimeters or buffer zones around any wilderness area.
The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen
or heard from within a wilderness area shall not, of itself,
preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the
wilderness area.
(f) WILDERNESS NAME CHANGE.—The wilderness
area designated as ‘‘Big Blue Wilderness’’ by section
102(a)(1) of Public Law 96–560, and the additions there-
to made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 2(a) of this
Act, shall hereafter be known as the Uncompahgre Wilder-
ness. Any reference to the Big Blue Wilderness in any law,
regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the
United States shall be considered to be a reference to the
Uncompahgre Wilderness.
(g)(1) For the purpose of section 7 of the Land and
Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–
9), the boundaries of affected National Forests, as modi-
fied by this subsection, shall be considered to be the
boundaries of such National Forests as of January 1,
1965.
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall affect valid exist-
ing rights of any person under the authority of law.
(3) Authorizations to use lands transferred by this
subsection which were issued prior to the date of enact-
ment of this Act, shall remain subject to the laws and reg-
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tion of any water or water rights with respect to the
Piedra, Roubideau, and Tabeguache areas identified in
section 9 of this Act, or the Bowen Gulch Protection Area
or the Fossil Ridge Recreation Management Area identi-
fied in sections 5 and 6 of this Act.
(B) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a cre-
ation, recognition, disclaimer, relinquishment, or reduction
of any water rights or the United States in the State of
Colorado existing before the date of enactment of this Act,
except as provided in subsection (g)(2) of this section.
(C) Except as provided in subsection (g) of this sec-
tion, nothing in this Act shall be construed as constituting
an interpretation of any other Act or any designation
made by or pursuant thereto.
(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed as es-
tablishing a precedent with regard to any future wilder-
ness designations.
(c) NEW OR EXPANDED PROJECTS.—(1) Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, on and after the date
of 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
areas described in sections 2, 5, 6 and 9 of this Act or