I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1879
To modify the boundaries of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 28, 1993
Mr. ANDREWS of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To modify the boundaries of Carlsbad Caverns National
Park, 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 ‘‘Capitan Reef Manage-
ment Consolidation Act’’.
SEC. 2. BOUNDARIES OF CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL
PARK.
(a) MODIFICATION OF BOUNDARIES.—The bound-
aries of Carlsbad Caverns National Park are hereby modi-
fied to include approximately 24,850 acres of the Capitan
Reef escarpment in the State of New Mexico, as generally
depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Carlsbad Caverns Boundary
Expansion’’, numbered CACA 80,052, and dated Feb-
ruary 1993. Lands and interests in lands (including caves)
within the boundaries of the Carlsbad Caverns National
Park, as modified by this subsection, which are adminis-
tered by the Bureau of Land Management and the United
States Forest Service are hereby transferred to the admin-
istrative jurisdiction of the National Park Service and
shall be administered as part of the park. Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to prohibit public recreation, in-
cluding horseback riding, hiking, and camping.
(b) PUBLICATION AND FILING.—As soon as possible
after the date of the enactment of this Act but not later
than 6 months, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish
in the Federal Register a notice containing the legal de-
scription of the lands added to Carlsbad Caverns National
Park by subsection (a) and shall file such legal description
and a detailed map of the lands referred to in such sub-
section with the Committee on Natural Resources of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(c) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The map and legal
description referred to in subsection (b) shall have the
same force and effect as if they were included in this Act
except that the Secretary of the Interior may correct cleri-
cal and typographical errors in such map and legal de-
scription.
(d) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—Copies of the map and
legal description referred to in subsection (b) shall be
available for public inspection in the offices of the Direc-
tor, and of the Director of the Southwest Region, of the
National Park Service.
SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF CERTAIN LAWS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,
lands within the area included within the Carlsbad Cav-
erns National Park pursuant to section 2 are withdrawn
from disposition under the public land laws and from all
forms of entry or appropriation under the mining laws of
the United States, from the operation of the mineral leas-
ing laws of the United States, and from operation of the
Geothermal Steam Act of 1970.
(b) MANAGEMENT OF EXISTING LEASES.—Notwith-
standing subsection (a), any person authorized, under a
permit or lease in effect on the date of the enactment of
this Act, to carry out grazing on lands included within
the Carlsbad Caverns National Park pursuant to section
2 may continue such operations pursuant to such permit
or lease until the expiration of the term of the permit or
lease concerned plus one period of renewal thereafter.
SEC. 4. TRAIL EASEMENT.
The Secretary is authorized to acquire an easement
to provide trail access from the Rattlesnake Springs Unit
of the National Park System to the Carlsbad Caverns Na-
tional Park, as generally depicted on the map referred to
in section 2, except that no such easement may be ac-
quired without the consent of the owner thereof.
Æ