Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3437 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 MAY 17, 2023 Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Ms. CARAVEO, Mr. CROW, Ms. DEGETTE, and Ms. PETTERSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 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. Definition of State. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3437 IH TITLE I—CONTINENTAL DIVIDE Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Colorado Wilderness additions. Sec. 103. Williams Fork Mountains potential wilderness. Sec. 104. Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area. Sec. 105. Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Conservation Area. Sec. 106. Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conservation Area. Sec. 107. Sandy Treat Overlook. 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. 201. Definitions. 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. 302. Definitions. Sec. 303. Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area. Sec. 304. Thompson Divide lease credits. Sec. 305. Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program. 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. DEFINITION OF STATE. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Col- 2 orado. 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3437 IH amendments to section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilder- 1 ness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 2 103–77) made by section 102(a). 3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Agriculture. 5 (3) WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREA.—The 6 term ‘‘Wildlife Conservation Area’’ means, as appli- 7 cable— 8 (A) the Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Con- 9 servation Area designated by section 104(a); 10 (B) the Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife 11 Conservation Area designated by section 12 105(a); and 13 (C) the Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conserva- 14 tion Area designated by section 106(a). 15 SEC. 102. COLORADO WILDERNESS ADDITIONS. 16 (a) DESIGNATION.—Section 2(a) of the Colorado Wil- 17 derness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 18 103–77) is amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘1993,’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘1993, and certain Federal land within the 21 White River National Forest that comprises approxi- 22 mately 6,896 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Pro- 23 posed Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness Additions’ on the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3437 IH map entitled ‘Proposed Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness 1 Additions’ and dated June 24, 2019,’’; and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(23) HOLY CROSS WILDERNESS ADDITION.— 4 Certain Federal land within the White River Na- 5 tional Forest that comprises approximately 3,866 6 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed Megan 7 Dickie Wilderness Addition’ on the map entitled 8 ‘Holy Cross Wilderness Addition Proposal’ and 9 dated June 24, 2019, which shall be incorporated 10 into, and managed as part of, the Holy Cross Wil- 11 derness designated by section 102(a)(5) of Public 12 Law 96–560 (94 Stat. 3266). 13 ‘‘(24) HOOSIER RIDGE WILDERNESS.—Certain 14 Federal land within the White River National Forest 15 that comprises approximately 5,235 acres, as gen- 16 erally depicted as ‘Proposed Hoosier Ridge Wilder- 17 ness’ on the map entitled ‘Tenmile Proposal’ and 18 dated April 22, 2022, which shall be known as the 19 ‘Hoosier Ridge Wilderness’. 20 ‘‘(25) TENMILE WILDERNESS.—Certain Federal 21 land within the White River National Forest that 22 comprises approximately 7,624 acres, as generally 23 depicted as ‘Proposed Tenmile Wilderness’ on the 24 map entitled ‘Tenmile Proposal’ and dated May 1, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3437 IH 2023, which shall be known as the ‘Tenmile Wilder- 1 ness’. 2 ‘‘(26) EAGLES NEST WILDERNESS ADDI- 3 TIONS.—Certain Federal land within the White 4 River National Forest that comprises approximately 5 7,634 acres, as generally depicted as ‘Proposed 6 Freeman Creek Wilderness Addition’ and ‘Proposed 7 Spraddle Creek Wilderness Addition’ on the map en- 8 titled ‘Eagles Nest Wilderness Additions Proposal’ 9 and dated April 26, 2022, which shall be incor- 10 porated into, and managed as part of, the Eagles 11 Nest Wilderness designated by Public Law 94–352 12 (90 Stat. 870).’’. 13 (b) APPLICABLE LAW.—Any reference in the Wilder- 14 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date 15 of that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the 16 date of enactment of this Act for purposes of admin- 17 istering a covered area. 18 (c) FIRE, INSECTS, AND DISEASES.—In accordance 19 with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 20 1133(d)(1)), the Secretary may carry out any activity in 21 a covered area that the Secretary determines to be nec- 22 essary for the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject 23 to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines 24 to be appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3437 IH (d) GRAZING.—The grazing of livestock on a covered 1 area, if established before the date of enactment of this 2 Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reason- 3 able regulations as are considered to be necessary by the 4 Secretary, in accordance with— 5 (1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 6 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 7 (2) the guidelines set forth in the report of the 8 Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the 9 House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 5487 10 of the 96th Congress (H. Rept. 96–617). 11 (e) COORDINATION.—For purposes of administering 12 the Federal land designated as wilderness by paragraph 13 (26) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 14 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as 15 added by subsection (a)(2)), the Secretary shall, as deter- 16 mined to be appropriate for the protection of watersheds, 17 coordinate the activities of the Secretary in response to 18 fires and flooding events with interested State and local 19 agencies. 20 SEC. 103. WILLIAMS FORK MOUNTAINS POTENTIAL WIL- 21 DERNESS. 