[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7846-S7849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CAMPBELL:
  S. 2956. A bill to establish the Colorado Canyons National 
Conservation Area and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


               colorado canyons preservation act of 2000

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation which 
would preserve over 130,000 acres of land in Western Colorado. This 
legislation is supported locally by property owners, county 
commissioners, environmentalists, and recreational groups. My bill is a 
Senate companion to H.R. 4275 which was introduced by my colleague and 
fellow Coloradan Representative Scott McInnis.
  The areas proposed for Wildernesss Protection are the Black Ridge and 
Ruby Canyons of the Grand Valley and Rabbit Valley near Grand Junction, 
Colorado. They contain unique and valuable scenic, recreational, 
multiple use, paleontological, natural, and wildlife components. This 
historic rural western setting provides extensive opportunities for 
recreational activities, and are publicly used for hiking, camping, and 
grazing. This area is truly worthy of additional protection as a 
national conservation area.
  This legislation has the support of the administration and should 
easily be signed into law. The only issue confronting us is the limited 
amount of time left in the 106th Congress. I hope we will be able to 
move this legislation quickly through the process and that it will not 
get bogged down in partisan politics. It simply is the right thing to 
do.
  I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record 
following my remarks.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2956

       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, and Grand County, 
     Utah, 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 has 
     wilderness value and offers unique geological, 
     paleontological, scientific, and recreational resources.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to conserve, 
     protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present 
     and future generations the unique and nationally important 
     values of the public lands described in section 4(b), 
     including geological, cultural, paleontological, natural, 
     scientific, recreational, environmental, biological, 
     wilderness, wildlife education, and scenic resources of such 
     public lands, by establishing the Colorado Canyons National 
     Conservation Area and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness in 
     the State of Colorado and the State of Utah.

     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(h).
       (4) Map.--The term ``Map'' means the map entitled 
     ``Proposed Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and 
     Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area'' and dated July 18, 
     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 and the 
     State of Utah.
       (b) Areas Included.--The Conservation Area shall consist of 
     approximately 122,300 acres of public land as generally 
     depicted on the Map.

     SEC. 5. BLACK RIDGE CANYONS WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.

       Certain lands in Mesa County, Colorado, and Grand County, 
     Utah, which comprise approximately 75,550 acres as generally 
     depicted on the Map, are hereby designated as wilderness and 
     therefore as a component of the National Wilderness 
     Preservation System. Such component 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(b); 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, 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) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 
     materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments 
     thereto.
     Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect 
     discretionary authority of the Secretary under other Federal 
     laws to grant, issue, or renew rights-of-way or other land 
     use authorizations consistent with the other provisions of 
     this Act.
       (d) Off-Highway Vehicle Use.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), use 
     of motorized vehicles in the Conservation Area--
       (A) before the effective date of a management plan under 
     subsection (h), shall be allowed only on roads and trails 
     designated for use of motor vehicles in the management plan 
     that applies on the date of the enactment of this Act to the 
     public lands in the Conservation Area; and
       (B) after the effective date of a management plan under 
     subsection (h), shall be allowed only on roads and trails 
     designated for use of motor vehicles in that management plan.
       (2) Administrative and emergency response use.--Paragraph 
     (1) shall not limit the use of motor vehicles in the 
     Conservation Area as needed for administrative purposes or to 
     respond to an emergency.
       (e) Wilderness.--Subject to valid existing rights, 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.
       (f) Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing.--
       (1) In general.--Hunting, trapping, and fishing shall be 
     allowed within the Conservation Area and the Wilderness in 
     accordance

[[Page S7848]]

