[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4275 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4275

 To establish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and the 
        Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2000

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and the 
        Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, 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 ``Colorado Canyons National 
Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that certain areas located in the 
Grand Valley in Mesa County, Colorado, should be protected and enhanced 
for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. These 
areas include the following:
            (1) The areas making up the Black Ridge and Ruby Canyons of 
        the Grand Valley and Rabbit Valley, which contain unique and 
        valuable scenic, recreational, multiple use opportunities 
        (including grazing), paleontological, natural, and wildlife 
        components enhanced by the rural western setting of the area, 
        provide extensive opportunities for recreational activities, 
        and are publicly used for hiking, camping, and grazing, and are 
        worthy of additional protection as a national conservation 
        area.
            (2) The Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Study Area, which 
        has wilderness value and offers unique geological, 
        paleontological, scientific, and recreational resources.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish the Colorado 
Canyons National Conservation Area and the Black Ridge Canyons 
Wilderness.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Conservation area.--The term ``Conservation Area'' 
        means the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area 
        established by section 4(a).
            (2) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Colorado 
        Canyons National Conservation Area Advisory Council established 
        under section 8.
            (3) Management plan.--The term ``management plan'' means 
        the management plan developed for the Conservation Area under 
        section 6(g).
            (4) Map.--The term ``Map'' means the map entitled 
        ``Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and Black Ridge 
        Canyons Wilderness Area Proposal'' and dated April 6, 2000.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
        Land Management.
            (6) Wilderness.--The term ``Wilderness'' means the Black 
        Ridge Canyons Wilderness so designated in section 5.

SEC. 4. COLORADO CANYONS NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA.

    (a) In General.--There is established the Colorado Canyons National 
Conservation Area in the State of Colorado.
    (b) Areas Included.--The Conservation Area shall consist of 
approximately 112,450 acres of public land in the Grand Valley of 
Colorado, as generally depicted on the Map.

SEC. 5. BLACK RIDGE CANYONS WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.

    Certain lands in Mesa County, Colorado, which comprise 
approximately 70,279 acres as generally depicted on the Map are hereby 
designated as wilderness, therefore as a component of the National 
Wilderness Preservation System, and which shall be known as the Black 
Ridge Canyons Wilderness.

SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Conservation Area.--The Secretary shall manage the Conservation 
Area in a manner that--
            (1) conserves, protects, and enhances the resources of the 
        Conservation Area specified in section 2(a); and
            (2) is in accordance with--
                    (A) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
                1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
                    (B) other applicable law, including this Act.
    (b) Uses.--The Secretary shall allow only such uses of the 
Conservation Area as the Secretary determines will further the purposes 
for which the Conservation Area is established.
    (c) Withdrawals.--Subject to valid existing rights (including 
grazing allotments) and existing rights of access, and except as 
provided in paragraph (2), all Federal land within the Conservation 
Area and the Wilderness and all land and interests in land acquired for 
the Conservation Area or the Wilderness by the United States are 
withdrawn from--
            (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under 
        the public land laws;
            (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
            (3) disposal under the mineral leasing, mineral materials, 
        and geothermal leasing laws.
    (d) Wilderness.--Subject to valid existing rights, (including 
grazing allotments) lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be 
managed by the Secretary, as appropriate, in accordance with the 
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act, except that, with 
respect to any wilderness areas designated by this Act, any reference 
in the Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall 
be deemed to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (e) State Jurisdiction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed as 
affecting the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State of Colorado 
with respect to wildlife and fish in Colorado.
    (f) Grazing.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided by paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary shall issue and administer any grazing leases or 
        permits in the Conservation Area and the Wilderness in 
        accordance with the same laws (including regulations) and 
        executive orders followed by the Secretary in issuing and 
        administering grazing leases and permits on other land under 
        the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.
            (2) Grazing in wilderness.--Grazing of livestock in the 
        Wilderness shall be administered in accordance with the 
        provisions of section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
        1133(d)(4)), in accordance with the guidelines set forth in 
        Appendix A of House Report 101-405 of the 101st Congress.
            (3) Access to grazing leases in wilderness and conservation 
        area.--The Secretary shall allow motorized access on existing 
        roads and ways for the administration and maintenance of 
        grazing allotments, as well as structures and facilities 
        related to those allotments. This paragraph shall not be 
        construed to require any increase in the frequency or change in 
        the nature of motorized access with which grazing allotments, 
        or the structures and facilities related to those allotments, 
        were accessed before the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (g) Management Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a 
        comprehensive plan for the long-range protection and management 
        of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness.
            (2) Purposes.--The management plan shall--
                    (A) describe the appropriate uses and management of 
                the Conservation Area and the Wilderness;
                    (B) take into consideration any information 
                developed in studies of the land within the 
                Conservation Area or the Wilderness;
                    (C) provide for the continued management of the 
                utility corridor, Black Ridge Communications Site, and 
                the Federal Aviation Administration site as such for 
                the land designated on the Map as utility corridor, 
                Black Ridge Communications Site, and the Federal 
                Aviation Administration site; and
                    (D) take into consideration the historical 
                involvement of the local community in the 
                interpretation and protection of the resources of the 
                Conservation Area and the Wilderness, as well as the 
                Ruby Canyon/Black Ridge Integrated Resource Management 
                Plan, dated March 1998, which was the result of 
                collaborative efforts on the part of the Bureau of Land 
                Management and the local community.
    (h) No Buffer Zones.--
            (1) In general.--There shall be no protective perimeter or 
        buffer zone around the Conservation Area or the Wilderness.
            (2) Activities outside conservation area and wilderness.--
        The fact that an activity on land or a use of land is not 
        permitted inside the Conservation Area or inside the Wilderness 
        shall not preclude the activity on land or use of land outside 
        the boundary of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness (or, in 
        the Conservation Area or Wilderness, on land that is privately 
        held), consistent with other applicable law. The fact that 
        activities or uses of land outside of the Conservation Area or 
        Wilderness can be seen or heard from land within the 
        Conservation Area or Wilderness shall not preclude such 
        activities or uses up to the boundaries of the Conservation 
        Area or Wilderness. The existence of the Conservation Area and 
        the Wilderness may not be used to require a landowner to 
        undertake or implement any mitigation measures to reduce the 
        effect of such activities or uses.
    (i) Acquisition of Land.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may acquire non-federally 
        owned land within the exterior boundaries of the Conservation 
        Area or the Wilderness only--
                    (A) from a willing seller; and
                    (B) through purchase, exchange, or donation.
            (2) Modification of boundary.--On acquisition of land under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall modify the boundary of the 
        Conservation Area or the Wilderness, as the case may be, to 
        include the acquired land.
            (3) Management.--Land acquired under paragraph (1) shall be 
        managed as part of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness, as 
        the case may be, in accordance with this Act.
    (j) Interpretive Sites.--The Secretary may establish sites in the 
Conservation Area to interpret the historical, paleontological, and 
natural resources of the Conservation Area.
    (k) Water Rights.--
            (1) Reserved water rights.--Nothing in this Act constitutes 
        an express or implied reservation of any water right.
            (2) Colorado water law.--The Secretary shall follow the 
        procedural and substantive requirements of the laws of the 
        State of Colorado with respect to water rights relating to the 
        Conservation Area or Wilderness.
            (3) Boundaries along colorado river.--Neither the 
        Conservation Area nor the Wilderness shall include any part of 
        the Colorado River or any land within the 100-year flood plain 
        of the Colorado River.

