[Senate Report 118-189]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 434
118th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      118-189

======================================================================



 
                     MOUNT BLUE SKY WILDERNESS ACT

                                _______
                                

                 July 10, 2024.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

         Mr. Manchin, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                   Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 3044]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 3044), to redesignate the Mount Evans 
Wilderness as the ``Mount Blue Sky Wilderness'', and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of S. 3044 is to redesignate the Mount Evans 
Wilderness in Colorado as the ``Mount Blue Sky Wilderness.''

                          Background and Need

    The Mount Evans Wilderness area, located in the Arapaho and 
Pike National Forests, was established in 1980 by the Colorado 
Wilderness Act (Public Law 96-560). The wilderness area is 
overlooked by Mount Blue Sky, formerly known as Mount Evans, in 
the Arapaho National Forest.
    In September 2023, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names' 
Domestic Names Committee voted to change the name of Mount 
Evans in Colorado as Mount Blue Sky. Mount Evans was originally 
named after John Evans, the Territorial Governor of Colorado in 
1862, who has been closely linked to the Sand Creek Massacre, 
which occurred in 1864 and resulted in the killing of 
approximately 750 members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in 
the area. The name change reflects a commitment to honor the 
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, who played a key role in 
advocating for the redesignation of the peak. S. 3044 
redesignates the Mount Evans Wilderness Area as the Mount Blue 
Sky Wilderness Area to be consistent with the redesignation of 
the peak.

                          Legislative History

    S. 3044 was introduced by Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet 
on October 16, 2023. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, 
and Mining held a hearing on S. 3044 on October 25, 2023.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on December 14, 2023, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
3044.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides the short title for the bill, the 
``Mount Blue Sky Wilderness Act.''

Section 2. Redesignation of the Mount Evans Wilderness as the ``Mount 
        Blue Sky Wilderness''

    Subsection (a) amends section 102(a)(10) of Public Law 96-
560 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 94 Stat. 3267) to redesignate the 
Mount Evans Wilderness area as the ``Mount Blue Sky 
Wilderness.''
    Subsection (b) states that any reference in a law, map, 
regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 
States to the Mount Evans Wilderness shall be a reference to 
the Mount Blue Sky Wilderness.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The Congressional Budget Office's cost estimate of S. 3044 
follows:

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    S. 3044 would rename the Mount Evans Wilderness in Colorado 
as the Mount Blue Sky Wilderness. Based on the cost of similar 
activities, CBO estimates that the cost to revise federal maps, 
documents, and signs to reflect the new name would be 
insignificant. Any spending would be subject to the 
availability of appropriated funds.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Emma Uebelhor. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.

                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

                      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. 3044. 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. 3044, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 3044, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony provided by the Forest Service from the 
Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining October 25, 
2023, hearing on S. 3044 follows:

Testimony of Jacqueline Emanuel, Associate Deputy Chief, United States 
               Department of Agriculture, Forest Service


s. 3044, to redesignate the mount evans wilderness as the ``mount blue 
                sky wilderness'', and for other purposes


    USDA supports S. 3044, to redesignate the Mount Evans 
Wilderness as the ``Mount Blue Sky Wilderness.'' On September 
15, 2023, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) voted on a 
proposal to change Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky. The BGN is a 
federal body, composed of representatives from multiple federal 
agencies, whose purpose is to maintain uniform geographic name 
usage throughout the Federal Government. Any person or 
organization, public or private, may make inquiries or request 
the BGN to render formal decisions on proposed new names, 
proposed name changes, or names that are in conflict. 
Proponents for the proposal to change Mount Evans to Mount Blue 
Sky included members of the public as well as the Southern 
Cheyenne and Arapaho and Northern Cheyenne Tribes. The BGN and 
Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board accepted, reviewed, 
and considered all proposals, ultimately making a 
recommendation to rename the feature to ``Mount Blue Sky'' with 
support from the Clear Creek County Commissioners, Governor 
Jared Polis, non-profit organizations, and several interested 
Tribal governments. A further change to name of the Mount Evans 
wilderness area requires an act of Congress. Given that Mount 
Evans Wilderness no longer includes a feature named Mount 
Evans, we recommend the name of the wilderness area be changed 
in keeping with the recent decision of the BGN to change Mount 
Evans to Mount Blue Sky.

                        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. 3044, 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):

                           Public Law 96-560


AN ACT To designate certain National Forest System lands in the States 
of Colorado, South Dakota, Missouri, South Carolina, and Louisiana for 
inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other 
purposes.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    Sec. 102. (a) In furtherance of the purposes of the 
Wilderness Act, the following lands in the State of Colorado 
are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as 
components of the National Wilderness Preservation System:

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (10) certain lands in the Arapaho and Pike National 
        Forests, Colorado, which comprise approximately 
        seventy-three thousand acres, as generally depicted on 
        a map entitled ``Mount Evans Wilderness--Proposed'', 
        dated June 1980, and which shall be known [as the Mount 
        Evans Wilderness;] as the ``Mount Blue Sky 
        Wilderness'';

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  [all]