Act, any such moneys shall be retained by the Secretary
of the Interior and may be utilized by the Secretary until
fully expended to purchase from willing sellers land or
water rights, or a combination thereof, to augment wildlife
habitat and protect and restore wetlands in the Bureau
of Land Management’s Blanca Wetlands, Alamosa Coun-
ty, Colorado.
(3) Any water rights acquired by the United States
pursuant to this section shall be obtained by the Secretary
of the Interior in accordance with all applicable provisions
of Colorado law, including the requirement to change the
time, place, and type of use of said water rights through
the appropriate State legal proceedings and to comply with
any terms, conditions, or other provisions contained in an
applicable decree of the Colorado Water Court. The use
of any water rights acquired pursuant to this section shall
be limited to water that can be used or exchanged for
water that can be used on the Blanca Wetlands. Any re-
quirement or proposal to utilize facilities of the San Luis
Valley Project, Closed Basin Diversion, in order to effec-
tuate the use of any such water rights shall be subject
to prior approval of the Rio Grande Water Conservation
District.
(b) RESTRICTIONS ON SELECTED LANDS.—(1) Con-
veyance of the selected lands to Lake Gulch pursuant to
this Act shall be contingent upon Lake Gulch executing
an agreement with the United States prior to such convey-
ance, the terms of which are acceptable to the Secretary
of the Interior, and which—
(A) grant the United States a covenant that
none of the selected lands (which currently lie out-
side the legally approved gaming area) shall ever be
used for purposes of gaming should the current legal
gaming area ever be expanded by the State of Colo-
rado; and
(B) permanently hold the United States harm-
less for liability and indemnify the United States
against all costs arising from any activities, oper-
ations (including the storing, handling, and dumping
of hazardous materials or substances) or other acts
conducted by Lake Gulch or its employees, agents,
successors or assigns on the selected lands after
their transfer to Lake Gulch: Provided, however,
That nothing in this Act shall be construed as either
diminishing or increasing any responsibility or liabil-
ity of the United States based on the condition of
the selected lands prior to or on the date of their
transfer to Lake Gulch.
(2) Conveyance of the selected lands to Lake Gulch
pursuant to this Act shall be subject to the existing ease-
ment for Gilpin County Road 6.
(3) The above terms and restrictions of this sub-
section shall not be considered in determining, or result
in any diminution in, the fair market value of the selected
land for purposes of the appraisals of the selected land
required pursuant to section 3 of this Act.
(c) REVOCATION
OF WITHDRAWAL.—The Public
Water Reserve established by Executive order dated April
17, 1926 (Public Water Reserve 107), Serial Number Col-
orado 17321, is hereby revoked insofar as it affects the
NW1⁄4 SW1⁄4 of Section 17, Township 3 South, Range 72
West, Sixth Principal Meridian, which covers a portion of
the selected lands identified in this Act.
SEC. 4. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) The term ‘‘Lake Gulch’’ means Lake Gulch,
Inc., a Colorado corporation, or its successors, heirs
or assigns.
(3) The term ‘‘offered land’’ means lands to be
conveyed to the United States pursuant to this Act.
(4) The term ‘‘selected land’’ means lands to be
transferred to Lake Gulch, Inc., or its successors,
heirs or assigns pursuant to this Act.
(5) The term ‘‘Blanca Wetlands’’ means an
area of land comprising approximately 9,290 acres,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Blanca
Wetlands’’, dated August 1994, or such land as the
Secretary may add thereto by purchase from willing
sellers after the date of enactment of this Act utiliz-
ing funds provided by this Act or such other moneys
as Congress may appropriate.
(b) TIME REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLETING TRANS-
FER.—It is the intent of Congress that unless the Sec-
retary and Lake Gulch mutually agree otherwise the ex-
change of lands authorized and directed by this Act shall
be completed not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act. In the event the exchange cannot
be consummated within such 6-month-time period, the
Secretary, upon application by Lake Gulch, is directed to
sell to Lake Gulch at appraised fair market value any or
all of the parcels (comprising a total of approximately 11
acres) identified in section 2(d)(1)(C) of this Act as long
as the parcel or parcels applied for are not under formal
application for transfer to a qualified unit of local govern-
ment.
(c) ADMINISTRATION OF LANDS ACQUIRED BY UNIT-
ED STATES.—In accordance with the provisions of section
206(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(c)), all lands acquired by the
United States pursuant to this Act shall upon acceptance
of title by the United States and without further action
by the Secretary concerned become part of and be man-
aged as part of the administrative unit or area within
which they are located.
Passed the House of Representatives November 7,
1995.
Attest:
Clerk.