[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2273 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2273

  To establish the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails 
          National Conservation Area, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2000

   Mr. Bryan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails 
          National Conservation Area, 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 Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon 
Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The areas of northwestern Nevada known as the Black 
        Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon contain and surround the last 
        nationally significant, untouched segments of the historic 
        California Emigrant Trails, including wagon ruts, historic 
        inscriptions, and a wilderness landscape largely unchanged 
        since the days of the pioneers.
            (2) The relative absence of development in the Black Rock 
        Desert and High Rock Canyon areas from emigrant times to the 
        present day offers a unique opportunity to capture the terrain, 
        sights, and conditions of the overland trails as they were 
        experienced by the emigrants and to make available to both 
        present and future generations of Americans the opportunity of 
        experiencing emigrant conditions in an unaltered setting.
            (3) The Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon areas are 
        unique segments of the Northern Great Basin and contain broad 
        representation of the Great Basin's land forms and plant and 
        animal species, including golden eagles and other birds of 
        prey, sage grouse, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, bighorn 
        sheep, free roaming horses and burros, threatened fish and 
        sensitive plants.
            (4) The Black Rock-High Rock region contains a number of 
        cultural and natural resources that have been declared eligible 
        for National Historic Landmark and Natural Landmark status, 
        including a portion of the 1843-44 John Charles Fremont 
        exploration route, the site of the death of Peter Lassen, early 
        military facilities, and examples of early homesteading and 
        mining.
            (5) The archeological, paleontological, and geographical 
        resources of the Black Rock-High Rock region include numerous 
        prehistoric and historic Native American sites, wooly mammoth 
        sites, some of the largest natural potholes of North America, 
        and a remnant dry Pleistocene lakebed (playa) where the 
        curvature of the Earth may be observed.
            (6) The two large wilderness mosaics that frame the 
        conservation area offer exceptional opportunities for solitude 
        and serve to protect the integrity of the viewshed of the 
        historic emigrant trails.
            (7) Public lands in the conservation area have been used 
        for domestic livestock grazing for over 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 the resource 
        values of these lands; therefore, it is expected that such 
        grazing will continue in accordance with the management plan 
        for the conservation area and other applicable laws and 
        regulations.
            (8) The Black Rock Desert playa is a unique natural 
        resource that serves as the primary destination for the 
        majority of visitors to the conservation area, including 
        visitors associated with large-scale permitted events. It is 
        expected that such permitted events will continue to be 
        administered in accordance with the management plan for the 
        conservation area and other applicable laws and regulations.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (2) The term ``public lands'' has the meaning stated in 
        section 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
        1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)).
            (3) The term ``conservation area'' means the Black Rock 
Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area 
established pursuant to section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONSERVATION AREA.

    (a) Establishment and Purposes.--In order to conserve, protect, and 
enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations 
the unique and nationally important historical, cultural, 
paleontological, scenic, scientific, biological, educational, wildlife, 
riparian, wilderness, endangered species, and recreational values and 
resources associated with the Applegate-Lassen and Nobles Trails 
corridors and surrounding areas, there is hereby established the Black 
Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area 
in the State of Nevada.
    (b) Areas Included.--The conservation area shall consist of 
approximately ______ acres of public lands as generally depicted on the 
map entitled ``Black Rock Desert Emigrant Trail National Conservation 
Area'' and dated ______.
    (c) Maps and Legal Description.--As soon as practicable after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a map and legal description of the conservation area. The map 
and legal description shall have the same force and effect as if 
included in this Act, except the Secretary may correct clerical and 
typographical errors in such map and legal description. Copies of the 
map and legal description shall be on file and available for public 
inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management.

SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Management.--The Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Land 
Management, shall manage the conservation area in a manner that 
conserves, protects and enhances its resources and values, including 
those resources and values specified in subsection 4(a), in accordance 
with this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other applicable provisions of law.
    (b) Access.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall maintain adequate 
        access for the reasonable use and enjoyment of the conservation 
        area.
            (2) Existing public roads.--The Secretary is authorized to 
        maintain public roads within the boundaries of the conservation 
        area in a manner consistent with the purposes for which the 
        conservation area was established.
    (c) Uses.--
            (1) Off-highway vehicle use.--Except where needed for 
        administrative purposes or to respond to an emergency, use of 
        motorized vehicles in the conservation area shall be permitted 
        only on roads and trails and in other areas designated for use 
        of motorized vehicles as part of the management plan prepared 
        pursuant to subsection (e).
            (2) Permitted events.--The Secretary may continue to permit 
        large-scale events in defined, low impact areas of the Black 
        Rock Desert playa in the conservation area in accordance with 
        the management plan prepared pursuant to subsection (e).
    (d) Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
deemed to diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada with respect 
to fish and wildlife management, including regulation of hunting and 
fishing, on public lands within the conservation area.
    (e) Management Plan.--Within three years following the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a comprehensive 
resource management plan for the long-term protection and management of 
the conservation area. The plan shall be developed with full public 
participation and shall describe the appropriate uses and management of 
the conservation area consistent with the provisions of this Act. The 
plan may incorporate appropriate decisions contained in any current 
management or activity plan for the area and may use information 
developed in previous studies of the lands within or adjacent to the 
conservation area.
    (f) Grazing.--Where the Secretary of the Interior currently permits 
livestock grazing in the conservation area, such grazing shall be 
allowed to continue subject to all applicable laws, regulations, and 
executive orders.
    (g) Visitor Service Facilities.--The Secretary is authorized to 
establish, in cooperation with other public or private entities as the 
Secretary may deem appropriate, visitor service facilities for the 
purpose of providing information about the historical, cultural, 
ecological, recreational, and other resources of the conservation area.

SEC. 6. WITHDRAWAL.

    (a) In General.--Subject to valid existing rights, and except as 
provided in section 9(b)(2), 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, from location, 
entry, and patent under the mining laws, and from operation of the 
mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws and all amendments thereto.

SEC. 7. NO BUFFER ZONES.

    The Congress does not intend for the establishment of the 
conservation area to lead to the creation of protective perimeters or 
buffer zones around the conservation area. The fact that there may be 
activities or uses on lands outside the conservation area that would 
not be permitted in the conservation area shall not preclude such 
activities or uses on such lands up to the boundary of the conservation 
area consistent with other applicable laws.

SEC. 8. WATER RIGHTS.

    (a) Within the conservation area designated by this Act, there is 
hereby reserved a quantity of water sufficient to fulfill the purposes 
for which the conservation area is established.
    (b) The priority date of the water rights reserved in subsection 
(a) shall be the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) The Secretary shall take steps necessary to protect the rights 
reserved by this section, including the filing of a claim for the 
quantification of such rights in any appropriate water adjudication in 
the courts of the State of Nevada in which the United States is or may 
be joined and which is conducted in accordance with the McCarran 
Amendment (43 U.S.C. 666).
    (d) The Federal water rights reserved by this Act shall be in 
addition to any water rights which may have been previously secured by 
the United States for purposes other than for the conservation area.
    (e) Nothing in this title shall be construed as a relinquishment or 
reduction of any water rights reserved or appropriated by the United 
States in the State of Nevada on or before the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 9. WILDERNESS.

