H. R. 236
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
An Act
To establish the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in the
State of Idaho, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The public lands managed by the Bureau of Land
Management in the State of Idaho within the Snake River
Birds of Prey Area contain one of the densest known nesting
populations of eagles, falcons, owls, hawks, and other birds
of prey (raptors) in North America.
(2) These public lands constitute a valuable national
biological and educational resource since birds of prey are
important components of the ecosystem and indicators of
environmental quality, and contribute significantly to the qual-
ity of wildlife and human communities.
(3) These public lands also contain important historic and
cultural 
resources 
(including 
significant 
archaeological
resources) as well as other resources and values, all of which
should be protected and appropriately managed.
(4) A military training area within the Snake River Birds
of Prey Area, known as the Orchard Training Area, has been
used since 1953 by reserve components of the Armed Forces.
Military use of this area is currently governed by a Memoran-
dum of Understanding between the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment and the State of Idaho Military Division, dated May
1985. Operating under this Memorandum of Understanding,
the Idaho National Guard has provided valuable assistance
to the Bureau of Land Management with respect to fire control
and other aspects of management of the Orchard Training
Area and the other lands in the Snake River Birds of Prey
Area. Military use of the lands within the Orchard Training
Area should continue in accordance with such Memorandum
of Understanding (or extension or renewal thereof), to the
extent consistent with section 4(e) of this Act, because this
would be in the best interest of training of the reserve compo-
nents (an important aspect of national security) and of the
local economy.
(5) Protection of the conservation area as a home for raptors
can best and should be accomplished by the Secretary of the
Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management,
under a management plan that—
H. R. 236—2
(A) 
emphasizes 
management, 
protection, 
and
rehabilitation of habitat for these raptors and of other
resources and values of the area;
(B) provides for continued military use, consistent with
the requirements of section 4(e) of this Act, of the Orchard
Training Area by reserve components of the Armed Forces;
(C) addresses the need for public educational and
interpretive opportunities;
(D) allows for diverse appropriate uses of lands in
the area to the extent consistent with the maintenance
and enhancement of raptor populations and habitats and
protection and sound management of other resources and
values of the area; and
(E) demonstrates management practices and tech-
niques that may be useful to other areas of the public
lands and elsewhere.
(6) There exists near the conservation area a facility, the
World Center for Birds of Prey operated by The Peregrine
Fund, Inc., where research, public education, recovery, and
reestablishment operations exist for endangered raptor species.
There also exists at Boise State University a raptor study
program which attracts national and international graduate
and undergraduate students.
(7) The Bureau of Land Management and Boise State
University, together with other State, Federal, and private
entities, have formed the Raptor Research and Technical Assist-
ance Center to be housed at Boise State University, which
provides a unique adjunct to the conservation area for raptor
management, 
recovery, 
research, 
and 
public 
visitation,
interpretation, and education.
(8) Consistent with requirements of sections 202 and 302
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1712 and 1732), the Secretary has developed a com-
prehensive management plan and, based on such plan, has
implemented a management program for the public lands
included in the conservation area established by this Act.
(9) Additional authority and guidance must be provided
to assure that essential raptor habitat remains in public owner-
ship, to facilitate sound and effective planning and manage-
ment, to provide for effective public interpretation and edu-
cation, to ensure continued study of the relationship of humans
and these raptors, to preserve the unique and irreplaceable
habitat of the conservation area, and to conserve and properly
manage the other natural resources of the area in concert
with maintenance of this habitat.
(10) An ongoing research program funded by the Bureau
of Land Management and the National Guard is intended to
provide information to be used in connection with future
decisionmaking concerning management of all uses, including
continued military use, of public lands within the Snake River
Birds of Prey Area.
(11) Public lands in the Snake River Birds of Prey Area
have been used for domestic livestock grazing for more than
a century, with resultant benefits to community stability and
contributions to the local and State economies. It has not been
demonstrated that continuation of this use would be incompat-
ible with appropriate protection and sound management of
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raptor habitat and the other resource values of these lands;
therefore, subject to the determination provided for in section
4(f), it is expected that such grazing will continue in accordance
with applicable regulations of the Secretary and the manage-
ment plan for the conservation area.
(12) Hydroelectric facilities for the generation and trans-
mission of electricity exist within the Snake River Birds of
Prey Area pursuant to a license(s) issued by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, or its predecessor, the Federal Power
Commission.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the
Interior.
(2) The term ‘‘conservation area’’ means the Snake River
Birds of Prey National Conservation Area established by section
3.
(3) The term ‘‘raptor’’ or ‘‘raptors’’ means individuals or
populations of eagles, falcons, owls, hawks, and other birds
of prey.
(4) The term ‘‘raptor habitat’’ includes the habitat of the
raptor prey base as well as the nesting and hunting habitat
of raptors within the conservation area.
(5) The term ‘‘Memorandum of Understanding’’ means the
Memorandum of Understanding #ID–237, dated May 1985,
between the State of Idaho Military Division and the Bureau
of Land Management.
(6) The term ‘‘Orchard Training Area’’ means that area
generally so depicted on the map referred to in section 3(b),
and as described in the Memorandum of Understanding as
well as the air space over the same.
(7) The term ‘‘Impact Area’’ means that area which was
used for the firing of live artillery projectiles and is used for
live fire ranges of all types and, therefore, poses a danger
to public safety and which is generally so depicted on the
map referred to in section 3(b).
(8) The term ‘‘Artillery Impact Area’’ means that area
within the Impact Area into which live projectiles are fired,
which is generally described as that area labeled as such on
the map referred to in section 3(b).
