Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 241 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2019 Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 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. 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 4 ‘‘Colorado 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. Findings. Sec. 3. Definition of State. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 241 IS TITLE I—CONTINENTAL DIVIDE Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Colorado Wilderness additions. Sec. 103. Williams Fork Wilderness. Sec. 104. Tenmile Recreation Management Area. Sec. 105. Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area. Sec. 106. Williams Fork Wildlife Conservation Area. Sec. 107. Camp Hale National Historic Landscape. Sec. 108. White River National Forest boundary modification. Sec. 109. Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness boundary adjustment. Sec. 110. Arapaho National Forest boundary adjustment. Sec. 111. Bolts Ditch access and use. Sec. 112. Administrative provisions. TITLE II—SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS Sec. 201. Short title. Sec. 202. Definitions. Sec. 203. Additions to National Wilderness Preservation System. Sec. 204. Special Management Areas. Sec. 205. Release of Wilderness Study Areas. Sec. 206. Administrative provisions. TITLE III—THOMPSON DIVIDE Sec. 301. Purposes. Sec. 302. Definitions. Sec. 303. Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area. Sec. 304. Thompson Divide lease exchange. Sec. 305. Methane leasing in Lower North Fork Valley. Sec. 306. Effect. TITLE IV—CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREATION AREA Sec. 401. Definitions. Sec. 402. Curecanti National Recreation Area. Sec. 403. Acquisition of land; boundary management. Sec. 404. General management plan. Sec. 405. Boundary survey. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds that— 2 (1) Coloradans value public land and have a 3 long and proud history of balanced, varied, sustain- 4 able use of public land for agriculture, energy devel- 5 opment, recreation, and other purposes; 6 (2) public land— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 241 IS (A) is an essential part of the Colorado 1 way of life and what makes the State a desir- 2 able place to live, work, and visit; and 3 (B) provides for— 4 (i) a clean water supply; 5 (ii) access to recreational opportuni- 6 ties, including hiking, backpacking, camp- 7 ing, mountain biking, skiing, climbing, 8 snowmobiling, off-highway vehicle travel, 9 and rafting; 10 (iii) high-quality wildlife habitat and 11 migration corridors that support at-risk 12 species and big game animals important to 13 hunters and anglers across the United 14 States; and 15 (iv) grazing land that supports the ag- 16 ricultural economy of the State; 17 (3) outdoor recreation on public land is a key 18 component of the economy of the State, supporting 19 large and small businesses and communities state- 20 wide; 21 (4) according to the Outdoor Industry Associa- 22 tion— 23 (A) 71 percent of Colorado residents par- 24 ticipate in outdoor recreation each year; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 241 IS (B) in Colorado, outdoor recreation gen- 1 erates— 2 (i) $28,000,000,000 in consumer 3 spending annually; 4 (ii) 229,000 direct jobs; 5 (iii) $9,700,000,000 in wages and sal- 6 aries; and 7 (iv) $2,000,000,000 in State and local 8 tax revenue; 9 (5) the wilderness, conservation, and recreation 10 areas in this Act will— 11 (A) protect— 12 (i) 3 highly visible mountain peaks 13 with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet 14 (commonly known as ‘‘Fourteeners’’), in- 15 cluding Mt. Sneffels, Wilson Peak, and 16 Quandary Peak; and 17 (ii) many well-known smaller peaks; 18 (B) preserve iconic landscapes across Colo- 19 rado; 20 (C) conserve important wildlife habitat; 21 (D) safeguard important watersheds that 22 provide many communities a supply of clean 23 drinking water; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 241 IS (E) protect valuable, high-quality land for 1 biking, skiing, and other road- and trail-based 2 recreation; and 3 (F) provide access to world-class hunting 4 and fishing opportunities; 5 (6) the Camp Hale National Historic Land- 6 scape designation honors the legacy of the 10th 7 Mountain Division, the members of which— 8 (A) trained at Camp Hale; 9 (B) contributed to the United States vic- 10 tory during World War II; and 11 (C) went on to help create the modern out- 12 door industry in Colorado, including several 13 iconic Colorado ski areas; 14 (7) the Thompson Divide in western Colorado— 15 (A) supports a robust agriculture-based 16 economy; 17 (B) provides outstanding recreation and 18 hunting opportunities to the public; 19 (C) serves as important spring and sum- 20 mer grazing land for ranching operations; and 21 (D) was described by President Theodore 22 Roosevelt as a ‘‘great, wild country’’; 23 (8) the National Park Service has formally rec- 24 ommended that Congress legislatively establish 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 241 IS Curecanti as a National Recreation Area with a new 1 legislative boundary; 2 (9) Curecanti National Recreation Area— 3 (A) includes an abundance of natural fea- 4 tures in a setting of reservoirs, canyons, pin- 5 nacles, cliffs, and mesas; 6 (B) includes Blue Mesa Reservoir, the 7 largest body of water entirely contained in Colo- 8 rado and home to an outstanding fishery; 9 (C) offers the public outstanding opportu- 10 nities for recreation; and 11 (D) is 1 of the few remaining units of the 12 National Park Service that has never been leg- 13 islatively established by Congress; 14 (10) the provisions contained in this Act are the 15 result of years-long, locally driven, collaborative ef- 16 forts from a diverse set of stakeholders regarding 17 the management of public land in Colorado; and 18 (11) this Act will provide long-term certainty 19 for management of public land in Colorado, pro- 20 tecting the relevant areas in perpetuity for the ben- 21 efit of the people of the United States. 22 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF STATE. 23 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Col- 24 orado. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 241 IS TITLE I—CONTINENTAL DIVIDE 1 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 2 In this title: 3 (1) COVERED AREA.