[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 640 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 640

  To designate as wilderness certain lands within the Rocky Mountain 
                National Park in the State of Colorado.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2003

Mr. Udall of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                     to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To designate as wilderness certain lands within the Rocky Mountain 
                National Park in the State of Colorado.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Rocky Mountain 
National Park Wilderness Act''.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to include in the National 
Wilderness Preservation System certain lands within the Rocky Mountain 
National Park, Colorado, in order to protect the enduring scenic and 
historic wilderness character and unique wildlife values of the lands 
as well as the scientific, educational, inspirational, and recreational 
resources, values, and opportunities of the lands.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK WILDERNESS.

    (a) Designation.--In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain lands within the Rocky Mountain 
National Park, Colorado, which comprise approximately 249,562 acres, as 
generally depicted on the map entitled ``Rocky Mountain National Park, 
Colorado Recommended Wilderness Boundaries'', numbered as Map #121-
60,403 and dated September 1998, are hereby designated as wilderness 
and, therefore, as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation 
System. The designated lands shall be known as the Rocky Mountain 
National Park Wilderness.
    (b) Map and Description.--
            (1) Preparation and submission.--As soon as practicable 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
        the Interior shall prepare a map and a boundary description of 
        the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness designated by 
        subsection (a) and file the map and boundary description with 
        the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and 
        the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. 
        The map and boundary description shall be on file and available 
        for public inspection in the office of the Director of the 
        National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
            (2) Treatment.--The map and boundary description prepared 
        under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as if 
        included in this Act. The Secretary of the Interior may correct 
        clerical and typographical errors in the map and description.
    (c) Potential Wilderness Lands.--
            (1) Definition.--In this section, the term ``potential 
        wilderness lands'' means--
                    (A) lands identified as potential wilderness on the 
                map referred to in subsection (a); and
                    (B) lands and interests therein acquired by the 
                United States on or after the date of the enactment of 
                this Act that are located within the boundaries of the 
                Rocky Mountain National Park and are contiguous with 
                lands designated as wilderness by this Act.
            (2) Inclusion in wilderness.--Upon publication in the 
        Federal Register of a notice by the Secretary of the Interior 
        that all uses of a parcel of potential wilderness lands 
        inconsistent with the Wilderness Act have ceased, the parcel 
        shall be included in the Rocky Mountain National Park 
        Wilderness designated by subsection (a) and managed as provided 
        in section 3. The Secretary of the Interior shall modify the 
        map and boundary description prepared under subsection (b) to 
        reflect the inclusion of the parcel in the Rocky Mountain 
        National Park Wilderness.
    (d) Exclusion of Certain Lands.--The boundaries of the Rocky 
Mountain National Park Wilderness and the potential wilderness lands 
specifically exclude the following:
            (1) The Grand Ditch (including both the main canal of the 
        Grand Ditch and a branch thereof known as the specimen Ditch) 
        and its right-of-way as well as associated appurtenances, 
        structures, buildings, camps, and work sites in existence as of 
        June 1, 1998.
            (2) Lands owned by the St. Vrain & Left Hand Water 
        Conservancy District, including Copeland Reservoir and the 
        Inlet Ditch to such reservoir from the North St. Vrain Creek, 
        amounting to approximately 35.38 acres.
            (3) Lands owned by the Wincentsen-Harms Trust, amounting to 
        approximately 2.75 acres.
    (e) Relation to Lands Outside Wilderness.--Nothing in this Act 
shall affect the management or use of any lands not included within the 
boundaries of the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness or the 
potential wilderness lands.

SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK WILDERNESS.

    (a) Management Generally.--Subject to valid existing rights, lands 
designated as wilderness by section 2(a) or subsequently included in 
the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness by section 2(c) shall be 
managed by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the 
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act. With respect to 
the lands designated as wilderness by section 2(a), 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. With 
respect to the lands subsequently included in the Rocky Mountain 
National Park Wilderness by section 2(c), any reference in the 
Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be 
deemed to be a reference to the date on which the lands were included 
in the wilderness area.
    (b) Water Rights.--
            (1) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
                    (A) According to decisions of the courts of the 
                State of Colorado, the United States has existing 
                rights to water within the Rocky Mountain National 
                Park.
                    (B) Those rights are sufficient for the purposes of 
                the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness as 
                designated by section 2.
                    (C) In light of the findings in subparagraphs (A) 
                and (B), there is no need for this Act to effect a 
                reservation by the United States of any additional 
                water rights to fulfill the purposes for which the 
                Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness is designated.
            (2) No reservation.--Nothing in this Act or any action 
        taken pursuant to this Act shall constitute either an express 
        or implied reservation of water or water rights for any 
        purpose.
    (c) Colorado-Big Thompson Project.--
            (1) Current activities.--Activities on, under, or affecting 
        the lands designated as wilderness by section 2 relating to the 
        monitoring, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and 
        use of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and its facilities 
        which were allowed as of June 1, 1998, shall be allowed to 
        continue and shall not be affected by the designation of the 
        lands as wilderness.
            (2) New activities.--In addition to the activities 
        described in paragraph (1), any other activities on, under, or 
        affecting the lands designated as wilderness by section 2 that 
        because of emergencies or catastrophic events become necessary 
        for the operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and 
        continue use of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and its 
        facilities shall be allowed, subject only to reasonable 
        restrictions which are established by the Secretary of the 
        Interior to protect the wilderness values of the lands. In 
        implementing this paragraph, the Secretary shall not establish 
        any restrictions on the activities that would prevent the 
        occurrence of such necessary activities or that would reduce 
        the water supply provided by the Colorado-Big Thompson Project 
        or the Windy Gap Project.
            (3) Relation to authority in act establishing park.--
        Nothing in the first section of the Act of January 26, 1915 (16 
        U.S.C. 191), shall be construed to permit development within 
        the lands designated as wilderness by section 2 of any 
        reclamation project not in existence as of the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (d) No Buffer Zones.--Congress does not intend that the designation 
by this Act of the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness creates or 
implies the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones around 
the wilderness area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can 
be seen or heard from within the wilderness area shall not, of itself, 
preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness 
area.
                                 <all>