Wyoming Public Lands Initiative Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1750 To redesignate land within certain wilderness study areas in the State of Wyoming, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To redesignate land within certain wilderness study areas in the State of Wyoming, and for other purposes. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wyoming Public Lands 4 Initiative Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 8 Bureau of Land Management. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1750 IS (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 1 means the Department of the Interior. 2 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 3 the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. 4 (4) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 5 means a situation that requires immediate action be- 6 cause of an imminent danger— 7 (A) to the health or safety of people; or 8 (B) of harm to property. 9 (5) RANGE IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘range 10 improvement’’ has the meaning given the term in 11 section 3 of the Public Rangelands Improvement Act 12 of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1902). 13 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 14 of Wyoming. 15 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF LAND IN CARBON COUNTY, WYO- 16 MING. 17 (a) DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS.— 18 (1) ENCAMPMENT RIVER CANYON WILDER- 19 NESS.— 20 (A) DESIGNATION.—In accordance with 21 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), 22 except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 23 land within the boundaries of the Encampment 24 River Canyon Wilderness Study Area is des- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1750 IS ignated as wilderness and as a component of 1 the National Wilderness Preservation System, 2 to be known as the ‘‘Encampment River Can- 3 yon Wilderness’’ (referred to in this paragraph 4 as the ‘‘Wilderness’’). 5 (B) EXCLUDED LAND.— 6 (i) DEFINITION OF WATER VALLEY 7 ROAD.—In this subparagraph, the term 8 ‘‘Water Valley Road’’ means the road in 9 Carbon County, Wyoming, that is 50 feet 10 wide and 17,340 feet long, consisting of 11 approximately 19.904 acres of land in T. 12 14 N., R. 84 W., including— 13 (I) in sec. 22, land in— 14 (aa) the NE1⁄4SW1⁄4; and 15 (bb) the S1⁄2SW1⁄4; 16 (II) in sec. 27, land in lots 4, 6, 17 and 7 of the NW1⁄4SW1⁄4; 18 (III) in sec. 28, land in lot 1 of 19 the NE1⁄4SE1⁄4; 20 (IV) in sec. 34, land in— 21 (aa) the S1⁄2NE1⁄4; and 22 (bb) the E1⁄2NW1⁄4; and 23 (V) in sec. 35, land in— 24 (aa) the N1⁄2SW1⁄4; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1750 IS (bb) the NW1⁄4SE1⁄4; and 1 (cc) the S1⁄2SE1⁄4. 2 (ii) LAND EXCLUDED FROM THE WIL- 3 DERNESS.—The following land is not in- 4 cluded in the Wilderness: 5 (I) Any land in the 6 NW1⁄4NW1⁄4NW1⁄4 sec. 24, T. 14 N., 7 R. 84 W. 8 (II) Any land within 50 feet of 9 the centerline of— 10 (aa) County Road 353; or 11 (bb) Water Valley Road. 12 (C) MAINTENANCE OF ROADS.—Necessary 13 maintenance or repairs to County Road 353 or 14 Water Valley Road (as defined in subparagraph 15 (B)) shall be permitted after the date of enact- 16 ment of this Act, consistent with the require- 17 ments of this subsection. 18 (D) WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION.— 19 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 20 days after the date of enactment of this 21 Act, the Director shall establish a fire sup- 22 pression plan for the protection of— 23 (I) any individual or structure 24 adjacent to the Wilderness; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1750 IS (II) the population centers of— 1 (aa) Encampment, Wyo- 2 ming; and 3 (bb) Riverside, Wyoming. 4 (ii) COORDINATION.—In carrying out 5 clause (i), the Director shall coordinate 6 with— 7 (I) the Wyoming State Forestry 8 Division; and 9 (II) Carbon County, Wyoming. 10 (2) PROSPECT MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS.— 11 (A) DESIGNATION.—In accordance with 12 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), 13 except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 14 land within the boundaries of the Prospect 15 Mountain Wilderness Study Area is designated 16 as wilderness and as a component of the Na- 17 tional Wilderness Preservation System, to be 18 known as the ‘‘Prospect Mountain Wilderness’’ 19 (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘‘Wilder- 20 ness’’). 21 (B) EXCLUDED LAND.—Any land within 22 100 feet of the centerline of Prospect Road is 23 not included in the Wilderness. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1750 IS (C) MAINTENANCE OF PROSPECT ROAD.— 1 Necessary maintenance or repairs to Prospect 2 Road shall be permitted after the date of enact- 3 ment of this Act, consistent with the require- 4 ments of this subsection. 5 (3) MANAGEMENT OF WILDERNESS AREAS.— 6 (A) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid 7 existing rights, the wilderness areas designated 8 in paragraphs (1) and (2) (referred to in this 9 paragraph as the ‘‘Wilderness Areas’’) shall be 10 administered by the Director in accordance 11 with— 12 (i) this paragraph; and 13 (ii) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 14 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in 15 that Act to the effective date of that Act 16 shall be considered to be a reference to the 17 date of enactment of this Act. 18 (B) GRAZING.—Grazing of livestock in the 19 Wilderness Areas, where established before the 20 date of enactment of this Act, shall be allowed 21 to continue in accordance with— 22 (i) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness 23 Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1750 IS (ii) the guidelines set forth in the re- 1 port of the Committee on Interior and In- 2 sular Affairs of the House of Representa- 3 tives accompanying H.R. 5487 of the 96th 4 Congress (H. Rept. 96–617); and 5 (iii) the guidelines set forth in appen- 6 dix A of the Report of the Committee on 7 Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany 8 H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. 9 Rept. 101–405). 10 (C) REVIEW OF POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND 11 REGULATIONS.— 12 (i) IN GENERAL.—To ensure that the 13 policies, practices, and regulations of the 14 Department conform to and implement the 15 intent of Congress regarding forest fires 16 and the outbreak of disease or insects, not 17 later than 180 days after the date of en- 18 actment of this Act, the Secretary of the 19 Interior shall review all policies, practices, 20 and regulations of the Department applica- 21 ble to the Wilderness Areas that pertain 22 to— 23 (I) wildland fires, including the 24 use of modern methods of fire sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1750 IS pression (including mechanical activ- 1 ity, as necessary); or 2 (II) the outbreak of disease or in- 3 sect populations. 4 (ii) REVISIONS.—On completion of the 5 review under clause (i), the Secretary of 6 the Interior shall revise or develop policies, 7 practices, and regulations for the Wilder- 8 ness Areas— 9 (I) to ensure the timely and effi- 10 cient control of fires, diseases, and in- 11 sects in the Wilderness Areas, in ac- 12 cordance with section 4(d)(1) of the 13 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 14 1133(d)(1)); and 15 (II) to provide, to the maximum 16 extent practicable, adequate protection 17 from forest fires, disease outbreaks, 18 and insect infestations to any Federal, 19 State, or private land adjacent to the 20 Wilderness Areas. 21 (b) DESIGNATION OF BENNETT MOUNTAINS SPE- 22 CIAL MANAGEMENT AREA.— 23 (1) DESIGNATION.—The land within the Ben- 24 nett Mountains Wilderness Study Area is designated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1750 IS as the ‘‘Bennett Mountains Special Management 1 Area’’ (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Special 2 Management Area’’). 3 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Special Manage- 4 ment Area shall be administered by the Director. 5 (3) ROADS; MOTORIZED VEHICLES.— 6 (A) ROADS.— 7 (i) PROHIBITION ON NEW PERMANENT 8 ROADS.—The construction of new perma- 9 nent roads in the Special Management 10 Area shall not be allowed. 11 (ii) TEMPORARY ROADS.—The Direc- 12 tor may authorize the construction of new 13 temporary roads to respond to an emer- 14 gency. 15 (B) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.—Except as 16 needed for administrative purposes, to respond 17 to an emergency, or to develop range improve- 18 ments, the use of motorized and mechanized ve- 19 hicles in the Special Management Area shall be 20 allowed only on existing roads and trails des- 21 ignated for the use of motorized or mechanized 22 vehicles by the travel management plan estab- 23 lished under subparagraph (C). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1750 IS (C) TRAVEL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not 1 later than 2 years after the date of enactment 2 of this Act, the Director shall establish a travel 3 management plan for the Special Management 4 Area. 5 (4) GRAZING.