
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC460mmm-4]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
   CHAPTER 1--NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES
 
      SUBCHAPTER CXXIV--COLORADO CANYONS NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA
 
Sec. 460mmm-4. Management


(a) Conservation Area

    The Secretary shall manage the Conservation Area in a manner that--
        (1) conserves, protects, and enhances the resources of the 
    Conservation Area specified in section 460mmm(b) \1\ of this title; 
    and
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be section ``460mmm(a)''.
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        (2) is in accordance with--
            (A) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
        U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
            (B) other applicable law, including this subchapter.

(b) Uses

    The Secretary shall allow only such uses of the Conservation Area as 
the Secretary determines will further the purposes for which the 
Conservation Area is established.

(c) Withdrawals

    Subject to valid existing rights, all Federal land within the 
Conservation Area and the Wilderness and all land and interests in land 
acquired for the Conservation Area or the Wilderness by the United 
States are withdrawn from--
        (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 
    public land laws;
        (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
        (3) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and 
    geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments thereto.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect discretionary 
authority of the Secretary under other Federal laws to grant, issue, or 
renew rights-of-way or other land use authorizations consistent with the 
other provisions of this subchapter.

(d) Off-highway vehicle use

                           (1) In general

        Except as provided in paragraph (2), use of motorized vehicles 
    in the Conservation Area--
            (A) before the effective date of a management plan under 
        subsection (h) of this section, shall be allowed only on roads 
        and trails designated for use of motor vehicles in the 
        management plan that applies on October 24, 2000, to the public 
        lands in the Conservation Area; and
            (B) after the effective date of a management plan under 
        subsection (h) of this section, shall be allowed only on roads 
        and trails designated for use of motor vehicles in that 
        management plan.

            (2) Administrative and emergency response use

        Paragraph (1) shall not limit the use of motor vehicles in the 
    Conservation Area as needed for administrative purposes or to 
    respond to an emergency.

(e) Wilderness

    Subject to valid existing rights, lands designated as wilderness by 
this subchapter shall be managed by the Secretary, as appropriate, in 
accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this 
subchapter, except that, with respect to any wilderness areas designated 
by this subchapter, any reference in the Wilderness Act to the effective 
date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to October 
24, 2000.

(f) Hunting, trapping, and fishing

                           (1) In general

        Hunting, trapping, and fishing shall be allowed within the 
    Conservation Area and the Wilderness in accordance with applicable 
    laws and regulations of the United States and the States of Colorado 
    and Utah.

                     (2) Area and time closures

        The head of the Colorado Division of Wildlife (in reference to 
    land within the State of Colorado), the head of the Utah Division of 
    Wildlife (in reference to land within the State of Utah), or the 
    Secretary after consultation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife 
    (in reference to land within the State of Colorado) or the head of 
    the Utah Division of Wildlife (in reference to land within the State 
    of Utah), may issue regulations designating zones where, and 
    establishing limited periods when, hunting, trapping, or fishing 
    shall be prohibited in the Conservation Area or the Wilderness for 
    reasons of public safety, administration, or public use and 
    enjoyment.

(g) Grazing

                           (1) In general

        Except as provided by paragraph (2), the Secretary shall issue 
    and administer any grazing leases or permits in the Conservation 
    Area and the Wilderness in accordance with the same laws (including 
    regulations) and Executive orders followed by the Secretary in 
    issuing and administering grazing leases and permits on other land 
    under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

                      (2) Grazing in wilderness

        Grazing of livestock in the Wilderness shall be administered in 
    accordance with the provisions of section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness 
    Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), in accordance with the guidelines set 
    forth in Appendix A of House Report 101-405 of the 101st Congress.

(h) Management plan

                           (1) In general

        Not later than 3 years after October 24, 2000, the Secretary 
    shall develop a comprehensive management plan for the long-range 
    protection and management of the Conservation Area and the 
    Wilderness and the lands described in paragraph (2)(E).

                            (2) Purposes

        The management plan shall--
            (A) describe the appropriate uses and management of the 
        Conservation Area and the Wilderness;
            (B) take into consideration any information developed in 
        studies of the land within the Conservation Area or the 
        Wilderness;
            (C) provide for the continued management of the utility 
        corridor, Black Ridge Communications Site, and the Federal 
        Aviation Administration site as such for the land designated on 
        the Map as utility corridor, Black Ridge Communications Site, 
        and the Federal Aviation Administration site;
            (D) take into consideration the historical involvement of 
        the local community in the interpretation and protection of the 
        resources of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness, as well 
        as the Ruby Canyon/Black Ridge Integrated Resource Management 
        Plan, dated March 1998, which was the result of collaborative 
        efforts on the part of the Bureau of Land Management and the 
        local community; and
            (E) include all public lands between the boundary of the 
        Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado River and, on 
        such lands, the Secretary shall allow only such recreational or 
        other uses as are consistent with this subchapter.

(i) No buffer zones

    The Congress does not intend for the establishment of the 
Conservation Area or the Wilderness to lead to the creation of 
protective perimeters or buffer zones around the Conservation Area or 
the Wilderness. The fact that there may be activities or uses on lands 
outside the Conservation Area or the Wilderness that would not be 
allowed in the Conservation Area or the Wilderness shall not preclude 
such activities or uses on such lands up to the boundary of the 
Conservation Area or the Wilderness consistent with other applicable 
laws.

