H.R. 1728 — Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act

This section defines terms for purposes of this title, including "(1) covered area," meaning any area designated as wilderness by amendments made by section 102(a) to section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-77); "(2) Secretary," meaning the Secretary of Agriculture; and "(3) wildlife conservation area," meaning, as applicable, the Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area (designated by section 104(a)), the Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Conservation Area (designated by section 105(a)), or the Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conservation Area (designated by section 106(a)).

This section amends section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to designate approximately 31,255 acres in the White River National Forest as wilderness or wilderness additions, as follows: (1) adds approximately 6,896 acres to the Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness (paragraph (18)); (2) adds approximately 3,866 acres to the Holy Cross Wilderness designated by Public Law 96-560 (new paragraph (23)); (3) designates approximately 5,235 acres as the Hoosier Ridge Wilderness (new paragraph (24)); (4) designates approximately 7,624 acres as the Tenmile Wilderness (new paragraph (25)); and (5) adds approximately 7,634 acres to the Eagles Nest Wilderness designated by Public Law 94-352 (new paragraph (26)). The section applies the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to these covered areas as of the date of enactment (subsection (b)); authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to manage fire, insects, and diseases (subsection (c)); permits established livestock grazing to continue (subsection (d)); and requires coordination with state and local agencies on fire and flood response for the Eagles Nest additions to protect watersheds (subsection (e)). (As background, the Wilderness Act preserves federally designated wilderness areas in their natural condition without permanent improvements or motorized access.)

This section designates approximately 8,036 acres of federal land in the White River National Forest in Colorado, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Williams Fork Mountains Proposal” dated June 24, 2019, as the Williams Fork Mountains potential wilderness area. The potential wilderness area shall be managed in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this section, subject to valid existing rights. Within three years of enactment, the Secretary of Agriculture shall determine whether to authorize livestock grazing on the vacant Big Hole and Blue Ridge allotments (possibly modifying or combining them), and if authorized, issue a permit within one year; if grazing is permitted, motorized or mechanized equipment may be used for two years to construct or rehabilitate necessary range improvements (e.g., for livestock management, habitat, or watershed restoration). The area shall be designated as the Williams Fork Mountains Wilderness, effective no earlier than 180 days after enactment and on the earliest of (1) Federal Register notice of range improvement completion, (2) two years after a positive grazing determination, or (3) a determination not to authorize grazing; thereafter, it shall be managed in accordance with the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-77), with references to that Act's effective date deemed to be the new designation date.

This section designates approximately 8,287 acres of land in the White River National Forest, as depicted on the map entitled “Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area Proposal” dated June 24, 2019, as the Porcupine Gulch Wildlife Conservation Area, subject to valid existing rights. The purposes of the area are to conserve a wildlife migration corridor over Interstate 70 and to conserve, protect, and enhance its wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, and ecological resources. The Secretary of Agriculture must manage the area to further these purposes in accordance with the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and other applicable laws. Allowed uses include only those furthering the purposes, recreation consistent with the purposes, and management of wildland fire, hazardous fuels, insects, and diseases; prohibited uses include motorized vehicles and mechanized transport (except for administrative purposes, fire- or watershed-protection projects, activities authorized under the fire management or transportation provisions, or emergencies), new or temporary roads (with the same exceptions), and commercial timber harvesting (except for byproducts of authorized activities). The section authorizes subsurface use of the area for regional transportation projects such as Interstate 70 and the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels and applies water rights protections from section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area Act to the area.

This section designates approximately 3,528 acres of Federal land in the White River National Forest in Colorado, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Williams Fork Mountains Proposal” dated June 24, 2019, as the Williams Fork Mountains Wildlife Conservation Area to conserve, protect, and enhance wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, recreational, and ecological resources. The Secretary shall manage the area in accordance with applicable laws, including the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, allowing only uses that further those purposes, as follows: (1) limiting motorized vehicles and bicycles to designated roads and trails, with exceptions for administrative purposes, fire management activities, and emergencies and prohibiting new or temporary roads except as needed for those exceptions; (2) prohibiting commercial timber harvesting, except for byproducts of authorized activities; and (3) continuing existing grazing permits and leases consistent with the area's purposes. The section further authorizes management of wildland fire, hazardous fuels, insects, and diseases and applies water rights protections from section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area Act (Public Law 107-216).

