San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of 1984
PL 98-603 (H.R.6296), enacted 10/30/1984

PUBLIC LAW 98-603—OCT. 30, 1984 
98 STAT. 3155 
Public Law 98-603 
98th Congress 
An Act 
Entitled: "The San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of 1984". 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, 
TITLE I—SAN JUAN BASIN 
SEC. 101. This Act may be cited as the "San Juan Basin Wilder-
ness Protection Act of 1984". 
SEC. 102. (a) In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1131-1136), the following lands are hereby designated as 
wilderness, and, therefore, as components of the National Wilder-
ness Preservation System— 
(1) certain lands in the Albuquerque District Bureau of Land 
Management, New Mexico, which comprise approximately 
three thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight acres, as generally 
depicted on a map entitled "Bisti Wilderness—Proposed", dated 
June 1983, and which shall be known as the Bisti Wilderness; 
and 
(2) certain lands in the Albuquerque District of the Bureau of 
Land Management, New Mexico, which comprise approximately 
twenty-three thousand eight hundred and seventy-two acres, as 
generally depicted on a map entitled "De-na-zin Wilderness— 
Proposed", dated June 1983, and which shall be known as the 
De-na-zin Wilderness. 
(h) Subject to valid existing rights each wilderness area designated 
by this Act shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior in 
accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act, except that 
any reference in such provisions to the effective date of the Wilder-
ness Act (or any similar reference) shall be deemed to be a reference 
to the effective date of this Act, and any reference to the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall be deemed to be a reference to the Secretary of 
the Interior. 
(c) As soon as practicable after enactment of this Act, a map and a 
legal description of each wilderness area designated by this Act shall 
be filed by the Secretary of the Interior with the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the 
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Repre-
sentatives. Each such map and description shall have the same force 
and effect as if included in this Act, except that correction of clerical 
and typographical errors in each such legal description and map 
may be made by the Secretary subsequent to such filings. Each such 
map and legal description shall be on file and available for public 
inspection in the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management, Department of the Interior. 
(d) Within the wilderness areas designated by this Act, the gr;azing 
of livestock, where established prior to the date of enactment of this 
Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable 
Oct. 30, 1984 
[H.R. 6296] 
San Juan Basin 
Wilderness 
Protection Act of 
1984. 
National 
Wilderness 
Preservation 
System. 
National Forest 
System. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1132 
note. 
16 u s e 1131 
note. 
Public 
availability. 
Livestock. 
STAT. 3156 
PUBLIC LAW 98-603—OCT. 30, 1984 
16 use 1131 
note. 
Regulations. 
Study. 
Public lands. 
16 use 1131. 
43 use 1702. 
regulations, policies, and practices as the Secretary of the Interior 
deems necessary, as long as such regulations, policies, and practices 
fully conform with and implement the intent of Congress regarding 
grazing in such areas as such intent is expressed in the Wilderness 
Act and this Act. 
SEC. 103. (a) In recognition of its paramount aesthetic, natural, 
scientific, educational, and paleontological values, the approxi-
mately two thousand seven hundred and twenty acre area in the 
Albuquerque District of the Bureau of Land Management, New 
Mexico, known as the "Fossil Forest", as generally depicted on a 
map entitled "Fossil Forest", dated June 1983, is hereby withdrawn, 
subject to valid existing rights, from all forms of appropriation 
under the mining laws and from disposition under all laws pertain-
ing to mineral leasing and geothermal leasing and all amendments 
thereto. The Secretary of the Interior shall administer the area in 
accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and 
shall take such measures as are necessary to ensure that no activi-
ties are permitted within the area which would significantly disturb 
the land surface or impair the area's existing natural, educational, 
and scientific research values, including paleontological study, exca-
vation, and interpretation. 
Ot)) Within one year of the date of enactment of this Act the 
Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate rules and regulations for 
the administration of the Fossil Forest area referred to in subsection 
(a) in accordance with the provisions of this Act and shall file a copy 
of such rules and regulations with the Committee on Interior and 
Insular Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United 
States Senate. 
(c) The Bureau of Land Management is hereby directed to conduct 
a long-range study of the Fossil Forest to determine how best to 
manage the area's resource values identified in section 103(a) of this 
Act. Within eight years of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
forward the study results and management plan for the area to 
Congress. During the study period and until Congress determines 
otherwise, the Fossil Forest area shall be managed under the provi-
sions of this Act. 
SEC. 104. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall exchange such 
public lands or interest in such lands, mineral or nonmineral, as are 
of approximately equal value and selected by the State of New 
Mexico, acting through its commissioner of public lands, for any 
State lands or interest therein, mineral or nonmineral, located 
within the boundaries of any of the tracts designated as wilderness 
under section 2. For the purpose of this section, the term public 
lands shall have the same meaning as defined in section 103(c) of the 
Federal Lands Policy and Management Act of 1976. 
