[Senate Report 106-233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 449
106th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 106-233
======================================================================
SPANISH PEAKS WILDERNESS ACT OF 1999
_______
March 9, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 503]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 503) designating certain land in the San
Isabel National Forest in the State of Colorado as the
``Spanish Peaks Wilderness'', having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that
the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
On page 3, strike lines 5 through 16 and insert the
following:
``SEC. 3. ACCESS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall allow the
continuation of historic uses of the Bulls Eye Mine Road
established before the date of enactment of this Act, subject
to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may provide.
``(b) Privately Owned Land.--Access to any privately owned
land within the wilderness areas designated under section 2
shall be provided in accordance with section 5 of the
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1134 et seq.).''
Purpose of the Measure
The purpose of S. 503 is to designate certain land in the
San Isabel National Forest in the State of Colorado as the
``Spanish Peaks Wilderness.''
Background and Need
S. 503 amends the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 by
including 18,000 acres of land in the San Isabel National
Forest as the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. Spanish Peaks had been
considered for inclusion in previous wilderness bills. However,
because of unresolved issues it was not designated in the past.
Those issues included access to various inholdings, the use of
the Bulls Eye Mine road, and potential coal bed methane
production on portions of the land. Those issues have now been
resolved.
Legislative History
S. 503 was introduced by Senator Allard on March 2, 1999.
The Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land Management held a
hearing on S. 503 on June 23, 1999. At the business meeting on
February 10, 2000, the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources ordered S. 503 reported favorably with an amendment.
On September 14, 1999, the House passed a companion bill, H.R.
898, by voice vote.
Committee Recommendations and Tabulation of Votes
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on February 10, 2000, by a voice vote of
a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass S. 503 if
amended as described herein.
Committee Amendments
The committee amendment corrects a factual error in the
bill. The map identifying the wilderness area excludes the
Bulls Eye Mine road. However, the bill as introduced refers to
the road as within the wilderness area. The committee amendment
deletes the inaccurate provision.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1 contains the short title.
Section 2 designates the Spanish Peaks Wilderness area by
amending the Colorado Wilderness Act and provides a map
reference that designates the boundary.
Section 3(a) addresses the management of the Bulls Eye Mine
road. The subsection directs the Secretary of Agriculture to
allow for the continuation of historic uses of the road
established before the date of enactment of this Act, subject
to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe.
The Committee notes that the Bulls Eye Mine road--which has
been excluded from the Spanish Peaks Wilderness--is currently
closed. This section is not intended to restrict or otherwise
limit the Secretary's management authority with respect to the
road, including any decision to open or close the road, nor
does it require the Secretary to improve or maintain the road.
However, the Committee expects that the Secretary will consult
with local citizens and other interested parties regarding the
implementation of this Act with respect to the road.
Subsection (b) addresses access to any privately owned land
in the wilderness area.
Section 4 provides conforming amendments.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the costs of
this measure as amended follows:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, February 22, 2000.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 503, the Spanish
Peaks Wilderness Act of 1999.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
congressional budget office cost estimate
S. 503--Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act of 1999
S. 503 would amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993
(Public Law 103-77) by designating about 18,000 acres of
federal land within the San Isabel National Forest in Colorado
as the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. The land managed as a
wilderness study area under current law. The bill would allow
for the continuation of historic uses of the Bulls Eye Mine
Road, subject to terms and conditions set by the Secretary of
Agriculture, and would allow access to privately owned land
within the wilderness areas.
CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. The provision
allowing historic use of the Bulls Eye Mine Road would be
interpreted to require the Forest Service to reopen the road
for motorized uses. (The road was built in the late 19th
century for foot traffic and pack-animal travel, and it is
currently closed to motorized traffic.) Based on information
from the Forest Service, we estimate that reopening the road
for use by motorized vehicles and providing ongoing maintenance
would cost as much as $100,000 over the 2000-2005 period,
subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts.
Because S. 503 also could affect direct spending as a
result of potential changes in offsetting receipts, pay-as-you-
go procedures would apply; however, we estimate that any such
effect would be insignificant. This bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no significant
impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
On May 13, 1999, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
898, the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act of 1999, as ordered
reported by the House Committee on Resources on May 5, 1999.
The two bills are substantively identical, as are the cost
estimates.
The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz. This estimate was
approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for Budget
Analysis.
Regulatory Impact Evaluation
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 503.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 503, as ordered reported.
Executive Communications
On June 23, 1999, the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of
Agriculture and the Office of Management and Budget setting
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 503. These reports
had not been received at the time the report on S. 503 was
filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the Forest
Service at the Subcommittee hearing follows:
Statement of Denny Bschor, Director, Recreation, Heritage, and
Wilderness Resources, Forest Service, United States Department of
Agriculture
s. 503, spanish peaks wilderness act of 1999
The Administration would support S. 503, which designates
the Spanish Peaks Wilderness within the San Isabel National
Forest in the State of Colorado, if it were amended to contain
the Bullseye Mine road within the boundary of the wilderness.
The Administration objects to the exclusion of the road, which
is actually more like a trail, from the wilderness for reasons
which I will discuss shortly.
