SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Colorado Wil-
derness Study Area Release Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.— 
(1) Congress finds that for the purposes of sec-
tion 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)), the public 
lands in the North Sand Hills Instant Study Area 
in Jackson County, Colorado, have been adequately 
studied for wilderness designation; and 
(A) the Bureau of Land Management in 
1980 found the North Sand Hills Instant Study 
Area did not meet wilderness criteria; and 
(B) in 2011, the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment Colorado Northwest Resource Advisory 
Council Resolution 2011–01 supported the re-
lease of the North Sand Hills Instant Study 
Area from further consideration of wilderness 
designation. 
(2) Congress finds that for the purposes of sec-
tion 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)), the public 
lands, as defined by section 103(e) of the Federal 
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1702(e)), in the Dominguez Canyon Wilder-
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ness Study Area in Mesa and Delta Counties, Colo-
rado, and the public lands, as defined by section 
103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)), in the Black Ridge 
Canyons Wilderness Study Area in Mesa County, 
Colorado, have been adequately studied for wilder-
ness designation and the remaining Wilderness 
Study Area acreage in the Dominguez Canyon Wil-
derness Study Area and the Black Ridge Canyons 
Wilderness Study Area was excluded from their re-
spective wilderness designations. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to release 
certain Wilderness Study Areas from further consideration 
of wilderness designation, and to direct the Secretary of 
the Interior to manage those areas according to applicable 
land use plans. 
SEC. 3. RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS. 
(a) NORTH SAND HILLS INSTANT STUDY AREA.— 
Any public land in the North Sand Hills Instant Study 
Area— 
(1) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 
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(2) shall be managed according to the applica-
ble land use plan adopted under section 202 of that 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1712). 
(b) DOMINGUEZ
CANYON
WILDERNESS
STUDY 
AREA.—Any portion of the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness 
Study Area within the Dominguez-Escalante National 
Conservation Area, as designated by Public Law 111–11, 
and not designated as wilderness by that Act, or any sub-
sequent Act— 
(1) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); 
(2) shall be included in the non-wilderness com-
ponent of the Dominguez-Escalante National Con-
servation Area; and 
(3) shall be managed according to the applica-
ble National Conservation Area land use plan adopt-
ed under section 202 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1712). 
(c) BLACK RIDGE CANYONS WILDERNESS STUDY 
AREA.—Any portion of the Black Ridge Canyons Wilder-
ness Study Area within the McInnis Canyons National 
Conservation Area, as designated by Public Law 106–353, 
and not designated as wilderness by that Act, or any sub-
sequent Act— 
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(1) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); 
(2) shall be included in the non-wilderness com-
ponent of the McInnis Canyons National Conserva-
tion Area; and 
(3) shall be managed according to the applica-
ble National Conservation Area land use plan adopt-
ed under section 202 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1712). 
SEC. 4. BOUNDARIES ALONG COLORADO RIVER. 
Section 6(l)(5) of Public Law 106–353 (16 U.S.C. 
460mmm–4(l)(5)) is amended— 
(1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(A) In areas in which the Colorado River is 
used as a reference for defining the boundary of the 
Conservation Area, the boundary shall— 
‘‘(i) be located at the edge of the river; and 
‘‘(ii) change according to the river level.’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A), the fol-
lowing (and redesignating the subsequent subpara-
graphs accordingly): 
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‘‘(B) Regardless of the level of the Colorado 
River, no portion of the Colorado River shall be in-
cluded in the Conservation Area.’’. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN LAND EXCHANGES. 
Section 2405 of the Omnibus Public Land Manage-
ment Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 460zzz–4) is amended by 
adding at the end of subsection (d) the following: 
‘‘(3) 
CERTAIN
CONSERVATION
AREA
EX-
CHANGES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In order to protect 
and consolidate Federal land within the bound-
ary of the Conservation Area and to resolve in-
advertent trespasses, and subject to subpara-
graph (B), the Secretary may enter into an 
agreement with any owner of private land with-
in the boundaries of the Conservation Area to 
exchange any private land for Federal land in 
the Conservation Area, if the Secretary deter-
mines that the exchange would enhance the val-
ues for which the Conservation Area is estab-
lished. 
‘‘(B) CONDITIONS.—An exchange of land 
under subparagraph (A) shall— 
‘‘(i) be carried out consistent with any 
applicable laws (including regulations, in-
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cluding laws relating to appraisals and 
equal value exchanges); and 
‘‘(ii) be subject to— 
‘‘(I) valid existing rights; and 
‘‘(II) any terms and conditions 
that the Secretary may require.’’. 
Æ 
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