     with applicable laws and regulations of the United States and 
     the States of Colorado and Utah.
       (2) Area and time closures.--The head of the Colorado 
     Division of Wildlife (in reference to land within the State 
     of Colorado), the head of the Utah Division of Wildlife (in 
     reference to land within the State of Utah), or the Secretary 
     after consultation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in 
     reference to land within the State of Colorado) or the head 
     of the Utah Division of Wildlife (in reference to land within 
     the State of Utah), may issue regulations designating zones 
     where, and establishing limited periods when, hunting, 
     trapping, or fishing shall be prohibited in the Conservation 
     Area or the Wilderness for reasons of public safety, 
     administration, or public use and enjoyment.
       (g) 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.
       (h) Management Plan.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a 
     comprehensive management plan for the long-range protection 
     and management of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness 
     and the lands described in paragraph (2)(E).
       (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;
       (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; and
       (E) include all public lands between the boundary of the 
     Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado River and, on 
     such lands, the Secretary shall allow only such recreational 
     or other uses as are consistent with this Act.
       (i) No Buffer Zones.--The Congress does not intend for the 
     establishment of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness to 
     lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones 
     around the Conservation Area or the Wilderness. The fact that 
     there may be activities or uses on lands outside the 
     Conservation Area or the Wilderness that would not be allowed 
     in the Conservation Area or the Wilderness shall not preclude 
     such activities or uses on such lands up to the boundary of 
     the Conservation Area or the Wilderness consistent with other 
     applicable laws.
       (j) 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 through purchase from a willing 
     seller, exchange, or donation.
       (2) 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.
       (k) Interpretive Facilities or Sites.--The Secretary may 
     establish minimal interpretive facilities or sites in 
     cooperation with other public or private entities as the 
     Secretary considers appropriate. Any facilities or sites 
     shall be designed to protect the resources referred to in 
     section 2(b).
       (l) Water Rights.--
       (1) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (A) the lands designated as wilderness 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 or other values of such lands;
       (B) the lands designated as wilderness by this Act 
     generally are not suitable for use for development of new 
     water resource facilities, or for the expansion of existing 
     facilities;
       (C) it is possible to provide for proper management and 
     protection of the wilderness and other values 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 by this Act.
       (2) Statutory construction.--
       (A) Nothing in this Act shall constitute or be construed to 
     constitute either an express or implied reservation of any 
     water or water rights with respect to the lands designated as 
     a national conservation area or as wilderness by this Act.
       (B) Nothing in this Act shall affect any conditional or 
     absolute water rights in the State of Colorado existing on 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (C) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as 
     establishing a precedent with regard to any future national 
     conservation area or wilderness designations.
       (D) Nothing in this Act 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.
       (3) Colorado water law.--The Secretary shall follow the 
     procedural and substantive requirements of the law of the 
     State of Colorado in order to obtain and hold any new water 
     rights with respect to the Conservation Area and the 
     Wilderness.
       (4) New projects.--
       (A) As used in this paragraph, 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. Such term does 
     not include any such facilities related to or used for the 
     purpose of livestock grazing.
       (B) Except as otherwise provided by section 6(g) or other 
     provisions of this Act, on and after the date of the 
     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 
     wilderness area designated by this Act.
       (C) Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this 
     Act shall be construed to affect or limit the use, operation, 
     maintenance, repair, modification, or replacement of water 
     resource facilities in existence on the date of the enactment 
     of this Act within the boundaries of the Wilderness.
       (5) Boundaries along colorado river.--(A) Neither the 
     Conservation Area nor the Wilderness shall include any part 
     of the Colorado River to the 100-year high water mark.
       (B) Nothing in this Act shall affect the authority that the 
     Secretary may or may not have to manage recreational uses on 
     the Colorado River, except as such authority may be affected 
     by compliance with paragraph (3). Nothing in this Act shall 
     be construed to affect the authority of the Secretary to 
     manage the public lands between the boundary of the 
     Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado River.
       (C) Subject to valid existing rights, all lands owned by 
     the Federal Government between the 100-year high water mark 
     on each shore of the Colorado River, as designated on the Map 
     from the line labeled ``Line A'' on the east to the boundary 
     between the States of Colorado and Utah on the west, are 
     hereby withdrawn from--
       (i) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under 
     the public land laws;
       (ii) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
       (iii) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 
     materials, and geothermal leasing laws.

     SEC. 7. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.

       (a) In General.--As soon as practicable 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;
       (3) the appropriate office of the Bureau of Land Management 
     in Colorado, if the Grand Junction District Office is not 
     deemed the appropriate office; and
       (4) the appropriate office of the Bureau of Land Management 
     in Utah.
       (d) Map Controlling.--Subject to section 6(l)(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.).

[[Page S7849]]

       (d) Members.--The Council shall consist of 10 members to be 
     appointed by the Secretary including, to the extent 
     practicable:
       (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) Seven members residing in, or within reasonable 
     proximity to, Mesa County, 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 reasonable 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)).
                                 ______