Montana Headwaters Legacy Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4926 To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain streams in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and Smith River system in the State of Montana as components of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 30, 2020 Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain streams in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and Smith River system in the State of Montana as compo- nents of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, 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 ‘‘Montana Headwaters 4 Legacy Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4926 IS (1) the streams designated as components of 1 the Wild and Scenic Rivers System by the amend- 2 ment made by section 4(a) are cherished by the peo- 3 ple of the State of Montana and visitors from across 4 the United States and around the world for their 5 clean water, abundant fish and wildlife, spectacular 6 natural settings, and outstanding recreational oppor- 7 tunities; 8 (2) Indian Tribes have used the streams re- 9 ferred to in paragraph (1) for hunting, fishing, gath- 10 ering, and other cultural purposes since time imme- 11 morial; 12 (3) recreational activities (including fishing, 13 hunting, camping, paddling, hiking, swimming, rock 14 climbing, horseback riding, and wildlife watching) on 15 the streams referred to in paragraph (1) and the 16 surrounding land generate billions of dollars annu- 17 ally for the economy of the State of Montana; 18 (4) the multi-billion dollar agricultural industry 19 in the State of Montana thrives on the availability 20 of clean water that originates in headwaters streams 21 on Federal public land; 22 (5) the streams referred to in paragraph (1)— 23 (A) are national treasures; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4926 IS (B) possess outstandingly remarkable val- 1 ues; and 2 (C) merit the high level of protection af- 3 forded by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 4 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.) in order to maintain the 5 benefits provided by the streams described in 6 paragraphs (1) through (3) for future genera- 7 tions to enjoy; and 8 (6) designation of select public land segments of 9 the streams referred to in paragraph (1) under the 10 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.) 11 would recognize the importance of maintaining the 12 values of each stream while— 13 (A) preserving public access; 14 (B) respecting private property rights; 15 (C) allowing appropriate maintenance of 16 existing infrastructure; and 17 (D) allowing historical uses to continue. 18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to des- 19 ignate certain segments and tributaries of the Missouri 20 River and Yellowstone River Headwaters in the State of 21 Montana as components of the National Wild and Scenic 22 Rivers System to preserve and protect for present and fu- 23 ture generations the outstandingly remarkable values of 24 each stream and tributary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4926 IS SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) COVERED SEGMENT.—The term ‘‘covered 3 segment’’ means a river segment designated by para- 4 graphs (231) through (247) of section 3(a) of the 5 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as 6 added by section 4(a)). 7 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 8 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 9 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 10 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 11 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 12 retary concerned’’ means— 13 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 14 spect to a covered segment under the jurisdic- 15 tion of the Secretary of the Interior; and 16 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 17 spect to a covered segment under the jurisdic- 18 tion of the Secretary of Agriculture. 19 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 20 of Montana. 21 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF WILD AND SCENIC RIVER SEG- 22 MENTS. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and Sce- 24 nic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding 25 at the end the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4926 IS ‘‘(231) SMITH RIVER, MONTANA.—The portion 1 of the Smith River consisting of the approximately 2 24-mile segment from the confluence of Tenderfoot 3 Creek downstream to the confluence of Deep Creek, 4 to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture 5 as a scenic river. 