(9) The term ‘‘the plan’’ means the comprehensive manage-
ment plan developed for the conservation area, dated August
30, 1985, together with such revisions thereto as may be
required in order to implement this Act.
(10) The term ‘‘hydroelectric facilities’’ means all facilities
related to the generation, transmission, and distribution of
hydroelectric power and which are subject to, and authorized
by, a license(s), and any and all amendments thereto, issued
by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES.—(1) There is hereby estab-
lished the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area
(hereafter referred to as the ‘‘conservation area’’).
(2) The purposes for which the conservation area is established,
and shall be managed, are to provide for the conservation, protec-
tion, and enhancement of raptor populations and habitats and the
H. R. 236—4
natural and environmental resources and values associated there-
with, and of the scientific, cultural, and educational resources and
values of the public lands in the conservation area.
(3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section
and section 4, uses of the public lands in the conservation area
existing on the date of enactment of this Act shall be allowed
to continue.
(b) AREA INCLUDED.—The conservation area shall consist of
approximately 482,457 acres of federally owned lands and interests
therein managed by the Bureau of Land Management as generally
depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Snake River Birds of Prey National
Conservation Area’’, dated November 1991.
(c) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as is practicable
after enactment of this Act, the map referred to in subsection
(b) and a legal description of the conservation area shall be filed
by the Secretary with the Committee on Natural Resources of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate. Each such map 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
map and legal description. Each such map shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the office of the Director and
the Idaho State Director of the Bureau of Land Management of
the Department of the Interior.
(d) WITHDRAWALS.—Subject to valid existing rights, the Federal
lands within the conservation area are hereby withdrawn from
all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land
laws; and from entry, application, and selection under the Act
of March 3, 1877 (Ch. 107, 19 Stat. 377, 43 U.S.C. 321 et seq.;
commonly referred to as the ‘‘Desert Lands Act’’), section 4 of
the Act of August 18, 1894 (Ch. 301, 28 Stat. 422; 43 U.S.C.
641; commonly referred to as the ‘‘Carey Act’’), the Act of July
3, 1890 (Ch. 656, 26 Stat. 215; commonly referred to as the ‘‘State
of Idaho Admissions Act’’), section 2275 of the Revised Statutes,
as amended (43 U.S.C. 851), and section 2276 of the Revised Stat-
utes, as amended (43 U.S.C. 852). The Secretary shall return to
the applicants any such applications pending on the date of enact-
ment of this Act, without further action. Subject to valid existing
rights, as of the date of enactment of this Act, lands within the
Birds of Prey Conservation Area are withdrawn from location under
the general mining laws, the operation of the mineral and geo-
thermal leasing laws, and the mineral material disposal laws, except
that mineral materials subject to disposal may be made available
from existing sites to the extent compatible with the purposes
for which the conservation area is established.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT AND USE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1)(A) Within 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall make any revisions in the
existing management plan for the conservation area as necessary
to assure its conformance with this Act, and no later than January
1, 1996, shall finalize a new management plan for the conservation
area.
(B) Thereafter, the Secretary shall review the plan at least
once every 5 years and shall make such revisions as may be nec-
essary or appropriate.
H. R. 236—5
(C) In reviewing and revising the plan, the Secretary shall
provide for appropriate public participation.
(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided in section 3(d)
and subsections (d), (e), and (f) of this section, the Secretary shall
allow only such uses of lands in the conservation area as the
Secretary determines will further the purposes for which the Con-
servation Area is established.
(b) MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE.—After each review pursuant to
subsection (a), the Secretary shall make such revisions as may
be needed so that the plan and management program to implement
the plan include, in addition to any other necessary or appropriate
provisions, provisions for—
(1) protection for the raptor populations and habitats and
the scientific, cultural, and educational resources and values
of the public lands in the conservation area;
(2) identifying levels of continued military use of the
Orchard Training Area compatible with paragraph (1) of this
subsection;
(3) public use of the conservation area consistent with
the purposes of this Act;
(4) interpretive and educational opportunities for the pub-
lic;
(5) a program for continued scientific investigation and
study to provide information to support sound management
in accordance with this Act, to advance knowledge of raptor
species and the resources and values of the conservation area,
and to provide a process for transferring to other areas of
the public lands and elsewhere this knowledge and manage-
ment experience;
(6) such vegetative enhancement and other measures as
may be necessary to restore or enhance prey habitat;
(7) the identification of levels, types, timing, and terms
and conditions for the allowable nonmilitary uses of lands
within the conservation area that will be compatible with the
protection, maintenance, and enhancement of raptor popu-
lations and habitats and the other purposes for which the
conservation area is established; and
(8) assessing the desirability of imposing appropriate fees
for public uses (including, but not limited to, recreational use)
of lands in the conservation area, which are not now subject
to fees, to be used to further the purposes for which the con-
servation area is established.
(c) VISITORS CENTER.—The Secretary, acting through the Direc-
tor of the Bureau of Land Management, is authorized to establish,
in cooperation with other public or private entities as the Secretary
may deem appropriate, a visitors center designed to interpret the
history and the geological, ecological, natural, cultural, and other
resources of the conservation area and the biology of the raptors
and their relationships to man.
(d) VISITORS USE OF AREA.—In addition to the Visitors Center,
the Secretary may provide for visitor use of the public lands in
the conservation area to such extent and in such manner as the
Secretary considers consistent with the protection of raptors and
raptor habitat, public safety, and the purposes for which the con-
servation area is established. To the extent practicable, the Sec-
retary shall make available to visitors and other members of the