[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2762 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2762

To designate certain lands in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan Counties, 
            Colorado, as wilderness, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 10, 2009

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To designate certain lands in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan Counties, 
            Colorado, as 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 ``San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means--
                    (A) lands designated as wilderness under section 3 
                or section 4; and
                    (B) lands designated as a special management area 
                under section 4.
            (2) Nonconforming use.--The term ``nonconforming use'' 
        means any commercial helicopter-assisted skiing or snowboarding 
        activities within the lands designated as a special management 
        area under section 4 that have been authorized by the Secretary 
        as of the date of enactment of this Act.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as 
        appropriate.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Colorado.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONS TO THE WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM.

    (a) Designation.--In accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
1131 et seq.), the following areas in the State are designated as 
wilderness areas and as components of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System:
            (1) Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and 
        Gunnison National Forests comprising approximately 3,170 acres, 
        as generally depicted on a map titled ``Proposed Wilson, 
        Sunshine, Black Face and San Bernardo Additions to the Lizard 
        Head Wilderness'', dated May 2009, and which are hereby 
        incorporated into the Lizard Head Wilderness area.
            (2) Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and 
        Gunnison National Forests comprising approximately 8,375 acres, 
        as generally depicted on a map titled ``Proposed Liberty Bell 
        and Last Dollar Additions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness'', 
        dated May 2009, and which are hereby incorporated into the Mt. 
        Sneffels Wilderness area.
            (3) Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and 
        Gunnison National Forests comprising approximately 13,224 
        acres, as generally depicted on a map titled ``Proposed 
        Whitehouse Additions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness'', dated 
        May 2009, and which are hereby incorporated into the Mt. 
        Sneffels Wilderness area.
            (4)(A) Certain lands in the San Juan Resource Area of the 
        Bureau of Land Management comprising approximately 8,614 acres, 
        as generally depicted on a map titled ``Proposed McKenna Peak 
        Wilderness'', dated May 2009, and which shall be known as the 
        McKenna Peak Wilderness.
            (B) The lands designated under subparagraph (A) shall be 
        administered as a component of the National Landscape 
        Conservation System.
    (b) Map and Description.--
            (1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file a map and a 
        legal description of each wilderness area designated by this 
        Act with--
                    (A) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                of the Senate.
            (2) Force of law.--A map and legal description filed under 
        paragraph (1) 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 legal 
        description.
            (3) Public availability.--Each map and legal description 
        filed under paragraph (1) shall be filed and made available for 
        public inspection in the Office of the Director of the Bureau 
        of Land Management and in the Office of the Chief of the Forest 
        Service, as appropriate.

SEC. 4. SHEEP MOUNTAIN SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA.

    (a) Designation.--Certain lands in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and 
Gunnison and San Juan National Forests comprising approximately 21,697 
acres as generally depicted on a map titled ``Proposed Sheep Mountain 
Special Management Area'' and dated May 2009, are hereby designated as 
the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area.
    (b) Maps and Descriptions.--
            (1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file maps and legal 
        descriptions of the Federal land described in subsection (a) 
        with--
                    (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) Force of law.--The maps and legal descriptions filed 
        under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as if 
        included in this Act, except that the Secretary may correct 
        typographical errors in the maps and legal descriptions.
            (3) Public availability.--Each map and legal description 
        filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file and available for 
        public inspection in the appropriate offices of the United 
        States Forest Service.
    (c) Management.--
            (1) In general.--Until Congress determines otherwise, 
        activities within the area designated in subsection (a) shall 
        be managed by the Secretary of Agriculture so as to maintain 
        the area's presently existing wilderness character and 
        potential for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation 
        System.
            (2) Prohibitions.--The following shall be prohibited on the 
        Federal land described in subsection (a):
                    (A) Permanent roads.
                    (B) Except as necessary to meet the minimum 
                requirements for the administration of the Federal land 
                and to protect public health and safety--
                            (i) the use of motorized or mechanized 
                        vehicles, except as described in paragraph (3); 
                        and
                            (ii) the establishment of temporary roads.
            (3) Allowable activities.--The Secretary may allow 
        activities, including helisking, that have been authorized as 
        of the date of the enactment of this Act to continue within the 
        area designated in subsection (a). The designation under 
        subsection (a) shall not impact future permit processes 
        relating to such activities.
            (4) Applicable law.--Any uses of the Federal land described 
        in subsection (a), including activities described in paragraph 
        (3), shall be in accordance with applicable law.
    (d) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, the Federal land 
described in subsection (a) is 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) disposition under all laws relating to mineral and 
        energy leasing.
    (e) Designation as Wilderness.--Lands described in subsection (a) 
shall be designated as wilderness on the date on which the Secretary 
publishes in the Federal Register notice that the nonconforming use has 
terminated.
    (f) Administration as Wilderness.--Upon its designation as 
wilderness under subsection (e), the Sheep Mountain Special Management 
Area shall be--
            (1) known as the Sheep Mountain Wilderness; and
            (2) administered in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) and section 3.

SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Subject to valid rights in existence on the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, land designated as wilderness under 
        section 3 or section 4 shall be administered by the Secretary 
        in accordance with--
                    (A) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); 
                and
                    (B) this Act.
            (2) The Secretary may continue to authorize the competitive 
        running event permitted since 1992 in the vicinity of the 
        boundaries of the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area 
        designated by section 4(a) and the Liberty Bell addition to the 
        Mt. Sneffels Wilderness designated by section 3(a)(2) in a 
        manner compatible with the preservation of such areas as 
        wilderness.
    (b) Effective Date of the Wilderness Act.--With respect to land 
designated as wilderness under section 3 or section 4, any reference in 
the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date of 
the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of the 
enactment of this Act or the date of the Secretary designating the land 
as wilderness.
    (c) Fish and Wildlife.--Nothing in this Act shall affect the 
jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with respect to wildlife 
and fish.
    (d) No Buffer Zones.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in this Act shall create a 
        protective perimeter or buffer zone around covered land.
            (2) Activities outside wilderness.--The fact that a 
        nonwilderness activity or use can be seen or heard from within 
        covered land shall not preclude the conduct of the activity or 
        use outside the boundary of the covered land.
    (e) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid rights in existence on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, covered land is withdrawn from all forms 
of--
            (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under public land 
        laws;
            (2) location, entry, and patent under mining laws; and
            (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and 
        geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
    (f) Acquired Land.--Any land or interest in land located inside the 
boundaries of covered land that is acquired by the United States after 
the date of the enactment of this Act shall become part of the relevant 
wilderness or special management area and shall be managed in 
accordance with this Act and other applicable law.
    (g) Grazing.--Grazing in covered land shall be administered in 
accordance with section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
1133(d)(4)), as further interpreted by section 108 of Public Law 96-
560, and the guidelines set forth in appendix A of the Report of the 
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany H.R. 2570 of the 
101st Congress (H. Rept. 101-405).
    (h) Ames Hydroelectric Project.--The inclusion in the National 
Wilderness Preservation System or designation under section 4 of this 
Act as a Special Management Area as described in section 4 of this Act, 
shall not be construed to interfere with the operation and maintenance 
of the Ames Hydroelectric Project, as currently licensed by the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, or as reauthorized in the future, 
including reasonable use of National Wilderness Preservation System 
lands or Special Management Area for any necessary repair or 
replacement of existing facilities, transport of water and aerial or 
land access. All means of access to the project that are currently 
permitted by the Secretary on the date of enactment of this Act shall 
be maintained.

SEC. 6. WATER.