6 ‘‘(232) TENDERFOOT CREEK, MONTANA.—The 7 portion of Tenderfoot Creek consisting of the ap- 8 proximately 21-mile segment from the confluence 9 with Iron Mines Creek downstream to the confluence 10 with the Smith River, to be administered by the Sec- 11 retary of Agriculture as a scenic river. 12 ‘‘(233) GALLATIN RIVER, MONTANA.—The por- 13 tion of the Gallatin River in the State of Montana 14 consisting of the approximately 39-mile segment 15 from the Yellowstone National Park boundary down- 16 stream to the confluence of Spanish Creek, to be ad- 17 ministered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a rec- 18 reational river. 19 ‘‘(234) HYALITE CREEK, MONTANA.—The por- 20 tion of Hyalite Creek consisting of the approximately 21 6-mile segment from the source in the Gallatin 22 Range downstream to Hyalite Reservoir, to be ad- 23 ministered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a sce- 24 nic river. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4926 IS ‘‘(235) TAYLOR CREEK, MONTANA.—The por- 1 tion of Taylor Creek consisting of— 2 ‘‘(A) the approximately 3-mile segment 3 from the source in the Madison Range down- 4 stream to the Lee Metcalf Wilderness boundary, 5 to be administered by the Secretary of Agri- 6 culture as a wild river; and 7 ‘‘(B) the approximately 15-mile segment 8 from the Lee Metcalf Wilderness boundary 9 downstream to the Gallatin River, to be admin- 10 istered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a rec- 11 reational river, with the boundary of the cor- 12 ridor flowing through the private land of Nine 13 Quarter Circle Ranch being the ordinary high 14 water mark. 15 ‘‘(236) MADISON RIVER, MONTANA.—The por- 16 tions of the Madison River in the State of Montana, 17 consisting of— 18 ‘‘(A) the approximately 2-mile segment 19 from the Yellowstone National Park boundary 20 to the inlet in the Madison arm of Hebgen 21 Lake, to be administered by the Secretary of 22 Agriculture as a scenic river; 23 ‘‘(B) the approximately 11-mile segment 24 from 2,000 feet downstream of the Hebgen 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4926 IS Lake Dam downstream to the confluence of the 1 West Fork Madison River, to be administered 2 by the Secretary of Agriculture as a rec- 3 reational river; 4 ‘‘(C) the approximately 7-mile segment 5 from 800 feet downstream of Madison Dam 6 Powerhouse downstream to the Lee Metcalf 7 Wilderness boundary, to be administered by the 8 Secretary of the Interior as a wild river; and 9 ‘‘(D) the approximately 7-mile segment 10 from the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Boundary 11 downstream to the Bureau of Land Manage- 12 ment boundary at the Black’s Ford Fishing Ac- 13 cess Site, to be administered by the Secretary 14 of the Interior as a recreational river. 15 ‘‘(237) BEAR CREEK, MONTANA.—The portions 16 of Bear Creek consisting of— 17 ‘‘(A) the approximately 2-mile segment 18 from the source downstream to the Absaroka- 19 Beartooth Wilderness boundary, to be adminis- 20 tered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a wild 21 river; and 22 ‘‘(B) the approximately 7-mile segment 23 from the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness 24 boundary to the confluence with the Yellow- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4926 IS stone River, to be administered by the Sec- 1 retary of Agriculture as a recreational river. 2 ‘‘(238) BOULDER RIVER, MONTANA.—The por- 3 tions of the Boulder River consisting of— 4 ‘‘(A) the approximately 3-mile segment 5 from the source in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wil- 6 derness downstream to the Absaroka-Beartooth 7 Wilderness boundary, to be administered by the 8 Secretary of Agriculture as a wild river; and 9 ‘‘(B) the approximately 30-mile segment 10 from the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness 11 boundary downstream to the Custer Gallatin 12 National Forest boundary downstream of Nat- 13 ural Bridge Falls, to be administered by the 14 Secretary of Agriculture as a recreational river. 15 ‘‘(239) HELLROARING CREEK, MONTANA.—The 16 portion of Hellroaring Creek consisting of the ap- 17 proximately 19-mile segment from the source in the 18 Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness downstream to the 19 Custer Gallatin National Forest boundary, to be ad- 20 ministered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a wild 21 river. 22 ‘‘(240) LAKE FORK ROCK CREEK, MONTANA.