—The term ‘‘covered area’’ 4 means any area designated as wilderness by the 5 amendments to section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilder- 6 ness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 7 103–77) made by section 102(a). 8 (2) HISTORIC LANDSCAPE.—The term ‘‘His- 9 toric Landscape’’ means the Camp Hale National 10 Historic Landscape designated by section 107(a). 11 (3) RECREATION MANAGEMENT AREA.—The 12 term ‘‘Recreation Management Area’’ means the 13 Tenmile Recreation Management Area designated by 14 section 104(a). 15 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Agriculture. 17 (5) WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREA.—The 18 term ‘‘Wildlife Conservation Area’’ means, as appli- 19 cable— 20 (A) the Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Con- 21 servation Area designated by section 105(a); 22 and 23 (B) the Williams Fork Wildlife Conserva- 24 tion Area designated by section 106(a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 241 IS 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 3 103–77) 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 6,876 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Pro- 8 posed Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness Additions’ on the 9 map entitled ‘Proposed Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness 10 Additions’ and dated January 23, 2018,’’; 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 3,902 15 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed Megan 16 Dickie Wilderness Addition’ on the map entitled 17 ‘Holy Cross Wilderness Addition Proposal’ and 18 dated January 23, 2018, which shall be incorporated 19 into, and managed as part of, the Holy Cross Wil- 20 derness designated by section 102(a)(5) of Public 21 Law 96–560 (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 on the map entitled ‘Tenmile Pro- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 241 IS posal’ and dated January 23, 2018, which shall be 1 known as the ‘Hoosier Ridge Wilderness’. 2 ‘‘(25) TENMILE WILDERNESS.—Certain Federal 3 land within the White River National Forest that 4 comprises approximately 7,606 acres, as generally 5 depicted as ‘Proposed Tenmile Wilderness’ on the 6 map entitled ‘Tenmile Proposal’ and dated January 7 23, 2018, which shall be known as the ‘Tenmile Wil- 8 derness’. 9 ‘‘(26) EAGLES NEST WILDERNESS ADDI- 10 TIONS.—Certain Federal land within the White 11 River National Forest that comprises approximately 12 9,419 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed 13 Freeman Creek Wilderness Addition’ and ‘Proposed 14 Spraddle Creek Wilderness Addition’ on the map en- 15 titled ‘Eagles Nest Wilderness Additions Proposal’ 16 and dated January 23, 2018, which shall be incor- 17 porated into, and managed as part of, the Eagles 18 Nest Wilderness designated by Public Law 94–352 19 (90 Stat. 870).’’. 20 (b) APPLICABLE LAW.—Any reference in the Wilder- 21 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date 22 of that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the 23 date of enactment of this Act for purposes of admin- 24 istering a covered area. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 241 IS (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 nec- 4 essary for the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject 5 to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines 6 to be appropriate. 7 (d) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock on a covered 8 area, if established before the date of enactment of this 9 Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reason- 10 able regulations as are considered to be necessary by the 11 Secretary, 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 15 the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular 16 Affairs of the House of Representatives accom- 17 panying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 18 101–405). 19 (e) COORDINATION.—For purposes of administering 20 the Federal land designated as wilderness by paragraph 21 (26) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 22 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as 23 added by subsection (a)(2)), the Secretary shall, as deter- 24 mined to be appropriate for the protection of watersheds, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 241 IS coordinate the activities of the Secretary in response to 1 fires and flooding events with interested State and local 2 agencies, including operations using aircraft or mecha- 3 nized equipment. 4 SEC. 103. WILLIAMS FORK WILDERNESS. 5 (a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of 6 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain Fed- 7 eral land in the White River National Forest in the State, 8 comprising approximately 8,192 acres and generally de- 9 picted as ‘‘Proposed Williams Fork Wilderness’’ on the 10 map entitled ‘‘Williams Fork Proposal’’ and dated Janu- 11 ary 23, 2018, is designated as a potential wilderness area. 12 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing rights 13 and except as provided in subsection (d), the potential wil- 14 derness area designated by subsection (a) shall be man- 15 aged in accordance with— 16 (1) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 17 seq.); and 18 (2) this section. 19 (c) LIVESTOCK USE OF VACANT ALLOTMENTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 21 the date of enactment of this Act, in accordance 22 with applicable laws (including regulations), the Sec- 23 retary shall publish a determination regarding 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S241.IS S241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 241 IS whether to authorize livestock grazing or other use 1 by livestock on the vacant allotments known as— 2 (A) the ‘‘Big Hole Allotment’’; and 3 (B) the ‘‘Blue Ridge Allotment’’. 4 (2) MODIFICATION OF ALLOTMENTS.—In pub- 5 lishing a determination pursuant to paragraph (1), 6 the Secretary may modify or combine the vacant al- 7 lotments referred to in that paragraph. 8 (3) PERMIT OR OTHER AUTHORIZATION.—Not 9 later than 1 year after the date on which a deter- 10 mination of the Secretary to authorize livestock 11 grazing or other use by livestock is published under 12 paragraph (1), if applicable, the Secretary shall 13 grant a permit or other authorization for that live- 14 stock grazing [Text truncated for display. 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