This section designates approximately 2,674 acres of Federal land in the White River National Forest, as generally depicted as “Proposed Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conservation Area” on the map entitled “Eagles Nest Wilderness Additions Proposal” dated April 26, 2022, as the Spraddle Creek Wildlife Conservation Area, subject to valid existing rights. The Secretary shall manage the area to conserve, protect, and enhance its wildlife, scenic, roadless, watershed, recreational, and ecological resources in accordance with the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and other applicable laws, allowing only uses that further these purposes. Management prohibits motorized vehicles and mechanized transport except for administrative or emergency purposes, permanent road construction except temporary roads for vegetation management projects (which must be decommissioned within three years of project completion) or emergencies, and commercial timber harvesting except for byproducts of other authorized activities; the Secretary may manage wildland fire, hazardous fuels, insects, and diseases as needed; and Section 3(e) of the James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area Act (i.e., preserving water rights for instream flows) applies to the area.

This section modifies the boundary of the White River National Forest to include approximately 120 acres (SW 1/4, SE 1/4, and NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of sec. 1, T. 2 S., R. 80 W., 6th Principal Meridian) in Summit County in the State. For purposes of Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) acquisitions under 54 U.S.C. 200306, it deems the modified boundaries to be those as in existence on January 1, 1965. (Thus, the 120 acres are eligible for acquisition with LWCF amounts as an inholding within White River National Forest boundaries existing on that date, consistent with allowable federal purposes for national forest recreation areas.)

This section modifies the boundary of the potential wilderness area in Rocky Mountain National Park, as designated by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, to exclude approximately 15.5 acres comprising portions of the Trail River Ranch, as identified as “Potential Wilderness to Non-wilderness” on the map entitled “Rocky Mountain National Park Proposed Wilderness Area Amendment” dated January 16, 2018. (Thus, this allows ongoing maintenance and use of that property.)

This section establishes administrative provisions for covered areas, wilderness areas and potential wilderness areas designated by section 103, and Wildlife Conservation Areas, including (1) preserving state jurisdiction over fish and wildlife; (2) prohibiting buffer zones and allowing nonwilderness activities outside such areas even if visible or audible from within; (3) protecting Indian tribe treaty rights and authorizing traditional tribal uses subject to necessary terms and conditions; (4) directing the Secretary to prepare maps and legal descriptions in coordination with relevant congressional committees, which shall have legal force (with authority for clerical corrections and minor boundary adjustments to two specified Wildlife Conservation Areas); (5) authorizing acquisition of land or interests within such areas by donation, purchase from willing sellers, or exchange, with acquired lands incorporated into the applicable area; (6) withdrawing such areas from entry, appropriation, disposal under public land laws, mining laws, and mineral/geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights; (7) exempting military low-level overflights, flight testing, training, transportation, and special use airspace; and (8) stating the sense of Congress that military aviation training on federal public lands in the state, including at the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, is critical to U.S. national security and Armed Forces readiness.

This section defines terms for purposes of this title, including "(1) covered land" as land designated as wilderness under paragraphs (27) through (29) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-77, as added by section 202) and Special Management Areas; "(2) Secretary" as the Secretary of Agriculture; and "(3) Special Management Area" as the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area and Liberty Bell East Special Management Area designated by section 203.

This section designates certain federal lands in Colorado as additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System by amending Section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993, as follows: (1) approximately 3,141 acres in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests as an addition to the Lizard Head Wilderness; (2) approximately 7,235 acres (Liberty Bell and Last Dollar additions) and 12,465 acres (Whitehouse additions) in the same national forests as additions to the Mount Sneffels Wilderness; and (3) approximately 8,884 acres of Bureau of Land Management land as the new McKenna Peak Wilderness. (Wilderness areas are managed by the Forest Service or BLM under the Wilderness Act of 1964 to preserve natural conditions without roads, motorized equipment, or commercial development.)

This section designates two special management areas in national forests in Colorado: (1) the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area, comprising approximately 21,663 acres in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison and San Juan National Forests as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Sheep Mountain Special Management Area” and dated September 19, 2018; and (2) the Liberty Bell East Special Management Area, comprising approximately 792 acres in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests as generally depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Liberty Bell and Last Dollar Additions to the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness, Liberty Bell East Special Management Area” and dated September 6, 2018. The section states that the purpose of these areas is to conserve and protect geological, cultural, archaeological, paleontological, natural, scientific, recreational, wilderness, wildlife, riparian, historical, educational, and scenic resources. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to manage the areas to conserve those resources and values, maintain or improve their wilderness character and suitability for potential inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and comply with the National Forest Management Act of 1976 and other applicable laws. It prohibits permanent roads and, except as needed for administration, abandoned mine cleanup, or public health and safety, the use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, mechanical transport, or temporary roads; however, it authorizes continuation of any pre-enactment permitted activities (e.g., helicopter access for recreation and maintenance and the competitive running event permitted since 1992), future permitting for such activities, and bicycle use in specified portions (Ophir Valley Area of Sheep Mountain and Liberty Bell Corridor of Liberty Bell East). The section applies water and water rights administration provisions of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to these areas, with references updated to this Act and the special management areas. It further requires the Secretary, not later than two years after enactment and in consultation with interested parties including San Miguel County and the Colorado Department of Transportation, to complete a study on ensuring safe Nordic skiing access near the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area, including identification of actions to provide or facilitate off-highway parking along State Highway 145.

This section releases the portions of the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Study Area and McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area not designated as wilderness—from further wilderness study and interim protections under section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c))—and directs their management under applicable laws other than that section. (As background, section 603(c) requires the Bureau of Land Management to manage wilderness study areas so as not to impair their wilderness suitability pending congressional action.) Specifically, (1) for Dominguez Canyon, it makes conforming amendments to subtitle E of title II of P.L. 111-11 (Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009), including redesignating section 2408 as section 2409 and inserting new section 2408; and (2) for McKenna Peak in San Miguel County, Colorado, it addresses lands not designated under new paragraph (29) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-77), as added by section 202 of this bill.

This section establishes administrative provisions for wilderness areas designated by paragraphs (27) through (29) of section 2(a) of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103-77, as added by section 202) and special management areas, as follows: (1) preserving state jurisdiction over fish and wildlife; (2) prohibiting buffer zones around such areas and allowing nonwilderness activities outside boundaries even if visible or audible within; (3) preserving Indian tribe treaty rights, including under the 1873 Agreement ratified by the Act of April 29, 1874 (18 Stat. 36), and allowing traditional tribal uses for ceremonies and plants or materials, subject to necessary terms; (4) requiring the Secretary of Agriculture or Interior, as appropriate, to file maps and legal descriptions of such areas with specified congressional committees, with such maps and descriptions having force of law (subject to typographical corrections) and available for public inspection; (5) authorizing acquisition of lands or interests within such areas by donation, purchase from willing sellers, or exchange, with acquired lands incorporated into and managed as part of the applicable area; (6) permitting continuation of established livestock grazing on covered land, subject to reasonable regulations under section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)) and applicable congressional guidelines; (7) authorizing necessary activities in such wilderness areas to control fire, insects, and diseases under section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)); and (8) withdrawing covered land and approximately 6,590 acres in the proposed Naturita Canyon Mineral Withdrawal Area (depicted on a specified map) from entry, appropriation, disposal under public land laws; location, entry, and patent under mining laws; and operation of mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights.

This section states the purposes of this title: (1) to withdraw, subject to valid existing rights, certain federal lands in the Thompson Divide area from mineral and other disposal laws to protect the area's agricultural, ranching, wildlife, air quality, recreation, ecological, and scenic values; and (2) to promote the capture of fugitive methane emissions.

This section provides definitions for terms used in this title, including (1) “fugitive methane emissions,” meaning methane gas from federal lands or minerals in Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, or Pitkin County, Colorado, within the Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program Area that would leak or vent from active or inactive federally leased coal mines or certain abandoned mines; (2) “pilot program,” referring to the Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program; (3) “pilot program map” and “Thompson Divide map,” specific maps dated April 29, 2022, and September 19, 2023, respectively; (4) “Secretary,” meaning the Secretary of the Interior; (5) “Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area,” meaning federal lands and minerals depicted on the Thompson Divide map; (6) “Thompson Divide lease,” meaning oil or gas leases in effect on enactment within that area, excluding Wolf Creek Storage Field-associated leases and those already expired, cancelled, or terminated; and (7) “Wolf Creek Storage Field development right,” meaning specified federal mineral leases (COC 0007496 et al.) depicted on the Thompson Divide map, excluding storage rights or related activities therein.

This section withdraws the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area—subject to valid existing rights—from (1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under mining laws; and (3) operation of mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. The section further directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to determine the area's exact acreage and legal description through surveys and specifies that nothing in this title affects grazing administration in the area.

This section authorizes the Secretary to issue credits to holders of Thompson Divide leases who relinquish all such leases (and, as a condition, permanently transfer associated Wolf Creek Storage Field development rights to the Secretary), usable for any bid, royalty, or rental payment due under any other federal oil or gas lease on federal land in the same state. Credits equal the sum of (1) bonus bids paid for the Thompson Divide leases, (2) rentals paid as of the relinquishment notice date, and (3) reasonable pre-January 28, 2019, expenses for drilling permits, sundry notices, or related National Environmental Policy Act analyses (excluding legal fees and pre-lease expenses), subject to Secretary approval; credits are accepted as cash equivalents and treated as amounts received under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191) and Geothermal Steam Act (30 U.S.C. 1019) (i.e., 50% to the state and 25% to the county where resources are located). (Thus, relinquished Thompson Divide leases are permanently canceled without reissuance, and acquired Wolf Creek development rights are held by the Secretary solely for the duration of parent leases without transfer, reissuance, or mineral extraction.)

