[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1196 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1196

  To amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to extend the interim 
    protection of the Spanish Peaks planning area in the San Isabel 
                       National Forest, Colorado.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 1997

 Mr. Skaggs (for himself, Mr. McInnis, and Ms. DeGette) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to extend the interim 
    protection of the Spanish Peaks planning area in the San Isabel 
                       National Forest, Colorado.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The two volcanic peaks in Huerfano and Las Animas 
        Counties, Colorado, known as the Spanish Peaks or Wayatoya, are 
        easterly extensions of the Rocky Mountains and served as 
        landmarks to some of Colorado's earliest settlers.
            (2) The portion of the San Isabel National Forest 
        encompassing the Spanish Peaks is within an area designated on 
        the National Register of Natural Landmarks and has outstanding 
        scenic, geological, and other values.
            (3) Public Law 96-560 provided for the management of the 
        Spanish Peaks as a wilderness study area so as to maintain the 
        options of Congress regarding possible designation of these 
        lands as components of the National Wilderness Preservation 
        System.
            (4) Section 10 of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 
        (Public Law 103-77) required continued management of these 
        lands, known as the Spanish Peaks planning area, as a 
        wilderness study area during a three-year period extending 
        through August 13, 1996, and required the submission to 
        Congress of a report concerning the status of private property 
        holdings within the planning area.
            (5) Since 1993, the United States has acquired, with the 
        consent of their owners, many of the lands within the Spanish 
        Peaks planning area that were in private ownership in 1993.
            (6) Acquisition by the United States of some or all of the 
        rest of such non-Federal lands would be desirable in order to 
        facilitate management of lands within the Spanish Peaks 
        planning area as wilderness, but neither such acquisitions nor 
        enactment of legislation to designate some or all of the 
        planning area as wilderness was completed prior to the end of 
        the period during which the planning area was required to be 
        managed as a wilderness study area.
            (7) Therefore, continued management of the Spanish Peaks 
        planning area as a wilderness study area is desirable in order 
        to retain the options of Congress concerning possible 
        designation of lands within the planning area as wilderness.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to require continued 
management of the Spanish Peaks planning area as a wilderness study 
area until Congress can determine which if any of the lands within the 
planning area are to be designated as wilderness.

SEC. 2. WILDERNESS STUDY EXTENSION, SPANISH PEAKS PLANNING AREA, 
              COLORADO.

    Section 10(d) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (Public Law 
103-77; 107 Stat. 765) is amended by striking ``for a period of three 
years from the date of enactment of this Act,'' and inserting ``until 
Congress determines otherwise,''.
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