Us Congress House Bill HB1728 Introduced / Bill

                    I 
119THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION H. R. 1728 
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 
FEBRUARY27, 2025 
Mr. N
EGUSE(for himself, Ms. PETTERSEN, Ms. DEGETTE, and Mr. CROW) 
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) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act’’. 5
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
this Act is as follows: 7
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definition of State. 
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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) C
OVERED AREA.—The term ‘‘covered area’’ 7
means any area designated as wilderness by the 8
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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) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4
the Secretary of Agriculture. 5
(3) W
ILDLIFE 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) D
ESIGNATION.—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
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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) H
OLY 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) H
OOSIER 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 May 1, 2023, which shall be known as the 19
‘Hoosier Ridge Wilderness’. 20
‘‘(25) T
ENMILE 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
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2023, which shall be known as the ‘Tenmile Wilder-1
ness’. 2
‘‘(26) E
AGLES 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) A
PPLICABLELAW.—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) F
IRE, INSECTS, ANDDISEASES.—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
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(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) C
OORDINATION.—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) D
ESIGNATION.—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
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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) M
ANAGEMENT.—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) L
IVESTOCKUSE OFVACANTALLOTMENTS.— 13
(1) I
N 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) M
ODIFICATION 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
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(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) R
ANGEIMPROVEMENTS.— 9
(1) I
N 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) T
ERMINATION 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) D
ESIGNATION ASWILDERNESS.— 24
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(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) A
DMINISTRATION.—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
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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) D
ESIGNATION.—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) P
URPOSES.—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) M
ANAGEMENT.— 24
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(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) U
SES.— 13
(A) I
N 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) R
ECREATION.—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
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(C) MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND MECHA -1
NIZED TRANSPORT ; NEW OR TEMPORARY 2
ROADS.— 3
(i) M
OTORIZED 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) N
EW OR TEMPORARY ROADS .— 10
Except as provided in clause (iii) and sub-11
section (e), no new or temporary road shall 12
be constructed within the Wildlife Con-13
servation Area. 14
(iii) E
XCEPTIONS.—Nothing in clause 15
(i) or (ii) prevents the Secretary from— 16
(I) authorizing the use of motor-17
ized vehicles or mechanized transport 18
for administrative purposes; 19
(II) constructing temporary 20
roads or permitting the use of motor-21
ized vehicles or mechanized transport 22
to carry out pre- or post-fire water-23
shed protection projects; 24
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(III) authorizing the use of mo-1
torized vehicles or mechanized trans-2
port to carry out activities described 3
in subsection (d) or (e); or 4
(IV) responding to an emergency. 5
(D) C
OMMERCIAL TIMBER.— 6
(i) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to clause 7
(ii), no project shall be carried out in the 8
Wildlife Conservation Area for the purpose 9
of harvesting commercial timber. 10
(ii) L
IMITATION.—Nothing in clause 11
(i) prevents the Secretary from harvesting 12
or selling a merchantable product that is a 13
byproduct of an activity authorized under 14
this section. 15
(d) F
IRE, INSECTS, ANDDISEASES.—The Secretary 16
may carry out any activity, in accordance with applicable 17
laws (including regulations), that the Secretary deter-18
mines to be necessary to manage wildland fire and treat 19
hazardous fuels, insects, and diseases in the Wildlife Con-20
servation Area, subject to such terms and conditions as 21
the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 22
(e) R
EGIONALTRANSPORTATIONPROJECTS.—Noth-23
ing in this section or section 110(f) precludes the Sec-24
retary from authorizing, in accordance with applicable 25
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laws (including regulations) and subject to valid existing 1
rights, the use of the subsurface of the Wildlife Conserva-2
tion Area to construct, realign, operate, or maintain re-3
gional transportation projects, including Interstate 70 and 4
the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels. 5
(f) W
ATER.—Section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilder-6
ness and Protection Area Act (Public Law 107–216; 116 7
Stat. 1058) shall apply to the Wildlife Conservation Area. 8
SEC. 105. WILLIAMS FORK MOUNTAINS WILDLIFE CON-9
SERVATION AREA. 10
(a) D
ESIGNATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, 11
the approximately 3,528 acres of Federal land in the 12
White River National Forest in the State, as generally de-13
picted as ‘‘Proposed Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife 14
Conservation Area’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Williams Fork 15
Mountains Proposal’’ and dated June 24, 2019, are des-16
ignated as the ‘‘Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Con-17
servation Area’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Wild-18
life Conservation Area’’). 19
(b) P
URPOSES.—The purposes of the Wildlife Con-20
servation Area are to conserve, protect, and enhance for 21
the benefit and enjoyment of present and future genera-22
tions the wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, recreational, 23
and ecological resources of the Wildlife Conservation Area. 24
(c) M
ANAGEMENT.— 25
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(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) U
SES.— 13
(A) I
N 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) M
OTORIZED VEHICLES.— 19
(i) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided 20
in clause (iii), the use of motorized vehicles 21
in the Wildlife Conservation Area shall be 22
limited to designated roads and trails. 23
(ii) N
EW OR TEMPORARY ROADS .— 24
Except as provided in clause (iii), no new 25
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or temporary road shall be constructed in 1
the Wildlife Conservation Area. 2
(iii) E
XCEPTIONS.—Nothing in clause 3
(i) or (ii) prevents the Secretary from— 4
(I) authorizing the use of motor-5
ized vehicles for administrative pur-6
poses; 7
(II) authorizing the use of motor-8
ized vehicles to carry out activities de-9
scribed in subsection (d); or 10
(III) responding to an emer-11
gency. 12
(C) B
ICYCLES.—The use of bicycles in the 13
Wildlife Conservation Area shall be limited to 14
designated roads and trails. 15
(D) C
OMMERCIAL TIMBER.— 16
(i) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to clause 17
(ii), no project shall be carried out in the 18
Wildlife Conservation Area for the purpose 19
of harvesting commercial timber. 20
(ii) L
IMITATION.—Nothing in clause 21
(i) prevents the Secretary from harvesting 22
or selling a merchantable product that is a 23
byproduct of an activity authorized under 24
this section. 25
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(E) GRAZING.—The laws (including regu-1
lations) and policies followed by the Secretary 2
in issuing and administering grazing permits or 3
leases on land under the jurisdiction of the Sec-4
retary shall continue to apply with regard to 5
the land in the Wildlife Conservation Area, con-6
sistent with the purposes described in sub-7
section (b). 8
(d) F
IRE, INSECTS, ANDDISEASES.—The Secretary 9
may carry out any activity, in accordance with applicable 10
laws (including regulations), that the Secretary deter-11
mines to be necessary to manage wildland fire and treat 12
hazardous fuels, insects, and diseases in the Wildlife Con-13
servation Area, subject to such terms and conditions as 14
the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 15
(e) W
ATER.—Section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilder-16
ness and Protection Area Act (Public Law 107–216; 116 17
Stat. 1058) shall apply to the Wildlife Conservation Area. 18
SEC. 106. SPRADDLE CREEK WILDLIFE CONSERVATION 19
AREA. 20
(a) D
ESIGNATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, 21
the approximately 2,674 acres of Federal land in the 22
White River National Forest in the State, as generally de-23
picted as ‘‘Proposed Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conservation 24
Area’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Eagles Nest Wilderness Addi-25
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tions Proposal’’ and dated April 26, 2022, are designated 1
as the ‘‘Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conservation Area’’ (re-2
