I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2941
To establish the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in the State
of Arizona.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 24, 1999
Mr. KOLBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To establish the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area
in the State of Arizona.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Las Cienegas National Conservation Area Establishment
Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Establishment of Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.
Sec. 4. Management of conservation area.
Sec. 5. Management plan.
Sec. 6. Acquisition of land and interests in land.
Sec. 7. Coordinated management.
Sec. 8. Withdrawal.
Sec. 9. No buffer zones.
Sec. 10. Water.
Sec. 11. Reporting requirement.
Sec. 12. Enforcement.
Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CONSERVATION
AREA.—The term ‘‘con-
servation area’’ means the Las Cienegas National
Conservation Area established pursuant to section 3.
(2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage-
ment plan’’ means the management plan for the con-
servation area required under section 5.
(3) PUBLIC
LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’
has the meaning given the term in section 103(e) of
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)).
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF LAS CIENEGAS NATIONAL CON-
SERVATION AREA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSES.—In order to con-
serve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment
of present and future generations the unique and nation-
ally important aquatic, wildlife, vegetative, agricultural,
archaeological, paleontological, scientific, cave, cultural,
historical, recreational, educational, scenic, rangeland, and
riparian resources and values of the public land described
in subsection (b) while allowing environmentally respon-
sible and sustainable livestock grazing and recreation to
continue in appropriate areas, there is hereby established
the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in the State
of Arizona.
(b) AREAS INCLUDED.—The conservation area shall
consist of public land and conservation easements on pri-
vate land located in portions of Pima, Santa Cruz, and
Cochise Counties, Arizona, depicted on the map entitled
‘‘Las Cienegas National Conservation Area’’, as revised on
September 22, 1999.
(c) MAP
AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as
practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall submit to Congress a legal description
of the conservation area. In case of a conflict between the
map referred to in subsection (b) and the legal description,
the map shall control. The map and legal description shall
have the same force and effect as if included in this Act.
Copies of the map and legal description shall be on file
and available for public inspection in the Office of the Di-
rector of the Bureau of Land Management, Department
of the Interior, and in the appropriate office of the Bureau
of Land Management in Arizona.
(d) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary may
correct clerical and typographic errors in the map and
legal description referred to in this section.
(e) FOREST LAND.—Any land included in the Coro-
nado National Forest that is located within the boundaries
of the conservation area established under this Act shall
be considered to be a part of the conservation area. The
Secretary of Agriculture shall revise the boundaries of the
Coronado National Forest to reflect the exclusion of such
lands from the Coronado National Forest.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF CONSERVATION AREA.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage the
conservation area in a manner that conserves, protects,
and enhances its resources and values, including the re-
sources and values specified in section 3(a), pursuant to
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and other applicable law, includ-
ing this Act. The management of the conservation area
shall be consistent with existing or future leases and
agreements, including memorandums of understanding,
and shall not diminish the rights of private landowners.
(b) AUTHORIZED USES.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allow
only such uses of the conservation area as the Sec-
retary finds will further the purposes for which the
conservation area is established.
(2) 
MOTORIZED
VEHICLES.—Except 
where
needed for administrative purposes or to respond to
an emergency, use of motorized vehicles in the con-
servation area shall be permitted only on roads and
trails specifically designated for such use as part of
the management plan for the conservation area.
Nothing in this Act shall restrict legal access to
State trust land, private land, or Federal land within
or outside the boundary of the conservation area.
(3) MILITARY
AIRSPACE.—Designation of the
conservation area shall not impose any altitude,
flight, or other airspace restrictions on current or
future military operations or missions at a minimum
from zero to 30,000 feet, as was approved by the
Federal Aviation Administration prior to the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(4) EASEMENTS.—The Secretary shall maintain
existing legal access of any private or public utility
in an existing easement to any inholding, unless
written permission is obtained by the property owner
of that inholding.
(c) HUNTING.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
the Secretary shall permit hunting within the con-
servation area in accordance with the laws of the
State of Arizona.
(2) TIME
AND
PLACE
REGULATIONS.—After
consultation with the Arizona Game and Fish De-
partment, the Secretary may issue regulations desig-
nating zones within the conservation area where,
and establishing time periods when, hunting shall
not be permitted for reasons of public safety, admin-
istration, resource protection, or public use and en-
joyment.
(d) PREVENTIVE MEASURES.—Nothing in the Act
shall preclude such measures as the Secretary determines
necessary to prevent devastating fire or infestation of in-
sects or disease within the conservation area under exist-
ing law.
SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN.
(a) PLAN REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
develop and implement a comprehensive management
plan, based on the last land use management plan pro-
posed by the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership for the
Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area prior to the
date of the enactment of this Act, for the long-term man-
agement of the conservation area in order to fulfill the
purposes for which the conservation area is established.
The management plan shall be developed with full public
participation and shall include provisions designed to as-
sure protection of the resources and values of the con-
servation area (including the resources and values speci-
fied in section 3(a)).
(b) CONTENTS.—The management plan shall include
the following:
(1) An implementation plan for a continuing
program of interpretation and public education
about the resources and values of the conservation
area.
(2) A proposal for administrative and public fa-
cilities to be developed or improved at a level com-
patible with achieving the resource objectives for the
conservation area and with the other proposed man-
agement activities to accommodate visitors to the
conservation area.
(3) Cultural resources management strategies
for the conservation area, prepared in consultation
with appropriate departments of the State of Ari-
zona, with emphasis on the preservation of the re-
sources of the conservation area and the interpre-
tive, educational, and long-term scientific uses of
these resources, giving priority to the enforcement of
the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979
(16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) and the National Historic
Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) within the
conservation area.
(4) Wildlife management strategies for the con-
servation area, prepared in consultation with appro-
priate departments of the State of Arizona and
using previous studies of the area.
(5) Production livestock grazing management
strategies, prepared in consultation with appropriate
departments of the State of Arizona. The manage-
ment plan shall be designed to ensure the protection
of environmentally responsible and sustainable live-
stock uses of the land included in the conservation
area.
(6) Recreation management strategies, includ-
ing motorized and nonmotorized dispersed recreation
opportunities for the conservation area, prepared in
consultation with appropriate departments of the
State of Arizona.
(7) Cave resources management strategies pre-
pared in compliance with the goals and objectives of
the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988.
(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In order to better
implement the management plan, the Secretary may enter
into cooperative agreements with appropriate Federal,
State, and local agencies pursuant to section 307(b) of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1737(b)).
(d) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—In order to assist in the
development and implementation of the management plan,
the Secretary may authorize appropriate research, includ-
ing research concerning the environmental, biological,
hydrological, cultural, agricultural, recreational, and other
characteristics, resources, and values of the conservation
area, pursuant to section 307(a) of the Federal Land Pol-
icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737(a)).
SEC. 6. ACQUISITION OF LAND AND INTERESTS IN LAND.
(a) STATE LAND.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
the Secretary is authorized to acquire land or inter-
ests in land owned by the State of Arizona or a sub-
division thereof and located within the boundaries of
the conservation area, by donation, exchange, emi-
nent domain, or, only in the case of conservation
easements or as provided by paragraph (2)(B), by
purchase.
(2) EMINENT DOMAIN.—