I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1356
To redesignate the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument as
a national park, to create the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National
Conservation Area, to include the Gunnison River in the Nation’s Wild
and Scenic River System, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 16, 1993
Mr. MCINNIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To redesignate the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National
Monument as a national park, to create the Black Can-
yon of the Gunnison National Conservation Area, to in-
clude the Gunnison River in the Nation’s Wild and Sce-
nic River 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 ‘‘Black Canyon
Conservation Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
The Congress finds and declares that:
(1) The resources within the Black Canyon of
the Gunnison National Monument and on the adja-
cent Federal lands are nationally and internationally
significant.
(2) These resources offer exceptional opportuni-
ties to expand and interpret ecological components
and geologic features.
(3) These resources offer a superlative oppor-
tunity for recreation.
(4) These resources coincide with, compliment,
and expand the purposes for which the Black Can-
yon of the Gunnison National Monument was estab-
lished.
(5) Therefore, given that the historic boundary
of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National
Monument was statutorily established and enlarged
by Public Law 98–357.
(6) The lands in the lower Gunnison Gorge
have been studied and recommended for wilderness
designation by the Bureau of Land Management in
1987.
(7) The Gunnison River was studied by the Bu-
reau of Land Management in 1979 and was found
to be eligible for wild and scenic designation.
(8) The fishery in the Gunnison River that
flows through the Gunnison Gorge has been recog-
nized by the State of Colorado as a ‘‘Gold Medal
Stream’’ and ‘‘Wild Trout Water’’.
(9) The creation of a national park, national
conservation area and the designation of the Gunni-
son River as a wild and scenic river is appropriate
and necessary to protect and enhance the Black
Canyon, the Gunnison Gorge, and the surrounding
natural resources for future generations.
SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AS
A NATIONAL PARK.
(a) REDESIGNATION.—In order to protect, interpret,
and promote the spectacular gorges formed by the erosive
work of the Gunnison River, the Black Canyon of the Gun-
nison National Monument is hereby redesignated as the
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
(b) AREA INCLUDED.—The national park shall con-
sist of the existing Black Canyon of the Gunnison Na-
tional Monument. Any funds available for the purposes of
the monument shall be made available for the purposes
of the park. All valid existing rights within the monument
shall be included in the national park.
(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of the Interior
(hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) shall administer
the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in ac-
cordance with this Act and with the provisions of law gen-
erally applicable to units of the National Park System, in-
cluding, but not limited to, the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to
establish a National Park Service, and for other pur-
poses’’, approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16
U.S.C. 1–4), and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat.
666; 16 U.S.C. 461–467).
(d) WATER RIGHT.—Designation of the Black Can-
yon of the Gunnison National Park shall not constitute
a reservation of water, water rights, or instream flows be-
yond the water right described in section 6(c) of this Act.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BLACK CANYON OF THE
GUNNISON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to protect that area
in Colorado containing the Gunnison Gorge and other
unique and nationally important recreational, geological,
ecological, scenic, educational, scientific, and wilderness
resources of the public lands in and around the lower Gun-
nison Gorge for the benefit and enjoyment of future gen-
erations, there is hereby established the Gunnison Gorge
National Conservation Area (hereinafter referred to as the
‘‘conservation area’’).
(b) AREA INCLUDED.—The conservation area shall
consist of approximately sixty-four thousand one hundred
and thirty-nine acres as generally depicted on the map en-
titled ‘‘Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area’’
numbered 
and dated 
. The map shall
be on file and available for inspection in the offices of the
Director of the Bureau of Land Management of the
Department of the Interior.
(c) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
file a legal description of the conservation area designated
under this section with the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources of the United States Senate and the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources of the United States House
of Representatives. Such legal description shall have the
same force and effect as if included in this Act, except
that the Secretary may correct clerical and typographical
errors in such legal description. The legal description shall
be on file and available for public inspection in the offices
of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management,
Department of the Interior.
(d) 
ADMINISTRATION.—The 
Secretary, 
acting
through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management,
shall manage the conservation area to protect its resources
in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land Manage-
ment and Policy Act of 1976 and other applicable provi-
sions of law.
(e) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,
all Federal lands within the conservation area and all
lands and interests therein which are hereafter acquired
by the United States are hereby withdrawn from all forms
of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land
laws and from location, entry, and patent under the min-
ing laws, and from operation of the mineral leasing and
geothermal leasing laws and all amendments thereto.
(f) HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING.—The Sec-
retary shall permit hunting, trapping, and fishing within
the conservation area in accordance with applicable laws
and regulations of the United States and the State of Col-
orado; except that the Secretary, after consultation with
the Colorado Division of Wildlife, may issue regulations
designating zones where and establishing periods when no
hunting or trapping shall be permitted for reasons of
public safety, administration, or public use and enjoyment.
