Union Calendar No. 179 CONGRESS S H. R. 823IB Union Calendar No. 179 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H....

IB

Union Calendar No. 179 116TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 823 [Report No. 116–226]

To provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas, recreation manage-

ment areas, and conservation areas in the State of Colorado, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 28, 2019

Mr. NEGUSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

OCTOBER 4, 2019

Additional sponsors: Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. DEGETTE, and Mr. CROW

OCTOBER 4, 2019

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 28, 2019]

VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H823.RH H823pam

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A BILL To provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas,

recreation management areas, and conservation areas in

the State of Colorado, and for other purposes.


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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Col-4

orado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act’’. 5

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6

this Act is as follows: 7

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definition of state.

TITLE I—CONTINENTAL DIVIDE

Sec. 101. Definitions.

Sec. 102. Colorado Wilderness additions.

Sec. 103. Williams Fork Mountains Wilderness.

Sec. 104. Tenmile Recreation Management Area.

Sec. 105. Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area.

Sec. 106. Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Conservation Area.

Sec. 107. Camp Hale National Historic Landscape.

Sec. 108. White River National Forest Boundary modification.

Sec. 109. Rocky Mountain National Park Potential Wilderness Boundary adjust-

ment.

Sec. 110. Administrative provisions.

TITLE II—SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS


Sec. 202. Additions to National Wilderness Preservation System.

Sec. 203. Special management areas.

Sec. 204. Release of wilderness study areas.

Sec. 205. Administrative provisions.

TITLE III—THOMPSON DIVIDE

Sec. 301. Purposes.


Sec. 303. Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area.

Sec. 304. Thompson Divide lease exchange.

Sec. 305. Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Pro-

gram.

Sec. 306. Effect.

TITLE IV—CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREATION AREA


Sec. 402. Curecanti National Recreation Area.

Sec. 403. Acquisition of land; boundary management.

Sec. 404. General management plan.

Sec. 405. Boundary survey.


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SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF STATE. 1

In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Colo-2

rado. 3

TITLE I—CONTINENTAL DIVIDE 4

SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 5

In this title: 6

(1) COVERED AREA.—The term ‘‘covered area’’ 7

means any area designated as wilderness by the 8

amendments to section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilder-9

ness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 10

103–77) made by section 102(a). 11

(2) HISTORIC LANDSCAPE.—The term ‘‘Historic 12

Landscape’’ means the Camp Hale National Historic 13

Landscape designated by section 107(a). 14

(3) RECREATION MANAGEMENT AREA.—The term 15

‘‘Recreation Management Area’’ means the Tenmile 16

Recreation Management Area designated by section 17

104(a). 18

(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19

the Secretary of Agriculture. 20

(5) WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREA.—The term 21

‘‘Wildlife Conservation Area’’ means, as applicable— 22

(A) the Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conserva-23

tion Area designated by section 105(a); and 24

(B) the Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife 25

Conservation Area designated by section 106(a). 26


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SEC. 102. COLORADO WILDERNESS ADDITIONS. 1

(a) DESIGNATION.—Section 2(a) of the Colorado Wil-2

derness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103– 3

77) is amended— 4

(1) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘1993,’’ and 5

inserting ‘‘1993, and certain Federal land within the 6

White River National Forest that comprises approxi-7

mately 6,896 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed 8

Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness Additions’ on the map 9

entitled ‘Proposed Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness Addi-10

tions’ and dated June 24, 2019,’’; and 11

(2) by adding at the end the following: 12

‘‘(23) HOLY CROSS WILDERNESS ADDITION.— 13

Certain Federal land within the White River Na-14

tional Forest that comprises approximately 3,866 15

acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed Megan 16

Dickie Wilderness Addition’ on the map entitled 17

‘Holy Cross Wilderness Addition Proposal’ and dated 18

June 24, 2019, which shall be incorporated into, and 19

managed as part of, the Holy Cross Wilderness des-20

ignated by section 102(a)(5) of Public Law 96–560 21

(94 Stat. 3266). 22

‘‘(24) HOOSIER RIDGE WILDERNESS.—Certain 23

Federal land within the White River National Forest 24

that comprises approximately 5,235 acres, as gen-25

erally depicted as ‘Proposed Hoosier Ridge Wilder-26


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ness’ on the map entitled ‘Tenmile Proposal’ and 1

dated June 24, 2019, which shall be known as the 2

‘Hoosier Ridge Wilderness’. 3

‘‘(25) TENMILE WILDERNESS.—Certain Federal 4

land within the White River National Forest that 5

comprises approximately 7,624 acres, as generally de-6

picted as ‘Proposed Tenmile Wilderness’ on the map 7

entitled ‘Tenmile Proposal’ and dated June 24, 2019, 8

which shall be known as the ‘Tenmile Wilderness’. 9

‘‘(26) EAGLES NEST WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 10

Certain Federal land within the White River Na-11

tional Forest that comprises approximately 9,670 12

acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed Freeman 13

Creek Wilderness Addition’ and ‘Proposed Spraddle 14

Creek Wilderness Addition’ on the map entitled ‘Ea-15

gles Nest Wilderness Additions Proposal’ and dated 16

June 24, 2019, which shall be incorporated into, and 17

managed as part of, the Eagles Nest Wilderness des-18

ignated by Public Law 94–352 (90 Stat. 870).’’. 19

(b) APPLICABLE LAW.—Any reference in the Wilder-20

ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date of 21

that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the date 22

of enactment of this Act for purposes of administering a 23

covered area. 24


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(c) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—In accordance 1

with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 2

1133(d)(1)), the Secretary may carry out any activity in 3

a covered area that the Secretary determines to be necessary 4

for the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such 5

terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be ap-6

propriate. 7

(d) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock on a covered 8

area, if established before the date of enactment of this Act, 9

shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable reg-10

ulations as are considered to be necessary by the Secretary, 11

in accordance with— 12

(1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 13

U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 14

(2) the guidelines set forth in Appendix A of the 15

report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Af-16

fairs of the House of Representatives accompanying 17

H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 101–405). 18

(e) COORDINATION.—For purposes of administering 19

the Federal land designated as wilderness by paragraph 20

(26) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 21

(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by 22

subsection (a)(2)), the Secretary shall, as determined to be 23

appropriate for the protection of watersheds, coordinate the 24

activities of the Secretary in response to fires and flooding 25


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events with interested State and local agencies, including 1

operations using aircraft or mechanized equipment. 2

SEC. 103. WILLIAMS FORK MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS. 3

(a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of 4

the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain Federal 5

land in the White River National Forest in the State, com-6

prising approximately 8,036 acres and generally depicted 7

as ‘‘Proposed Williams Fork Mountains Wilderness’’ on the 8

map entitled ‘‘Williams Fork Mountains Proposal’’ and 9

dated June 24, 2019, is designated as a potential wilderness 10

area. 11

(b) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing rights 12

and except as provided in subsection (d), the potential wil-13

derness area designated by subsection (a) shall be managed 14

in accordance with— 15

(1) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); 16

and 17

(2) this section. 18

(c) LIVESTOCK USE OF VACANT ALLOTMENTS.— 19

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 20

the date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with 21

applicable laws (including regulations), the Secretary 22

shall publish a determination regarding whether to 23

authorize livestock grazing or other use by livestock on 24

the vacant allotments known as— 25


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(A) the ‘‘Big Hole Allotment’’; and 1

(B) the ‘‘Blue Ridge Allotment’’. 2

(2) MODIFICATION OF ALLOTMENTS.—In pub-3

lishing a determination pursuant to paragraph (1), 4

the Secretary may modify or combine the vacant al-5

lotments referred to in that paragraph. 6

(3) PERMIT OR OTHER AUTHORIZATION.—Not 7

later than 1 year after the date on which a deter-8

mination of the Secretary to authorize livestock graz-9

ing or other use by livestock is published under para-10

graph (1), if applicable, the Secretary shall grant a 11

permit or other authorization for that livestock graz-12

ing or other use in accordance with applicable laws 13

(including regulations). 14

(d) RANGE IMPROVEMENTS.— 15

(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary permits live-16

stock grazing or other use by livestock on the potential 17

wilderness area under subsection (c), the Secretary, or 18

a third party authorized by the Secretary, may use 19

any motorized or mechanized transport or equipment 20

for purposes of constructing or rehabilitating such 21

range improvements as are necessary to obtain appro-22

priate livestock management objectives (including 23

habitat and watershed restoration). 24


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(2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The author-1

ity provided by this subsection terminates on the date 2

that is 2 years after the date on which the Secretary 3

publishes a positive determination under subsection 4

(c)(3). 5

(e) DESIGNATION AS WILDERNESS.— 6

(1) DESIGNATION.—The potential wilderness 7

area designated by subsection (a) shall be designated 8

as wilderness, to be known as the ‘‘Williams Fork 9

Mountains Wilderness’’— 10

(A) effective not earlier than the date that 11

is 180 days after the date of enactment this Act; 12

and 13

(B) on the earliest of— 14

(i) the date on which the Secretary 15

publishes in the Federal Register a notice 16

that the construction or rehabilitation of 17

range improvements under subsection (d) is 18

complete; 19

(ii) the date described in subsection 20

(d)(2); and 21

(iii) the effective date of a determina-22

tion of the Secretary not to authorize live-23

stock grazing or other use by livestock under 24

subsection (c)(1). 25


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(2) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 1