    (a) Designation.--In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness 
Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following lands in the State 
of Nevada are designated as wilderness, and, therefore, as components 
of the National Wilderness Preservation System:
            (1) Certain lands in the Black Rock Desert Wilderness Study 
        Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, as generally 
        depicted on a map entitled ``Black Rock Desert Wilderness--
        Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall be known as the 
        Black Rock Desert Wilderness.
            (2) Certain lands in the Pahute Peak Wilderness Study Area 
        comprised of approximately ______ acres, as generally depicted 
        on a map entitled ``Pahute Peak Wilderness--Proposed'' and 
        dated ______, and which shall be known as the Pahute Peak 
        Wilderness.
            (3) Certain lands in the North Black Rock Range Wilderness 
        Study Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, as 
        generally depicted on a map entitled ``North Black Rock Range 
        Wilderness--Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall be 
        known as the North Black Rock Range Wilderness.
            (4) Certain lands in the East Fork High Rock Canyon 
        Wilderness Study Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, 
        as generally depicted on a map entitled ``East Fork High Rock 
        Canyon Wilderness--Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall 
        be known as the East Fork High Rock Canyon Wilderness.
            (5) Certain lands in the High Rock Lake Wilderness Study 
        Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, as generally 
        depicted on a map entitled ``High Rock Lake Wilderness--
        Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall be known as 
the High Rock Lake Wilderness.
            (6) Certain lands in the Yellow Rock Canyon Wilderness 
        Study Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, as 
        generally depicted on a map entitled ``Yellow Rock Canyon 
        Wilderness--Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall be 
        known as the Yellow Rock Canyon Wilderness.
            (7) Certain lands in the Little High Rock Canyon Wilderness 
        Study Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, as 
        generally depicted on a map entitled ``Little High Rock Canyon 
        Wilderness--Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall be 
        known as the Little High Rock Canyon Wilderness.
            (8) Certain lands in High Rock Canyon Wilderness Study Area 
        comprised of approximately ______ acres, as generally depicted 
        on a map entitled ``High Rock Canyon Wilderness--Proposed'' and 
        dated ______, and which shall be known as the High Rock Canyon 
        Wilderness.
            (9) Certain lands in the Calico Mountains Wilderness Study 
        Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, as generally 
        depicted on a map entitled ``Calico Mountains Wilderness--
        Proposed'' and dated ______, and which shall be known as the 
        Calico Mountains Wilderness.
            (10) Certain lands in the South Jackson Mountains 
        Wilderness Study Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, 
        as generally depicted on a map entitled ``South Jackson 
        Mountains Wilderness--Proposed'' and dated ______, and which 
        shall be known as the South Jackson Mountains Wilderness.
            (11) Certain lands in the North Jackson Mountains 
        Wilderness Study Area comprised of approximately ______ acres, 
        as generally depicted on a map entitled ``North Jackson 
        Mountains Wilderness--Proposed'' and dated ______, and which 
        shall be known as the North Jackson Mountains Wilderness.
    (b) Administration of Wilderness Areas.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to valid existing rights, and 
        except as provided in paragraph (2), each wilderness area 
        designated by this Act shall be administered by the Secretary 
        in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act, except 
        that any reference in such provisions of the effective date of 
        the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
        date of enactment of this Act and any reference to the 
        Secretary of Agriculture shall be deemed to be a reference to 
        the Secretary of the Interior.
            (2) Mining activities allowed.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, those lands in the Calico Mountains 
        Wilderness, as depicted on a map entitled ``Calico Mountains 
        Wilderness--Special Management Area,'' and dated ______, shall 
        be open to exploration and development activities under the 
        mining laws for a period of fifteen years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, subject to the same regulations applied 
        to such activities on public lands not designated as wilderness 
        or under wilderness review.
    (c) Maps and Legal Description.--As soon as practicable after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a map and legal description of the wilderness areas designated 
under this Act. The map and legal description shall have the same force 
and effect as if included in this Act, except the Secretary may correct 
clerical and typographical errors in such map and legal description. 
Copies of the map and legal description shall be on file and available 
for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land 
Management.
    (d) Grazing.--Within the wilderness areas designated under 
subsection (a), the grazing of livestock, where established prior to 
the date of enactment of this Act, shall be permitted to continue 
subject to such reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as the 
Secretary deems necessary, as long as such regulations, policies, and 
practices fully conform with and implement the intent of Congress 
regarding grazing in such areas as such intent is expressed in the 
Wilderness Act and section 101(f) of Public Law 101-628.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
                                 <all>