II
Calendar No. 160
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 236
[Report No. 103–108]
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MAY 13 (legislative day, APRIL 19), 1993
Received
MAY 18 (legislative day, APRIL 19), 1993
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
JULY 23 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993
Reported by Mr. JOHNSTON, without amendment
AN ACT
To establish the Snake River Birds of Prey National Con-
servation Area in the State of Idaho, 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. 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 na-
tional biological and educational resource since birds
of prey are important components of the ecosystem
and indicators of environmental quality, and contrib-
ute significantly to the quality 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 ap-
propriately 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 Memorandum of
Understanding between the Bureau of Land Man-
agement and the State of Idaho Military Division,
dated May 1985. Operating under this Memoran-
dum 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 Train-
ing 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 ac-
cordance with such Memorandum of Understanding
(or extension or renewal thereof), to the extent con-
sistent with section 4(e) of this Act, because this
would be in the best interest of training of the re-
serve components (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 accom-
plished by the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Bureau of Land Management, under a
management plan that—
(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 re-
serve components of the Armed Forces;
(C) addresses the need for public edu-
cational 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 val-
ues of the area; and
(E) demonstrates management practices
and techniques 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 Assistance Center to
be housed at Boise State University, which provides
a unique adjunct to the conservation area for raptor
management, recovery, research, and public visita-
tion, interpretation, and education.
(8) Consistent with requirements of sections
202 and 302 of the Federal Land Policy and Man-
agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712 and 1732),
the Secretary has developed a comprehensive man-
agement plan and, based on such plan, has imple-
mented 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 re-
mains in public ownership, to facilitate sound and
effective planning and management, to provide for
effective public interpretation and education, to en-
sure continued study of the relationship of humans
and these raptors, to preserve the unique and irre-
placeable habitat of the conservation area, and to
conserve and properly manage the other natural re-
sources 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 ben-
efits to community stability and contributions to the
local and State economies. It has not been dem-
onstrated that continuation of this use would be in-
compatible with appropriate protection and sound
management of raptor habitat and the other re-
source values of these lands; therefore, subject to the
determination provided for in section 4(f), it is ex-
pected that such grazing will continue in accordance
with applicable regulations of the Secretary and the
management plan for the conservation area.
(12) Hydroelectric facilities for the generation
and transmission 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.
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 comprehen-
sive management plan developed for the conservation
area, dated August 30, 1985, together with such re-
visions thereto as may be required in order to imple-
ment 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 Fed-
eral Energy Regulatory Commission.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CONSERVATION
AREA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES.—(1) There is
hereby established the Snake River Birds of Prey National
Conservation Area (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘conserva-
tion area’’).
(2) The purposes for which the conservation area is
established, and shall be managed, are to provide for the
conservation, protection, and enhancement of raptor popu-
lations and habitats and the natural and environmental
resources and values associated therewith, and of the sci-
entific, 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 con-
servation 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 enti-
tled ‘‘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 con-
servation area shall be filed by the Secretary with the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives 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 dis-
posal under the public land laws; and from entry, applica-
tion, and selection under the Act of March 3, 1877 (Ch.
107, 19 Stat. 377, 43 U.S.C. 321 et seq.; commonly re-
ferred 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 Statutes, as amended (43
U.S.C. 852). The Secretary shall return to the applicants
any such applications pending on the date of enactment
of this Act, without further action. Subject to valid exist-
ing 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 geothermal leasing laws, and the min-
eral 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 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make
any revisions in the existing management plan for the con-
servation 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 necessary or appropriate.
(C) In reviewing and revising the plan, the Secretary
shall provide for appropriate public participation.
(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided in sec-
tion 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 Conservation Area is estab-
lished.