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Wildlife Conservation 3
Area’’). 4
(b) P
URPOSES.—The purposes of the Wildlife Con-5
servation Area are to conserve, protect, and enhance for 6
the benefit and enjoyment of present and future genera-7
tions the wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, recreational, 8
and ecological resources of the Wildlife Conservation Area. 9
(c) M
ANAGEMENT.— 10
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage 11
the Wildlife Conservation Area— 12
(A) in a manner that conserves, protects, 13
and enhances the purposes described in sub-14
section (b); and 15
(B) in accordance with— 16
(i) the Forest and Rangeland Renew-17
able Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 18
U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 19
(ii) any other applicable laws (includ-20
ing regulations); and 21
(iii) this title. 22
(2) U
SES.— 23
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 24
only allow such uses of the Wildlife Conserva-25
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tion Area as the Secretary determines would 1
further the purposes described in subsection 2
(b). 3
(B) M
OTORIZED VEHICLES AND MECHA -4
NIZED TRANSPORT .—Except as necessary for 5
administrative purposes or to respond to an 6
emergency, the use of motorized vehicles and 7
mechanized transport in the Wildlife Conserva-8
tion Area shall be prohibited. 9
(C) R
OADS.— 10
(i) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided 11
in clause (ii), no road shall be constructed 12
in the Wildlife Conservation Area. 13
(ii) E
XCEPTIONS.—Nothing in clause 14
(i) prevents the Secretary from— 15
(I) constructing a temporary 16
road as the Secretary determines to 17
be necessary as a minimum require-18
ment for carrying out a vegetation 19
management project in the Wildlife 20
Conservation Area; or 21
(II) responding to an emergency. 22
(iii) D
ECOMMISSIONING OF TEM -23
PORARY ROADS.—Not later than 3 years 24
after the date on which the applicable 25
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vegetation management project is com-1
pleted, the Secretary shall decommission 2
any temporary road constructed under 3
clause (ii)(I) for the applicable vegetation 4
management project. 5
(D) C
OMMERCIAL TIMBER.— 6
(i) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to clause 7
(ii), no project shall be carried out in the 8
Wildlife Conservation Area for the purpose 9
of harvesting commercial timber. 10
(ii) L
IMITATION.—Nothing in clause 11
(i) prevents the Secretary from harvesting 12
or selling a merchantable product that is a 13
byproduct of an activity authorized in the 14
Wildlife Conservation Area under this sec-15
tion. 16
(d) F
IRE, INSECTS, ANDDISEASES.—The Secretary 17
may carry out any activity, in accordance with applicable 18
laws (including regulations), that the Secretary deter-19
mines to be necessary to manage wildland fire and treat 20
hazardous fuels, insects, and diseases in the Wildlife Con-21
servation Area, subject to such terms and conditions as 22
the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 23
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(e) WATER.—Section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilder-1
ness and Protection Area Act (Public Law 107–216; 116 2
Stat. 1058) shall apply to the Wildlife Conservation Area. 3
SEC. 107. SANDY TREAT OVERLOOK. 4
The interpretive site located beside United States 5
Route 24 within the Camp Hale-Continental Divide Na-6
tional Monument, at 39.431N 106.323W, is designated as 7
the ‘‘Sandy Treat Overlook’’. 8
SEC. 108. WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY 9
MODIFICATION. 10
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The boundary of the White River 11
National Forest is modified to include the approximately 12
120 acres comprised of the SW
1
⁄4, the SE
1
⁄4, and the 13
NE
1
⁄4of the SE
1
⁄4of sec. 1, T. 2 S., R. 80 W., 6th Prin-14
cipal Meridian, in Summit County in the State. 15
(b) L
AND ANDWATERCONSERVATIONFUND.—For 16
purposes of section 200306 of title 54, United States 17
Code, the boundaries of the White River National Forest, 18
as modified by subsection (a), shall be considered to be 19
the boundaries of the White River National Forest as in 20
existence on January 1, 1965. 21
SEC. 109. ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK POTENTIAL 22
WILDERNESS BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. 23
(a) P
URPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro-24
vide for the ongoing maintenance and use of portions of 25
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the Trail River Ranch and the associated property located 1
within Rocky Mountain National Park in Grand County 2
in the State. 3
(b) B
OUNDARYADJUSTMENT.—Section 1952(b) of 4
the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Pub-5
lic Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 1070) is amended by adding 6
at the end the following: 7
‘‘(3) B
OUNDARY ADJUSTMENT .—The boundary 8
of the Potential Wilderness is modified to exclude 9
the area comprising approximately 15.5 acres of 10
land identified as ‘Potential Wilderness to Non-wil-11
derness’ on the map entitled ‘Rocky Mountain Na-12
tional Park Proposed Wilderness Area Amendment’ 13
and dated January 16, 2018.’’. 14
SEC. 110. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 15
(a) F
ISH ANDWILDLIFE.—Nothing in this title af-16
fects the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with 17
respect to fish and wildlife in the State. 18
(b) N
OBUFFERZONES.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Nothing in this title or an 20
amendment made by this title establishes a protec-21
tive perimeter or buffer zone around— 22
(A) a covered area; 23
(B) a wilderness area or potential wilder-24
ness area designated by section 103; or 25
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(C) a Wildlife Conservation Area. 1
(2) O
UTSIDE ACTIVITIES.—The fact that a non-2
wilderness activity or use on land outside of an area 3
described in paragraph (1) can be seen or heard 4
from within the applicable area described in para-5
graph (1) shall not preclude the activity or use out-6
side the boundary of the applicable area described in 7
paragraph (1). 8
(c) T
RIBALRIGHTS ANDUSES.— 9
(1) T
REATY RIGHTS.—Nothing in this title af-10
fects the treaty rights of an Indian Tribe. 11
(2) T
RADITIONAL TRIBAL USES .—Subject to 12
any terms and conditions that the Secretary deter-13
mines to be necessary and in accordance with appli-14
cable law, the Secretary shall allow for the continued 15
use of the areas described in subsection (b)(1) by 16
members of Indian Tribes— 17
(A) for traditional ceremonies; and 18
(B) as a source of traditional plants and 19
other materials. 20
(d) M
APS ANDLEGALDESCRIPTIONS.— 21
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 22
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 23
shall prepare maps and legal descriptions of each 24
area described in subsection (b)(1) with— 25
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(A) the Committee on Natural Resources 1
of the House of Representatives; and 2
(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 3
Resources of the Senate. 4
(2) F
ORCE OF LAW.—Each map and legal de-5
scription prepared under paragraph (1) shall have 6
the same force and effect as if included in this title, 7
except that the Secretary may— 8
(A) correct any typographical errors in the 9
maps and legal descriptions; and 10
(B) in consultation with the State, make 11
minor adjustments to the boundaries of the 12
Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area 13
designated by section 104(a) and the Williams 14
Fork Mountains Wildlife Conservation Area 15
designated by section 105(a) to account for po-16
tential highway or multimodal transportation 17
system construction, safety measures, mainte-18
nance, realignment, or widening. 19
(3) P
UBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and 20
legal description prepared under paragraph (1) shall 21
be on file and available for public inspection in the 22
appropriate offices of the Forest Service. 23
(e) A
CQUISITION OFLAND.— 24
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire 1
any land or interest in land within the boundaries of 2
an area described in subsection (b)(1) by donation, 3
purchase from a willing seller, or exchange. 4
(2) M
ANAGEMENT.—Any land or interest in 5
land acquired under paragraph (1) shall be incor-6
porated into, and administered as a part of, the wil-7
derness area or Wildlife Conservation Area, as appli-8
cable, in which the land or interest in land is lo-9
cated. 10
(f) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 11
the areas described in subsection (b)(1) are withdrawn 12
from— 13
(1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under the 14
public land laws; 15
(2) location, entry, and patent under mining 16
laws; and 17
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 18
materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 19
(g) M
ILITARYOVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this title 20
or an amendment made by this title restricts or pre-21
cludes— 22
(1) any low-level overflight of military aircraft 23
over any area subject to this title or an amendment 24
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made by this title, including military overflights that 1
can be seen, heard, or detected within such an area; 2
(2) flight testing or evaluation over an area de-3
scribed in paragraph (1); or 4
(3) the use or establishment of— 5
(A) any new unit of special use airspace 6
over an area described in paragraph (1); or 7
(B) any military flight training or trans-8
portation over such an area. 9
(h) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-10
gress that military aviation training on Federal public 11
land in the State, including the training conducted at the 12
High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training 13