O
t
)
) Within one hundred and twenty days of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall give notice to the New Mexico 
Commissioner of Public Lands of the tracts to be designated as 
wilderness pursuant to section 102 of this Act and of the Secretary's 
duty to exchange public lands selected by the State for any State 
land contained within the boundaries of the designated wilderness 
areas. Such notice shall contain a listing of all public lands which 
are located within the boundaries of the State, which have not been 
withdrawn from entry and which the Secretary identifies as being 
available to the State in exchange for such State lands as may be 
within the designated wilderness areas. 
PUBLIC LAW 98-603—OCT. 30, 1984 
98 STAT. 3157 
(c) The value of the State and public lands to be exchanged under 
this section shall be determined as of the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(d) After the receipt of the list of available public lands, if the 
commissioner of public lands gives notice to the Secretary of the 
State's selection of lands, the Secretary shall notify the State in 
writing as to whether the Department of the Interior considers the 
State and Federal lands to be of approximately equal value. In case 
of disagreement between the Secretary and the commissioner as to 
relative value of the acquired and selected lands, the Secretary and 
the commissioner shall agree on the appointment of a disinterested 
independent appraiser who will review valuation data presented by 
both parties and determine the amount of selected land which best 
represents approximate equal value. Such determination will be 
binding on the Secretary and the commissioner. The transfer of title 
to lands or interests therein to the State of New Mexico shall be 
completed within two years of the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 105. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall exchange any 
lands held in trust for an Indian whose lands are located within the 
boundary of the De-na-zin area referred to in section 102(a)(2) at the 
request of the Indian for whom such land is held in trust. Such lands 
shall be exchanged for lands approximately equal in value selected 
by the Indian allottee concerned and such lands so selected and 
exchanged shall thereafter be held in trust by the Secretary in the 
same manner as the lands for which they were exchanged. 
Ot)) Except as provided herein, nothing in this Act shall affect the 
transfer to the Navajo Tribe of any lands selected by the Navajo 
Tribe pursuant to Public Law 93-531 and Public Law 96-305: Pro-
vided, however, That, notwithstanding the limitations imposed by 
section 4 of Public Law 96-305, within eighteen months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Navajo Tribe, after consultation 
with the Relocation Commission, shall have the authority to and 
shall select lands in New Mexico administered by the Bur(;au of 
Land Management of equal acreage in lieu of the lands which have 
been previously selected by the Navajo Tribe within the boundaries 
of the Fossil Forest, as described in section 103(a) of this Act. A 
border of any parcel of land so selected shall be within eighteen 
miles of the boundary of the Navajo Reservation described in Execu-
tive order dated January 6,1880. 
(c) Title to such in lieu selections shall be taken in the name of the 
United States in trust for the benefit of the Navajo Tribe as a part of 
the Navajo Reservation, and shall be subject only to valid existing 
rights as of December 1,1983. 
SEC. 106. Section 11(a) of Public Law 93-531 (25 U.S.C. 640d-10) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1) by striking out the last sentence, which 
begins "Such lands"; 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: "Subject to 
the provisions of the following sentences of this subsection, all 
rights, title and interests of the United States in the lands 
described in paragraph (1), including such interests the United 
States as lessor has in such lands under the Mineral Leasing 
Act of 1920, as amended, will, subject to existing leasehold 
interests, be transferred without cost to the Navajo Tribe and 
title thereto shall be taken by the United States in trust for the 
benefit of the Navajo Tribe as a part of the Navajo Reservation. 
So long as selected lands coincide with pending noncompetitive 
Indians. 
25 u s e 640d et 
seq., 640d note. 
25 u s e 640d-10. 
Mines and 
mining. 
30 u s e 181 note. 
98 STAT. 3158 
PUBLIC LAW 98-603—OCT. 30, 1984 
30 use 181 note. 
coal lease applications under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, 
as amended, the Secretary may not transfer any United States 
interests in such lands until the noncompetitive coal lease 
applications have been fully adjudicated. If such adjudication 
results in issuance of Federal coal leases to the applicants, such 
transfer shall be subject to such leases. The leaseholders rights 
and interests in such coal leases will in no way be diminished by 
the transfer of the rights, title and interests of the United 
States in such lands to the Navajo Tribe. If any selected lands 
are subject to valid claims located under the Mining Law of 
1872 the transfer of the selected lands may be made subject to 
those claims."; and 
(3) by inserting the following new paragraph: 
"(2) Those interests in lands acquired in the State of New 
Mexico by the Navajo Tribe pursuant to subsection 2 of this 
section shall be subject to the right of the State of New Mexico 
to receive the same value from any sales, bonuses, rentals, 
royalties and interest charges from the conveyance, sale, lease, 
development, and production of coal as would have been re-
ceived had the subsurface interest in such lands remained with 
the United States and been leased pursuant to the Mineral 
30 use 181 note. 
Lands Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, or any successor Act; or 
otherwise developed. The State's interest shall be accounted for 
in the same manner as it would have been if a lease had issued 
pursuant to the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920, as 
amended.". 
Public lands. 