(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 manage-
ment program to implement the plan include, in addition
to any other necessary or appropriate provisions, provi-
sions for—
(1) protection for the raptor populations and
habitats and the scientific, cultural, and educational
resources and values of the public lands in the con-
servation area;
(2) identifying levels of continued military use
of the Orchard Training Area compatible with para-
graph (1) of this subsection;
(3) public use of the conservation area consist-
ent with the purposes of this Act;
(4) interpretive and educational opportunities
for the public;
(5) a program for continued scientific investiga-
tion and study to provide information to support
sound management in accordance with this Act, to
advance knowledge of raptor species and the re-
sources 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
management 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 non-
military uses of lands within the conservation area
that will be compatible with the protection, mainte-
nance, and enhancement of raptor populations and
habitats and the other purposes for which the con-
servation area is established; and
(8) assessing the desirability of imposing appro-
priate 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 conservation
area is established.
(c) VISITORS
CENTER.—The Secretary, acting
through the Director 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 re-
sources of the conservation area and the biology of the
raptors and their relationships to man.
(d) VISITORS USE OF AREA.—In addition to the Visi-
tors 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 conservation area
is established. To the extent practicable, the Secretary
shall make available to visitors and other members of the
public a map of the conservation area and such other edu-
cational and interpretive materials as may be appropriate.
(e) NATIONAL GUARD USE
OF
THE AREA.—(1)
Pending completion of the ongoing research concerning
military use of lands in the conservation area, or until the
date 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
whichever is the shorter period, the Secretary shall permit
continued military use of those portions of the conserva-
tion area known as the Orchard Training Area in accord-
ance with the Memorandum of Understanding, to the ex-
tent consistent with the use levels identified pursuant to
subsection (b)(2) of this section.
(2) Upon completion of the ongoing research concern-
ing military use of lands in the conservation area, the Sec-
retary shall review the management plan and make such
additional revisions therein as may be required to assure
that it meets the requirements of this Act.
(3) Upon completion of the ongoing research concern-
ing military use of lands in the conservation area, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committees on Natural Re-
sources and Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a report of the results
of such research.
(4) Nothing in this Act shall preclude minor adjust-
ment of the boundaries of the Orchard Training Area in
accordance with provisions of the Memorandum of Under-
standing.
(5) After completion of the ongoing research concern-
ing military use of lands in the Orchard Training Area
or after the date 5 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, whichever first occurs, the Secretary shall con-
tinue to permit military use of such lands, unless the Sec-
retary, on the basis of such research, determines such use
is not compatible with the purposes set forth in section
3(a)(2). Any such use thereafter shall be permitted in ac-
cordance with the Memorandum of Understanding, which
may be extended or renewed by the Secretary so long as
such use continues to meet the requirements of subsection
(b)(2) of this section.
(6) In accordance with the Memorandum of Under-
standing, the Secretary shall require the State of Idaho
Military Division to insure that military units involved
maintain a program of decontamination.
(7) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as by itself
precluding the extension or renewal of the Memorandum
of Understanding, or the construction of any improve-
ments or buildings in the Orchard Training Area so long
as the requirements of this subsection are met.
(f) LIVESTOCK GRAZING.—(1) So long as the Sec-
retary determines that domestic livestock grazing is com-
patible with the purposes for which the conservation area
is established, the Secretary shall permit such use of pub-
lic lands within the conservation area, to the extent such
use of such lands is compatible with such purposes. Deter-
minations as to compatibility shall be made in connection
with the initial revision of management plans for the con-
servation area and in connection with each plan review re-
quired by section 4(a)(1)(B).
(2) Any livestock grazing on public lands within the
conservation area, and activities the Secretary determines
necessary to carry out proper and practical grazing man-
agement programs on such lands (such as animal damage
control activities) shall be managed in accordance with the
Act of June 28, 1934 (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.; commonly
referred to as the ‘‘Taylor Grazing Act’’), section 402 of
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(43 U.S.C. 1752), other laws applicable to such use and
programs on the public lands, and the management plan
for the conservation area.
(g) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary is
authorized to provide technical assistance to, and to enter
into such cooperative agreements and contracts with, the
State of Idaho and with local governments and private en-
tities as the Secretary deems necessary or desirable to
carry out the purposes and policies of this Act.
(h) AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed as constituting a grant of authority to
the Secretary to restrict recognized agricultural practices
or other activities on private land adjacent to or within
the conservation area boundary.