Site, is critical to the national security of the United 14
States and the readiness of the Armed Forces. 15
TITLE II—SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS 16
SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 17
In this title: 18
(1) C
OVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 19
means— 20
(A) land designated as wilderness under 21
paragraphs (27) through (29) of section 2(a) of 22
the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 23
U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as 24
added by section 202); and 25
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(B) a Special Management Area. 1
(2) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 2
the Secretary of Agriculture. 3
(3) S
PECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA .—The term 4
‘‘Special Management Area’’ means each of— 5
(A) the Sheep Mountain Special Manage-6
ment Area designated by section 203(a)(1); and 7
(B) the Liberty Bell East Special Manage-8
ment Area designated by section 203(a)(2). 9
SEC. 202. ADDITIONS TO NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESER-10
VATION SYSTEM. 11
Section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 12
(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as amended 13
by section 102(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 14
the following: 15
‘‘(27) L
IZARD HEAD WILDERNESS ADDITION .— 16
Certain Federal land in the Grand Mesa, 17
Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests com-18
prising approximately 3,141 acres, as generally de-19
picted on the map entitled ‘Proposed Wilson, Sun-20
shine, Black Face and San Bernardo Additions to 21
the Lizard Head Wilderness’ and dated September 22
6, 2018, which is incorporated in, and shall be ad-23
ministered as part of, the Lizard Head Wilderness. 24
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‘‘(28) MOUNT SNEFFELS WILDERNESS ADDI -1
TIONS.— 2
‘‘(A) L
IBERTY BELL AND LAST DOLLAR 3
ADDITIONS.—Certain Federal land in the 4
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison Na-5
tional Forests comprising approximately 7,235 6
acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled 7
‘Proposed Liberty Bell and Last Dollar Addi-8
tions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness, Liberty 9
Bell East Special Management Area’ and dated 10
September 6, 2018, which is incorporated in, 11
and shall be administered as part of, the Mount 12
Sneffels Wilderness. 13
‘‘(B) W
HITEHOUSE ADDITIONS .—Certain 14
Federal land in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, 15
and Gunnison National Forests comprising ap-16
proximately 12,465 acres, as generally depicted 17
on the map entitled ‘Proposed Whitehouse Ad-18
ditions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness’ and 19
dated September 6, 2018, which is incorporated 20
in, and shall be administered as part of, the 21
Mount Sneffels Wilderness. 22
‘‘(29) M
CKENNA PEAK WILDERNESS .—Certain 23
Federal land in the State of Colorado comprising ap-24
proximately 8,884 acres of Bureau of Land Manage-25
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ment land, as generally depicted on the map entitled 1
‘Proposed McKenna Peak Wilderness Area’ and 2
dated September 18, 2018, to be known as the 3
‘McKenna Peak Wilderness’.’’. 4
SEC. 203. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREAS. 5
(a) D
ESIGNATION.— 6
(1) S
HEEP MOUNTAIN SPECIAL MANAGEMENT 7
AREA.—The Federal land in the Grand Mesa, 8
Uncompahgre, and Gunnison and San Juan Na-9
tional Forests in the State comprising approximately 10
21,663 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti-11
tled ‘‘Proposed Sheep Mountain Special Manage-12
ment Area’’ and dated September 19, 2018, is des-13
ignated as the ‘‘Sheep Mountain Special Manage-14
ment Area’’. 15
(2) L
IBERTY BELL EAST SPECIAL MANAGE -16
MENT AREA.—The Federal land in the Grand Mesa, 17
Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests in 18
the State comprising approximately 792 acres, as 19
generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed 20
Liberty Bell and Last Dollar Additions to the Mt. 21
Sneffels Wilderness, Liberty Bell East Special Man-22
agement Area’’ and dated September 6, 2018, is 23
designated as the ‘‘Liberty Bell East Special Man-24
agement Area’’. 25
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(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Special Manage-1
ment Areas is to conserve and protect for the benefit and 2
enjoyment of present and future generations the geologi-3
cal, cultural, archaeological, paleontological, natural, sci-4
entific, recreational, wilderness, wildlife, riparian, histor-5
ical, educational, and scenic resources of the Special Man-6
agement Areas. 7
(c) M
ANAGEMENT.— 8
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage 9
the Special Management Areas in a manner that— 10
(A) conserves, protects, and enhances the 11
resources and values of the Special Manage-12
ment Areas described in subsection (b); 13
(B) subject to paragraph (3), maintains or 14
improves the wilderness character of the Special 15
Management Areas and the suitability of the 16
Special Management Areas for potential inclu-17
sion in the National Wilderness Preservation 18
System; and 19
(C) is in accordance with— 20
(i) the National Forest Management 21
Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); 22
(ii) this title; and 23
(iii) any other applicable laws. 24
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(2) PROHIBITIONS.—The following shall be pro-1
hibited in the Special Management Areas: 2
(A) Permanent roads. 3
(B) Except as necessary to meet the min-4
imum requirements for the administration of 5
the Federal land, to provide access for aban-6
doned mine cleanup, and to protect public 7
health and safety— 8
(i) the use of motor vehicles, motor-9
ized equipment, or mechanical transport 10
(other than as provided in paragraph (3)); 11
and 12
(ii) the establishment of temporary 13
roads. 14
(3) A
UTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 15
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 16
allow any activities (including helicopter access 17
for recreation and maintenance and the com-18
petitive running event permitted since 1992) 19
that have been authorized by permit or license 20
as of the date of enactment of this Act to con-21
tinue within the Special Management Areas, 22
subject to such terms and conditions as the 23
Secretary may require. 24
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(B) PERMITTING.—The designation of the 1
Special Management Areas by subsection (a) 2
shall not affect the issuance of permits relating 3
to the activities covered under subparagraph 4
(A) after the date of enactment of this Act. 5
(C) B
ICYCLES.—The Secretary may permit 6
the use of bicycles in— 7
(i) the portion of the Sheep Mountain 8
Special Management Area identified as 9
‘‘Ophir Valley Area’’ on the map entitled 10
‘‘Proposed Sheep Mountain Special Man-11
agement Area’’ and dated September 19, 12
2018; and 13
(ii) the portion of the Liberty Bell 14
East Special Management Area identified 15
as ‘‘Liberty Bell Corridor’’ on the map en-16
titled ‘‘Proposed Liberty Bell and Last 17
Dollar Additions to the Mt. Sneffels Wil-18
derness, Liberty Bell East Special Manage-19
ment Area’’ and dated September 6, 2018. 20
(d) A
PPLICABLELAW.—Water and water rights in 21
the Special Management Areas shall be administered in 22
accordance with section 8 of the Colorado Wilderness Act 23
of 1993 (Public Law 103–77; 107 Stat. 762), except that, 24
for purposes of this title— 25
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(1) any reference contained in that section to 1
‘‘the lands designated as wilderness by this Act’’, 2
‘‘the Piedra, Roubideau, and Tabeguache areas iden-3
tified in section 9 of this Act, or the Bowen Gulch 4
Protection Area or the Fossil Ridge Recreation Man-5
agement Area identified in sections 5 and 6 of this 6
Act’’, or ‘‘the areas described in sections 2, 5, 6, and 7
9 of this Act’’ shall be considered to be a reference 8
to ‘‘the Special Management Areas’’; and 9
(2) any reference contained in that section to 10
‘‘this Act’’ shall be considered to be a reference to 11
‘‘the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy 12
Act’’. 13
(e) S
HEEPMOUNTAINSPECIALMANAGEMENTAREA 14
N
ORDICSKISAFETYSTUDY.— 15
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 16
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 17
consultation with interested parties, shall complete a 18
study on ensuring safe access for Nordic skiing in 19
the vicinity of the Sheep Mountain Special Manage-20
ment Area, consistent with the purposes of the 21
Sheep Mountain Special Management Area. 22
(2) R
EQUIREMENT.—In conducting the study 23
under paragraph (1), the Secretary, in coordination 24
with San Miguel County in the State, the State De-25
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partment of Transportation, and other interested 1
stakeholders, shall identify a range of reasonable ac-2
tions that could be taken by the Secretary to provide 3
or facilitate off-highway parking areas along State 4
Highway 145 to facilitate safe access for Nordic ski-5
ing in the vicinity of the Sheep Mountain Special 6
Management Area. 7
SEC. 204. RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS. 8
(a) D
OMINGUEZ CANYONWILDERNESS STUDY 9
A
REA.—Subtitle E of title II of Public Law 111–11 is 10
amended— 11
(1) by redesignating section 2408 (16 U.S.C. 12
460zzz–7) as section 2409; and 13
(2) by inserting after section 2407 (16 U.S.C. 14
460zzz–6) the following: 15
‘‘SEC. 2408. RELEASE. 16
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—Congress finds that, for the pur-17
poses of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and 18
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)), the por-19
tions of the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Study Area 20
not designated as wilderness by this subtitle have been 21