(j) Acquisition of land

                           (1) In general

        The Secretary may acquire non-federally owned land within the 
    exterior boundaries of the Conservation Area or the Wilderness only 
    through purchase from a willing seller, exchange, or donation.

                           (2) Management

        Land acquired under paragraph (1) shall be managed as part of 
    the Conservation Area or the Wilderness, as the case may be, in 
    accordance with this subchapter.

(k) Interpretive facilities or sites

    The Secretary may establish minimal interpretive facilities or sites 
in cooperation with other public or private entities as the Secretary 
considers appropriate. Any facilities or sites shall be designed to 
protect the resources referred to in section 460mmm(b) of this title.

(l) Water rights

                            (1) Findings

        Congress finds that--
            (A) the lands designated as wilderness by this subchapter 
        are located at the headwaters of the streams and rivers on those 
        lands, with few, if any, actual or proposed water resource 
        facilities located upstream from such lands and few, if any, 
        opportunities for diversion, storage, or other uses of water 
        occurring outside such lands that would adversely affect the 
        wilderness or other values of such lands;
            (B) the lands designated as wilderness by this subchapter 
        generally are not suitable for use for development of new water 
        resource facilities, or for the expansion of existing 
        facilities;
            (C) it is possible to provide for proper management and 
        protection of the wilderness and other values of such lands in 
        ways different from those utilized in other legislation 
        designating as wilderness lands not sharing the attributes of 
        the lands designated as wilderness by this subchapter.

                     (2) Statutory construction

        (A) Nothing in this subchapter shall constitute or be construed 
    to constitute either an express or implied reservation of any water 
    or water rights with respect to the lands designated as a national 
    conservation area or as wilderness by this subchapter.
        (B) Nothing in this subchapter shall affect any conditional or 
    absolute water rights in the State of Colorado existing on October 
    24, 2000.
        (C) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as 
    establishing a precedent with regard to any future national 
    conservation area or wilderness designations.
        (D) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as limiting, 
    altering, modifying, or amending any of the interstate compacts or 
    equitable apportionment decrees that apportion water among and 
    between the State of Colorado and other States.

                       (3) Colorado water law

        The Secretary shall follow the procedural and substantive 
    requirements of the law of the State of Colorado in order to obtain 
    and hold any new water rights with respect to the Conservation Area 
    and the Wilderness.

                          (4) New projects

        (A) As used in this paragraph, the term ``water resource 
    facility'' means irrigation and pumping facilities, reservoirs, 
    water conservation works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines, 
    wells, hydropower projects, and transmission and other ancillary 
    facilities, and other water diversion, storage, and carriage 
    structures. Such term does not include any such facilities related 
    to or used for the purpose of livestock grazing.
        (B) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (g) of this 
    section or other provisions of this subchapter, on and after October 
    24, 2000, neither the President nor any other officer, employee, or 
    agent of the United States shall fund, assist, authorize, or issue a 
    license or permit for the development of any new water resource 
    facility within the wilderness area designated by this subchapter.
        (C) Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this 
    subchapter shall be construed to affect or limit the use, operation, 
    maintenance, repair, modification, or replacement of water resource 
    facilities in existence on October 24, 2000, within the boundaries 
    of the Wilderness.

                 (5) Boundaries along Colorado River

        (A) Neither the Conservation Area nor the Wilderness shall 
    include any part of the Colorado River to the 100-year high water 
    mark.
        (B) Nothing in this subchapter shall affect the authority that 
    the Secretary may or may not have to manage recreational uses on the 
    Colorado River, except as such authority may be affected by 
    compliance with paragraph (3). Nothing in this subchapter shall be 
    construed to affect the authority of the Secretary to manage the 
    public lands between the boundary of the Conservation Area and the 
    edge of the Colorado River.
        (C) Subject to valid existing rights, all lands owned by the 
    Federal Government between the 100-year high water mark on each 
    shore of the Colorado River, as designated on the Map from the line 
    labeled ``Line A'' on the east to the boundary between the States of 
    Colorado and Utah on the west, are hereby withdrawn from--
            (i) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 
        public land laws;
            (ii) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
            (iii) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 
        materials, and geothermal leasing laws.

(Pub. L. 106-353, Sec. 6, Oct. 24, 2000, 114 Stat. 1375.)

                       References in Text

    The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, referred to in 
subsec. (a)(2)(A), is Pub. L. 94-579, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2743, as 
amended, which is classified principally to chapter 35 (Sec. 1701 et 
seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act 
to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1701 of Title 43 
and Tables.
    The public land laws, referred to in subsecs. (c)(1) and 
(l)(5)(C)(i), are classified generally to Title 43, Public Lands.
    The mining laws and the mineral leasing laws, referred to in 
subsecs. (c)(2), (3), (l)(5)(C)(ii), (iii), are classified generally to 
Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining.
    Geothermal leasing laws, referred to in subsecs. (c)(3) and 
(l)(5)(C)(iii), are classified principally to chapter 23 (Sec. 1001 et 
seq.) of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining.
    The Wilderness Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is Pub. L. 88-577, 
Sept. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 890, as amended, which is classified generally 
to chapter 23 (Sec. 1131 et seq.) of this title. For complete 
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out 
under section 1131 of this title and Tables.
    The effective date of the Wilderness Act, referred to in subsec.(e), 
means Sept. 3, 1964, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 88-577, which 
enacted chapter 23 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 460mmm-1, 460mmm-5 of this 
title.