—Grazing of livestock in the Spe- 6 cial Management Area shall be administered— 7 (A) as a nondiscretionary use; and 8 (B) in accordance with the laws generally 9 applicable to land under the jurisdiction of the 10 Bureau, including— 11 (i) the Act of June 28, 1934 (com- 12 monly known as the ‘‘Taylor Grazing 13 Act’’) (48 Stat. 1269, chapter 865; 43 14 U.S.C. 315 et seq.); 15 (ii) the Federal Land Policy and Man- 16 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 17 seq.); and 18 (iii) the Public Rangelands Improve- 19 ment Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1901 et 20 seq.). 21 (5) FIRE MANAGEMENT AND SUPPRESSION.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 23 carry out fire management and suppression ac- 24 tivities in the Special Management Area in ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1750 IS cordance with the laws generally applicable to 1 land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau. 2 (B) REVIEW OF POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND 3 REGULATIONS.— 4 (i) IN GENERAL.—To ensure that the 5 policies, practices, and regulations of the 6 Bureau conform to and implement the in- 7 tent of Congress regarding forest fires, not 8 later than 180 days after the date of en- 9 actment of this Act, the Director shall re- 10 view all policies, practices, and regulations 11 of the Bureau applicable to the Special 12 Management Area that pertain to wildland 13 fires, including the use of modern methods 14 of fire suppression. 15 (ii) REVISION.—On completion of the 16 review under clause (i), the Director shall 17 revise or develop policies, practices, and 18 regulations for the Special Management 19 Area— 20 (I) to ensure the timely and effi- 21 cient control of fires in the Special 22 Management Area; and 23 (II) to provide, to the maximum 24 extent practicable, adequate protection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1750 IS from forest fires to any Federal, 1 State, or private land adjacent to the 2 Special Management Area. 3 (6) TIMBER HARVESTING.—Commercial timber 4 harvesting shall not be allowed in the Special Man- 5 agement Area. 6 (7) WITHDRAWAL.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 8 subparagraph (B), subject to valid rights in ex- 9 istence on the date of enactment of this Act, 10 the land within the boundaries of the Special 11 Management Area is withdrawn from— 12 (i) location, entry, and patent under 13 the mining laws; and 14 (ii) disposition under all laws relating 15 to mineral and geothermal leasing. 16 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of the In- 17 terior may lease oil and gas resources within 18 the boundaries of the Special Management Area 19 if— 20 (i) the lease may only be accessed by 21 directional drilling from a lease that is out- 22 side of the Special Management Area; and 23 (ii) the lease prohibits, without excep- 24 tion or waiver, surface occupancy and sur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1750 IS face disturbance within the Special Man- 1 agement Area for any activities, including 2 activities related to exploration, develop- 3 ment, or production. 4 (c) DESIGNATION OF BLACK CAT SPECIAL MANAGE- 5 MENT AREA.— 6 (1) DESIGNATION.—The land described in 7 paragraph (2) is designated as the ‘‘Black Cat Spe- 8 cial Management Area’’ (referred to in this sub- 9 section as the ‘‘Special Management Area’’). 10 (2) INCLUDED LAND.—The Special Manage- 11 ment Area shall consist of— 12 (A) the Federal land in T. 14 N., R. 81 13 W., sec. 35, that is managed by the Forest 14 Service; and 15 (B) the portions of T. 14 N., R. 81 W., 16 secs. 26, 35, and 36, that are south and west 17 of the North Platte River. 18 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Special Manage- 19 ment Area shall be administered by the Secretary of 20 Agriculture. 21 (4) ROADS; MOTORIZED VEHICLES.— 22 (A) ROADS.— 23 (i) PROHIBITION ON NEW PERMANENT 24 ROADS.—The construction of new perma- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1750.IS S1750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1750 IS nent roads in the Special Management 1 Area shall not be allowed. 2 (ii) TEMPORARY ROADS.—The Sec- 3 retary of Agriculture may authorize the 4 construction of new temporary roads to re- 5 spond to an emergency. 6 (B) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.—Except as 7 needed for administrative purposes, to respond 8 to an emergency, or to develop or maintain 9 range improvements, the Secretary of Agri- 10 culture shall prohibit the use of motorized and 11 mechanized vehicles in the S [Text truncated for display. 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