adequately studied for wilderness designation. 22
‘‘(b) R
ELEASE.—Any public land referred to in sub-23
section (a) that is not designated as wilderness by this 24
subtitle— 25
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‘‘(1) is no longer subject to section 603(c) of 1
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 2
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 3
‘‘(2) shall be managed in accordance with this 4
subtitle and any other applicable laws.’’. 5
(b) M
CKENNAPEAKWILDERNESSSTUDYAREA.— 6
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Congress finds that, for the 7
purposes of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Pol-8
icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 9
1782(c)), the portions of the McKenna Peak Wilder-10
ness Study Area in San Miguel County in the State 11
not designated as wilderness by paragraph (29) of 12
section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 13
(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as 14
added by section 202) have been adequately studied 15
for wilderness designation. 16
(2) R
ELEASE.—Any public land referred to in 17
paragraph (1) that is not designated as wilderness 18
by paragraph (29) of section 2(a) of the Colorado 19
Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Pub-20
lic Law 103–77) (as added by section 202)— 21
(A) is no longer subject to section 603(c) 22
of the Federal Land Policy and Management 23
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)); and 24
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(B) shall be managed in accordance with 1
applicable laws. 2
SEC. 205. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 3
(a) F
ISH ANDWILDLIFE.—Nothing in this title af-4
fects the jurisdiction or responsibility of the State with 5
respect to fish and wildlife in the State. 6
(b) N
OBUFFERZONES.— 7
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Nothing in this title estab-8
lishes a protective perimeter or buffer zone around 9
covered land. 10
(2) A
CTIVITIES OUTSIDE WILDERNESS .—The 11
fact that a nonwilderness activity or use on land out-12
side of the covered land can be seen or heard from 13
within covered land shall not preclude the activity or 14
use outside the boundary of the covered land. 15
(c) T
RIBALRIGHTS ANDUSES.— 16
(1) T
REATY RIGHTS.—Nothing in this title af-17
fects the treaty rights of any Indian Tribe, including 18
rights under the Agreement of September 13, 1873, 19
ratified by the Act of April 29, 1874 (18 Stat. 36, 20
chapter 136). 21
(2) T
RADITIONAL TRIBAL USES .—Subject to 22
any terms and conditions as the Secretary deter-23
mines to be necessary and in accordance with appli-24
cable law, the Secretary shall allow for the continued 25
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use of the covered land by members of Indian 1
Tribes— 2
(A) for traditional ceremonies; and 3
(B) as a source of traditional plants and 4
other materials. 5
(d) M
APS ANDLEGALDESCRIPTIONS.— 6
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 7
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary or 8
the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, shall 9
file a map and a legal description of each wilderness 10
area designated by paragraphs (27) through (29) of 11
section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 12
(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as 13
added by section 202) and the Special Management 14
Areas with— 15
(A) the Committee on Natural Resources 16
of the House of Representatives; and 17
(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 18
Resources of the Senate. 19
(2) F
ORCE OF LAW.—Each map and legal de-20
scription filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 21
same force and effect as if included in this title, ex-22
cept that the Secretary or the Secretary of the Inte-23
rior, as appropriate, may correct any typographical 24
errors in the maps and legal descriptions. 25
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(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each map and 1
legal description filed under paragraph (1) shall be 2
on file and available for public inspection in the ap-3
propriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management 4
and the Forest Service. 5
(e) A
CQUISITION OFLAND.— 6
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Sec-7
retary of the Interior, as appropriate, may acquire 8
any land or interest in land within the boundaries of 9
a Special Management Area or the wilderness des-10
ignated under paragraphs (27) through (29) of sec-11
tion 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 12
(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as 13
added by section 202) by donation, purchase from a 14
willing seller, or exchange. 15
(2) M
ANAGEMENT.—Any land or interest in 16
land acquired under paragraph (1) shall be incor-17
porated into, and administered as a part of, the wil-18
derness or Special Management Area in which the 19
land or interest in land is located. 20
(f) G
RAZING.—The grazing of livestock on covered 21
land, if established before the date of enactment of this 22
Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reason-23
able regulations as are considered to be necessary by the 24
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Secretary with jurisdiction over the covered land, in ac-1
cordance with— 2
(1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 3
U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 4
(2) the applicable guidelines set forth in Appen-5
dix A of the report of the Committee on Interior and 6
Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives ac-7
companying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. 8
Rept. 101–405) or H.R. 5487 of the 96th Congress 9
(H. Rept. 96–617). 10
(g) F
IRE, INSECTS, ANDDISEASES.—In accordance 11
with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 12
1133(d)(1)), the Secretary with jurisdiction over a wilder-13
ness area designated by paragraphs (27) through (29) of 14
section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 15
U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–77) (as added by sec-16
tion 202) may carry out any activity in the wilderness area 17
that the Secretary determines to be necessary for the con-18
trol of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such terms 19
and conditions as the Secretary determines to be appro-20
priate. 21
(h) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 22
the covered land and the approximately 6,590 acres gen-23
erally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Naturita 24
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Canyon Mineral Withdrawal Area’’ and dated September 1
6, 2018, is withdrawn from— 2
(1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under the 3
public land laws; 4
(2) location, entry, and patent under mining 5
laws; and 6
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 7
materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 8
TITLE III—THOMPSON DIVIDE 9
SEC. 301. PURPOSES. 10
The purposes of this title are— 11
(1) subject to valid existing rights, to withdraw 12
certain Federal land in the Thompson Divide area 13
from mineral and other disposal laws in order to 14
protect the agricultural, ranching, wildlife, air qual-15
ity, recreation, ecological, and scenic values of the 16
area; and 17
(2) to promote the capture of fugitive methane 18
emissions that would otherwise be emitted into the 19
atmosphere. 20
SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 21
In this title: 22
(1) F
UGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS .—The term 23
‘‘fugitive methane emissions’’ means methane gas 24
from the Federal land or interests in Federal land 25
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in Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, or Pitkin County in 1
the State, within the boundaries of the ‘‘Fugitive 2
Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program Area’’, as 3
generally depicted on the pilot program map, that 4
would leak or be vented into the atmosphere from— 5
(A) an active or inactive coal mine subject 6
to a Federal coal lease; or 7
(B) an abandoned underground coal mine 8
or the site of a former coal mine— 9
(i) that is not subject to a Federal 10
coal lease; and 11
(ii) with respect to which the Federal 12
interest in land includes mineral rights to 13
the methane gas. 14
(2) P
ILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro-15
gram’’ means the Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive 16
Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program established 17
by section 305(a)(1). 18
(3) P
ILOT PROGRAM MAP .—The term ‘‘pilot 19
program map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Greater 20
Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use 21
Pilot Program Area’’ and dated April 29, 2022. 22
(4) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23
the Secretary of the Interior. 24
(5) T
HOMPSON DIVIDE LEASE .— 25
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Thompson 1
Divide lease’’ means any oil or gas lease in ef-2
fect on the date of enactment of this Act within 3
the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protec-4
tion Area. 5
(B) E
XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Thompson 6
Divide lease’’ does not include any oil or gas 7
lease that— 8
(i) is associated with a Wolf Creek 9
Storage Field development right; or 10
(ii) before the date of enactment of 11
this Act, has expired, been cancelled, or 12
otherwise terminated. 13
(6) T
HOMPSON DIVIDE MAP .—The term 14
‘‘Thompson Divide map’’ means the map entitled 15
‘‘Greater Thompson Divide Legislative Boundary 16
Area Map’’ and dated September 19, 2023. 17
(7) T
HOMPSON DIVIDE WITHDRAWAL AND PRO -18
TECTION AREA.—The term ‘‘Thompson Divide With-19
drawal and Protection Area’’ means the Federal 20
land and minerals within the area generally depicted 21