(i) HYDROELECTRIC FACILITIES.—Notwithstanding
any provision of this Act, or regulations and management
plans undertaken pursuant to its provisions, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission shall retain its current ju-
risdiction concerning all aspects of the continued and fu-
ture operation of hydroelectric facilities, licensed or reli-
censed under the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et
seq.), located within the boundaries of the conservation
area.
SEC. 5. ADDITIONS.
(a) ACQUISITIONS.—(1) The Secretary is authorized
to acquire lands and interests therein within the bound-
aries of the conservation area by donation, purchase with
donated or appropriated funds, exchange, or transfer from
another Federal agency, except that such lands or inter-
ests owned by the State of Idaho or a political subdivision
thereof may be acquired only by donation or exchange.
(2) Any lands located within the boundaries of the
conservation area that are acquired by the United States
on or after the date of enactment of this Act shall become
a part of the conservation area and shall be subject to
this Act.
(b) PURCHASE OF LANDS.—In addition to the au-
thority in section 318(d) of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1748) and notwith-
standing section 7(a) of the Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 4601–9(a)), monies appro-
priated from the Land and Water Conservation Fund may
be used as authorized in section 5(b) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1534(b)), for the purposes
of acquiring lands or interests therein within the conserva-
tion area for administration as public lands as a part of
the conservation area.
(c) LAND EXCHANGES.—The Secretary shall, within
4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, study,
identify, and initiate voluntary land exchanges which
would resolve ownership related land use conflicts within
the conservation area.
SEC. 6. OTHER LAWS AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.
(a) OTHER LAWS.—(1) Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to supersede, limit, or otherwise affect adminis-
tration and enforcement of the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or to limit the applicabil-
ity of the National Trails System Act to any lands within
the conservation area.
(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this
Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the
applicability to lands in the conservation area of laws ap-
plicable to public lands generally, including but not limited
to the National Historic Preservation Act, the Archae-
ological Resources Protection Act of 1979, or the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as by itself
altering the status of any lands that on the date of enact-
ment of this Act were not managed by the Bureau of Land
Management.
(4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibit-
ing the Secretary from engaging qualified persons to use
public lands within the conservation area for the propaga-
tion of plants (including seeds) to be used for vegetative
enhancement of the conservation area in accordance with
the plan and in furtherance of the purposes for which the
conservation area is established.
(b) RELEASE.—The Congress finds and directs that
the public lands within the Snake River Birds of Prey Nat-
ural Area established as a natural area in October 1971
by Public Land Order 5133 have been adequately studied
and found unsuitable for wilderness designation pursuant
to section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976. Such lands are hereby released from
further management pursuant to section 603(c) of such
an Act and shall be managed in accordance with other
applicable provisions of law, including this Act.
(c) EXISTING ADMINISTRATIVE WITHDRAWAL TER-
MINATED.—Public Land Orders 5133 dated October 12,
1971, and 5777 dated November 21, 1980, issued by the
Secretary are hereby revoked subject to subsections (d)(3)
and (d)(4).
(d) WATER.—(1) The Congress finds that the United
States is currently a party in an adjudication of rights
to waters of the Snake River, including water rights
claimed by the United States on the basis of the reserva-
tion of lands for purposes of conservation of fish and wild-
life and that consequently there is no need for this Act
to effect a reservation by the United States of rights with
respect to such waters in order to fulfill the purposes for
which the conservation area is established.
(2) Nothing in this Act or any action taken pursuant
thereto shall constitute either an expressed or implied res-
ervation of water or water rights for any purpose.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as effecting
a relinquishment or reduction of any of the water rights
held or claimed by the United States within the State of
Idaho or elsewhere on or before the date of enactment of
this Act.
(4) The Secretary and all other officers of the United
States shall take all steps necessary to protect all water
rights claimed by the United States in the Snake River
adjudication now pending in the district court of the State
of Idaho in which the United States is joined under section
208 of the Act of July 10, 1952 (66 Stat. 560; 43 U.S.C.
666; commonly referred to as the ‘‘McCarran Amend-
ment’’).
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives May 11, 1993.
Attest:
DONNALD K. ANDERSON,
Clerk.
HR 236 RS——2