SEC. 7. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a copy of 
the Map and a legal description of the Conservation Area and of the 
Wilderness.
    (b) Force and Effect.--The Map and legal descriptions shall have 
the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 
Secretary may correct clerical and typographical errors in the Map and 
the legal descriptions.
    (c) Public Availability.--Copies of the Map and the legal 
descriptions shall be on file and available for public inspection in--
            (1) the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land 
        Management;
            (2) the Grand Junction District Office of the Bureau of 
        Land Management in Colorado; and
            (3) the appropriate office of the Bureau of Land Management 
        in Colorado, if the Grand Junction District Office is not 
        deemed the appropriate office.
    (d) Map Controlling.--Subject to section 6(k)(3), in the case of a 
discrepancy between the Map and the descriptions, the Map shall 
control.

SEC. 8. ADVISORY COUNCIL.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an advisory 
council to be known as the ``Colorado Canyons National Conservation 
Area Advisory Council''.
    (b) Duty.--The Council shall advise the Secretary with respect to 
preparation and implementation of the management plan, including 
budgetary matters, for the Conservation Area and the Wilderness.
    (c) Applicable Law.--The Council shall be subject to--
            (1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.); and
            (2) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
        U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
    (d) Members.--The Council shall consist of 10 members, to be 
appointed by the Secretary, as follows:
            (1) A member of or nominated by the Mesa County Commission.
            (2) A member nominated by the permittees holding grazing 
        allotments within the Conservation Area or the Wilderness.
            (3) A member of or nominated by the Northwest Resource 
        Advisory Council.
            (4) 7 members residing in, or within reasonable proximity 
        to, the Grand Valley of Colorado with recognized backgrounds 
        reflecting--
                    (A) the purposes for which the Conservation Area or 
                Wilderness was established; and
                    (B) the interests of the stakeholders that are 
                affected by the planning and management of the 
                Conservation Area and the Wilderness.

SEC. 9. PUBLIC ACCESS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall continue to allow private 
landowners access to inholdings in the Conservation Area and 
Wilderness.
    (b) Glade Park.--The Secretary shall continue to allow public right 
of access, including commercial vehicles, to Glade Park, Colorado, in 
accordance with the decision in Board of County Commissioners of Mesa 
County v. Watt (634 F. Supp. 1265 (D.Colo.; May 2, 1986)).

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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