as the ‘‘Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protec-22
tion Area’’ on the Thompson Divide map. 23
(8) W
OLF CREEK STORAGE FIELD DEVELOP -24
MENT RIGHT.— 25
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Wolf Creek 1
Storage Field development right’’ means a de-2
velopment right for any of the Federal mineral 3
leases numbered COC 0007496, COC 0007497, 4
COC 0007498, COC 0007499, COC 0007500, 5
COC 0007538, COC 0008128, COC 0015373, 6
COC 0128018, COC 0051645, and COC 7
0051646, as generally depicted on the Thomp-8
son Divide map as ‘‘Wolf Creek Storage Agree-9
ment’’. 10
(B) E
XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Wolf Creek 11
Storage Field development right’’ does not in-12
clude any storage right or related activity with-13
in the area described in subparagraph (A). 14
SEC. 303. THOMPSON DIVIDE WITHDRAWAL AND PROTEC-15
TION AREA. 16
(a) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 17
the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area is 18
withdrawn from— 19
(1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under the 20
public land laws; 21
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 22
laws; and 23
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 24
materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 25
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(b) SURVEYS.—The exact acreage and legal descrip-1
tion of the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection 2
Area shall be determined by surveys approved by the Sec-3
retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture. 4
(c) G
RAZING.—Nothing in this title affects the ad-5
ministration of grazing in the Thompson Divide With-6
drawal and Protection Area. 7
SEC. 304. THOMPSON DIVIDE LEASE CREDITS. 8
(a) I
NGENERAL.—In exchange for the relinquish-9
ment by a leaseholder of all Thompson Divide leases of 10
the leaseholder, the Secretary may issue to the leaseholder 11
credits for any bid, royalty, or rental payment due under 12
any Federal oil or gas lease on Federal land in the State, 13
in accordance with subsection (b). 14
(b) A
MOUNT OFCREDITS.— 15
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 16
the amount of the credits issued to a leaseholder of 17
a Thompson Divide lease relinquished under sub-18
section (a) shall— 19
(A) be equal to the sum of— 20
(i) the amount of the bonus bids paid 21
for the applicable Thompson Divide leases; 22
(ii) the amount of any rental paid for 23
the applicable Thompson Divide leases as 24
of the date on which the leaseholder sub-25
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mits to the Secretary a notice of the deci-1
sion to relinquish the applicable Thompson 2
Divide leases; and 3
(iii) the amount of any reasonable ex-4
penses incurred by the leaseholder of the 5
applicable Thompson Divide leases in the 6
preparation of any drilling permit, sundry 7
notice, or other related submission in sup-8
port of the development of the applicable 9
Thompson Divide leases as of January 28, 10
2019, including any expenses relating to 11
the preparation of any analysis under the 12
National Environmental Policy Act of 13
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 14
(B) require the approval of the Secretary. 15
(2) E
XCLUSION.—The amount of a credit 16
issued under subsection (a) shall not include any ex-17
penses paid by the leaseholder of a Thompson Divide 18
lease for— 19
(A) legal fees or related expenses for legal 20
work with respect to a Thompson Divide lease; 21
or 22
(B) any expenses incurred before the 23
issuance of a Thompson Divide lease. 24
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(c) CANCELLATION.—Effective on relinquishment 1
under this section, and without any additional action by 2
the Secretary, a Thompson Divide lease— 3
(1) shall be permanently cancelled; and 4
(2) shall not be reissued. 5
(d) C
ONDITIONS.— 6
(1) A
PPLICABLE LAW.—Except as otherwise 7
provided in this section, each exchange under this 8
section shall be conducted in accordance with— 9
(A) this title; and 10
(B) other applicable laws (including regu-11
lations). 12
(2) A
CCEPTANCE OF CREDITS .—The Secretary 13
shall accept credits issued under subsection (a) in 14
the same manner as cash for the payments described 15
in that subsection. 16
(3) A
PPLICABILITY.—The use of a credit issued 17
under subsection (a) shall be subject to the laws (in-18
cluding regulations) applicable to the payments de-19
scribed in that subsection, to the extent that the 20
laws are consistent with this section. 21
(4) T
REATMENT OF CREDITS .—All amounts in 22
the form of credits issued under subsection (a) ac-23
cepted by the Secretary shall be considered to be 24
amounts received for the purposes of— 25
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(A) section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 1
(30 U.S.C. 191); and 2
(B) section 20 of the Geothermal Steam 3
Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019). 4
(e) W
OLFCREEKSTORAGEFIELDDEVELOPMENT 5
R
IGHTS.— 6
(1) C
ONVEYANCE TO SECRETARY .—As a condi-7
tion precedent to the relinquishment of a Thompson 8
Divide lease under this section, any leaseholder with 9
a Wolf Creek Storage Field development right shall 10
permanently relinquish, transfer, and otherwise con-11
vey to the Secretary, in a form acceptable to the 12
Secretary, all Wolf Creek Storage Field development 13
rights of the leaseholder. 14
(2) C
REDITS.— 15
(A) I
N GENERAL.—In consideration for the 16
transfer of development rights under paragraph 17
(1), the Secretary may issue to a leaseholder 18
described in that paragraph credits for any rea-19
sonable expenses incurred by the leaseholder in 20
acquiring the Wolf Creek Storage Field develop-21
ment right or in the preparation of any drilling 22
permit, sundry notice, or other related submis-23
sion in support of the development right as of 24
January 28, 2019, including any reasonable ex-25
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penses relating to the preparation of any anal-1
ysis under the National Environmental Policy 2
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 3
(B) A
PPROVAL.—Any credits for a transfer 4
of the development rights under paragraph (1), 5
shall be subject to— 6
(i) the exclusion described in sub-7
section (b)(2); 8
(ii) the conditions described in sub-9
section (d); and 10
(iii) the approval of the Secretary. 11
(3) L
IMITATION OF TRANSFER .—Development 12
rights acquired by the Secretary under paragraph 13
(1)— 14
(A) shall be held for as long as the parent 15
leases in the Wolf Creek Storage Field remain 16
in effect; and 17
(B) shall not be— 18
(i) transferred; 19
(ii) reissued; or 20
(iii) otherwise used for mineral extrac-21
tion. 22
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SEC. 305. GREATER THOMPSON DIVIDE FUGITIVE COAL 1
MINE METHANE USE PILOT PROGRAM. 2
(a) F
UGITIVECOALMINEMETHANEUSEPILOT 3
P
ROGRAM.— 4
(1) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established in 5
the Bureau of Land Management a pilot program, 6
to be known as the ‘‘Greater Thompson Divide Fu-7
gitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program’’. 8
(2) P
URPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot pro-9
gram is to promote the capture, beneficial use, miti-10
gation, and sequestration of fugitive methane emis-11
sions— 12
(A) to reduce methane emissions; 13
(B) to promote economic development; 14
(C) to improve air quality; and 15
(D) to improve public safety. 16
(3) P
LAN.— 17
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 18
days after the date of enactment of this Act, 19
the Secretary shall develop a plan— 20
(i) to complete an inventory of fugitive 21
methane emissions in accordance with sub-22
section (b); 23
(ii) to provide for the leasing of fugi-24
tive methane emissions in accordance with 25
subsection (c); and 26
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(iii) to provide for the capping or de-1
struction of fugitive methane emissions in 2
accordance with subsection (d). 3
(B) C
OORDINATION.—In developing the 4
plan under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 5
coordinate with— 6
(i) the State; 7
(ii) Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, and 8
Pitkin Counties in the State; 9
(iii) lessees of Federal coal within the 10
counties referred to in clause (ii); 11
(iv) interested institutions of higher 12
education in the State; and 13
(v) interested members of the public. 14
(b) F
UGITIVEMETHANEEMISSIONSINVENTORY.— 15
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 16
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 17
shall complete an inventory of fugitive methane 18
emissions. 19
(2) C
ONDUCT.— 20
(A) C
OLLABORATION.—The Secretary may 21
conduct the inventory under paragraph (1) 22
through, or in collaboration with— 23
(i) the Bureau of Land Management; 24
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(ii) the United States Geological Sur-1
vey; 2
(iii) the Environmental Protection 3
Agency; 4
(iv) the United States Forest Service; 5
(v) State departments or agencies; 6
(vi) Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, or 7
Pitkin County in the State; 8
(vii) the Garfield County Federal Min-9
eral Lease District; 10
(viii) institutions of higher education 11
in the State; 12
(ix) lessees of Federal coal within a 13
county referred to in subparagraph (F); 14
(x) the National Oceanic and Atmos-15
pheric Administration; 16
(xi) the National Center for Atmos-17
pheric Research; or 18
(xii) other interested entities, includ-19
ing members of the public. 20
(B) F
EDERAL SPLIT ESTATE.— 21
(i) I
N GENERAL.—In conducting the 22
inventory under paragraph (1) for Federal 23
minerals on split estate land, the Secretary 24
shall rely on available data. 25
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(ii) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this sec-1
tion requires or authorizes the Secretary to 2
enter or access private land to conduct the 3