— 23 The portions of Lake Fork Rock Creek consisting 24 of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4926 IS ‘‘(A) the approximately 11-mile segment 1 from the source in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wil- 2 derness downstream to the Absaroka-Beartooth 3 Wilderness boundary, to be administered by the 4 Secretary of Agriculture as a wild river; and 5 ‘‘(B) the approximately 2-mile segment 6 from the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness 7 boundary to the confluence with Rock Creek, to 8 be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture 9 as a recreational river. 10 ‘‘(241) ROCK CREEK, MONTANA.—The portion 11 of Rock Creek in the State of Montana consisting of 12 the approximately 14-mile segment from the border 13 between the States of Montana and Wyoming to the 14 Custer Gallatin National Forest boundary, to be ad- 15 ministered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a rec- 16 reational river. 17 ‘‘(242) SLOUGH CREEK, MONTANA.—The por- 18 tion of Slough Creek consisting of the approximately 19 19-mile segment from the source in the Absaroka- 20 Beartooth Wilderness downstream to the Custer 21 Gallatin National Forest boundary, to be adminis- 22 tered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a wild river. 23 ‘‘(243) STILLWATER RIVER, MONTANA.—The 24 portions of the Stillwater River consisting of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4926 IS ‘‘(A) the approximately 26-mile segment 1 from the source in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wil- 2 derness downstream to the Wilderness bound- 3 ary, to be administered by the Secretary of Ag- 4 riculture as a wild river; and 5 ‘‘(B) the approximately 3-mile segment 6 from the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness 7 boundary downstream to Flume Creek, to be 8 administered by the Secretary of Agriculture as 9 a recreational river. 10 ‘‘(244) WEST BOULDER RIVER, MONTANA.— 11 The portion of the West Boulder River consisting of 12 the approximately 11-mile segment from the source 13 in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness downstream 14 to the Wilderness boundary, to be administered by 15 the Secretary of Agriculture as a wild river. 16 ‘‘(245) WEST FORK STILLWATER RIVER, MON- 17 TANA.—The portion of the West Fork Stillwater 18 River consisting of the approximately 14-mile seg- 19 ment from the source in the Absaroka-Beartooth 20 Wilderness downstream to the Absaroka-Beartooth 21 Wilderness boundary, to be administered by the Sec- 22 retary of Agriculture as a wild river. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4926 IS ‘‘(246) WEST FORK OF ROCK CREEK, MON- 1 TANA.—The portions of West Fork of Rock Creek 2 consisting of— 3 ‘‘(A) the approximately 9-mile segment 4 from the source in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wil- 5 derness downstream to the Absaroka-Beartooth 6 Wilderness boundary, to be administered by the 7 Secretary of Agriculture as a wild river; and 8 ‘‘(B) the approximately 11-mile segment 9 from the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness 10 boundary downstream to the Custer Gallatin 11 National Forest boundary, to be administered 12 by the Secretary of Agriculture as a rec- 13 reational river. 14 ‘‘(247) YELLOWSTONE RIVER, MONTANA.—The 15 portion of the Yellowstone River in the State of 16 Montana, consisting of the approximately 18-mile 17 segment from the Yellowstone National Park bound- 18 ary in Gardiner, Montana, downstream to the con- 19 fluence with Tom Miner Creek, to be administered 20 by the Secretary of Agriculture as a recreational 21 river.’’. 22 (b) CONSENT OF OWNER OF LAND REQUIRED.—No 23 land or interest in land located within the boundary of 24 a covered segment may be acquired by the Secretary con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4926 IS cerned without the consent of the owner of the land or 1 interest in land. 2 (c) EFFECT OF DESIGNATIONS.—Nothing in this Act 3 or an amendment made by this Act affects valid existing 4 rights, including— 5 (1) Federal, Tribal, and interstate water com- 6 pacts in existence on the date of enactment of this 7 Act (including full development of any apportion- 8 ment made in accordance with the compacts); 9 (2) water rights in the State; and 10 (3) water rights held by the United States. 11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 13 essary to carry out this Act (including the amendments 14 made by this Act). 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4926.IS S4926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS