S. 1193 — America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act

This section designates 77 areas in the Great Basin region of western Utah, totaling approximately 2.1 million acres, as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in accordance with the Wilderness Act.

This section designates approximately 1.84 million acres in southern Utah as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, in accordance with the Wilderness Act. The designations include (1) 18 areas totaling approximately 520,000 acres in the Grand Staircase region (most within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument established in 1996); (2) 19 areas totaling approximately 906,000 acres on the Kaiparowits Plateau (most within the Monument); and (3) 11 areas totaling approximately 415,000 acres in the Escalante Canyons (all within the Monument). (Thus, these public lands will be managed by the federal land management agencies principally to preserve their natural, undeveloped condition, with prohibitions on roads, motorized access, structures, and commercial development.)

This section designates approximately 314,350 acres in 17 areas in the Moab-La Sal Canyons region of Utah as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in accordance with the Wilderness Act. The areas are: (1) Arches National Park Adjacents (approximately 8,600 acres); (2) Beaver Creek (approximately 45,000 acres); (3) Behind the Rocks (approximately 19,500 acres); (4) Big Triangle (approximately 21,500 acres); (5) Coyote Wash (approximately 27,000 acres); (6) Dome Plateau (approximately 36,750 acres); (7) Fisher Towers (approximately 19,000 acres); (8) Goldbar Canyon (approximately 9,500 acres); (9) Granite Creek (approximately 5,000 acres); (10) Hunter Canyon (approximately 5,500 acres); (11) Mary Jane Canyon (approximately 28,500 acres); (12) Mill Creek (approximately 17,250 acres); (13) Morning Glory (approximately 11,000 acres); (14) Porcupine Rim (approximately 10,500 acres); (15) Renegade Point (approximately 6,250 acres); (16) Westwater Canyon (approximately 39,000 acres); and (17) Yellow Bird (approximately 4,500 acres).

This section designates approximately 367,500 acres in 10 areas of the Henry Mountains in Utah as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System pursuant to the Wilderness Act. The designated areas are (1) Bull Mountain (16,000 acres), (2) Bullfrog Creek (42,000 acres), (3) Dogwater Creek (45,000 acres), (4) Fremont Gorge (22,000 acres), (5) Long Canyon (16,500 acres), (6) Mount Ellen-Blue Hills (14,750 acres), (7) Mount Hillers (20,250 acres), (8) Mount Pennell (155,500 acres), (9) Notom Bench (6,250 acres), and (10) Ragged Mountain (29,250 acres). (The Wilderness Act preserves designated areas in their natural condition, generally prohibiting roads, motorized vehicles, structures, and commercial development.)

This section designates 14 areas in Glen Canyon, Utah, totaling approximately 916,000 acres, as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System under the Wilderness Act (i.e., areas managed by federal agencies to preserve natural conditions, generally prohibiting roads, motorized access, and commercial development). The designated areas are: (1) Cane Spring Desert (approximately 18,250 acres); (2) Copper Point (approximately 4,500 acres); (3) Dark Canyon (approximately 139,000 acres); (4) Dirty Devil (approximately 245,000 acres); (5) Fiddler Butte (approximately 93,000 acres); (6) Flat Tops (approximately 29,750 acres); (7) Fort Knocker (approximately 12,500 acres); (8) Little Rockies (approximately 64,000 acres); (9) Pleasant Creek Bench (approximately 1,000 acres); (10) Red Rock Plateau (approximately 185,500 acres); (11) The Needle (approximately 10,750 acres); (12) Tuwa Canyon (approximately 9,750 acres); (13) Upper Red Canyon (approximately 25,000 acres); and (14) White Canyon (approximately 78,000 acres). (Note: Dark Canyon, Fort Knocker, Tuwa Canyon, Upper Red Canyon, White Canyon, and a portion of Red Rock Plateau lie within the Bears Ears National Monument.)

This section designates 15 areas in the San Juan region of southeastern Utah, totaling approximately 540,000 acres, as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System pursuant to the Wilderness Act. The areas are: (1) Allen Canyon (approx. 6,500 acres); (2) Arch Canyon (approx. 30,500 acres); (3) Comb Ridge (approx. 16,000 acres); (4) Cross Canyon (approx. 2,500 acres); (5) Fish and Owl Creek Canyons (approx. 74,000 acres); (6) Grand Gulch (approx. 161,250 acres); (7) Hammond Canyon (approx. 4,750 acres); (8) Lime Creek (approx. 5,500 acres); (9) Monument Canyon (approx. 18,000 acres); (10) Nokai Dome (approx. 94,250 acres); (11) Road Canyon (approx. 64,000 acres); (12) San Juan River (approx. 14,750 acres); (13) The Tabernacle (approx. 7,250 acres); (14) Tin Cup Mesa (approx. 26,000 acres); and (15) Valley of the Gods (approx. 14,500 acres). (Thus, these lands—most within Bears Ears National Monument—are preserved in their natural condition, with prohibitions on roads, motorized access, and commercial development to protect archaeological, scenic, and ecological resources.)

This section designates 12 areas in Utah totaling approximately 614,000 acres as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in accordance with the Wilderness Act, as follows: (1) Bridger Jack Mesa (approximately 33,500 acres); (2) Butler Wash (approximately 27,000 acres); (3) Dead Horse Cliffs (approximately 5,250 acres); (4) Demon’s Playground (approximately 3,500 acres); (5) Gooseneck (approximately 9,500 acres); (6) Hatch Point/Lockhart Basin/Harts Point (approximately 150,500 acres); (7) Horsethief Point (approximately 15,500 acres); (8) Indian Creek (approximately 28,500 acres); (9) Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness Expansion (approximately 158,750 acres); (10) San Rafael River (approximately 97,250 acres); (11) Shay Mountain (approximately 15,500 acres); and (12) Sweetwater Reef (approximately 69,250 acres). (Thus, these lands—mostly within Bears Ears National Monument—are preserved in their natural condition, with restrictions on roads, structures, motorized use, and commercial development.)

This section designates 21 areas in the San Rafael Swell region of Utah, totaling approximately 703,000 acres, as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in accordance with the Wilderness Act. The areas are: (1) Capitol Reef National Park Adjacents (approximately 9,000 acres); (2) Cedar Mountain (approximately 15,250 acres); (3) Devils Canyon Wilderness Expansion (approximately 14,500 acres); (4) Eagle Canyon (approximately 39,000 acres); (5) Factory Butte (approximately 22,250 acres); (6) Hondu Country Wilderness Expansion (approximately 3,000 acres); (7) Jones Bench (approximately 3,500 acres); (8) Limestone Cliffs (approximately 25,500 acres); (9) Lost Spring Wash (approximately 36,500 acres); (10) Mexican Mountain Wilderness Expansion (approximately 29,750 acres); (11) Molen Reef (approximately 32,500 acres); (12) Muddy Creek Wilderness Expansion (approximately 85,000 acres); (13) Mussentuchit Badlands (approximately 25,000 acres); (14) Price River-Humbug (approximately 122,250 acres); (15) Red Desert (approximately 30,750 acres); (16) Rock Canyon (approximately 17,750 acres); (17) San Rafael Knob (approximately 16,750 acres); (18) San Rafael Reef Wilderness Expansion (approximately 60,750 acres); (19) Sids Mountain Wilderness Expansion (approximately 39,250 acres); (20) Upper Muddy Creek (approximately 18,500 acres); and (21) Wild Horse Mesa Wilderness Expansion (approximately 56,000 acres).

This section designates 25 areas totaling approximately 670,000 acres in the Book Cliffs–Greater Dinosaur region as wilderness areas and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System pursuant to the Wilderness Act. The designated areas include Desolation Canyon Wilderness Expansion (approximately 293,500 acres) and Diamond Canyon (approximately 168,000 acres), among others ranging from 250 acres (Vivas Cake Hill) to 30,500 acres (Diamond Mountain).

This section specifies that each wilderness area designated by title I consists of the acreage generally depicted on the map entitled “America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, 118th Congress” and is named as provided in title I. It further directs the Secretary of the Interior to file, as soon as practicable after enactment, a map and legal description of each area with the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources—documents that shall have the force of law (subject to correction of clerical and typographical errors by the Secretary) and be made publicly available at the Bureau of Land Management Director’s office.

This section directs the Secretary to administer each wilderness area designated under this Act in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Wilderness Act, subject to valid rights in existence on the date of enactment.

This section requires the Secretary to offer exchanges of federal land in the same state of approximately equal value for any state-owned land included within areas designated as wilderness by this Act, in accordance with section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)) and section 5(a) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1134(a)). The Secretary may not transfer any mineral interests under such exchanges unless the state transfers to the Secretary any mineral interests in the designated wilderness land.

This section reserves a quantity of water, as determined by the Secretary, sufficient for each wilderness area designated by this Act, with a priority date of the date of enactment. It directs the Secretary to protect these rights, including by filing claims in any present or future state stream adjudication in which the United States is or may be joined; clarifies that the reservation does not affect any U.S. water rights reserved or appropriated in the state on or before enactment; and specifies that the rights apply only to these wilderness areas and do not establish precedent for future designations or affect interpretation of other laws.

This section establishes setbacks for wilderness boundaries measured from the centerline of adjacent roads, with specified distances varying by road type and whether wilderness abuts one or both sides. For wilderness on one side of a road, setbacks are 300 feet from a paved federal or state highway, 100 feet from any other paved road or high-standard dirt or gravel road, and 30 feet from any other road; for wilderness on both sides (including cherry-stems or roads separating two wilderness units), setbacks are 200 feet, 40 feet, and 10 feet, respectively. The section authorizes exceptions to use well-defined topographical barriers (e.g., cliff edges or stream banks) or parallel fences as boundaries if more manageable; to exclude disturbances (e.g., livestock developments, dispersed camping areas, or borrow pits) within 100 feet of a road if consistent with wilderness management goals and limited to the minimum necessary deviation; and to delineate boundaries within a setback if it enhances wilderness management goals.

This section permits livestock grazing authorized as of the date of enactment to continue in wilderness areas designated under title I, subject to reasonable regulations by the Secretary consistent with the Wilderness Act and section 101(f) of the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990.

This section requires any land acquired by the federal government within the boundaries of a wilderness area designated under this Act to (1) become part of that wilderness area and (2) be managed in accordance with this Act and other laws applicable to wilderness areas.

This section withdraws the federal lands designated in title I from all forms of (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under public land laws; (2) location, entry, or patent under the mining laws; and (3) disposition under laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials, subject to valid existing rights on the date of enactment.