inventory under paragraph (1). 4
(3) C
ONTENTS.—The inventory conducted 5
under paragraph (1) shall include— 6
(A) the general location and geographic co-7
ordinates of vents, seeps, or other sources pro-8
ducing significant fugitive methane emissions; 9
(B) an estimate of the volume and con-10
centration of fugitive methane emissions from 11
each source of significant fugitive methane 12
emissions, including details of measurements 13
taken and the basis for that emissions estimate; 14
(C) relevant data and other information 15
available from— 16
(i) the Environmental Protection 17
Agency; 18
(ii) the Mine Safety and Health Ad-19
ministration; 20
(iii) the Colorado Department of Nat-21
ural Resources; 22
(iv) the Colorado Public Utility Com-23
mission; 24
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(v) the Colorado Department of 1
Health and Environment; and 2
(vi) the Office of Surface Mining Rec-3
lamation and Enforcement; and 4
(D) such other information as may be use-5
ful in advancing the purposes of the pilot pro-6
gram. 7
(4) P
UBLIC PARTICIPATION; DISCLOSURE.— 8
(A) P
UBLIC PARTICIPATION .—The Sec-9
retary shall, as appropriate, provide opportuni-10
ties for public participation in the conduct of 11
the inventory under paragraph (1). 12
(B) A
VAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 13
make the inventory conducted under paragraph 14
(1) publicly available. 15
(C) D
ISCLOSURE.—Nothing in this sub-16
section requires the Secretary to publicly re-17
lease information that— 18
(i) poses a threat to public safety; 19
(ii) is confidential business informa-20
tion; or 21
(iii) is otherwise protected from public 22
disclosure. 23
(5) I
MPACT ON COAL MINES SUBJECT TO 24
LEASE.— 25
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(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 1
conducting the inventory under paragraph (1), 2
for land subject to a Federal coal lease, the 3
Secretary shall use readily available methane 4
emissions data. 5
(B) E
FFECT.—Nothing in this section re-6
quires the holder of a Federal coal lease to re-7
port additional data or information to the Sec-8
retary. 9
(6) U
SE.—The Secretary shall use the inven-10
tory conducted under paragraph (1) in carrying 11
out— 12
(A) the leasing program under subsection 13
(c); and 14
(B) the capping or destruction of fugitive 15
methane emissions under subsection (d). 16
(c) F
UGITIVEMETHANEEMISSIONSLEASINGPRO-17
GRAM ANDSEQUESTRATION.— 18
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing 19
rights and in accordance with this section, not later 20
than 1 year after the date of completion of the in-21
ventory required under subsection (b), the Secretary 22
shall carry out a program to encourage the use and 23
destruction of fugitive methane emissions. 24
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(2) FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS FROM COAL 1
MINES SUBJECT TO LEASE .— 2
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall au-3
thorize the holder of a valid existing Federal 4
coal lease for a mine that is producing fugitive 5
methane emissions to capture for use or destroy 6
the fugitive methane emissions. 7
(B) C
ONDITIONS.—The authority under 8
subparagraph (A) shall be subject to— 9
(i) valid existing rights; and 10
(ii) such terms and conditions as the 11
Secretary may require. 12
(C) L
IMITATIONS.—The program carried 13
out under paragraph (1) shall only include fugi-14
tive methane emissions that can be captured for 15
use or destroyed in a manner that does not— 16
(i) endanger the safety of any coal 17
mine worker; or 18
(ii) unreasonably interfere with any 19
ongoing operation at a coal mine. 20
(D) C
OOPERATION.— 21
(i) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 22
work cooperatively with the holders of valid 23
existing Federal coal leases for mines that 24
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produce fugitive methane emissions to en-1
courage— 2
(I) the capture of fugitive meth-3
ane emissions for beneficial use, such 4
as generating electrical power, pro-5
ducing usable heat, transporting the 6
methane to market, or transforming 7
the fugitive methane emissions into a 8
different marketable material; or 9
(II) if the beneficial use of the 10
fugitive methane emissions is not fea-11
sible, the destruction of the fugitive 12
methane emissions. 13
(ii) G
UIDANCE.—In support of cooper-14
ative efforts with holders of valid existing 15
Federal coal leases to capture for use or 16
destroy fugitive methane emissions, not 17
later than 1 year after the date of enact-18
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 19
guidance to the public for the implementa-20
tion of authorities and programs to encour-21
age the capture for use and destruction of 22
fugitive methane emissions, while mini-23
mizing impacts on natural resources or 24
other public interest values. 25
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(E) ROYALTIES.—The Secretary shall de-1
termine whether any fugitive methane emissions 2
used or destroyed pursuant to this paragraph 3
are subject to the payment of a royalty under 4
applicable law. 5
(3) F
UGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS FROM LAND 6
NOT SUBJECT TO A FEDERAL COAL LEASE .— 7
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 8
provided in this section, notwithstanding section 9
303 and subject to valid existing rights and any 10
other applicable law, the Secretary shall, for 11
land not subject to a Federal coal lease— 12
(i) authorize the capture for use or 13
destruction of fugitive methane emissions; 14
and 15
(ii) make available for leasing such fu-16
gitive methane emissions as the Secretary 17
determines to be in the public interest. 18
(B) S
OURCE.—To the extent practicable, 19
the Secretary shall offer for lease, individually 20
or in combination, each significant source of fu-21
gitive methane emissions on land not subject to 22
a Federal coal lease. 23
(C) B
ID QUALIFICATIONS.—A bid to lease 24
fugitive methane emissions under this para-25
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graph shall specify whether the prospective les-1
see intends— 2
(i) to capture the fugitive methane 3
emissions for beneficial use, such as gener-4
ating electrical power, producing usable 5
heat, transporting the methane to market, 6
or transforming the fugitive methane emis-7
sions into a different marketable material; 8
(ii) to destroy the fugitive methane 9
emissions; or 10
(iii) to employ a specific combination 11
of— 12
(I) capturing the fugitive meth-13
ane emissions for beneficial use; and 14
(II) destroying the fugitive meth-15
ane emissions. 16
(D) P
RIORITY.— 17
(i) I
N GENERAL.—If there is more 18
than 1 qualified bid for a lease under this 19
paragraph, the Secretary shall select the 20
bid that the Secretary determines is likely 21
to most significantly advance the public in-22
terest. 23
(ii) C
ONSIDERATIONS.—In deter-24
mining the public interest under clause (i), 25
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the Secretary shall take into consider-1
ation— 2
(I) the overall decrease in the fu-3
gitive methane emissions; 4
(II) the impacts to other natural 5
resource values, including wildlife, 6
water, and air; and 7
(III) other public interest values, 8
including scenic, economic, recreation, 9
and cultural values. 10
(E) L
EASE FORM.— 11
(i) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 12
develop and provide to prospective bidders 13
a lease form for leases issued under this 14
paragraph. 15
(ii) D
UE DILIGENCE.—The lease form 16
developed under clause (i) shall include 17
terms and conditions requiring the leased 18
fugitive methane emissions to be put to 19
beneficial use or destroyed by not later 20
than 3 years after the date of issuance of 21
the lease. 22
(F) R
OYALTY RATE.—The Secretary shall 23
develop a minimum bid, as the Secretary deter-24
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mines to be necessary, and royalty rate for 1
leases under this paragraph. 2
(d) S
EQUESTRATION.—If, by not later than 4 years 3
after the date of completion of the inventory under sub-4
section (b), any significant fugitive methane emissions are 5
not leased under subsection (c)(3), the Secretary shall, 6
subject to the availability of appropriations and in accord-7
ance with applicable law, take all reasonable measures— 8
(1) to provide incentives for new leases under 9
subsection (c)(3); 10
(2) to cap those fugitive methane emissions at 11
the source in any case in which the cap will result 12
in the long-term sequestration of all or a significant 13
portion of the fugitive methane emissions; or 14
(3) to destroy the fugitive methane emissions, if 15
incentivizing leases under paragraph (1) or seques-16
tration under paragraph (2) is not feasible, with pri-17
ority for locations that destroy the greatest quantity 18
of fugitive methane emissions at the lowest cost. 19
(e) R
EPORT TOCONGRESS.—Not later than 4 years 20
after the date of enactment of this Act the Secretary shall 21
submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-22
sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re-23
sources of the House of Representatives a report detail-24
ing— 25
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(1) the economic and environmental impacts of 1
the pilot program, including information on in-2
creased royalties and estimates of avoided green-3
house gas emissions; and 4
(2) any recommendations of the Secretary on 5
whether the pilot program could be expanded to in-6
clude— 7
(A) other significant sources of emissions 8
of fugitive methane located outside the bound-9
aries of the area depicted as ‘‘Fugitive Coal 10
Mine Methane Use Pilot Program Area’’ on the 11
pilot program map; and 12
(B) the leasing of natural methane seeps 13
under the activities authorized pursuant to sub-14
section (c)(3). 15
SEC. 306. EFFECT. 16
Except as expressly provided in this title, nothing in 17
this title— 18
(1) expands, diminishes, or impairs any valid 19
