Opinion ID: 2612687
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Rocky Mountain National Park

Text: Rocky Mountain National Park was created from previously reserved national forest lands which were transferred to the Park in 1915 and again in 1930. The water court held that the priority date of any reserved water rights for Rocky Mountain National Park was the date on which the national forest lands were transferred to national park status. The United States argues that, for reservation purposes common to national forest lands and national park lands, the priority dates should be fixed by the dates of the initial national forest reservation. We agree that the earlier date is the proper benchmark. The lands reserved for national parks have purposes consistent with the lands reserved for national forests. National parks exist for the purposes of protecting watershed and timber resources (also the national forest purposes), in addition to broader purposes of, inter alia, conserving scenery, historic and scientific objects, and wildlife. See National Park Service Act of 1916, 16 U.S.C. ง 1 (1976). The purposes for which the national forests are administered were not rescinded by the simple reclassification of the lands. The reclassification changes the status of the lands from national forests to national parks, but the original purposes of timber and watershed protection continue even though the land is placed under National Park Service administration. There is no reason to believe that the transferral of national forest lands extinguishes the purposes of timber and watershed protection established by the Organic Act of 1897. Therefore, to the extent that the purposes of the national forests and national parks overlap, the federal government has reserved water rights in the amount minimally necessary to effectuate the purposes of the national forest lands. See United States v. New Mexico, supra ; Cappaert v. United States, supra . Reservation of water for other purposes, however, will have a priority date from the time the national park was established. The water court has decreed various water rights in Rocky Mountain National Park with priority dates of 1915 and 1930. The water court must reexamine its decree and award the United States water rights sufficient to meet the purposes of watershed and timber resources protection with a priority date based on the date the transferred lands were reserved to the national forests.