(g) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock in the con-
servation area designated by this Act, where established
prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be
administered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and section 108
of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to designate certain National
Forest System lands in the State of Colorado, South Da-
kota, Missouri, South Carolina, and Louisiana for inclu-
sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and
for other purposes’’ (Public Law 96–560).
(h) WATER RIGHTS.—Designation of the conserva-
tion area shall not constitute a reservation of water, water
rights or instream flows beyond the water right described
in section 6(c) of this Act.
(i) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.—The use of motorized ve-
hicles in the conservation area shall be allowed on routes
specifically designated for such use as part of the manage-
ment plan prepared pursuant to section 7 of this Act, ex-
cept where needed for administrative or emergency pur-
poses. The Secretary shall have the power to implement
such reasonable limits to visitation and use of the con-
servation area as he finds appropriate for the protection
of the resources of the conservation area, including requir-
ing permits for public use, or closing portions of the
conservation area to public use.
(j) ENFORCEMENT.—Any person who violates the
provisions of this Act or any regulation promulgated by
the Secretary to implement this Act shall be subject to
a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to one year,
or both.
(c) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing
rights, the wilderness area designated by this Act shall
be administered by the Secretary in accordance with the
provisions of the Wilderness Act (78 Stat. 890; 16 U.S.C.
131), governing areas designated by that Act as wilder-
ness.
(d) NO BUFFER ZONES.—The Congress does not in-
tend for the designation of this wilderness area to lead
to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones
around any such wilderness area. The fact that
nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from
areas within a wilderness shall not, of itself, preclude such
activities or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness
areas.
(e) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—As provided in paragraph
(7) of section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act, nothing in this
Act or in the Wilderness Act shall be construed as affect-
ing the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State of Colo-
rado with respect to wildlife and fish on the public lands
located in that State.
(f) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock in the con-
servation area designated by this Act, where established
prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be
administered in accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and section 108
of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to designate certain National
Forest System lands in the State of Colorado, South Da-
kota, Missouri, South Carolina, and Louisiana for inclu-
sion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and
for other purposes’’ (Public Law 96–560).
(g) WATER RIGHTS.—Designation of the Gunnison
Gorge Wilderness shall not constitute a reservation of
water, water rights or instream flows beyond the water
right described in section 6(c) of this Act.
SEC. 6. DESIGNATING THE GUNNISON RIVER AS A WILD
AND SCENIC RIVER.
(a) DESIGNATION.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by add-
ing the following new paragraph at the end:
‘‘( ) Gunnison, Colorado—the Gunnison River from
the upstream boundary of the Black Canyon of the Gunni-
son National Monument down stream to the confluence
of the North Fork of the Gunnison River to be adminis-
tered by the Secretary of the Interior.’’.
(b) WATER DEVELOPMENT.—For the purposes of
this Act, the storage and diversion of water outside of the
designated reach shall not be considered to have an ad-
verse effect on the values for which the reach was estab-
lished.
(c) WATER RIGHTS.—No water rights or the reserva-
tion of water which would expand on the existing reserved
water right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Na-
tional Monument, shall be created by this designation.
SEC. 7. GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLANS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within three full fiscal years fol-
lowing the fiscal year of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall develop and transmit to the Committee on
Natural Resources of the United States House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the United States Senate, a comprehensive
plan for the long-range protection and management of the
conservation area which shall describe the appropriate
uses and development of the conservation area consistent
with the purposes of this Act. This plan shall incorporate
appropriate decisions contained in the Uncompahgre
Basin Resource Management Plan (completed in Septem-
ber, 1988), the Gunnison Gorge Recreation Area Manage-
ment Plan (completed on July 24, 1985 and supplemented
on July 21, 1988). The conservation area plan shall also
incorporate wildlife habitat management plans that have
been prepared for the area, and will be prepared in close
consultation with appropriate agencies of the State of
Colorado and consider previous studies of the area.
(b) PUBLIC LANDS.—For the purpose of this Act, the
term ‘‘public lands’’ shall have the same meaning as such
term has when used in the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976.
(c) MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED LANDS.—Any non-
Federal lands or interests within or adjacent to the bound-
aries of the conservation area which after the date of en-
actment of this Act may be acquired by the United States
shall be incorporated into the conservation area, and shall
be managed in accordance with all the provisions of this
Act and other laws applicable to the conservation area.
(d) LIMITATIONS.—No federally owned lands located
within the boundaries of the conservation area shall be
transferred out of Federal ownership, or be placed in
trust, by exchange or otherwise.
SEC. 8. APPROPRIATIONS.
There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of
this Act.
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