existing mineral leases, mineral interest, or other 20
property rights wholly or partially within the 21
Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area, 22
including access to the leases, interests, rights, or 23
land in accordance with applicable Federal, State, 24
and local laws (including regulations); 25
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(2) prevents the capture of methane from any 1
active, inactive, or abandoned coal mine covered by 2
this title, in accordance with applicable laws; or 3
(3) prevents access to, or the development of, 4
any new or existing coal mine or lease in Delta or 5
Gunnison County in the State. 6
TITLE IV—CURECANTI 7
NATIONAL RECREATION AREA 8
SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 9
In this title: 10
(1) M
AP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en-11
titled ‘‘Curecanti National Recreation Area, Pro-12
posed Boundary’’, numbered 616/100,485D, and 13
dated April 25, 2022. 14
(2) N
ATIONAL RECREATION AREA .—The term 15
‘‘National Recreation Area’’ means the Curecanti 16
National Recreation Area established by section 17
402(a). 18
(3) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19
the Secretary of the Interior. 20
SEC. 402. CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREATION AREA. 21
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Effective beginning on the 22
earlier of the date on which the Secretary approves a re-23
quest under subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(I) and the date that 24
is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, there 25
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shall be established as a unit of the National Park System 1
the Curecanti National Recreation Area, in accordance 2
with this Act, consisting of approximately 50,300 acres of 3
land in the State, as generally depicted on the map as 4
‘‘Curecanti National Recreation Area Proposed Bound-5
ary’’. 6
(b) A
VAILABILITY OFMAP.—The map shall be on file 7
and available for public inspection in the appropriate of-8
fices of the National Park Service. 9
(c) A
DMINISTRATION.— 10
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall admin-11
ister the National Recreation Area in accordance 12
with— 13
(A) this title; and 14
(B) the laws (including regulations) gen-15
erally applicable to units of the National Park 16
System, including section 100101(a), chapter 17
1003, and sections 100751(a), 100752, 18
100753, and 102101 of title 54, United States 19
Code. 20
(2) D
AM, POWER PLANT, AND RESERVOIR MAN -21
AGEMENT AND OPERATIONS .— 22
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Nothing in this title af-23
fects or interferes with the authority of the Sec-24
retary— 25
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(i) to operate the Uncompahgre Valley 1
Reclamation Project under the reclamation 2
laws; 3
(ii) to operate the Wayne N. Aspinall 4
Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project 5
under the Act of April 11, 1956 (com-6
monly known as the ‘‘Colorado River Stor-7
age Project Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.); 8
or 9
(iii) under the Federal Water Project 10
Recreation Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–12 et 11
seq.). 12
(B) R
ECLAMATION LAND.— 13
(i) S
UBMISSION OF REQUEST TO RE -14
TAIN ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION .—If, 15
before the date that is 1 year after the 16
date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-17
sioner of Reclamation submits to the Sec-18
retary a request for the Commissioner of 19
Reclamation to retain administrative juris-20
diction over the minimum quantity of land 21
within the land identified on the map as 22
‘‘Lands withdrawn or acquired for Bureau 23
of Reclamation projects’’ that the Commis-24
sioner of Reclamation identifies as nec-25
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essary for the effective operation of Bu-1
reau of Reclamation water facilities, the 2
Secretary may— 3
(I) approve, approve with modi-4
fications, or disapprove the request; 5
and 6
(II) if the request is approved 7
under subclause (I), make any modi-8
fications to the map that are nec-9
essary to reflect that the Commis-10
sioner of Reclamation retains manage-11
ment authority over the minimum 12
quantity of land required to fulfill the 13
reclamation mission. 14
(ii) T
RANSFER OF LAND.— 15
(I) I
N GENERAL.—Administrative 16
jurisdiction over the land identified on 17
the map as ‘‘Lands withdrawn or ac-18
quired for Bureau of Reclamation 19
projects’’, as modified pursuant to 20
clause (i)(II), if applicable, shall be 21
transferred from the Commissioner of 22
Reclamation to the Director of the 23
National Park Service by not later 24
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than the date that is 1 year after the 1
date of enactment of this Act. 2
(II) A
CCESS TO TRANSFERRED 3
LAND.— 4
(aa) I
N GENERAL.—Subject 5
to item (bb), the Commissioner 6
of Reclamation shall retain ac-7
cess to the land transferred to 8
the Director of the National Park 9
Service under subclause (I) for 10
reclamation purposes, including 11
for the operation, maintenance, 12
and expansion or replacement of 13
facilities. 14
(bb) M
EMORANDUM OF UN -15
DERSTANDING.—The terms of 16
the access authorized under item 17
(aa) shall be determined by a 18
memorandum of understanding 19
entered into between the Com-20
missioner of Reclamation and the 21
Director of the National Park 22
Service not later than 1 year 23
after the date of enactment of 24
this Act. 25
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(3) MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS .— 1
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 2
enter into management agreements, or modify 3
management agreements in existence on the 4
date of enactment of this Act, relating to the 5
authority of the Director of the National Park 6
Service, the Commissioner of Reclamation, the 7
Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 8
or the Chief of the Forest Service to manage 9
Federal land within or adjacent to the boundary 10
of the National Recreation Area. 11
(B) S
TATE LAND.—The Secretary may 12
enter into cooperative management agreements 13
for any land administered by the State that is 14
within or adjacent to the National Recreation 15
Area, in accordance with the cooperative man-16
agement authority under section 101703 of title 17
54, United States Code. 18
(4) R
ECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES.— 19
(A) A
UTHORIZATION.—Except as provided 20
in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall allow 21
boating, boating-related activities, hunting, and 22
fishing in the National Recreation Area in ac-23
cordance with applicable Federal and State 24
laws. 25
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(B) CLOSURES; DESIGNATED ZONES.— 1
(i) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary, act-2
ing through the Superintendent of the Na-3
tional Recreation Area, may designate 4
zones in which, and establish periods dur-5
ing which, no boating, hunting, or fishing 6
shall be permitted in the National Recre-7
ation Area under subparagraph (A) for 8
reasons of public safety, administration, or 9
compliance with applicable laws. 10
(ii) C
ONSULTATION REQUIRED .—Ex-11
cept in the case of an emergency, any clo-12
sure proposed by the Secretary under 13
clause (i) shall not take effect until after 14
the date on which the Superintendent of 15
the National Recreation Area consults 16
with— 17
(I) the appropriate State agency 18
responsible for hunting and fishing 19
activities; and 20
(II) the Board of County Com-21
missioners in each county in which 22
the zone is proposed to be designated. 23
(5) L
ANDOWNER ASSISTANCE .—On the written 24
request of an individual that owns private land lo-25
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cated within the area generally depicted as ‘‘Con-1
servation Opportunity Area’’ on the map entitled 2
‘‘Preferred Alternative’’ in the document entitled 3
‘‘Report to Congress: Curecanti Special Resource 4
Study’’ and dated June 2009, the Secretary may 5
work in partnership with the individual to enhance 6
the long-term conservation of natural, cultural, rec-7
reational, and scenic resources in and around the 8
National Recreation Area— 9
(A) by acquiring all or a portion of the pri-10
vate land or interests in private land within the 11
Conservation Opportunity Area by purchase, ex-12
change, or donation, in accordance with section 13
403; 14
(B) by providing technical assistance to the 15
individual, including cooperative assistance; 16
(C) through available grant programs; and 17
(D) by supporting conservation easement 18
opportunities. 19
(6) I
NCORPORATION OF ACQUIRED LAND AND 20
INTERESTS.—Any land or interest in land acquired 21
by the United States under paragraph (5) shall— 22
(A) become part of the National Recre-23
ation Area; and 24
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(B) be managed in accordance with this 1
title. 2
(7) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing 3
rights, all Federal land within the National Recre-4
ation Area, including land acquired pursuant to this 5
section, is withdrawn from— 6
(A) entry, appropriation, and disposal 7
under the public land laws; 8
(B) location, entry, and patent under the 9
mining laws; and 10
(C) operation of the mineral leasing, min-11
eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 12
(8) G
RAZING.— 13
(A) S
TATE LAND SUBJECT TO A STATE 14
GRAZING LEASE.— 15
(i) I
N GENERAL.—If State land ac-16
quired under this title is subject to a State 17
grazing lease in effect on the date of acqui-18
sition, the Secretary shall allow the grazing 19
to continue for the remainder of the term 20
of the lease, subject to the related terms 21
and conditions of user agreements, includ-22
ing permitted stocking rates, grazing fee 23
levels, access rights, and ownership and 24
use of range improvements. 25
