[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1356 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1356

To redesignate the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument as a 
  national park, to create the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National 
 Conservation Area, to include the Gunnison River in the Nation's Wild 
            and Scenic River System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 1993

 Mr. McInnis introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To redesignate the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument as a 
  national park, to create the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National 
 Conservation Area, to include the Gunnison River in the Nation's Wild 
            and Scenic River System, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Black Canyon Conservation Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    The Congress finds and declares that:
            (1) The resources within the Black Canyon of the Gunnison 
        National Monument and on the adjacent Federal lands are 
        nationally and internationally significant.
            (2) These resources offer exceptional opportunities to 
        expand and interpret ecological components and geologic 
        features.
            (3) These resources offer a superlative opportunity for 
        recreation.
            (4) These resources coincide with, compliment, and expand 
        the purposes for which the Black Canyon of the Gunnison 
        National Monument was established.
            (5) Therefore, given that the historic boundary of the 
        Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument was statutorily 
        established and enlarged by Public Law 98-357.
            (6) The lands in the lower Gunnison Gorge have been studied 
        and recommended for wilderness designation by the Bureau of 
        Land Management in 1987.
            (7) The Gunnison River was studied by the Bureau of Land 
        Management in 1979 and was found to be eligible for wild and 
        scenic designation.
            (8) The fishery in the Gunnison River that flows through 
        the Gunnison Gorge has been recognized by the State of Colorado 
        as a ``Gold Medal Stream'' and ``Wild Trout Water''.
            (9) The creation of a national park, national conservation 
        area and the designation of the Gunnison River as a wild and 
        scenic river is appropriate and necessary to protect and 
        enhance the Black Canyon, the Gunnison Gorge, and the 
        surrounding natural resources for future generations.

SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AS A NATIONAL PARK.

    (a) Redesignation.--In order to protect, interpret, and promote the 
spectacular gorges formed by the erosive work of the Gunnison River, 
the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument is hereby 
redesignated as the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
    (b) Area Included.--The national park shall consist of the existing 
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. Any funds available for 
the purposes of the monument shall be made available for the purposes 
of the park. All valid existing rights within the monument shall be 
included in the national park.
    (c) Administration.--The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter 
referred to as the Secretary) shall administer the Black Canyon of the 
Gunnison National Park in accordance with this Act and with the 
provisions of law generally applicable to units of the National Park 
System, including, but not limited to, the Act entitled ``An Act to 
establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes'', approved 
August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1-4), and the Act of August 
21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461-467).
    (d) Water Right.--Designation of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison 
National Park shall not constitute a reservation of water, water 
rights, or instream flows beyond the water right described in section 
6(c) of this Act.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON NATIONAL 
              CONSERVATION AREA.

    (a) Establishment.--In order to protect that area in Colorado 
containing the Gunnison Gorge and other unique and nationally important 
recreational, geological, ecological, scenic, educational, scientific, 
and wilderness resources of the public lands in and around the lower 
Gunnison Gorge for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations, 
there is hereby established the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation 
Area (hereinafter referred to as the ``conservation area'').
    (b) Area Included.--The conservation area shall consist of 
approximately sixty-four thousand one hundred and thirty-nine acres as 
generally depicted on the map entitled ``Gunnison Gorge National 
Conservation Area'' numbered          and dated        . The map shall 
be on file and available for inspection in the offices of the Director 
of the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior.
    (c) Legal Description.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file a legal description of 
the conservation area designated under this section with the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the 
Committee on Natural Resources of the United States House of 
Representatives. Such legal description 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 legal description. 
The legal description shall be on file and available for public 
inspection in the offices of the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management, Department of the Interior.
    (d) Administration.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Bureau of Land Management, shall manage the conservation area to 
protect its resources in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land 
Management and Policy Act of 1976 and other applicable provisions of 
law.
    (e) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, all Federal 
lands within the conservation area and all lands and interests therein 
which are hereafter acquired by the United States are hereby withdrawn 
from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public 
land laws and from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, 
and from operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws 
and all amendments thereto.
    (f) Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing.--The Secretary shall permit 
hunting, trapping, and fishing within the conservation area in 
accordance with applicable laws and regulations of the United States 
and the State of Colorado; except that the Secretary, after 
consultation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, may issue 
regulations designating zones where and establishing periods when no 
hunting or trapping shall be permitted for reasons of public safety, 
administration, or public use and enjoyment.
    (g) Grazing.--The grazing of livestock in the conservation area 
designated by this Act, where established prior to the date of the 
enactment of this Act, shall be administered in accordance with section 
4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and section 108 of 
the Act entitled ``An Act to designate certain National Forest System 
lands in the State of Colorado, South Dakota, Missouri, South Carolina, 
and Louisiana for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation 
System, and for other purposes'' (Public Law 96-560).
    (h) Water Rights.--Designation of the conservation area shall not 
constitute a reservation of water, water rights or instream flows 
beyond the water right described in section 6(c) of this Act.
    (i) Motorized Vehicles.--The use of motorized vehicles in the 
conservation area shall be allowed on routes specifically designated 
for such use as part of the management plan prepared pursuant to 
section 7 of this Act, except where needed for administrative or 
emergency purposes. The Secretary shall have the power to implement 
such reasonable limits to visitation and use of the conservation area 
as he finds appropriate for the protection of the resources of the 
conservation area, including requiring permits for public use, or 
closing portions of the conservation area to public use.
    (j) Enforcement.--Any person who violates the provisions of this 
Act or any regulation promulgated by the Secretary to implement this 
Act shall be subject to a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up 
to one year, or both.

SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS WITHIN THE CONSERVATION AREA.

    (a) Designation.--Within the conservation area there are hereby 
designated as wilderness, and as a component of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System, the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness of approximately 
twenty-one thousand thirty-eight acres, as generally depicted on the 
map entitled the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area numbered            and 
dated         . The map shall be on file and available for inspection 
in the offices of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 
Department of the Interior.
    (b) Legal Description.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file a legal description 
of the wilderness area designated by this Act with the Committee on 
Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives and 
with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States 
Senate. Such legal description 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 legal description. The legal 
description shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
offices of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Department of 
the Interior.
    (c) Administration.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
wilderness area designated by this Act shall be administered by the 
Secretary in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (78 
Stat. 890; 16 U.S.C. 131), governing areas designated by that Act as 
wilderness.
    (d) No Buffer Zones.--The Congress does not intend for the 
designation of this wilderness area to lead to the creation of 
protective perimeters or buffer zones around any such wilderness area. 
The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard 
from areas within a wilderness shall not, of itself, preclude such 
activities or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness areas.
    (e) Fish and Wildlife.--As provided in paragraph (7) of section 
4(d) of the Wilderness Act, nothing in this Act or in the Wilderness 
Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or 
responsibilities of the State of Colorado with respect to wildlife and 
fish on the public lands located in that State.
    (f) Grazing.--The grazing of livestock in the conservation area 
designated by this Act, where established prior to the date of the 
enactment of this Act, shall be administered in accordance with section 
4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and section 108 of 
the Act entitled ``An Act to designate certain National Forest System 
lands in the State of Colorado, South Dakota, Missouri, South Carolina, 
and Louisiana for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation 
System, and for other purposes'' (Public Law 96-560).
    (g) Water Rights.--Designation of the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness 
shall not constitute a reservation of water, water rights or instream 
flows beyond the water right described in section 6(c) of this Act.

SEC. 6. DESIGNATING THE GUNNISON RIVER AS A WILD AND SCENIC RIVER.

    (a) Designation.--Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding the following new paragraph at 
the end:
    ``( ) Gunnison, Colorado--the Gunnison River from the upstream 
boundary of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument down 
stream to the confluence of the North Fork of the Gunnison River to be 
administered by the Secretary of the Interior.''.
    (b) Water Development.--For the purposes of this Act, the storage 
and diversion of water outside of the designated reach shall not be 
considered to have an adverse effect on the values for which the reach 
was established.
    (c) Water Rights.--No water rights or the reservation of water 
which would expand on the existing reserved water right for the Black 
Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, shall be created by this 
designation.

SEC. 7. GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLANS.

    (a) In General.--Within three full fiscal years following the 
fiscal year of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop and 
transmit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the United States 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the United States Senate, a comprehensive plan for the 
long-range protection and management of the conservation area which 
shall describe the appropriate uses and development of the conservation 
area consistent with the purposes of this Act. This plan shall 
incorporate appropriate decisions contained in the Uncompahgre Basin 
Resource Management Plan (completed in September, 1988), the Gunnison 
Gorge Recreation Area Management Plan (completed on July 24, 1985 and 
supplemented on July 21, 1988). The conservation area plan shall also 
incorporate wildlife habitat management plans that have been prepared 
for the area, and will be prepared in close consultation with 
appropriate agencies of the State of Colorado and consider previous 
studies of the area.
    (b) Public Lands.--For the purpose of this Act, the term ``public 
lands'' shall have the same meaning as such term has when used in the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
    (c) Management of Acquired Lands.--Any non-Federal lands or 
interests within or adjacent to the boundaries of the conservation area 
which after the date of enactment of this Act may be acquired by the 
United States shall be incorporated into the conservation area, and 
shall be managed in accordance with all the provisions of this Act and 
other laws applicable to the conservation area.
    (d) Limitations.--No federally owned lands located within the 
boundaries of the conservation area shall be transferred out of Federal 
ownership, or be placed in trust, by exchange or otherwise.

SEC. 8. APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

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