[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 236 Engrossed in House (EH)]

103d CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 236

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To establish the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area 
             in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes.






103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 236

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To establish the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area 
             in the State of Idaho, 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. 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 national 
        biological and educational resource since birds of prey are 
        important components of the ecosystem and indicators of 
        environmental quality, and contribute 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 appropriately 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 Management and the 
        State of Idaho Military Division, dated May 1985. Operating 
        under this Memorandum 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 Training 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 accordance 
        with such Memorandum of Understanding (or extension or renewal 
        thereof), to the extent consistent with section 4(e) of this 
        Act, because this would be in the best interest of training of 
        the reserve 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 accomplished 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 reserve components of the 
                Armed Forces;
                    (C) addresses the need for public educational 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 
                values 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 visitation, 
        interpretation, and education.
            (8) Consistent with requirements of sections 202 and 302 of 
        the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
        1712 and 1732), the Secretary has developed a comprehensive 
        management plan and, based on such plan, has implemented 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 remains in public 
        ownership, to facilitate sound and effective planning and 
        management, to provide for effective public interpretation and 
        education, to ensure continued study of the relationship of 
        humans and these raptors, to preserve the unique and 
        irreplaceable habitat of the conservation area, and to conserve 
        and properly manage the other natural resources 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 benefits to community stability and 
        contributions to the local and State economies. It has not been 
        demonstrated that continuation of this use would be 
        incompatible with appropriate protection and sound management 
        of raptor habitat and the other resource values of these lands; 
        therefore, subject to the determination provided for in section 
        4(f), it is expected 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.
            (2) The term ``conservation area'' means the Snake River 
        Birds of Prey National Conservation Area established by section 
        3.
            (3) The term ``raptor'' or ``raptors'' means individuals or 
        populations of eagles, falcons, owls, hawks, and other birds of 
        prey.
            (4) The term ``raptor habitat'' includes the habitat of the 
        raptor prey base as well as the nesting and hunting habitat of 
        raptors within the conservation area.
            (5) The term ``Memorandum of Understanding'' means the 
        Memorandum of Understanding #ID-237, dated May 1985, between 
        the State of Idaho Military Division and the Bureau of Land 
        Management.
            (6) The term ``Orchard Training Area'' means that area 
        generally so depicted on the map referred to in section 3(b), 
        and as described in the Memorandum of Understanding as well as 
        the air space over the same.
            (7) The term ``Impact Area'' means that area which was used 
        for the firing of live artillery projectiles and is used for 
        live fire ranges of all types and, therefore, poses a danger to 
        public safety and which 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 comprehensive 
        management plan developed for the conservation area, dated 
        August 30, 1985, together with such revisions thereto as may be 
        required in order to implement 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 Federal 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 ``conservation 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 populations and habitats and the natural and 
environmental resources and values associated therewith, and of the 
scientific, 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 conservation 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 entitled ``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 conservation area shall be filed by the 
Secretary with the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives 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 disposal under the public land laws; and 
from entry, application, and selection under the Act of March 3, 1877 
(Ch. 107, 19 Stat. 377, 43 U.S.C. 321 et seq.; commonly referred 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 
existing 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 mineral 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 conservation 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 section 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 
established.
    (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 management program to implement the plan include, in 
addition to any other necessary or appropriate provisions, provisions 
for--
            (1) protection for the raptor populations and habitats and 
        the scientific, cultural, and educational resources and values 
        of the public lands in the conservation area;
            (2) identifying levels of continued military use of the 
        Orchard Training Area compatible with paragraph (1) of this 
        subsection;
            (3) public use of the conservation area consistent with the 
        purposes of this Act;
            (4) interpretive and educational opportunities for the 
        public;
            (5) a program for continued scientific investigation and 
        study to provide information to support sound management in 
        accordance with this Act, to advance knowledge of raptor 
        species and the resources 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 nonmilitary uses of lands 
        within the conservation area that will be compatible with the 
        protection, maintenance, and enhancement of raptor populations 
        and habitats and the other purposes for which the conservation 
        area is established; and
            (8) assessing the desirability of imposing appropriate 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 resources 
of the conservation area and the biology of the raptors and their 
relationships to man.
    (d) Visitors Use of Area.--In addition to the Visitors 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 educational 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 conservation area known 
as the Orchard Training Area in accordance with the Memorandum of 
Understanding, to the extent consistent with the use levels identified 
pursuant to subsection (b)(2) of this section.
    (2) Upon completion of the ongoing research concerning military use 
of lands in the conservation area, the Secretary 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 concerning military use 
of lands in the conservation area, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committees on Natural Resources 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 adjustment of the 
boundaries of the Orchard Training Area in accordance with provisions 
of the Memorandum of Understanding.
    (5) After completion of the ongoing research concerning 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 continue to permit military use of such lands, unless 
the Secretary, 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 accordance 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 Understanding, 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 improvements 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 Secretary determines 
that domestic livestock grazing is compatible with the purposes for 
which the conservation area is established, the Secretary shall permit 
such use of public lands within the conservation area, to the extent 
such use of such lands is compatible with such purposes. Determinations 
as to compatibility shall be made in connection with the initial 
revision of management plans for the conservation area and in 
connection with each plan review required 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 management 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 entities 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 jurisdiction concerning all aspects of the continued and 
future operation of hydroelectric facilities, licensed or relicensed 
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 boundaries of the conservation area by 
donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, exchange, or 
transfer from another Federal agency, except that such lands or 
interests 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 authority in section 
318(d) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1748) and notwithstanding section 7(a) of the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 4601-9(a)), monies 
appropriated 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 conservation 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 administration and enforcement of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or to limit 
the applicability 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 applicable to public lands generally, 
including but not limited to the National Historic Preservation Act, 
the Archaeological 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 enactment of this Act were 
not managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
    (4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting the 
Secretary from engaging qualified persons to use public lands within 
the conservation area for the propagation 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 Natural 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 Management 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 Terminated.--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 reservation of lands for purposes of conservation of fish and 
wildlife 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 reservation 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 Amendment'').

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:






                                                                 Clerk.

HR 236 EH----2