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(ii) ACCESS.—A lessee of State land 1
may continue to use established routes 2
within the National Recreation Area to ac-3
cess State land for purposes of admin-4
istering the lease if the use was permitted 5
before the date of enactment of this Act, 6
subject to such terms and conditions as the 7
Secretary may require. 8
(B) S
TATE AND PRIVATE LAND .—The Sec-9
retary may, in accordance with applicable laws, 10
authorize grazing on land acquired from the 11
State or private landowners under section 403, 12
if grazing was established before the date of ac-13
quisition. 14
(C) P
RIVATE LAND.—On private land ac-15
quired under section 403 for the National 16
Recreation Area on which authorized grazing is 17
occurring before the date of enactment of this 18
Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the les-19
see, may allow the continuation and renewal of 20
grazing on the land based on the terms of ac-21
quisition or by agreement between the Secretary 22
and the lessee, subject to applicable law (includ-23
ing regulations). 24
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(D) FEDERAL LAND .—The Secretary 1
shall— 2
(i) allow, consistent with the grazing 3
leases, uses, and practices in effect as of 4
the date of enactment of this Act, the con-5
tinuation and renewal of grazing on Fed-6
eral land located within the boundary of 7
the National Recreation Area on which 8
grazing is allowed before the date of enact-9
ment of this Act, unless the Secretary de-10
termines that grazing on the Federal land 11
would present unacceptable impacts (as de-12
fined in section 1.4.7.1 of the National 13
Park Service document entitled ‘‘Manage-14
ment Policies 2006: The Guide to Man-15
aging the National Park System’’) to the 16
natural, cultural, recreational, and scenic 17
resource values and the character of the 18
land within the National Recreation Area; 19
and 20
(ii) retain all authorities to manage 21
grazing in the National Recreation Area. 22
(E) T
ERMINATION OF LEASES .—Within 23
the National Recreation Area, the Secretary 24
may— 25
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(i) accept the voluntary termination of 1
a lease or permit for grazing; or 2
(ii) in the case of a lease or permit va-3
cated for a period of 3 or more years, ter-4
minate the lease or permit. 5
(9) W
ATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this title— 6
(A) affects any use or allocation in exist-7
ence on the date of enactment of this Act of 8
any water, water right, or interest in water; 9
(B) affects any vested absolute or decreed 10
conditional water right in existence on the date 11
of enactment of this Act, including any water 12
right held by the United States; 13
(C) affects any interstate water compact in 14
existence on the date of enactment of this Act; 15
(D) shall be considered to be a relinquish-16
ment or reduction of any water right reserved 17
or appropriated by the United States in the 18
State on or before the date of enactment of this 19
Act; or 20
(E) constitutes an express or implied Fed-21
eral reservation of any water or water rights 22
with respect to the National Recreation Area. 23
(10) F
ISHING EASEMENTS.— 24
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(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title di-1
minishes or alters the fish and wildlife program 2
for the Aspinall Unit developed under section 8 3
of the Act of April 11, 1956 (commonly known 4
as the ‘‘Colorado River Storage Project Act’’) 5
(70 Stat. 110, chapter 203; 43 U.S.C. 620g), 6
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 7
the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Colorado 8
Division of Wildlife (including any successor in 9
interest to that division) that provides for the 10
acquisition of public access fishing easements as 11
mitigation for the Aspinall Unit (referred to in 12
this paragraph as the ‘‘program’’). 13
(B) A
CQUISITION OF FISHING EASE -14
MENTS.—The Secretary shall continue to fulfill 15
the obligation of the Secretary under the pro-16
gram to acquire 26 miles of class 1 public fish-17
ing easements to provide to sportsmen access 18
for fishing within the Upper Gunnison Basin 19
upstream of the Aspinall Unit, subject to the 20
condition that no existing fishing access down-21
stream of the Aspinall Unit shall be counted to-22
ward the minimum mileage requirement under 23
the program. 24
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(C) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after 1
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 2
shall develop a plan for fulfilling the obligation 3
of the Secretary described in subparagraph (B) 4
by the date that is 10 years after the date of 5
enactment of this Act. 6
(D) R
EPORTS.—Not later than each of 2 7
years, 5 years, and 8 years after the date of en-8
actment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 9
to Congress a report that describes the progress 10
made in fulfilling the obligation of the Secretary 11
described in subparagraph (B). 12
(d) T
RIBALRIGHTS ANDUSES.— 13
(1) T
REATY RIGHTS.—Nothing in this title af-14
fects the treaty rights of any Indian Tribe. 15
(2) T
RADITIONAL TRIBAL USES .—Subject to 16
any terms and conditions as the Secretary deter-17
mines to be necessary and in accordance with appli-18
cable law, the Secretary shall allow for the continued 19
use of the National Recreation Area by members of 20
Indian Tribes— 21
(A) for traditional ceremonies; and 22
(B) as a source of traditional plants and 23
other materials. 24
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SEC. 403. ACQUISITION OF LAND; BOUNDARY MANAGE-1
MENT. 2
(a) A
CQUISITION.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire 4
any land or interest in land within the boundary of 5
the National Recreation Area. 6
(2) M
ANNER OF ACQUISITION.— 7
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-8
graph (B), land described in paragraph (1) may 9
be acquired under this subsection by— 10
(i) donation; 11
(ii) purchase from willing sellers with 12
donated or appropriated funds; 13
(iii) transfer from another Federal 14
agency; or 15
(iv) exchange. 16
(B) S
TATE LAND.—Land or interests in 17
land owned by the State or a political subdivi-18
sion of the State may only be acquired by pur-19
chase, donation, or exchange. 20
(b) T
RANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDIC-21
TION.— 22
(1) F
OREST SERVICE LAND.— 23
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Administrative jurisdic-24
tion over the approximately 2,500 acres of land 25
identified on the map as ‘‘U.S. Forest Service 26
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proposed transfer to the National Park Service’’ 1
is transferred to the Secretary, to be adminis-2
tered by the Director of the National Park 3
Service as part of the National Recreation 4
Area. 5
(B) B
OUNDARY ADJUSTMENT .—The 6
boundary of the Gunnison National Forest shall 7
be adjusted to exclude the land transferred to 8
the Secretary under subparagraph (A). 9
(2) B
UREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND .— 10
Administrative jurisdiction over the approximately 11
6,100 acres of land identified on the map as ‘‘Bu-12
reau of Land Management proposed transfer to Na-13
tional Park Service’’ is transferred from the Director 14
of the Bureau of Land Management to the Director 15
of the National Park Service, to be administered as 16
part of the National Recreation Area. 17
(3) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Administrative jurisdiction 18
over the land identified on the map as ‘‘Proposed for 19
transfer to the Bureau of Land Management, sub-20
ject to the revocation of Bureau of Reclamation 21
withdrawal’’ shall be transferred to the Director of 22
the Bureau of Land Management on relinquishment 23
of the land by the Bureau of Reclamation and rev-24
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ocation by the Bureau of Land Management of any 1
withdrawal as may be necessary. 2
(c) P
OTENTIALLANDEXCHANGE.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The withdrawal for reclama-4
tion purposes of the land identified on the map as 5
‘‘Potential exchange lands’’ shall be relinquished by 6
the Commissioner of Reclamation and revoked by 7
the Director of the Bureau of Land Management 8
and the land shall be transferred to the National 9
Park Service. 10
(2) E
XCHANGE; INCLUSION IN NATIONAL 11
RECREATION AREA .—On transfer of the land de-12
scribed in paragraph (1), the transferred land— 13
(A) may be exchanged by the Secretary for 14
private land described in section 402(c)(5)— 15
(i) subject to a conservation easement 16
remaining on the transferred land, to pro-17
tect the scenic resources of the transferred 18
land; and 19
(ii) in accordance with the laws (in-20
cluding regulations) and policies governing 21
National Park Service land exchanges; and 22
(B) if not exchanged under subparagraph 23
(A), shall be added to, and managed as a part 24
of, the National Recreation Area. 25
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(d) ADDITION TONATIONALRECREATIONAREA.— 1
Any land within the boundary of the National Recreation 2
Area that is acquired by the United States shall be added 3
to, and managed as a part of, the National Recreation 4
Area. 5
SEC. 404. GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN. 6
Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds 7
are made available to carry out this title, the Director of 8
the National Park Service, in consultation with the Com-9
missioner of Reclamation, shall prepare a general manage-10
ment plan for the National Recreation Area in accordance 11
with section 100502 of title 54, United States Code. 12
SEC. 405. BOUNDARY SURVEY. 13
The Secretary (acting through the Director of the 14
National Park Service) shall prepare a boundary survey 15
and legal description of the National Recreation Area. 16
Æ 
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