I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2178
To designate as wilderness certain lands within the Rocky Mountain National
Park in the State of Colorado.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 10, 1999
Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To designate as wilderness certain lands within the Rocky
Mountain National Park in the State of Colorado.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND PURPOSE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Act of 1999’’.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to include
in the National Wilderness Preservation System certain
lands within the Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo-
rado, in order to protect the enduring scenic and historic
wilderness character and unique wildlife values of the
lands as well as the scientific, educational, inspirational,
and recreational resources, values, and opportunities of
the lands.
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL
PARK WILDERNESS.
(a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of
the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain lands
within the Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado,
which comprise approximately 249,562 acres, as generally
depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Rocky Mountain National
Park, Colorado Recommended Wilderness Boundaries’’,
numbered as Map #121–60,403 and dated September
1998, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore,
as components of the National Wilderness Preservation
System. The designated lands shall be known as the Rocky
Mountain National Park Wilderness.
(b) MAP AND DESCRIPTION.—As soon as practicable
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Interior shall file a map and a boundary description
of the lands designated as wilderness by subsection (a)
with the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate. The map and description shall
have the same force and effect as if included in this Act,
except that the Secretary may correct clerical and typo-
graphical errors in the map and description. The map and
description shall be on file and available for public inspec-
tion in the office of the Director of the National Park
Service, Department of the Interior.
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.
(a) MANAGEMENT GENERALLY.—Subject to valid ex-
isting rights, lands designated as wilderness by section
2(a) shall be managed by the Secretary of the Interior
in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131
et seq.) and this Act, except that, with respect to the lands
designated as wilderness by section 2(a), 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 enact-
ment of this Act.
(b) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS LANDS.—
(1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term
‘‘potential wilderness lands’’ means—
(A) lands that are identified as potential
wilderness on the map referred to in section
2(a); and
(B) lands and interests therein acquired by
the United States on or after the date of enact-
ment of this Act that are located within the
boundaries of the Rocky Mountain National
Park and are contiguous with lands designated
as wilderness by this Act.
(2) MANAGEMENT.—Potential wilderness lands
shall be managed as components of the National
Wilderness Preservation System upon publication in
the Federal Register of a notice by the Secretary of
the Interior that all uses of the lands inconsistent
with the Wilderness Act have ceased.
(c) WATER RIGHTS.—
(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(A) according to decisions of the courts of
the State of Colorado, the United States has ex-
isting rights to water within the Rocky Moun-
tain National Park;
(B) those rights are sufficient for the pur-
poses of the Rocky Mountain National Park
Wilderness as designated by section 2(a); and
(C) in light of the findings in subpara-
graphs (A) and (B), there is no need for this
Act to effect a reservation by the United States
of any additional water rights to fulfill the pur-
poses for which the wilderness designation
made by section 2(a) are made.
(2) NO RESERVATION.—Nothing in this Act or
any action taken pursuant to this Act shall con-
stitute either an express or implied reservation of
water or water rights for any purpose.
(d) COLORADO-BIG THOMPSON PROJECT.—
(1) 
CURRENT
ACTIVITIES.—Activities 
on,
under, or affecting the lands designated as wilder-
ness by section 2(a) relating to the monitoring, oper-
ation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and use of
the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and its facilities
which were allowed as of June 1, 1998, shall be al-
lowed to continue and shall not be affected by the
designation of the lands as wilderness.
(2) NEW ACTIVITIES.—In addition to the activi-
ties described in paragraph (1), any other activities
on, under, or affecting the lands designated as wil-
derness by section 2(a) that because of emergencies
or catastrophic events become necessary for the op-
eration, maintenance, repair, replacement, and con-
tinue use of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and
its facilities shall be allowed, subject only to reason-
able restrictions which are established by the Sec-
retary of the Interior to protect the wilderness val-
ues of the lands. In implementing this paragraph,
the Secretary shall not establish any restrictions on
the activities that would prevent the occurrence of
such necessary activities or that would reduce the
water supply provided by the Colorado-Big Thomp-
son Project or the Windy Gap Project.
(3) RELATION TO AUTHORITY IN ACT ESTAB-
LISHING PARK.—Nothing in the first section of the
Act of January 26, 1915 (16 U.S.C. 191; 38 Stat.
798), shall be construed to permit development with-
in the lands designated as wilderness by section 2(a)
of any reclamation project not in existence as of the
date of enactment of this Act.
(e) EXCLUSIONS.—
(1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN LANDS.—Bound-
aries for the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilder-
ness and the potential wilderness lands specifically
exclude the following:
(A) The Grand Ditch (including both the
main canal of the Grand Ditch and a branch
thereof known as the specimen Ditch) and its
right-of-way as well as associated appur-
tenances, structures, buildings, camps, and
work sites in existence as of June 1, 1998.
(B) Lands owned by the St. Vrain & Left
Hand Water Conservancy District, including
Copeland Reservoir and the inlet ditch to such
reservoir from the North St. Vrain Creek,
amounting to approximately 35.38 acres.
(2) RELATION
TO
LANDS
OUTSIDE
WILDER-
NESS.—Nothing in this Act shall affect the manage-
ment or use of any lands not included within the
boundaries of the Rocky Mountain National Park
Wilderness or the potential wilderness lands.
(f) NO BUFFER ZONES.—Congress does not intend
that the designation by this Act of the Rocky Mountain
National Park Wilderness creates or implies the creation
of protective perimeters or buffer zones around the wilder-
ness area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses
can be seen or heard from within the wilderness area shall
not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the
boundary of the wilderness area.
Æ