This section establishes in the Bureau of Land Management the Greater Thompson Divide Fugitive Coal Mine Methane Use Pilot Program to promote capture, beneficial use, mitigation, and sequestration of fugitive methane emissions from coal mines in Colorado's Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, and Pitkin Counties. (1) Within 180 days of enactment, the Secretary of the Interior must develop a plan—coordinating with the state, specified counties, federal coal lessees, universities, and the public—to conduct a fugitive methane inventory, lease emissions for use, and cap or destroy emissions; (2) within two years of enactment, the Secretary must complete and publicly release the inventory (using available data without entering private land or requiring new reports from coal lessees, and collaborating with federal/state agencies, counties, and others), identifying emission sources, volumes, and relevant data to support leasing and mitigation; and (3) within one year after inventory completion, the Secretary must implement a leasing program authorizing holders of valid existing federal coal leases to capture for beneficial use (e.g., electrical power production) or destroy fugitive emissions, subject to safety, non-interference with mining operations, and other terms.

This section provides that, except as expressly provided in this title, nothing in the title (1) expands, diminishes, or impairs valid existing mineral leases, mineral interests, or other property rights wholly or partially within the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Area, including access thereto in accordance with applicable laws; (2) prevents methane capture from any active, inactive, or abandoned coal mine covered by the title, in accordance with applicable laws; or (3) prevents access to, or development of, any new or existing coal mine or lease in Delta or Gunnison County in the State.

This section defines, for purposes of this title, the terms “map” (i.e., the map entitled “Curecanti National Recreation Area, Proposed Boundary”, numbered 616/100,485D, and dated April 25, 2022), “National Recreation Area” (i.e., the Curecanti National Recreation Area established by section 402(a)), and “Secretary” (i.e., the Secretary of the Interior).

This section establishes the Curecanti National Recreation Area, consisting of approximately 50,300 acres in Colorado as generally depicted on the specified map, as a unit of the National Park System effective on the earlier of one year after enactment or the date the Secretary approves a Bureau of Reclamation request to retain administrative jurisdiction over the minimum lands needed for water facility operations. The map is available for public inspection in appropriate National Park Service offices. The section directs the Secretary to administer the area in accordance with this title and laws generally applicable to National Park System units. It preserves the Secretary's authority to operate the Uncompahgre Valley Reclamation Project, Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, and related water project recreation authorities; requires transfer of administrative jurisdiction over other Reclamation lands to the National Park Service within one year (with Reclamation retaining access for operations, maintenance, and expansion via memorandum of understanding); and authorizes management agreements with the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Colorado for adjacent federal and state lands. The section authorizes boating, hunting, and fishing in accordance with applicable laws, subject to Secretary-designated zones or periods of closure for public safety, administration, or legal compliance (after consultation with state fish and wildlife agencies and affected county commissioners, except in emergencies). (As background, the area encompasses reservoirs and lands associated with Reclamation projects that currently support recreation under the Federal Water Project Recreation Act.) It further authorizes the Secretary, at landowner request, to partner on conservation by acquiring private lands or interests in the designated Conservation Opportunity Area through purchase, exchange, or donation.

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land or interests in land within the boundary of the National Recreation Area by donation, purchase from willing sellers using donated or appropriated funds, transfer from another federal agency, or exchange (with state or local government land acquirable only by purchase, donation, or exchange). This section directs transfers of administrative jurisdiction over approximately 2,500 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and 6,100 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, as depicted on the map, to the National Park Service for administration as part of the National Recreation Area, and adjusts the Gunnison National Forest boundary to exclude the transferred Forest Service land. This section further directs the transfer to BLM of administrative jurisdiction over land depicted on the map as “Proposed for transfer to the Bureau of Land Management, subject to the revocation of Bureau of Reclamation withdrawal,” upon relinquishment by the Bureau of Reclamation and revocation of withdrawal by BLM. This section requires the Bureau of Reclamation to relinquish and BLM to revoke the withdrawal over land depicted on the map as “Potential exchange lands” for transfer to the National Park Service, which may exchange the land—subject to a conservation easement protecting scenic resources and in accordance with National Park Service land exchange authorities—for private land identified in section 402(c)(5), or add it to the National Recreation Area if not exchanged; all other land acquired by the United States within the National Recreation Area boundary is added to and managed as part of the National Recreation Area.

This section directs the Director of the National Park Service, in consultation with the Commissioner of Reclamation, to prepare a general management plan for the National Recreation Area in accordance with 54 U.S.C. §100502 not later than three years after funds are made available to carry out this title. (General management plans for National Park System units address resource preservation, development and visitor use patterns, carrying capacities, and potential boundary modifications.)