22 (a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of 23 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain Fed- 24 eral land in the White River National Forest in the State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3437 IH comprising approximately 8,036 acres, as generally de- 1 picted as ‘‘Proposed Williams Fork Mountains Wilder- 2 ness’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Williams Fork Mountains Pro- 3 posal’’ and dated June 24, 2019, is designated as a poten- 4 tial wilderness area. 5 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Subject to valid existing rights 6 and except as provided in subsection (d), the potential wil- 7 derness area designated by subsection (a) shall be man- 8 aged in accordance with— 9 (1) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 10 seq.); and 11 (2) this section. 12 (c) LIVESTOCK USE OF VACANT ALLOTMENTS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 14 the date of enactment of this Act, in accordance 15 with applicable laws (including regulations), the Sec- 16 retary shall publish a determination regarding 17 whether to authorize livestock grazing or other use 18 by livestock on the vacant allotments known as— 19 (A) the ‘‘Big Hole Allotment’’; and 20 (B) the ‘‘Blue Ridge Allotment’’. 21 (2) MODIFICATION OF ALLOTMENTS.—In pub- 22 lishing a determination pursuant to paragraph (1), 23 the Secretary may modify or combine the vacant al- 24 lotments referred to in that paragraph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3437 IH (3) PERMIT OR OTHER AUTHORIZATION.—Not 1 later than 1 year after the date on which a deter- 2 mination of the Secretary to authorize livestock 3 grazing or other use by livestock is published under 4 paragraph (1), if applicable, the Secretary shall 5 grant a permit or other authorization for that live- 6 stock grazing or other use in accordance with appli- 7 cable laws (including regulations). 8 (d) RANGE IMPROVEMENTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary permits live- 10 stock grazing or other use by livestock on the poten- 11 tial wilderness area under subsection (c), the Sec- 12 retary, or a third party authorized by the Secretary, 13 may use motorized or mechanized transport or 14 equipment for purposes of constructing or rehabili- 15 tating such range improvements as are necessary to 16 obtain appropriate livestock management objectives 17 (including habitat and watershed restoration). 18 (2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The au- 19 thority provided by this subsection terminates on the 20 date that is 2 years after the date on which the Sec- 21 retary publishes a positive determination under sub- 22 section (c)(3). 23 (e) DESIGNATION AS WILDERNESS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3437 IH (1) DESIGNATION.—The potential wilderness 1 area designated by subsection (a) shall be designated 2 as wilderness, to be known as the ‘‘Williams Fork 3 Mountains Wilderness’’— 4 (A) effective not earlier than the date that 5 is 180 days after the date of enactment this 6 Act; and 7 (B) on the earliest of— 8 (i) the date on which the Secretary 9 publishes in the Federal Register a notice 10 that the construction or rehabilitation of 11 range improvements under subsection (d) 12 is complete; 13 (ii) the date described in subsection 14 (d)(2); and 15 (iii) the effective date of a determina- 16 tion of the Secretary not to authorize live- 17 stock grazing or other use by livestock 18 under subsection (c)(1). 19 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 20 rights, the Secretary shall manage the Williams 21 Fork Mountains Wilderness in accordance with the 22 Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 23 note; Public Law 103–77), except that any reference 24 in that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3437 IH considered to be a reference to the date on which the 1 Williams Fork Mountains Wilderness is designated 2 in accordance with paragraph (1). 3 SEC. 104. PORCUPINE GULCH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION 4 AREA. 5 (a) DESIGNATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, 6 the approximately 8,287 acres of Federal land located in 7 the White River National Forest, as generally depicted as 8 ‘‘Proposed Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area’’ 9 on the map entitled ‘‘Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conserva- 10 tion Area Proposal’’ and dated June 24, 2019, are des- 11 ignated as the ‘‘Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation 12 Area’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Wildlife Con- 13 servation Area’’). 14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Wildlife Con- 15 servation Area are— 16 (1) to conserve and protect a wildlife migration 17 corridor over Interstate 70; and 18 (2) to conserve, protect, and enhance for the 19 benefit and enjoyment of present and future genera- 20 tions the wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, and 21 ecological resources of the Wildlife Conservation 22 Area. 23 (c) MANAGEMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3437 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage 1 the Wildlife Conservation Area— 2 (A) in a manner that conserves, protects, 3 and enhances the purposes described in sub- 4 section (b); and 5 (B) in accordance with— 6 (i) the Forest and Rangeland Renew- 7 able Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 8 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 9 (ii) any other applicable laws (includ- 10 ing regulations); and 11 (iii) this section. 12 (2) USES.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 14 only allow such uses of the Wildlife Conserva- 15 tion Area as the Secretary determines would 16 further the purposes described in subsection 17 (b). 18 (B) RECREATION.—The Secretary may 19 permit such recreational activities in the Wild- 20 life Conservation Area that the Secretary deter- 21 mines are consistent with the purposes de- 22 scribed in subsection (b). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3437.IH H3437 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3437 IH (C) MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND MECHA- 1 NIZED TRANSPORT; NEW OR TEMPORARY 2 ROADS.— 3 (i) MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND 4 MECHANIZED TRANSPORT.—Except as pro- 5 vided in clause (iii), the use of motorized 6 vehicles and mechanized transport in the 7 Wildlife Conservation Area shall be prohib- 8 ited. 9 (ii) NEW OR TEMPORARY ROADS.— 10 Except as provided in clause (iii) and sub- 11 section (e), no ne [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]