rights, the Secretary shall manage the Williams Fork 2

Mountains Wilderness in accordance with— 3

(A) the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 4

U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77); and 5

(B) this title. 6

SEC. 104. TENMILE RECREATION MANAGEMENT AREA. 7

(a) DESIGNATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, 8

the approximately 17,122 acres of Federal land in the White 9

River National Forest in the State, as generally depicted 10

as ‘‘Proposed Tenmile Recreation Management Area’’ on 11

the map entitled ‘‘Tenmile Proposal’’ and dated June 24, 12

2019, are designated as the ‘‘Tenmile Recreation Manage-13

ment Area’’. 14

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Recreation Man-15

agement Area are to conserve, protect, and enhance for the 16

benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the 17

recreational, scenic, watershed, habitat, and ecological re-18

sources of the Recreation Management Area. 19

(c) MANAGEMENT.— 20

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage 21

the Recreation Management Area— 22

(A) in a manner that conserves, protects, 23

and enhances— 24


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(i) the purposes of the Recreation Man-1

agement Area described in subsection (b); 2

and 3

(ii) recreation opportunities, including 4

mountain biking, hiking, fishing, horseback 5

riding, snowshoeing, climbing, skiing, 6

camping, and hunting; and 7

(B) in accordance with— 8

(i) the Forest and Rangeland Renew-9

able Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 10

U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 11

(ii) any other applicable laws (includ-12

ing regulations); and 13

(iii) this section. 14

(2) USES.— 15

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall only 16

allow such uses of the Recreation Management 17

Area as the Secretary determines would further 18

the purposes described in subsection (b). 19

(B) VEHICLES.— 20

(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 21

in clause (iii), the use of motorized vehicles 22

in the Recreation Management Area shall be 23

limited to the roads, vehicle classes, and pe-24


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riods authorized for motorized vehicle use 1

on the date of enactment of this Act. 2

(ii) NEW OR TEMPORARY ROADS.—Ex-3

cept as provided in clause (iii), no new or 4

temporary road shall be constructed in the 5

Recreation Management Area. 6

(iii) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in clause 7

(i) or (ii) prevents the Secretary from— 8

(I) rerouting or closing an exist-9

ing road or trail to protect natural re-10

sources from degradation, as the Sec-11

retary determines to be appropriate; 12

(II) authorizing the use of motor-13

ized vehicles for administrative pur-14

poses or roadside camping; 15

(III) constructing temporary 16

roads or permitting the use of motor-17

ized vehicles to carry out pre- or post- 18

fire watershed protection projects; 19

(IV) authorizing the use of motor-20

ized vehicles to carry out any activity 21

described in subsection (d), (e)(1), or 22

(f); or 23

(V) responding to an emergency. 24

(C) COMMERCIAL TIMBER.— 25


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(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 1

(ii), no project shall be carried out in the 2

Recreation Management Area for the pur-3

pose of harvesting commercial timber. 4

(ii) LIMITATION.—Nothing in clause 5

(i) prevents the Secretary from harvesting 6

or selling a merchantable product that is a 7

byproduct of an activity authorized under 8

this section. 9

(d) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—The Secretary 10

may carry out any activity, in accordance with applicable 11

laws (including regulations), that the Secretary determines 12

to be necessary to prevent, control, or mitigate fire, insects, 13

or disease in the Recreation Management Area, subject to 14

such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to 15

be appropriate. 16

(e) WATER.— 17

(1) EFFECT ON WATER MANAGEMENT INFRA-18

STRUCTURE.—Nothing in this section affects the con-19

struction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, oper-20

ation, maintenance, or renovation within the Recre-21

ation Management Area of— 22

(A) water management infrastructure in ex-23

istence on the date of enactment of this Act; or 24


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(B) any future infrastructure necessary for 1

the development or exercise of water rights de-2

creed before the date of enactment of this Act. 3

(2) APPLICABLE LAW.—Section 3(e) of the James 4

Peak Wilderness and Protection Area Act (Public 5

Law 107–216; 116 Stat. 1058) shall apply to the 6


(f) REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Nothing 8

in this section precludes the Secretary from authorizing, in 9

accordance with applicable laws (including regulations), 10

the use or leasing of Federal land within the Recreation 11

Management Area for— 12

(1) a regional transportation project, includ-13

ing— 14

(A) highway widening or realignment; and 15

(B) construction of multimodal transpor-16

tation systems; or 17

(2) any infrastructure, activity, or safety meas-18

ure associated with the implementation or use of a fa-19

cility constructed under paragraph (1). 20

(g) APPLICABLE LAW.—Nothing in this section affects 21

the designation of the Federal land within the Recreation 22

Management Area for purposes of— 23

(1) section 138 of title 23, United States Code; 24

or 25


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(2) section 303 of title 49, United States Code. 1

(h) PERMITS.—Nothing in this section alters or lim-2

its— 3

(1) any permit held by a ski area or other enti-4

ty; or 5

(2) the acceptance, review, or implementation of 6

associated activities or facilities proposed or author-7

ized by law or permit outside the boundaries of the 8


SEC. 105. PORCUPINE GULCH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION 10

AREA. 11


the approximately 8,287 acres of Federal land located in 13

the White River National Forest, as generally depicted as 14

‘‘Proposed Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area’’ on 15

the map entitled ‘‘Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation 16

Area Proposal’’ and dated June 24, 2019, are designated 17

as the ‘‘Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area’’ (re-18

ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Wildlife Conservation 19

Area’’). 20

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Wildlife Con-21

servation Area are— 22

(1) to conserve and protect a wildlife migration 23

corridor over Interstate 70; and 24


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(2) to conserve, protect, and enhance for the ben-1

efit and enjoyment of present and future generations 2

the wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, and ecological 3

resources of the Wildlife Conservation Area. 4



the Wildlife Conservation Area— 7


and enhances the purposes described in sub-9

section (b); and 10




U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 14




(2) USES.— 18


allow such uses of the Wildlife Conservation Area 20

as the Secretary determines would further the 21

purposes described in subsection (b). 22

(B) RECREATION.—The Secretary may per-23

mit such recreational activities in the Wildlife 24

Conservation Area that the Secretary determines 25


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are consistent with the purposes described in 1

subsection (b). 2

(C) MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND MECHA-3

NIZED TRANSPORT; NEW OR TEMPORARY 4

ROADS.— 5

(i) MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND MECHA-6

NIZED TRANSPORT.—Except as provided in 7

clause (iii), the use of motorized vehicles 8

and mechanized transport in the Wildlife 9

Conservation Area shall be prohibited. 10


cept as provided in clause (iii) and sub-12

section (e), no new or temporary road shall 13

be constructed within the Wildlife Conserva-14

tion Area. 15



(I) authorizing the use of motor-18

ized vehicles or mechanized transport 19

for administrative purposes; 20

(II) constructing temporary roads 21

or permitting the use of motorized ve-22

hicles or mechanized transport to carry 23

out pre- or post-fire watershed protec-24

tion projects; 25


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(III) authorizing the use of motor-1

ized vehicles or mechanized transport 2

to carry out activities described in sub-3

section (d) or (e); or 4

(IV) responding to an emergency. 5

(D) COMMERCIAL TIMBER.— 6



Wildlife Conservation Area for the purpose 9

of harvesting commercial timber. 10





this section. 15





or disease in the Wildlife Conservation Area, subject to such 20


propriate. 22

(e) REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Nothing 23

in this section or section 110(e) precludes the Secretary 24

from authorizing, in accordance with applicable laws (in-25


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cluding regulations), the use or leasing of Federal land 1

within the Wildlife Conservation Area for— 2


ing— 4







(f) APPLICABLE LAW.—Nothing in this section affects 11

the designation of the Federal land within the Wildlife Con-12

servation Area for purposes of— 13

(1) section 138 of title 23, United States Code; 14

or 15

(2) section 303 of title 49, United States Code. 16

(g) WATER.—Section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilder-17

ness and Protection Area Act (Public Law 107–216; 116 18

Stat. 1058) shall apply to the Wildlife Conservation Area. 19

SEC. 106. WILLIAMS FORK MOUNTAINS WILDLIFE CON-20

SERVATION AREA. 21




as ‘‘Proposed Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Conserva-25


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tion Area’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Williams Fork Mountains 1

Proposal’’ and dated June 24, 2019, are designated as the 2

‘‘Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Conservation Area’’ 3

(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Wildlife Conservation 4

Area’’). 5

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Wildlife Con-6

servation Area are to conserve, protect, and enhance for the 7

benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the 8

wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, recreational, and eco-9

logical resources of the Wildlife Conservation Area. 10



the Wildlife Conservation Area— 13


and enhances the purposes described in sub-15

section (b); and 16




U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 20




(2) USES.— 24


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allow such uses of the Wildlife Conservation Area 2

as the Secretary determines would further the 3

purposes described in subsection (b). 4

(B) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.— 5

(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 6

in clause (iii), the use of motorized vehicles 7

in the Wildlife Conservation Area shall be 8

limited to designated roads and trails. 9


cept as provided in clause (iii), no new or 11

temporary road shall be constructed in the 12

Wildlife Conservation Area. 13



(I) authorizing the use of motor-16

ized vehicles for administrative pur-17

poses; 18

(II) authorizing the use of motor-19

ized vehicles to carry out activities de-20

scribed in subsection (d); or 21

(III) responding to an emergency. 22

(C) BICYCLES.—The use of bicycles in the 23

Wildlife Conservation Area shall be limited to 24

designated roads and trails. 25


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(D) COMMERCIAL TIMBER.— 1



Wildlife Conservation Area for the purpose 4

of harvesting commercial timber. 5





this section. 10

(E) GRAZING.—The laws (including regula-11

tions) and policies followed by the Secretary in 12

issuing and administering grazing permits or 13

leases on land under the jurisdiction of the Sec-14

retary shall continue to apply with regard to the 15

land in the Wildlife Conservation Area, con-16

sistent with the purposes described in subsection 17

(b). 18





or disease in the Wildlife Conservation Area, subject to such 23


propriate. 25


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(e) REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Nothing 1

in this section or section 110(e) precludes the Secretary 2

from authorizing, in accordance with applicable laws (in-3

cluding regulations), the use or leasing of Federal land 4

within the Wildlife Conservation Area for— 5


ing— 7







(f) WATER.—Section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilder-14

ness and Protection Area Act (Public Law 107–216; 116 15

Stat. 1058) shall apply to the Wildlife Conservation Area. 16

SEC. 107. CAMP HALE NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDSCAPE. 17




as ‘‘Proposed Camp Hale National Historic Landscape’’ on 21

the map entitled ‘‘Camp Hale National Historic Landscape 22

Proposal’’ and dated June 24, 2019, are designated the 23

‘‘Camp Hale National Historic Landscape’’. 24


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(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Historic Land-1

scape are— 2

(1) to provide for— 3

(A) the interpretation of historic events, ac-4

tivities, structures, and artifacts of the Historic 5

Landscape, including with respect to the role of 6

the Historic Landscape in local, national, and 7

world history; 8

(B) the historic preservation of the Historic 9

Landscape, consistent with— 10

(i) the designation of the Historic 11

Landscape as a national historic site; and 12

(ii) the other purposes of the Historic 13

Landscape; 14

(C) recreational opportunities, with an em-15

phasis on the activities related to the historic use 16

of the Historic Landscape, including skiing, 17

snowshoeing, snowmobiling, hiking, horseback 18

riding, climbing, other road- and trail-based ac-19

tivities, and other outdoor activities; and 20

(D) the continued environmental remedi-21

ation and removal of unexploded ordnance at the 22

Camp Hale Formerly Used Defense Site and the 23

Camp Hale historic cantonment area; and 24


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(2) to conserve, protect, restore, and enhance for 1

the benefit and enjoyment of present and future gen-2

erations the scenic, watershed, and ecological resources 3

of the Historic Landscape. 4



the Historic Landscape in accordance with— 7

(A) the purposes of the Historic Landscape 8

described in subsection (b); and 9

(B) any other applicable laws (including 10

regulations). 11

(2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 12

(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 13

after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-14

retary shall prepare a management plan for the 15

Historic Landscape. 16

(B) CONTENTS.—The management plan 17

prepared under subparagraph (A) shall include 18

plans for— 19

(i) improving the interpretation of his-20

toric events, activities, structures, and arti-21

facts of the Historic Landscape, including 22

with respect to the role of the Historic 23

Landscape in local, national, and world 24

history; 25


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(ii) conducting historic preservation 1

activities; 2

(iii) managing recreational opportuni-3

ties, including the use and stewardship of— 4

(I) the road and trail systems; 5

and 6

(II) dispersed recreation resources; 7

(iv) the conservation, protection, res-8

toration, or enhancement of the scenic, wa-9

tershed, and ecological resources of the His-10

toric Landscape, including conducting the 11

restoration and enhancement project under 12

subsection (d); and 13

(v) environmental remediation and, 14

consistent with subsection (e)(2), the re-15

moval of unexploded ordnance. 16

(3) EXPLOSIVE HAZARDS.—The Secretary shall 17

provide to the Secretary of the Army a notification of 18

any unexploded ordnance (as defined in section 19

101(e) of title 10, United States Code) that is discov-20

ered in the Historic Landscape. 21

(d) CAMP HALE RESTORATION AND ENHANCEMENT 22

PROJECT.— 23


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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 1

restoration and enhancement project in the Historic 2

Landscape— 3

(A) to improve aquatic, riparian, and wet-4

land conditions in and along the Eagle River 5

and tributaries of the Eagle River; 6

(B) to maintain or improve recreation and 7

interpretive opportunities and facilities; and 8

(C) to conserve historic values in the Camp 9

Hale area. 10

(2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the project 11

described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall co-12

ordinate with— 13

(A) the United States Army Corps of Engi-14

neers; 15

(B) the Camp Hale-Eagle River Head-16

waters Collaborative Group; 17

(C) the National Forest Foundation; 18

(D) the Colorado Department of Public 19

Health and Environment; 20

(E) the Colorado State Historic Preserva-21

tion Office; 22

(F) units of local government; and 23

(G) other interested organizations and 24

members of the public. 25


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(e) ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION.— 1

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army 2

shall continue to carry out the projects and activities 3

of the Department of the Army in existence on the 4

date of enactment of this Act relating to cleanup of— 5

(A) the Camp Hale Formerly Used Defense 6

Site; or 7

(B) the Camp Hale historic cantonment 8

area. 9

(2) REMOVAL OF UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE.— 10

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 11

Army may remove unexploded ordnance (as de-12

fined in section 101(e) of title 10, United States 13

Code) from the Historic Landscape, as the Sec-14

retary of the Army determines to be appropriate 15

in accordance with applicable law (including 16

regulations). 17

(B) ACTION ON RECEIPT OF NOTICE.—On 18

receipt from the Secretary of a notification of 19

unexploded ordnance under subsection (c)(3), the 20

Secretary of the Army may remove the 21

unexploded ordnance in accordance with— 22

(i) the program for environmental res-23

toration of formerly used defense sites under 24

section 2701 of title 10, United States Code; 25


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(ii) the Comprehensive Environmental 1

Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 2

of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.); and 3

(iii) any other applicable provision of 4

law (including regulations). 5

(3) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.—Nothing in this 6

subsection modifies any obligation in existence on the 7

date of enactment of this Act relating to environ-8

mental remediation or removal of any unexploded 9

ordnance located in or around the Camp Hale his-10

toric cantonment area, the Camp Hale Formerly 11

Used Defense Site, or the Historic Landscape, includ-12

ing such an obligation under— 13

(A) the program for environmental restora-14

tion of formerly used defense sites under section 15

2701 of title 10, United States Code; 16

(B) the Comprehensive Environmental Re-17

sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 18

(42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.); or 19

(C) any other applicable provision of law 20

(including regulations). 21

(f) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.—The Secretary and 22

the Secretary of the Army shall enter into an agreement— 23

(1) to specify— 24


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(A) the activities of the Secretary relating 1

to the management of the Historic Landscape; 2

and 3

(B) the activities of the Secretary of the 4

Army relating to environmental remediation and 5

the removal of unexploded ordnance in accord-6

ance with subsection (e) and other applicable 7

laws (including regulations); and 8

(2) to require the Secretary to provide to the Sec-9

retary of the Army, by not later than 1 year after the 10

date of enactment of this Act and periodically there-11

after, as appropriate, a management plan for the 12

Historic Landscape for purposes of the removal ac-13

tivities described in subsection (e). 14

(g) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section— 15

(1) affects the jurisdiction of the State over any 16

water law, water right, or adjudication or adminis-17

tration relating to any water resource; 18

(2) affects any water right in existence on or 19

after the date of enactment of this Act, or the exercise 20

of such a water right, including— 21

(A) a water right under an interstate water 22

compact (including full development of any ap-23

portionment made in accordance with such a 24

compact); 25


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(B) a water right decreed within, above, 1

below, or through the Historic Landscape; 2

(C) a water right held by the United States; 3

(D) the management or operation of any 4

reservoir, including the storage, management, re-5

lease, or transportation of water; and 6

(E) the construction or operation of such 7

infrastructure as is determined to be necessary 8

by an individual or entity holding water rights 9

to develop and place to beneficial use those 10

rights, subject to applicable Federal, State, and 11

local law (including regulations); 12

(3) constitutes an express or implied reservation 13

by the United States of any reserved or appropriative 14

water right; 15

(4) alters or limits— 16

(A) a permit held by a ski area; 17

(B) the implementation of activities gov-18

erned by a ski area permit; or 19

(C) the authority of the Secretary to modify 20

or expand an existing ski area permit; 21

(5) prevents the Secretary from closing portions 22

of the Historic Landscape for public safety, environ-23

mental remediation, or other use in accordance with 24

applicable laws; or 25


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(6) affects— 1

(A) any special use permit in effect on the 2

date of enactment of this Act; or 3

(B) the renewal of a permit described in 4

subparagraph (A). 5

(h) FUNDING.— 6

(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 7

general fund of the Treasury a special account, to be 8

known as the ‘‘Camp Hale Historic Preservation and 9

Restoration Fund’’. 10

(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 11

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Camp 12

Hale Historic Preservation and Restoration Fund 13

$10,000,000, to be available to the Secretary until ex-14

pended, for activities relating to historic interpreta-15

tion, preservation, and restoration carried out in and 16

around the Historic Landscape. 17

SEC. 108. WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY 18

MODIFICATION. 19

(a) IN GENERAL.—The boundary of the White River 20

National Forest is modified to include the approximately 21

120 acres comprised of the SW 1/4, the SE 1/4, and the 22

NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of sec. 1, T. 2 S., R. 80 W., 6th 23

Principal Meridian, in Summit County in the State. 24


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(b) LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND.—For 1

purposes of section 200306 of title 54, United States Code, 2

the boundaries of the White River National Forest, as modi-3

fied under subsection (a), shall be considered to be the 4

boundaries of the White River National Forest as in exist-5

ence on January 1, 1965. 6

SEC. 109. ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK POTENTIAL 7

WILDERNESS BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. 8

(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro-9

vide for the ongoing maintenance and use of portions of 10

the Trail River Ranch and the associated property located 11

within Rocky Mountain National Park in Grand County 12

in the State. 13

(b) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1952(b) of the 14

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public 15

Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 1070) is amended by adding at the 16

end the following: 17

‘‘(3) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The boundary of 18

the Potential Wilderness is modified to exclude the 19

area comprising approximately 15.5 acres of land 20

identified as ‘Potential Wilderness to Non-wilderness’ 21

on the map entitled ‘Rocky Mountain National Park 22

Proposed Wilderness Area Amendment’ and dated 23

January 16, 2018.’’. 24


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SEC. 110. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 1

(a) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this title affects 2

the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with respect 3

to fish and wildlife in the State. 4

(b) NO BUFFER ZONES.— 5

(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title or an 6

amendment made by this title establishes a protective 7

perimeter or buffer zone around— 8

(A) a covered area; 9

(B) a wilderness area or potential wilder-10

ness area designated by section 103; 11

(C) the Recreation Management Area; 12

(D) a Wildlife Conservation Area; or 13

(E) the Historic Landscape. 14

(2) OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES.—The fact that a non-15

wilderness activity or use on land outside of a covered 16

area can be seen or heard from within the covered 17

area shall not preclude the activity or use outside the 18

boundary of the covered area. 19

(c) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 20

(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 21

the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 22

file maps and legal descriptions of each area described 23

in subsection (b)(1) with— 24

(A) the Committee on Natural Resources of 25

the House of Representatives; and 26


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(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 1

Resources of the Senate. 2

(2) FORCE OF LAW.—Each map and legal de-3

scription filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 4

same force and effect as if included in this title, ex-5

cept that the Secretary may correct any typo-6

graphical errors in the maps and legal descriptions. 7

(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and legal 8

description filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file 9

and available for public inspection in the appropriate 10

offices of the Forest Service. 11

(d) ACQUISITION OF LAND.— 12

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire 13

any land or interest in land within the boundaries of 14

an area described in subsection (b)(1) only through 15

exchange, donation, or purchase from a willing seller. 16

(2) MANAGEMENT.—Any land or interest in land 17

acquired under paragraph (1) shall be incorporated 18

into, and administered as a part of, the wilderness 19

area, Recreation Management Area, Wildlife Con-20

servation Area, or Historic Landscape, as applicable, 21

in which the land or interest in land is located. 22

(e) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in existence 23

on the date of enactment of this Act, the areas described 24

in subsection (b)(1) are withdrawn from— 25


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(1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under the 1

public land laws; 2

(2) location, entry, and patent under mining 3

laws; and 4

(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 5

materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 6

(f) MILITARY OVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this title or 7

an amendment made by this title restricts or precludes— 8

(1) any low-level overflight of military aircraft 9

over any area subject to this title or an amendment 10

made by this title, including military overflights that 11

can be seen, heard, or detected within such an area; 12

(2) flight testing or evaluation over an area de-13

scribed in paragraph (1); or 14

(3) the use or establishment of— 15

(A) any new unit of special use airspace 16

over an area described in paragraph (1); or 17

(B) any military flight training or trans-18

portation over such an area. 19

TITLE II—SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS 20


In this title: 22

(1) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 23

means— 24


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(A) land designated as wilderness under 1

paragraphs (27) through (29) of section 2(a) of 2

the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 3

1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by sec-4

tion 202); and 5

(B) a Special Management Area. 6


the Secretary of Agriculture. 8

(3) SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA.—The term 9

‘‘Special Management Area’’ means each of— 10

(A) the Sheep Mountain Special Manage-11

ment Area designated by section 203(a)(1); and 12

(B) the Liberty Bell East Special Manage-13

ment Area designated by section 203(a)(2). 14

SEC. 202. ADDITIONS TO NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESER-15

VATION SYSTEM. 16

Section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 17

(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as amended 18

by section 102(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 19

following: 20

‘‘(27) LIZARD HEAD WILDERNESS ADDITION.— 21

Certain Federal land in the Grand Mesa, 22

Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests com-23

prising approximately 3,141 acres, as generally de-24

picted on the map entitled ‘Proposed Wilson, Sun-25


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shine, Black Face and San Bernardo Additions to the 1

Lizard Head Wilderness’ and dated September 6, 2

2018, which is incorporated in, and shall be adminis-3

tered as part of, the Lizard Head Wilderness. 4

‘‘(28) MOUNT SNEFFELS WILDERNESS ADDI-5

TIONS.— 6

‘‘(A) LIBERTY BELL AND LAST DOLLAR AD-7

DITIONS.—Certain Federal land in the Grand 8

Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National 9

Forests comprising approximately 7,235 acres, 10

as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘Pro-11

posed Liberty Bell and Last Dollar Additions to 12

the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness, Liberty Bell East 13

Special Management Area’ and dated September 14

6, 2018, which is incorporated in, and shall be 15

administered as part of, the Mount Sneffels Wil-16

derness. 17

‘‘(B) WHITEHOUSE ADDITIONS.—Certain 18

Federal land in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, 19

and Gunnison National Forests comprising ap-20

proximately 12,465 acres, as generally depicted 21

on the map entitled ‘Proposed Whitehouse Addi-22

tions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness’ and dated 23

September 6, 2018, which is incorporated in, 24


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and shall be administered as part of, the Mount 1

Sneffels Wilderness. 2

‘‘(29) MCKENNA PEAK WILDERNESS.—Certain 3

Federal land in the State of Colorado comprising ap-4

proximately 8,884 acres of Bureau of Land Manage-5

ment land, as generally depicted on the map entitled 6

‘Proposed McKenna Peak Wilderness Area’ and dated 7

September 18, 2018, to be known as the ‘McKenna 8

Peak Wilderness’.’’. 9

SEC. 203. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREAS. 10

(a) DESIGNATION.— 11

(1) SHEEP MOUNTAIN SPECIAL MANAGEMENT 12

AREA.—The Federal land in the Grand Mesa, 13

Uncompahgre, and Gunnison and San Juan National 14

Forests in the State comprising approximately 21,663 15

acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Pro-16

posed Sheep Mountain Special Management Area’’ 17

and dated September 19, 2018, is designated as the 18

‘‘Sheep Mountain Special Management Area’’. 19

(2) LIBERTY BELL EAST SPECIAL MANAGEMENT 20

AREA.—The Federal land in the Grand Mesa, 21

Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests in the 22

State comprising approximately 792 acres, as gen-23

erally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Liberty 24

Bell and Last Dollar Additions to the Mt. Sneffels 25


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Wilderness, Liberty Bell East Special Management 1

Area’’ and dated September 6, 2018, is designated as 2

the ‘‘Liberty Bell East Special Management Area’’. 3

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Special Manage-4

ment Areas is to conserve and protect for the benefit and 5

enjoyment of present and future generations the geological, 6

cultural, archaeological, paleontological, natural, scientific, 7

recreational, wilderness, wildlife, riparian, historical, edu-8

cational, and scenic resources of the Special Management 9

Areas. 10



the Special Management Areas in a manner that— 13

(A) conserves, protects, and enhances the re-14

sources and values of the Special Management 15

Areas described in subsection (b); 16

(B) subject to paragraph (3), maintains or 17

improves the wilderness character of the Special 18

Management Areas and the suitability of the 19

Special Management Areas for potential inclu-20

sion in the National Wilderness Preservation 21

System; and 22

(C) is in accordance with— 23

(i) the National Forest Management 24

Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 25


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(ii) this title; and 1

(iii) any other applicable laws. 2

(2) PROHIBITIONS.—The following shall be pro-3

hibited in the Special Management Areas: 4

(A) Permanent roads. 5

(B) Except as necessary to meet the min-6

imum requirements for the administration of the 7

Federal land, to provide access for abandoned 8

mine cleanup, and to protect public health and 9

safety— 10

(i) the use of motor vehicles, motorized 11

equipment, or mechanical transport (other 12

than as provided in paragraph (3)); and 13

(ii) the establishment of temporary 14

roads. 15

(3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 16

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 17

allow any activities (including helicopter access 18

for recreation and maintenance and the competi-19

tive running event permitted since 1992) that 20

have been authorized by permit or license as of 21

the date of enactment of this Act to continue 22

within the Special Management Areas, subject to 23

such terms and conditions as the Secretary may 24

require. 25


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(B) PERMITTING.—The designation of the 1

Special Management Areas by subsection (a) 2

shall not affect the issuance of permits relating 3

to the activities covered under subparagraph (A) 4

after the date of enactment of this Act. 5

(C) BICYCLES.—The Secretary may permit 6

the use of bicycles in— 7

(i) the portion of the Sheep Mountain 8

Special Management Area identified as 9

‘‘Ophir Valley Area’’ on the map entitled 10

‘‘Proposed Sheep Mountain Special Man-11

agement Area’’ and dated September 19, 12

2018; and 13

(ii) the portion of the Liberty Bell 14

East Special Management Area identified 15

as ‘‘Liberty Bell Corridor’’ on the map enti-16

tled ‘‘Proposed Liberty Bell and Last Dollar 17

Additions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness, 18

Liberty Bell East Special Management 19

Area’’ and dated September 6, 2018. 20

(d) APPLICABLE LAW.—Water and water rights in the 21

Special Management Areas shall be administered in accord-22

ance with section 8 of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 23

(Public Law 103–77; 107 Stat. 762), except that, for pur-24

poses of this Act— 25


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(1) any reference contained in that section to 1

