[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 236 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.236
                       One Hundred Third Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
  the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three


                                 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.







                                Speaker of the House of Representatives.







                             Vice President of the United States and    
                                                President of the Senate.