I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4275
To establish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and the Black
Ridge Canyons Wilderness, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 13, 2000
Mr. MCINNIS (for himself and Mr. HEFLEY) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
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
Wilderness 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,
should be protected and enhanced for the benefit and en-
joyment of present and future generations. 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, which has wilderness value and offers unique
geological, 
paleontological, 
scientific, 
and 
rec-
reational resources.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab-
lish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area
and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness.
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(g).
(4) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en-
titled ‘‘Colorado Canyons National Conservation
Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area
Proposal’’ and dated April 6, 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.
(b) AREAS INCLUDED.—The Conservation Area shall
consist of approximately 112,450 acres of public land in
the Grand Valley of Colorado, as generally depicted on the
Map.
SEC. 
5. 
BLACK 
RIDGE 
CANYONS 
WILDERNESS
DESIGNATION.
Certain lands in Mesa County, Colorado, which com-
prise approximately 70,279 acres as generally depicted on
the Map are hereby designated as wilderness, therefore as
a component of the National Wilderness Preservation Sys-
tem, and which shall be known as the Black Ridge Can-
yons 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(a); 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
(including grazing allotments) and existing rights of ac-
cess, and except as provided in paragraph (2), all Federal
land within the Conservation Area and the Wilderness and
all land and interests in land acquired for the Conserva-
tion Area or the Wilderness by the United States are with-
drawn 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) disposal under the mineral leasing, mineral
materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
(d) WILDERNESS.—Subject to valid existing rights,
(including grazing allotments) lands designated as wilder-
ness 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 re-
spect to any wilderness 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.
(e) STATE JURISDICTION.—Nothing in this Act shall
be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or responsibil-
ities of the State of Colorado with respect to wildlife and
fish in Colorado.
(f) 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.
(3) ACCESS TO GRAZING LEASES IN WILDER-
NESS
AND
CONSERVATION
AREA.—The Secretary
shall allow motorized access on existing roads and
ways for the administration and maintenance of
grazing allotments, as well as structures and facili-
ties related to those allotments. This paragraph shall
not be construed to require any increase in the fre-
quency or change in the nature of motorized access
with which grazing allotments, or the structures and
facilities related to those allotments, were accessed
before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(g) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall develop a comprehensive plan for the long-
range protection and management of the Conserva-
tion Area and the Wilderness.
(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 informa-
tion 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 Communica-
tions Site, and the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration site as such for the land designated on
the Map as utility corridor, Black Ridge Com-
munications Site, and the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration site; and
(D) take into consideration the historical
involvement of the local community in the inter-
pretation and protection of the resources of the
Conservation Area and the Wilderness, as well
as the Ruby Canyon/Black Ridge Integrated
Resource Management Plan, dated March
1998, which was the result of collaborative ef-
forts on the part of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement and the local community.
(h) NO BUFFER ZONES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be no protective
perimeter or buffer zone around the Conservation
Area or the Wilderness.
(2) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE CONSERVATION AREA
AND
WILDERNESS.—The fact that an activity on
land or a use of land is not permitted inside the
Conservation Area or inside the Wilderness shall not
preclude the activity on land or use of land outside
the boundary of the Conservation Area or the Wil-
derness (or, in the Conservation Area or Wilderness,
on land that is privately held), consistent with other
applicable law. The fact that activities or uses of
land outside of the Conservation Area or Wilderness
can be seen or heard from land within the Conserva-
tion Area or Wilderness shall not preclude such ac-
tivities or uses up to the boundaries of the Conserva-
tion Area or Wilderness. The existence of the Con-
servation Area and the Wilderness may not be used
to require a landowner to undertake or implement
any mitigation measures to reduce the effect of such
activities or uses.
(i) 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—
(A) from a willing seller; and
(B) through purchase, exchange, or dona-
tion.
(2) MODIFICATION OF BOUNDARY.—On acquisi-
tion of land under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
modify the boundary of the Conservation Area or the
Wilderness, as the case may be, to include the ac-
quired land.
(3) 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.
(j) INTERPRETIVE SITES.—The Secretary may estab-
lish sites in the Conservation Area to interpret the histor-
ical, paleontological, and natural resources of the Con-
servation Area.
(k) WATER RIGHTS.—
(1) RESERVED
WATER
RIGHTS.—Nothing in
this Act constitutes an express or implied reserva-
tion of any water right.
(2) COLORADO
WATER
LAW.—The Secretary
shall follow the procedural and substantive require-
ments of the laws of the State of Colorado with re-
spect to water rights relating to the Conservation
Area or Wilderness.
(3) BOUNDARIES ALONG COLORADO RIVER.—
Neither the Conservation Area nor the Wilderness
shall include any part of the Colorado River or any
land within the 100-year flood plain of the Colorado
River.
SEC. 7. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 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; and
(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.
(d) MAP CONTROLLING.—Subject to section 6(k)(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, as follows:
(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) 7 members residing in, or within reasonable
proximity to, the Grand Valley of Colorado with rec-
ognized 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 access to inholdings in the Con-
servation 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)).
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as are necessary to carry out this Act.
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