‘‘the lands designated as wilderness by this Act’’, ‘‘the 2

Piedra, Roubideau, and Tabeguache areas identified 3

in section 9 of this Act, or the Bowen Gulch Protec-4

tion Area or the Fossil Ridge Recreation Management 5

Area identified in sections 5 and 6 of this Act’’, or 6

‘‘the areas described in sections 2, 5, 6, and 9 of this 7

Act’’ shall be considered to be a reference to ‘‘the Spe-8

cial Management Areas’’; and 9

(2) any reference contained in that section to 10

‘‘this Act’’ shall be considered to be a reference to ‘‘the 11

Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act’’. 12

SEC. 204. RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS. 13

(a) DOMINGUEZ CANYON WILDERNESS STUDY 14

AREA.—Subtitle E of title II of Public Law 111–11 is 15

amended— 16

(1) by redesignating section 2408 (16 U.S.C. 17

460zzz–7) as section 2409; and 18

(2) by inserting after section 2407 (16 U.S.C. 19

460zzz–6) the following: 20

‘‘SEC. 2408. RELEASE. 21

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that, for the pur-22

poses of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Man-23

agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)), the portions of 24

the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Study Area not des-25


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ignated as wilderness by this subtitle have been adequately 1

studied for wilderness designation. 2

‘‘(b) RELEASE.—Any public land referred to in sub-3

section (a) that is not designated as wilderness by this sub-4

title— 5

‘‘(1) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the 6

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 7

(43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 8

‘‘(2) shall be managed in accordance with this 9

subtitle and any other applicable laws.’’. 10

(b) MCKENNA PEAK WILDERNESS STUDY AREA.— 11

(1) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that, for the 12

purposes of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy 13

and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)), the 14

portions of the McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area 15

in San Miguel County in the State not designated as 16

wilderness by paragraph (29) of section 2(a) of the 17

Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 18

note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by section 202) 19

have been adequately studied for wilderness designa-20

tion. 21

(2) RELEASE.—Any public land referred to in 22

paragraph (1) that is not designated as wilderness by 23

paragraph (29) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wil-24


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derness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 1

103–77) (as added by section 202)— 2

(A) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of 3

the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 4

1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 5

(B) shall be managed in accordance with 6

applicable laws. 7

SEC. 205. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 8

(a) FISH AND WILDLIFE.—Nothing in this title affects 9

the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with respect 10

to fish and wildlife in the State. 11

(b) NO BUFFER ZONES.— 12

(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title estab-13

lishes a protective perimeter or buffer zone around 14

covered land. 15

(2) ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE WILDERNESS.—The fact 16

that a nonwilderness activity or use on land outside 17

of the covered land can be seen or heard from within 18

covered land shall not preclude the activity or use 19

outside the boundary of the covered land. 20

(c) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 21

(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 22

the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary or the 23

Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, shall file a 24

map and a legal description of each wilderness area 25


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designated by paragraphs (27) through (29) of section 1

2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 2

U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by 3

section 202) and the Special Management Areas 4

with— 5

(A) the Committee on Natural Resources of 6

the House of Representatives; and 7

(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 8

Resources of the Senate. 9

(2) FORCE OF LAW.—Each map and legal de-10

scription filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 11

same force and effect as if included in this title, ex-12

cept that the Secretary or the Secretary of the Inte-13

rior, as appropriate, may correct any typographical 14

errors in the maps and legal descriptions. 15

(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and legal 16

description filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file 17

and available for public inspection in the appropriate 18

offices of the Bureau of Land Management and the 19

Forest Service. 20

(d) ACQUISITION OF LAND.— 21

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Sec-22

retary of the Interior, as appropriate, may acquire 23

any land or interest in land within the boundaries of 24

a Special Management Area or the wilderness des-25


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ignated under paragraphs (27) through (29) of section 1

2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 2

U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by 3

section 202) only through exchange, donation, or pur-4

chase from a willing seller. 5

(2) MANAGEMENT.—Any land or interest in land 6

acquired under paragraph (1) shall be incorporated 7

into, and administered as a part of, the wilderness or 8

Special Management Area in which the land or inter-9

est in land is located. 10

(e) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock on covered 11

land, if established before the date of enactment of this Act, 12

shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable reg-13

ulations as are considered to be necessary by the Secretary 14

with jurisdiction over the covered land, in accordance 15

with— 16

(1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 17

U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 18

(2) the applicable guidelines set forth in Appen-19

dix A of the report of the Committee on Interior and 20

Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives ac-21

companying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. 22

Rept. 101–405) or H.R. 5487 of the 96th Congress 23

(H. Rept. 96–617). 24


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(f) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—In accordance 1

with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 2

1133(d)(1)), the Secretary with jurisdiction over a wilder-3

ness area designated by paragraphs (27) through (29) of 4

section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 5

U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by section 6

202) may carry out any activity in the wilderness area that 7

the Secretary determines to be necessary for the control of 8

fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such terms and condi-9

tions as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 10

(g) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in existence 11

on the date of enactment of this Act, the covered land and 12

the approximately 6,590 acres generally depicted on the 13

map entitled ‘‘Proposed Naturita Canyon Mineral With-14

drawal Area’’ and dated September 6, 2018, is withdrawn 15

from— 16


public land laws; 18

(2) location, entry, and patent under mining 19

laws; and 20



TITLE III—THOMPSON DIVIDE 23

SEC. 301. PURPOSES. 24

The purposes of this title are— 25


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(1) subject to valid existing rights, to withdraw 1

certain Federal land in the Thompson Divide area 2

from mineral and other disposal laws; and 3

(2) to promote the capture of fugitive methane 4

emissions that would otherwise be emitted into the at-5

mosphere— 6

(A) to reduce methane gas emissions; and 7

(B) to provide— 8

(i) new renewable electricity supplies 9

and other beneficial uses of fugitive methane 10

emissions; and 11

(ii) increased royalties for taxpayers. 12


In this title: 14

(1) FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS.—The term 15

‘‘fugitive methane emissions’’ means methane gas 16

from those Federal lands in Garfield, Gunnison, 17

Delta, or Pitkin County in the State generally de-18

picted on the pilot program map as ‘‘Fugitive Coal 19

Mine Methane Use Pilot Program Area’’ that would 20

leak or be vented into the atmosphere from an active, 21

inactive or abandoned underground coal mine. 22

(2) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot program’’ 23

means the Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal 24


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Mine Methane Use Pilot Program established by sec-1

tion 305(a)(1). 2

(3) PILOT PROGRAM MAP.—The term ‘‘pilot pro-3

gram map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Greater Thomp-4

son Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot 5

Program Area’’ and dated June 17, 2019. 6


the Secretary of the Interior. 8

(5) THOMPSON DIVIDE LEASE.— 9

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Thompson 10

Divide lease’’ means any oil or gas lease in effect 11

on the date of enactment of this Act within the 12

Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection 13

Area. 14

(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Thompson 15

Divide lease’’ does not include any oil or gas 16

lease that— 17

(i) is associated with a Wolf Creek 18

Storage Field development right; or 19

(ii) before the date of enactment of this 20

Act, has expired, been cancelled, or other-21

wise terminated. 22

(6) THOMPSON DIVIDE MAP.—The term ‘‘Thomp-23

son Divide map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Greater 24


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Thompson Divide Area Map’’ and dated June 13, 1

2019. 2

(7) THOMPSON DIVIDE WITHDRAWAL AND PRO-3

TECTION AREA.—The term ‘‘Thompson Divide With-4

drawal and Protection Area’’ means the Federal land 5

and minerals generally depicted on the Thompson Di-6

vide map as the ‘‘Thompson Divide Withdrawal and 7

Protection Area’’. 8

(8) WOLF CREEK STORAGE FIELD DEVELOPMENT 9

RIGHT.— 10

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Wolf Creek 11

Storage Field development right’’ means a devel-12

opment right for any of the Federal mineral 13

leases numbered COC 007496, COC 007497, 14

COC 007498, COC 007499, COC 007500, COC 15

007538, COC 008128, COC 015373, COC 16

0128018, COC 051645, and COC 051646, and 17

generally depicted on the Thompson Divide map 18

as ‘‘Wolf Creek Storage Agreement’’. 19

(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Wolf Creek 20

Storage Field development right’’ does not in-21

clude any storage right or related activity within 22

the area described in subparagraph (A). 23


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SEC. 303. THOMPSON DIVIDE WITHDRAWAL AND PROTEC-1

TION AREA. 2

(a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 3

the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area is 4

withdrawn from— 5


public land laws; 7

(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 8

laws; and 9



(b) SURVEYS.—The exact acreage and legal description 12

of the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area 13

shall be determined by surveys approved by the Secretary, 14

in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture. 15

SEC. 304. THOMPSON DIVIDE LEASE EXCHANGE. 16

(a) IN GENERAL.—In exchange for the relinquishment 17

by a leaseholder of all Thompson Divide leases of the lease-18

holder, the Secretary may issue to the leaseholder credits 19

for any bid, royalty, or rental payment due under any Fed-20

eral oil or gas lease on Federal land in the State, in accord-21

ance with subsection (b). 22

(b) AMOUNT OF CREDITS.— 23

(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the 24

amount of the credits issued to a leaseholder of a 25


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Thompson Divide lease relinquished under subsection 1

(a) shall— 2

(A) be equal to the sum of— 3

(i) the amount of the bonus bids paid 4

for the applicable Thompson Divide leases; 5

(ii) the amount of any rental paid for 6

the applicable Thompson Divide leases as of 7

the date on which the leaseholder submits to 8

the Secretary a notice of the decision to re-9

linquish the applicable Thompson Divide 10

leases; and 11

(iii) the amount of any expenses in-12

curred by the leaseholder of the applicable 13

Thompson Divide leases in the preparation 14

of any drilling permit, sundry notice, or 15

other related submission in support of the 16

development of the applicable Thompson Di-17

vide leases as of January 28, 2019, includ-18

ing any expenses relating to the preparation 19

of any analysis under the National Envi-20

ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 21

4321 et seq.); and 22

(B) require the approval of the Secretary. 23

(2) EXCLUSION.—The amount of a credit issued 24

under subsection (a) shall not include any expenses 25


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paid by the leaseholder of a Thompson Divide lease 1

for legal fees or related expenses for legal work with 2

respect to a Thompson Divide lease. 3

(c) CANCELLATION.—Effective on relinquishment 4

under this section, and without any additional action by 5

the Secretary, a Thompson Divide lease— 6

(1) shall be permanently cancelled; and 7

(2) shall not be reissued. 8

(d) CONDITIONS.— 9

(1) APPLICABLE LAW.—Except as otherwise pro-10

vided in this section, each exchange under this section 11

shall be conducted in accordance with— 12

(A) this Act; and 13

(B) other applicable laws (including regula-14

tions). 15

(2) ACCEPTANCE OF CREDITS.—The Secretary 16

shall accept credits issued under subsection (a) in the 17

same manner as cash for the payments described in 18

that subsection. 19

(3) APPLICABILITY.—The use of a credit issued 20

under subsection (a) shall be subject to the laws (in-21

cluding regulations) applicable to the payments de-22

scribed in that subsection, to the extent that the laws 23

are consistent with this section. 24


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(4) TREATMENT OF CREDITS.—All amounts in 1

the form of credits issued under subsection (a) accept-2

ed by the Secretary shall be considered to be amounts 3

received for the purposes of— 4

(A) section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 5

(30 U.S.C. 191); and 6

(B) section 20 of the Geothermal Steam Act 7

of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019). 8

(e) WOLF CREEK STORAGE FIELD DEVELOPMENT 9

RIGHTS.— 10

(1) CONVEYANCE TO SECRETARY.—As a condi-11

tion precedent to the relinquishment of a Thompson 12

Divide lease, any leaseholder with a Wolf Creek Stor-13

age Field development right shall permanently relin-14

quish, transfer, and otherwise convey to the Secretary, 15

in a form acceptable to the Secretary, all Wolf Creek 16

Storage Field development rights of the leaseholder. 17

(2) LIMITATION OF TRANSFER.—An interest ac-18

quired by the Secretary under paragraph (1)— 19

(A) shall be held in perpetuity; and 20

(B) shall not be— 21

(i) transferred; 22

(ii) reissued; or 23

(iii) otherwise used for mineral extrac-24

tion. 25


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SEC. 305. GREATER THOMPSON DIVIDE FUGITIVE COAL 1

MINE METHANE USE PILOT PROGRAM. 2

(a) FUGITIVE COAL MINE METHANE USE PILOT PRO-3

GRAM.— 4

(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 5

the Bureau of Land Management a pilot program, to 6

be known as the ‘‘Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive 7

Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program’’. 8

(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program 9

is to promote the capture, beneficial use, mitigation, 10

and sequestration of fugitive methane emissions— 11

(A) to reduce methane emissions; 12

(B) to promote economic development; 13

(C) to produce bid and royalty revenues; 14

(D) to improve air quality; and 15

(E) to improve public safety. 16

(3) PLAN.— 17

(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 18

after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-19

retary shall develop a plan— 20

(i) to complete an inventory of fugitive 21

methane emissions in accordance with sub-22

section (b); 23

(ii) to provide for the leasing of fugi-24

tive methane emissions in accordance with 25

subsection (c); and 26


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(iii) to provide for the capping or de-1

struction of fugitive methane emissions in 2

accordance with subsection (d). 3

(B) COORDINATION.—In developing the 4

plan under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 5

coordinate with— 6

(i) the State; 7

(ii) Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, and 8

Pitkin Counties in the State; 9

(iii) lessees of Federal coal within the 10

counties referred to in clause (ii); 11

(iv) interested institutions of higher 12

education in the State; and 13

(v) interested members of the public. 14

(b) FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSION INVENTORY.— 15

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 16

the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 17

complete an inventory of fugitive methane emissions. 18

(2) CONDUCT.—The Secretary may conduct the 19

inventory under paragraph (1) through, or in collabo-20

ration with— 21

(A) the Bureau of Land Management; 22

(B) the United States Geological Survey; 23

(C) the Environmental Protection Agency; 24

(D) the United States Forest Service; 25


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(E) State departments or agencies; 1

(F) Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, or Pitkin 2

County in the State; 3

(G) the Garfield County Federal Mineral 4

Lease District; 5

(H) institutions of higher education in the 6

State; 7

(I) lessees of Federal coal within a county 8

referred to in subparagraph (F); 9

(J) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 10

Administration; 11

(K) the National Center for Atmospheric 12

Research; or 13

(L) other interested entities, including mem-14

bers of the public. 15

(3) CONTENTS.—The inventory under paragraph 16

(1) shall include— 17

(A) the general location and geographic co-18

ordinates of each vent, seep, or other source pro-19

ducing significant fugitive methane emissions; 20

(B) an estimate of the volume and con-21

centration of fugitive methane emissions from 22

each source of significant fugitive methane emis-23

sions including details of measurements taken 24

and the basis for that emissions estimate; 25


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(C) an estimate of the total volume of fugi-1

tive methane emissions each year; 2

(D) relevant data and other information 3

available from— 4

(i) the Environmental Protection 5

Agency; 6

(ii) the Mine Safety and Health Ad-7

ministration; 8

(iii) Colorado Department of Natural 9

Resources; 10

(iv) Colorado Public Utility Commis-11

sion; 12

(v) Colorado Department of Health 13

and Environment; and 14

(vi) Office of Surface Mining Reclama-15

tion and Enforcement; and 16

(E) such other information as may be useful 17

in advancing the purposes of the pilot program. 18

(4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION; DISCLOSURE.— 19

(A) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 20

shall provide opportunities for public participa-21

tion in the inventory under this subsection. 22

(B) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 23

make the inventory under this subsection pub-24

licly available. 25


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(C) DISCLOSURE.—Nothing in this sub-1

section requires the Secretary to publicly release 2

information that— 3

(i) poses a threat to public safety; 4

(ii) is confidential business informa-5

tion; or 6

(iii) is otherwise protected from public 7

disclosure. 8

(5) USE.—The Secretary shall use the inventory 9

in carrying out— 10

(A) the leasing program under subsection 11

(c); and 12

(B) the capping or destruction of fugitive 13

methane emissions under subsection (d). 14

(c) FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSION LEASING PRO-15

GRAM.— 16

(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing 17

rights and in accordance with this section, not later 18

than 1 year after the date of completion of the inven-19

tory required under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 20

carry out a program to encourage the use and de-21

struction of fugitive methane emissions. 22

(2) FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS FROM COAL 23

MINES SUBJECT TO LEASE.— 24


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(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall au-1

thorize the holder of a valid existing Federal coal 2

lease for a mine that is producing fugitive meth-3

ane emissions to capture for use, or destroy by 4

flaring, the fugitive methane emissions. 5

(B) CONDITIONS.—The authority under 6

subparagraph (A) shall be— 7

(i) subject to valid existing rights; and 8

(ii) subject to such terms and condi-9

tions as the Secretary may require. 10

(C) LIMITATIONS.—The program carried 11

out under paragraph (1) shall only include fugi-12

tive methane emissions that can be captured for 13

use, or destroyed by flaring, in a manner that 14

does not— 15

(i) endanger the safety of any coal 16

mine worker; or 17

(ii) unreasonably interfere with any 18

ongoing operation at a coal mine. 19

(D) COOPERATION.— 20

(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 21

work cooperatively with the holders of valid 22

existing Federal coal leases for mines that 23

produce fugitive methane emissions to en-24

courage— 25


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(I) the capture of fugitive methane 1

emissions for beneficial use, such as 2

generating electrical power, producing 3

usable heat, transporting the methane 4

to market, transforming the fugitive 5

methane emissions into a different 6

marketable material; or 7

(II) if the beneficial use of the fu-8

gitive methane emissions is not fea-9

sible, the destruction of the fugitive 10

methane emissions by flaring. 11

(ii) GUIDANCE.—In furtherance of the 12

purposes of this paragraph, not later than 13

1 year after the date of enactment of this 14

Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance for 15

the implementation of Federal authorities 16

and programs to encourage the capture for 17

use, or destruction by flaring, of fugitive 18

methane emissions while minimizing im-19

pacts on natural resources or other public 20

interest values. 21

(E) ROYALTIES.—The Secretary shall deter-22

mine whether any fugitive methane emissions 23

used or destroyed pursuant to this paragraph are 24


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subject to the payment of a royalty under appli-1

cable law. 2

(3) FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS FROM ABAN-3

DONED COAL MINES.— 4

(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-5

vided in this section, notwithstanding section 6

303, subject to valid existing rights, and in ac-7

cordance with section 21 of the Mineral Leasing 8

Act (30 U.S.C. 241) and any other applicable 9

law, the Secretary shall— 10

(i) authorize the capture for use, or de-11

struction by flaring, of fugitive methane 12

emissions from abandoned coal mines on 13

Federal land; and 14

(ii) make available for leasing such fu-15

gitive methane emissions from abandoned 16

coal mines on Federal land as the Secretary 17

considers to be in the public interest. 18

(B) SOURCE.—To the maximum extent 19

practicable, the Secretary shall offer for lease 20

each significant vent, seep, or other source of fu-21

gitive methane emissions from abandoned coal 22

mines. 23

(C) BID QUALIFICATIONS.—A bid to lease 24

fugitive methane emissions under this paragraph 25


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shall specify whether the prospective lessee in-1

