View all text of Subchapter CXXIV [§ 460mmm - § 460mmm-7]
§ 460mmm–4. Management
(a) Conservation AreaThe Secretary shall manage the Conservation Area in a manner that—
(1) conserves, protects, and enhances the resources of the Conservation Area specified in section 460mmm(b) 1
1 So in original. Probably should be section “460mmm(a)”.
of this title; and(2) is in accordance with—
(A) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
(B) other applicable law, including this subchapter.
(b) Uses
(c) WithdrawalsSubject to valid existing rights, all Federal land within the Conservation Area and the Wilderness and all land and interests in land acquired for the Conservation Area or the Wilderness by the United States are withdrawn from—
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments thereto.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect discretionary authority of the Secretary under other Federal laws to grant, issue, or renew rights-of-way or other land use authorizations consistent with the other provisions of this subchapter.
(d) Off-highway vehicle use
(1) In generalExcept as provided in paragraph (2), use of motorized vehicles in the Conservation Area—
(A) before the effective date of a management plan under subsection (h), shall be allowed only on roads and trails designated for use of motor vehicles in the management plan that applies on October 24, 2000, to the public lands in the Conservation Area; and
(B) after the effective date of a management plan under subsection (h), shall be allowed only on roads and trails designated for use of motor vehicles in that management plan.
(2) Administrative and emergency response use
(e) Wilderness
(f) Hunting, trapping, and fishing
(1) In general
(2) Area and time closures
(g) Grazing
(1) In general
(2) Grazing in wilderness
(h) Management plan
(1) In general
(2) PurposesThe management plan shall—
(A) describe the appropriate uses and management of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness;
(B) take into consideration any information developed in studies of the land within the Conservation Area or the Wilderness;
(C) provide for the continued management of the utility corridor, Black Ridge Communications Site, and the Federal Aviation Administration site as such for the land designated on the Map as utility corridor, Black Ridge Communications Site, and the Federal Aviation Administration site;
(D) take into consideration the historical involvement of the local community in the interpretation and protection of the resources of the Conservation Area and the Wilderness, as well as the Ruby Canyon/Black Ridge Integrated Resource Management Plan, dated March 1998, which was the result of collaborative efforts on the part of the Bureau of Land Management and the local community; and
(E) include all public lands between the boundary of the Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado River and, on such lands, the Secretary shall allow only such recreational or other uses as are consistent with this subchapter.
(i) No buffer zones
(j) Acquisition of land
(1) In general
(2) Management
(k) Interpretive facilities or sites
(l) Water rights
(1) FindingsCongress finds that—
(A) the lands designated as wilderness by this subchapter are located at the headwaters of the streams and rivers on those lands, with few, if any, actual or proposed water resource facilities located upstream from such lands and few, if any, opportunities for diversion, storage, or other uses of water occurring outside such lands that would adversely affect the wilderness or other values of such lands;
(B) the lands designated as wilderness by this subchapter generally are not suitable for use for development of new water resource facilities, or for the expansion of existing facilities;
(C) it is possible to provide for proper management and protection of the wilderness and other values of such lands in ways different from those utilized in other legislation designating as wilderness lands not sharing the attributes of the lands designated as wilderness by this subchapter.
(2) Statutory construction
(A) Nothing in this subchapter shall constitute or be construed to constitute either an express or implied reservation of any water or water rights with respect to the lands designated as a national conservation area or as wilderness by this subchapter.
(B) Nothing in this subchapter shall affect any conditional or absolute water rights in the State of Colorado existing on October 24, 2000.
(C) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as establishing a precedent with regard to any future national conservation area or wilderness designations.
(D) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as limiting, altering, modifying, or amending any of the interstate compacts or equitable apportionment decrees that apportion water among and between the State of Colorado and other States.
(3) Colorado water law
(4) New projects
(A) As used in this paragraph, the term “water resource facility” means irrigation and pumping facilities, reservoirs, water conservation works, aqueducts, canals, ditches, pipelines, wells, hydropower projects, and transmission and other ancillary facilities, and other water diversion, storage, and carriage structures. Such term does not include any such facilities related to or used for the purpose of livestock grazing.
(B) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (g) or other provisions of this subchapter, on and after October 24, 2000, neither the President nor any other officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall fund, assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for the development of any new water resource facility within the wilderness area designated by this subchapter.
(C) Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to affect or limit the use, operation, maintenance, repair, modification, or replacement of water resource facilities in existence on October 24, 2000, within the boundaries of the Wilderness.
(5) Boundaries along Colorado River
(A) Neither the Conservation Area nor the Wilderness shall include any part of the Colorado River to the 100-year high water mark.
(B) Nothing in this subchapter shall affect the authority that the Secretary may or may not have to manage recreational uses on the Colorado River, except as such authority may be affected by compliance with paragraph (3). Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to affect the authority of the Secretary to manage the public lands between the boundary of the Conservation Area and the edge of the Colorado River.
(C) Subject to valid existing rights, all lands owned by the Federal Government between the 100-year high water mark on each shore of the Colorado River, as designated on the Map from the line labeled “Line A” on the east to the boundary between the States of Colorado and Utah on the west, are hereby withdrawn from—
(i) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws;
(ii) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(iii) the operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
(Pub. L. 106–353, § 6, Oct. 24, 2000, 114 Stat. 1375.)