SEC. 107. (a) Subject to valid existing rights and except as provided 
in subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and 
directed to convey to the New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, 
New Mexico, at a cost of $2.50 per acre, all right, title, and interest 
of the United States in and to the following described public lands 
aggregating approximately 5,711.39 acres in Dona Ana County, New 
Mexico, to be used for the purpose of conducting educational, de-
monstrative, and experimental development with livestock, grazing 
methods, and range forage plants and other agricultural related 
research: 
New Mexico Principal Meridian 
Township 20 south, range 1 east 
Sections 16, 32, and 36, all. 
Township 21 south, range 1 east 
Sections 2, and 16, all. 
Township 20 south, range 1 west 
Sections 2, and 16, all. 
Section 26, north half northeast quarter, northeast quar-
ter northwest quarter; 
Section 32, north half, north half southwest quarter, 
north half southeast quarter, southeast quarter southeast 
quarter; and 
Section 36, all. 
(b) There are reserved to the United States all minerals that may 
be found in the lands described in subsection (a), together with the 
right of the United States, its permittees, lessees, or grantees, at any 
time, to prospect for, mine and remove such minerals. 
(c) In the event that the lands described in subsection (a), or any 
part thereof, are used for any purpose other than those for which 
conveyance is authorized, title to the entire tract shall immediately 
PUBLIC LAW 98-603—OCT. 30, 1984 
98 STAT. 3159 
revert to the United States without the necessity for further action 
to accomplish the reversion of title to the United States. 
SEC. 108. In order to relieve the Elephant Butte Irrigation District 
of any obligation to reimburse the Bureau of Reclamation for leave 
and severance payments to certain employees of the Rio Grande 
project separated as a result of the transfer of operation and mainte-
nance responsibilities to the Elephant Butte District, miscellaneous 
revenues having been collected by the Bureau of Reclamation from 
the sale or lease of project lands, interests in lands or other sources 
may be credited to the Elephant Butte Irrigation District for such 
leave and severance payments and accrued interest penalties on the 
district's obligations. Penalties shall be assessed up till Septem-
ber 23, 1983. 
SEC. 109. An approximate twenty-acre area as shown on a map 
entitled Sandia Mountain Wilderness additions, dated March 26, 
1981, on file in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Sei-vice, 
Department of Agriculture, is hereby added to and made a part of 
the Sandia Mountain Wilderness: Provided, That the Secretary of 
Agriculture may allow the continuance of the existing diversion 
dam and existing related facilities conforming to the terms and 
conditions of maintenance he deems appropriate, including the 
provision for access and the use of mechanized equipment only for 
construction and maintenance of existing structures: Provided fur-
ther, That any upgrading of the existing diversion dam shall be 
completed within four years of the date of this section in accord with 
the plans approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary of 
Agriculture may extend the time of such reconstruction if he deems 
such extension is necessary and in the public interest. 
SEC. 110. (a)(1) The Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in this 
section referred to as the "Secretary") may convey to Sumner Lake 
Corporation of the State of New Mexico all right, title, and interest 
of the United States in and to the real property described in 
paragraph (2), but such conveyance to such corporation may be 
made only in the event that the State of New Mexico has given a 
written release to the United States Government from the State's 
lease of such property. 
(2) The real property referred to in paragraph (1) is located in 
Lake Sumner State Park, in the State of New Mexico, and is more 
particularly described as follows: all portions of sections 28 and 34 in 
township 5 north, range 24 east, that are more than 4,280 feet above 
sea level. The acreage and legal description of such real property 
shall be determined by the Secretary after consulting with Sumner 
Lake Corporation. 
Ot>)(l) In consideration for the conveyance authorized in subsection 
(a), Sumner Lake Corporation shall pay to the Secretary for deposit 
in the United States Treasury the fair market value of the real 
groperty conveyed as determined on the date of such conveyance, 
uch fair market value shall be determined by the Secretary by 
means of an appraisal conducted in accordance with established 
appraisal procedures. 
(2) Any administrative cost incurred by the Secretary incident to 
any conveyance under subsection (a), including any surveying cost, 
recording cost, or legal cost, shall be reimbursed by Sumner Lake 
Corporation. 
(c)(1) Any conveyance under subsection (a) shall reserve to the 
United States all oil, coal, and other minerals in the real property 
conveyed, and the right to prospect for, mine, and remove such oil. 
Penalties. 
Public lands. 
Dam. 
Public lands. 
98 STAT. 3160 
PUBLIC LAW 98-603—OCT. 30, 1984 
coal, and other minerals. Any damage sustained by any surface 
owner as a result of the exercise of any right reserved in this 
paragraph shall be reimbursed by the United States or the lessee of 
such right. 
(2) Any conveyance under subsection (a) shall not affect any 
easement, servitude, or right-of-way existing with respect to the real 
property conveyed on the date of such conveyance. 
(3) The Secretary may attach to any conveyance under subsection 
(a) any additional conditions and reservations that the Secretary 
determines to be appropriate. 
Approved October 30, 1984. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 6296 (H.R. 3766): 
HOUSE REPORT No. 98-834 accompanying H.R. 3766 (Comm. on Interior and Insular 
Affairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 130 (1984): 
June 18, H.R. 8766 considered and passed House. 
Oct. 3, considered and passed House. 
Oct. 5, considered and passed Senate, amended; House concurred in Senate 
amendments.