tends— 2

(i) to capture the fugitive methane 3

emissions for beneficial use, such as gener-4

ating electrical power, producing usable 5

heat, transporting the methane to market, 6

transforming the fugitive methane emissions 7

into a different marketable material; 8

(ii) to destroy the fugitive methane 9

emissions by flaring; or 10

(iii) to employ a specific combination 11

of— 12

(I) capturing the fugitive methane 13

emissions for beneficial use; and 14

(II) destroying the fugitive meth-15

ane emission by flaring. 16

(D) PRIORITY.— 17

(i) IN GENERAL.—If there is more than 18

1 qualified bid for a lease under this para-19

graph, the Secretary shall select the bid that 20

the Secretary determines is likely to most 21

significantly advance the public interest. 22

(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In deter-23

mining the public interest under clause (i), 24


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the Secretary shall take into consider-1

ation— 2

(I) the size of the overall decrease 3

in the time-integrated radiative forcing 4

of the fugitive methane emissions; 5

(II) the impacts to other natural 6

resource values, including wildlife, 7

water, and air; and 8

(III) other public interest values, 9

including scenic, economic, recreation, 10

and cultural values. 11

(E) LEASE FORM.— 12

(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 13

develop and provide to prospective bidders a 14

lease form for leases issued under this para-15

graph. 16

(ii) DUE DILIGENCE.—The lease form 17

developed under clause (i) shall include 18

terms and conditions requiring the leased 19

fugitive methane emissions to be put to ben-20

eficial use or flared by not later than 1 year 21

after the date of issuance of the lease. 22

(F) ROYALTY RATE.—The Secretary shall 23

develop a minimum bid and royalty rate for 24

leases under this paragraph to advance the pur-25


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poses of this section, to the maximum extent 1

practicable. 2

(d) SEQUESTRATION.—If, by not later than 4 years 3

after the date of enactment of this Act, any significant fugi-4

tive methane emissions from abandoned coal mines on Fed-5

eral land are not leased under subsection (c)(3), the Sec-6

retary shall, in accordance with applicable law, take all 7

reasonable measures— 8

(1) to cap those fugitive methane emissions at 9

the source in any case in which the cap will result 10

in the long-term sequestration of all or a significant 11

portion of the fugitive methane emissions; or 12

(2) if sequestration under paragraph (1) is not 13

feasible, destroy the fugitive methane emissions by 14

flaring. 15

(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 4 years 16

after the date of enactment of this Act the Secretary shall 17

submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 18

of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat-19

ural Resources of the Senate a report detailing— 20

(1) the economic and environmental impacts of 21

the pilot program, including information on in-22

creased royalties and estimates of avoided greenhouse 23

gas emissions; and 24


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(2) any recommendations by the Secretary on 1

whether the pilot program could be expanded geo-2

graphically to include other significant sources of fu-3

gitive methane emissions from coal mines. 4

SEC. 306. EFFECT. 5

Except as expressly provided in this title, nothing in 6

this title— 7

(1) expands, diminishes, or impairs any valid 8

existing mineral leases, mineral interest, or other 9

property rights wholly or partially within the 10

Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area, 11

including access to the leases, interests, rights, or land 12

in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and 13

local laws (including regulations); 14

(2) prevents the capture of methane from any ac-15

tive, inactive, or abandoned coal mine covered by this 16

title, in accordance with applicable laws; or 17

(3) prevents access to, or the development of, any 18

new or existing coal mine or lease in Delta or Gunni-19

son County in the State. 20

TITLE IV—CURECANTI 21

NATIONAL RECREATION AREA 22


In this title: 24


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(1) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map enti-1

tled ‘‘Curecanti National Recreation Area, Proposed 2

Boundary’’, numbered 616/100,485C, and dated Au-3

gust 11, 2016. 4

(2) NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.—The term 5

‘‘National Recreation Area’’ means the Curecanti Na-6

tional Recreation Area established by section 402(a). 7


the Secretary of the Interior. 9

SEC. 402. CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREATION AREA. 10

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Effective beginning on the ear-11

lier of the date on which the Secretary approves a request 12

under subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(I) and the date that is 1 year 13

after the date of enactment of this Act, there shall be estab-14

lished as a unit of the National Park System the Curecanti 15

National Recreation Area, in accordance with this Act, con-16

sisting of approximately 50,667 acres of land in the State, 17

as generally depicted on the map as ‘‘Curecanti National 18

Recreation Area Proposed Boundary’’. 19

(b) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map shall be on file 20

and available for public inspection in the appropriate of-21

fices of the National Park Service. 22

(c) ADMINISTRATION.— 23


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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall admin-1

ister the National Recreation Area in accordance 2

with— 3

(A) this title; and 4

(B) the laws (including regulations) gen-5

erally applicable to units of the National Park 6

System, including section 100101(a), chapter 7

1003, and sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, 8

and 102101 of title 54, United States Code. 9

(2) DAM, POWERPLANT, AND RESERVOIR MAN-10

AGEMENT AND OPERATIONS.— 11

(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title af-12

fects or interferes with the authority of the Sec-13

retary— 14

(i) to operate the Uncompahgre Valley 15

Reclamation Project under the reclamation 16

laws; 17

(ii) to operate the Wayne N. Aspinall 18

Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project 19

under the Act of April 11, 1956 (commonly 20

known as the ‘‘Colorado River Storage 21

Project Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.); or 22

(iii) under the Federal Water Project 23

Recreation Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–12 et seq.). 24

(B) RECLAMATION LAND.— 25


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(i) SUBMISSION OF REQUEST TO RE-1

TAIN ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION.—If, 2

before the date that is 1 year after the date 3

of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 4

of Reclamation submits to the Secretary a 5

request for the Commissioner of Reclama-6

tion to retain administrative jurisdiction 7

over the minimum quantity of land within 8

the land identified on the map as ‘‘Lands 9

withdrawn or acquired for Bureau of Rec-10

lamation projects’’ that the Commissioner of 11

Reclamation identifies as necessary for the 12

effective operation of Bureau of Reclama-13

tion water facilities, the Secretary may— 14

(I) approve, approve with modi-15

fications, or disapprove the request; 16

and 17

(II) if the request is approved 18

under subclause (I), make any modi-19

fications to the map that are necessary 20

to reflect that the Commissioner of Rec-21

lamation retains management author-22

ity over the minimum quantity of land 23

required to fulfill the reclamation mis-24

sion. 25


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(ii) TRANSFER OF LAND.— 1

(I) IN GENERAL.—Administrative 2

jurisdiction over the land identified on 3

the map as ‘‘Lands withdrawn or ac-4

quired for Bureau of Reclamation 5

projects’’, as modified pursuant to 6

clause (i)(II), if applicable, shall be 7

transferred from the Commissioner of 8

Reclamation to the Director of the Na-9

tional Park Service by not later than 10

the date that is 1 year after the date 11

of enactment of this Act. 12

(II) ACCESS TO TRANSFERRED 13

LAND.— 14

(aa) IN GENERAL.—Subject 15

to item (bb), the Commissioner of 16

Reclamation shall retain access to 17

the land transferred to the Direc-18

tor of the National Park Service 19

under subclause (I) for reclama-20

tion purposes, including for the 21

operation, maintenance, and ex-22

pansion or replacement of facili-23

ties. 24


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(bb) MEMORANDUM OF UN-1

DERSTANDING.—The terms of the 2

access authorized under item (aa) 3

shall be determined by a memo-4

randum of understanding entered 5

into between the Commissioner of 6

Reclamation and the Director of 7

the National Park Service not 8

later than 1 year after the date of 9

enactment of this Act. 10

(3) MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS.— 11

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 12

into management agreements, or modify man-13

agement agreements in existence on the date of 14

enactment of this Act, relating to the authority 15

of the Director of the National Park Service, the 16

Commissioner of Reclamation, the Director of the 17

Bureau of Land Management, or the Chief of the 18

Forest Service to manage Federal land within or 19

adjacent to the boundary of the National Recre-20

ation Area. 21

(B) STATE LAND.—The Secretary may 22

enter into cooperative management agreements 23

for any land administered by the State that is 24

within or adjacent to the National Recreation 25


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Area, in accordance with the cooperative man-1

agement authority under section 101703 of title 2

54, United States Code. 3

(4) RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES.— 4

(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided 5

in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall allow 6

boating, boating-related activities, hunting, and 7

fishing in the National Recreation Area in ac-8

cordance with applicable Federal and State laws. 9

(B) CLOSURES; DESIGNATED ZONES.— 10

(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, act-11

ing through the Superintendent of the Na-12

tional Recreation Area, may designate zones 13

in which, and establish periods during 14

which, no boating, hunting, or fishing shall 15

be permitted in the National Recreation 16

Area under subparagraph (A) for reasons of 17

public safety, administration, or compliance 18

with applicable laws. 19

(ii) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—Ex-20

cept in the case of an emergency, any clo-21

sure proposed by the Secretary under clause 22

(i) shall not take effect until after the date 23

on which the Superintendent of the Na-24

tional Recreation Area consults with— 25


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(I) the appropriate State agency 1