    (a) Findings, Purpose, and Definition.--
            (1) Findings.--Congress finds that--
                    (A) the lands designated as wilderness or a Special 
                Management Area by this Act are located at the 
                headwaters of the streams and rivers on those lands, 
                with few, if any, actual or proposed water resource 
                facilities located upstream from such lands and few, if 
                any, opportunities for diversion, storage, or other 
                uses of water occurring outside such lands that would 
                adversely affect the wilderness values of such lands;
                    (B) the lands designated as wilderness or Special 
                Management Area by this Act are not suitable for use 
                for development of new water resource facilities, or 
                for the expansion of existing facilities; and
                    (C) therefore, it is possible to provide for proper 
                management and protection of the wilderness value of 
                such lands in ways different from those utilized in 
                other legislation designating as wilderness lands not 
                sharing the attributes of the lands designated as 
                wilderness or Special Management Area by this Act.
            (2) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to protect the 
        wilderness values of the lands designated as wilderness or 
        Special Management Area by this Act by means other than those 
        based on a Federal reserved water right.
            (3) Definition.--As used in this section, the term ``water 
        resource facility'' means irrigation and pumping facilities, 
        reservoirs, water conservation works, aqueducts, canals, 
        ditches, pipelines, wells, hydropower projects, and 
        transmission and other ancillary facilities, and other water 
        diversion, storage, and carriage structures.
    (b) Restrictions on Rights and Disclaimer of Effect.--
            (1) Water rights claims.--Neither the Secretary of 
        Agriculture nor the Secretary of the Interior, nor any other 
        officer, employee, representative, or agent of the United 
        States, nor any other person, shall assert in any court or 
        agency, nor shall any court or agency consider, any claim to or 
        for water or water rights in the State of Colorado, which is 
        based on any construction of any portion of this Act, or the 
        designation of any lands as wilderness or Special Management 
        Area by this Act, as constituting an express or implied 
        reservation of water or water rights.
            (2) No affect on water rights.--Nothing in this Act shall 
        be construed as a creation, recognition, disclaimer, 
        relinquishment, or reduction of any water rights of the United 
        States in the State of Colorado existing before the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (3) No interpretation or designation.--Except as provided 
        in subsection (g), nothing in this Act shall be construed as 
        constituting an interpretation of any other Act or any 
        designation made by or pursuant thereto.
            (4) No precedent.--Nothing in this section shall be 
        construed as establishing a precedent with regard to any future 
        wilderness designations.
    (c) New or Expanded Projects.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, on and after the date of enactment of this Act neither the 
President nor any other officer, employee, or agent of the United 
States shall fund, assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for 
the development of any new water resource facility within the areas 
described in sections 3 and 4 or the enlargement of any water resource 
facility within the areas described in sections 3 and 4.
    (d) Access and Operation.--
            (1) Access to water resource facilities.--Subject to the 
        provisions of this subsection, the Secretary shall allow 
        reasonable access to water resource facilities in existence on 
        the date of enactment of this Act within the areas described in 
        sections 3 and 4, including motorized access where necessary 
        and customarily employed on routes existing as of the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Access routes.--Existing access routes within such 
        areas customarily employed as of the date of enactment of this 
        Act may be used, maintained, repaired, and replaced to the 
        extent necessary to maintain their present function, design, 
        and serviceable operation, so long as such activities have no 
        increased adverse impacts on the resources and values of the 
        areas described in sections 3 and 4 than existed as of the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
            (3) Use of water resource facilities.--Subject to the 
        provisions of subsections (c) and (d), the Secretary shall 
        allow water resource facilities existing on the date of 
        enactment of this Act within areas described in sections 3 and 
        4 to be used, operated, maintained, repaired, and replaced to 
        the extent necessary for the continued exercise, in accordance 
        with Colorado State law, of vested water rights adjudicated for 
        use in connection with such facilities by a court of competent 
        jurisdiction prior to the date of enactment of this Act. The 
        impact of an existing facility on the water resources and 
        values of the area shall not be increased as a result of 
        changes in the adjudicated type of use of such facility as of 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
            (4) Repair and maintainence.--Water resource facilities, 
        and access routes serving such facilities, existing within the 
        areas described in sections 3 and 4 on the date of enactment of 
        this Act shall be maintained and repaired when and to the 
        extent necessary to prevent increased adverse impacts on the 
        resources and values of the areas described in sections 3 and 
        4.
    (e) Existing Projects.--Except as provided in subsections (c) and 
(d), the provisions of this Act related to the areas described in 
sections 3 and 4, and the inclusion in the National Wilderness 
Preservation System of the areas described in section 3 and 4, shall 
not be construed to affect or limit the use, operation, maintenance, 
repair, modification, or replacement of water resources facilities in 
existence on the date of enactment of this Act within the boundaries of 
the areas described in sections 3 and 4.
    (f) Monitoring and Implementation.--The Secretaries of Agriculture 
and the Interior shall monitor the operation of and access to water 
resource facilities within the areas described in sections 3 and 4 and 
take all steps necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
    (g) Interstate Compacts.--Nothing in this Act, and nothing in any 
previous Act designating any lands as wilderness, shall be construed as 
limiting, altering, modifying, or amending any of the interstate 
compacts or equitable apportionment decrees that apportion water among 
and between the State of Colorado and other States. Except as expressly 
provided in this section, nothing in this Act shall affect or limit the 
development or use by existing and future holders of vested water 
rights of Colorado's full apportionment of such waters.

SEC. 7. NATURITA CANYON MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS.

    (a) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid rights in existence on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, land described in subsection (b) is 
withdrawn from all forms of--
            (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under public land 
        laws;
            (2) location, entry, and patent under mining laws; and
            (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and 
        geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
    (b) Land Described.--The land to be protected under subsection (a) 
is the approximately 6,596 acres depicted on the map titled ``Naturita 
Canyon Mineral Withdrawal Area'' and dated May 2009.
                                 <all>