The Spanish Peaks area is a worthy addition to the National
Wilderness Preservation System (Wilderness System). The Spanish
Peaks are the easternmost peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the
13,626 foot summit of West Spanish Peak is a prominent landmark
visible across the high plains for many miles. The peaks were
added to the National Registry of Natural Landmarks in 1977.
Their unique location, geology, and significant elevation
gradient provide singular habitats for plant and animal
communities. Water rights, which have often been at issue in
Colorado wilderness debates, should not present a problem, as
the Spanish Peaks are located in a headwaters area while the
water users are located downstream and outside of the area to
be designated.
The Spanish Peaks have long been the subject of
considerable interest for their potential inclusion in the
Wilderness System. The Endangered American Wilderness Act of
1978 (P.L. 96-560) directed the Secretary of Agriculture to
review the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Study Area and report
recommendations for suitability of the area for inclusion in
the Wilderness System. The Forest Service evaluated the
suitability of the area for wilderness as part of the forest
planning process and did not recommend wilderness designation
for the area, due to the numerous private property interests
within the area.
The Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-77) created
the Spanish Peaks Planning Area and directed the Forest Service
to study the area and report to Congress concerning the status
of private property interests within the area. The Congress
further directed the agency to expedite this study in the 1994
interior appropriations bill. The Forest Service completed this
study and forwarded it to the Congress in 1995.
Significant private property interests including private
land, patented and unpatented mining claims, and oil and gas
leases within the study area boundaries have been of greatest
concern regarding the suitability of the area as wilderness.
There were 825 acres in 7 separate inholdings within the 20,000
acre study area in 1995, which caused concern that the area
could not be successfully administered as wilderness. In
testimony before the 103rd and 105th Congresses addressing the
Spanish Peaks area, the Forest Service highlighted concerns
about its ability to preserve wilderness values because of the
significant amount of private property within the wilderness.
We wish to express our appreciation to the Colorado
delegation and to the Congress for their willingness to see the
issues resolved before going ahead with wilderness designation.
As we have often found, resolving such issues after designation
is problematic.
Since the 1995 study, the Forest Service has made the
acquisition of lands within this area a high priority, and the
Wilderness Land Trust has acquired some of the inholdings which
will eventually be turned over to the Forest Service, but 110
interior acres still remain in private ownership. Because of
their location, they cannot be excluded from the wilderness by
adjusting the boundaries, so they will remain as inholdings
unless the Forest Service acquires them.
bullseye mine road
S. 503 would exclude the Bullseye Mine road from the
wilderness area. The Forest Service is concerned about the
future management of this road and cannot support its exclusion
from the wilderness area.
The road provides access to mining claims. Historically,
the road has been limited to foot traffic and pack-animal
travel, and this use would not be precluded by wilderness
designation. The road is currently managed as a non-forest
system road and is closed to motorized traffic. The forest does
not anticipate changing this management direction. Whether the
road is included in the area designated as wilderness, the
Forest Service does not anticipate opening this road to
motorized use because they would severely degrade the
wilderness values of the area, in addition to causing many
other problems.
A concern for public health and safety--The road
is very steep and narrow which does not lend itself to being an
enjoyable, drivable road for the majority of the recreating
public.
Erosion and water quality--For the most part, the
road traverses above and in-line with a live drainage coming
off the West Peak. Maintenance of the road would increase the
sedimentation reaching the drainage.
Road maintenance--It would be costly and difficult
to maintain such a road at the expense of others which receive
much higher use by the general public.
However, should the owners of the Bullseye Mine request
access to their patented claim, access would be governed by
section 1323(a) of the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act (ANILCA) and section 7 of the Colorado
Wilderness Act of 1993.
The Administration would strongly recommend an amendment
authorizing the Secretary to adjust the wilderness boundary to
include the Bullseye Mine road. We also recommend deleting
section 3 of the bill, relating to access within the wilderness
area, because this provision is unnecessary and raises concerns
about whether section 1323(a) of ANILCA would govern access to
private inholdings within the wilderness area.
The Forest Service looks forward to working with the
Committee and Senator Allard on the inclusion of this beautiful
area in our national wilderness preservation system.
closing
Mr. Chairman, the Administration supports S. 953, ``Terry
Peak Land Conveyance Act of 1999'', but recommends one
technical amendment, and supports S. 1088, the ``Arizona
National Forest Improvement Act of 1999''. The Administration
would support S. 503, the ``Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act of
1999'' if amended to adjust the wilderness boundary to include
the Bullseye Mine road.
This concludes my statement, I would be happy to answer any
questions you and the Members of the Subcommittee might have.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill S. 503, as ordered reported, are shown as follows
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):
COLORADO WILDERNESS ACT OF 1993
Public Law 103-77 (107 Stat. 756)
* * * * * * *
SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO THE WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM.
(a) Additions--The following lands in the State of Colorado
are hereby designated as wilderness, and, therefore, as
components of the National Wilderness Preservation System:
(20) Spanish Peaks Wilderness.--Certain land in the
San Isabel National Forest that--
(A) comprises approximately 18,000 acres, as
generally depicted on a map entitled ``Proposed
Spanish Peaks Wilderness,'' dated February 10,
1999; and
(B) shall be known as the ``Spanish Peaks
Wilderness.''