responsible for hunting and fishing ac-2

tivities; and 3

(II) the Board of County Commis-4

sioners in each county in which the 5

zone is proposed to be designated. 6

(5) LANDOWNER ASSISTANCE.—On the written 7

request of an individual that owns private land lo-8

cated not more than 3 miles from the boundary of the 9

National Recreation Area, the Secretary may work in 10

partnership with the individual to enhance the long- 11

term conservation of natural, cultural, recreational, 12

and scenic resources in and around the National 13

Recreation Area— 14

(A) by acquiring all or a portion of the pri-15

vate land or interests in private land located not 16

more than 3 miles from the boundary of the Na-17

tional Recreation Area by purchase, exchange, or 18

donation, in accordance with section 403; 19

(B) by providing technical assistance to the 20

individual, including cooperative assistance; 21

(C) through available grant programs; and 22

(D) by supporting conservation easement 23

opportunities. 24


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(6) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing 1

rights, all Federal land within the National Recre-2

ation Area is withdrawn from— 3

(A) entry, appropriation, and disposal 4

under the public land laws; 5

(B) location, entry, and patent under the 6

mining laws; and 7

(C) operation of the mineral leasing, min-8

eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 9

(7) GRAZING.— 10

(A) STATE LAND SUBJECT TO A STATE 11

GRAZING LEASE.— 12

(i) IN GENERAL.—If State land ac-13

quired under this title is subject to a State 14

grazing lease in effect on the date of acqui-15

sition, the Secretary shall allow the grazing 16

to continue for the remainder of the term of 17

the lease, subject to the related terms and 18

conditions of user agreements, including 19

permitted stocking rates, grazing fee levels, 20

access rights, and ownership and use of 21

range improvements. 22

(ii) ACCESS.—A lessee of State land 23

may continue its use of established routes 24

within the National Recreation Area to ac-25


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cess State land for purposes of admin-1

istering the lease if the use was permitted 2

before the date of enactment of this Act, sub-3

ject to such terms and conditions as the Sec-4

retary may require. 5

(B) STATE AND PRIVATE LAND.—The Sec-6

retary may, in accordance with applicable laws, 7

authorize grazing on land acquired from the 8

State or private landowners under section 403, if 9

grazing was established before the date of acqui-10

sition. 11

(C) PRIVATE LAND.—On private land ac-12

quired under section 403 for the National Recre-13

ation Area on which authorized grazing is occur-14

ring before the date of enactment of this Act, the 15

Secretary, in consultation with the lessee, may 16

allow the continuation and renewal of grazing 17

on the land based on the terms of acquisition or 18

by agreement between the Secretary and the les-19

see, subject to applicable law (including regula-20

tions). 21

(D) FEDERAL LAND.—The Secretary 22

shall— 23

(i) allow, consistent with the grazing 24

leases, uses, and practices in effect as of the 25


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date of enactment of this Act, the continu-1

ation and renewal of grazing on Federal 2

land located within the boundary of the Na-3

tional Recreation Area on which grazing is 4

allowed before the date of enactment of this 5

Act, unless the Secretary determines that 6

grazing on the Federal land would present 7

unacceptable impacts (as defined in section 8

1.4.7.1 of the National Park Service docu-9

ment entitled ‘‘Management Policies 2006: 10

The Guide to Managing the National Park 11

System’’) to the natural, cultural, rec-12

reational, and scenic resource values and 13

the character of the land within the Na-14

tional Recreation Area; and 15

(ii) retain all authorities to manage 16

grazing in the National Recreation Area. 17

(E) TERMINATION OF LEASES.—Within the 18

National Recreation Area, the Secretary may— 19

(i) accept the voluntary termination of 20

a lease or permit for grazing; or 21

(ii) in the case of a lease or permit va-22

cated for a period of 3 or more years, termi-23

nate the lease or permit. 24

(8) WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this title— 25


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(A) affects any use or allocation in existence 1

on the date of enactment of this Act of any 2

water, water right, or interest in water; 3

(B) affects any vested absolute or decreed 4

conditional water right in existence on the date 5

of enactment of this Act, including any water 6

right held by the United States; 7

(C) affects any interstate water compact in 8

existence on the date of enactment of this Act; 9

(D) authorizes or imposes any new reserved 10

Federal water right; or 11

(E) shall be considered to be a relinquish-12

ment or reduction of any water right reserved or 13

appropriated by the United States in the State 14

on or before the date of enactment of this Act. 15

(9) FISHING EASEMENTS.— 16

(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title di-17

minishes or alters the fish and wildlife program 18

for the Aspinall Unit developed under section 8 19

of the Act of April 11, 1956 (commonly known 20

as the ‘‘Colorado River Storage Project Act’’) (70 21

Stat. 110, chapter 203; 43 U.S.C. 620g), by the 22

United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bu-23

reau of Reclamation, and the Colorado Division 24

of Wildlife (including any successor in interest to 25


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that division) that provides for the acquisition of 1

public access fishing easements as mitigation for 2

the Aspinall Unit (referred to in this paragraph 3

as the ‘‘program’’). 4

(B) ACQUISITION OF FISHING EASE-5

MENTS.—The Secretary shall continue to fulfill 6

the obligation of the Secretary under the pro-7

gram to acquire 26 miles of class 1 public fish-8

ing easements to provide to sportsmen access for 9

fishing within the Upper Gunnison Basin up-10

stream of the Aspinall Unit, subject to the condi-11

tion that no existing fishing access downstream 12

of the Aspinall Unit shall be counted toward the 13

minimum mileage requirement under the pro-14

gram. 15

(C) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the 16

date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 17

shall— 18

(i) develop a plan for fulfilling the ob-19

ligation of the Secretary described in sub-20

paragraph (B); and 21

(ii) submit to Congress a report that— 22

(I) includes the plan developed 23

under clause (i); and 24


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(II) describes any progress made 1

in the acquisition of public access fish-2

ing easements as mitigation for the 3

Aspinall Unit under the program. 4

SEC. 403. ACQUISITION OF LAND; BOUNDARY MANAGE-5

MENT. 6

(a) ACQUISITION.— 7

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire 8

any land or interest in land within the boundary of 9

the National Recreation Area. 10

(2) MANNER OF ACQUISITION.— 11

(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph 12

(B), land described in paragraph (1) may be ac-13

quired under this subsection by— 14

(i) donation; 15

(ii) purchase from willing sellers with 16

donated or appropriated funds; 17

(iii) transfer from another Federal 18

agency; or 19

(iv) exchange. 20

(B) STATE LAND.—Land or interests in 21

land owned by the State or a political subdivi-22

sion of the State may only be acquired by pur-23

chase, donation, or exchange. 24

(b) TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION.— 25


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(1) FOREST SERVICE LAND.— 1

(A) IN GENERAL.—Administrative jurisdic-2

tion over the approximately 2,560 acres of land 3

identified on the map as ‘‘U.S. Forest Service 4

proposed transfer to the National Park Service’’ 5

is transferred to the Secretary, to be adminis-6

tered by the Director of the National Park Serv-7

ice as part of the National Recreation Area. 8

(B) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The bound-9

ary of the Gunnison National Forest shall be ad-10

justed to exclude the land transferred to the Sec-11

retary under subparagraph (A). 12

(2) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND.—Ad-13

ministrative jurisdiction over the approximately 14

5,040 acres of land identified on the map as ‘‘Bureau 15

of Land Management proposed transfer to National 16

Park Service’’ is transferred from the Director of the 17

Bureau of Land Management to the Director of the 18

National Park Service, to be administered as part of 19

the National Recreation Area. 20

(3) WITHDRAWAL.—Administrative jurisdiction 21

over the land identified on the map as ‘‘Proposed for 22

transfer to the Bureau of Land Management, subject 23

to the revocation of Bureau of Reclamation with-24

drawal’’ shall be transferred to the Director of the Bu-25


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reau of Land Management on relinquishment of the 1

land by the Bureau of Reclamation and revocation by 2

the Bureau of Land Management of any withdrawal 3

as may be necessary. 4

(c) POTENTIAL LAND EXCHANGE.— 5

(1) IN GENERAL.—The withdrawal for reclama-6

tion purposes of the land identified on the map as 7

‘‘Potential exchange lands’’ shall be relinquished by 8

the Commissioner of Reclamation and revoked by the 9

Director of the Bureau of Land Management and the 10

land shall be transferred to the National Park Serv-11

ice. 12

(2) EXCHANGE; INCLUSION IN NATIONAL RECRE-13

ATION AREA.—On transfer of the land described in 14

paragraph (1), the transferred land— 15

(A) may be exchanged by the Secretary for 16

private land described in section 402(c)(5)— 17

(i) subject to a conservation easement 18

remaining on the transferred land, to pro-19

tect the scenic resources of the transferred 20

land; and 21

(ii) in accordance with the laws (in-22

cluding regulations) and policies governing 23

National Park Service land exchanges; and 24


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(B) if not exchanged under subparagraph 1

(A), shall be added to, and managed as a part 2

of, the National Recreation Area. 3

(d) ADDITION TO NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.—Any 4

land within the boundary of the National Recreation Area 5

that is acquired by the United States shall be added to, and 6

managed as a part of, the National Recreation Area. 7

SEC. 404. GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN. 8

Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds 9

are made available to carry out this title, the Director of 10

the National Park Service, in consultation with the Com-11

missioner of Reclamation, shall prepare a general manage-12

ment plan for the National Recreation Area in accordance 13

with section 100502 of title 54, United States Code. 14

SEC. 405. BOUNDARY SURVEY. 15

The Secretary (acting through the Director of the Na-16

tional Park Service) shall prepare a boundary survey and 17

legal description of the National Recreation Area. 18


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Union C

alendar No. 179

11

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Union Calendar No. 179 CONGRESS S H. R. 823IB Union Calendar No. 179 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H....

Documents

Transcript of Union Calendar No. 179 CONGRESS S H. R. 823IB Union Calendar No. 179 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H....