S. 1787 — Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act

This section establishes the Dolores River National Conservation Area, comprising approximately 52,872 acres of Bureau of Land Management land in the State, subject to valid existing rights. The purpose of the Conservation Area is to conserve, protect, and enhance its native fish, whitewater boating, recreational, hunting, fishing, scenic, cultural, archaeological, natural, geological, historical, ecological, watershed, wildlife, educational, and scientific resources.

This section directs the Secretary to manage the Conservation Area in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other applicable laws, allowing only uses consistent with the area's purpose as described in section 101(b). It requires the Secretary to develop a management plan for the Conservation Area's long-term protection, management, and monitoring not later than three years after enactment, subject to periodic review and revision; the plan must be prepared in consultation with the state, local governments, the public, the Council, and the Native Fish Monitoring and Recommendation Team and in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the Special Management Area, while considering Council recommendations and ensuring no alteration of Indian treaty rights, rights under the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-585), or the Dolores Project. It specifies that lands or interests acquired by the United States within the Conservation Area's boundaries become part of the area and are managed accordingly. It preserves valid existing uranium leases issued under the Department of Energy's leasing program, exempting leased lands from section 401(b) and requiring management to allow lease fulfillment; such lands become fully subject to Conservation Area management upon lease expiration, removal from the program by the Secretary of Energy, and a Secretarial finding of suitability.

This section establishes the Dolores River National Conservation Area Advisory Council not later than one year after enactment of the Act. The 14-member council, appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, advises the Secretary on preparation, implementation, and monitoring of the management plan for the Dolores River National Conservation Area (under §102(c)) and advises the Secretary of Agriculture on the management plan for the special management area (under §202(c)); membership represents specified interests including agricultural water users (two members, one from the Dolores Water Conservancy District), conservation (two), recreation (two, one for whitewater boating), three Colorado counties (Dolores, San Miguel, and Montezuma), a proximate private landowner, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a grazing permit holder, and Indian Tribes (two, one from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe), with requirements for balanced representation and specified residency. Council members serve five-year terms without compensation (reimbursable expenses allowed), elect a chairperson, meet publicly at least quarterly until the relevant management plan is completed (thereafter at the Secretary of the Interior's call or for plan reviews/revisions), and continue for the duration of the conservation area, subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Secretary of the Interior must provide technical assistance and renew the council charter as required.

This section establishes the Dolores River Special Management Area, consisting of approximately 15,452 acres of federal land in the San Juan National Forest, including National Forest System land along the Dolores River from the Dolores Project boundary downstream to the San Juan National Forest boundary, subject to valid existing rights. The purpose is to conserve, protect, and enhance the area's native fish, whitewater boating, recreational, hunting, fishing, scenic, cultural, archaeological, natural, geological, historical, ecological, watershed, wildlife, educational, and scientific resources; and it directs the Secretary of Agriculture to file a map and legal description with specified congressional committees, with copies available for public inspection in Forest Service offices.

This section directs the Secretary to manage the Special Management Area in accordance with this Act, the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and other applicable laws, allowing only uses that further the area's purpose as described in section 201(b). It requires the Secretary to develop a management plan for the area's long-term protection, management, and monitoring not later than three years after enactment, subject to periodic review and revision in accordance with applicable laws. The plan must be prepared in consultation with the State, units of local government, the public, the Council, and the Native Fish Monitoring and Recommendation Team; in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior on the Conservation Area management plan; considering Council recommendations; and ensuring no alteration or diminishment of Indian treaty rights, rights under the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988, or the operation or purposes of the Dolores Project. This section further provides that lands or interests acquired by the United States within the area's boundary become part of the Special Management Area and are managed accordingly.

This section declares the purpose of this title to release portions of the Dolores River and certain tributaries from designation for potential addition or further study under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

This section releases the segments of the Dolores River located in the Dolores River National Conservation Area—from designation for potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system under section 5(a)(56) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. (As background, section 5(a) authorizes studies of listed river segments to assess suitability for inclusion in the national system; the National Conservation Area was established by the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act to protect the area's natural, cultural, and scenic resources on BLM lands in Colorado.)

This section establishes management requirements for covered land, including (1) limiting motorized vehicles to designated routes except for administrative or emergency purposes and prohibiting road construction except for administrative needs, public health and safety, or private property access; (2) withdrawing the land from public land laws, mining laws, and mineral leasing laws subject to valid existing rights; (3) requiring land acquisitions only from willing sellers; (4) administering grazing leases and permits under existing Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service authorities; (5) providing reasonable access to adjacent private property; and (6) authorizing easements, wildfire and pest management, and hydrologic or climatological data collection devices as needed. This section further directs management of Ponderosa Gorge areas within the covered land to maintain wilderness character, prohibiting new or renovated roads, motorized use, and commercial timber harvesting except for administrative, safety, restoration, or utility purposes (including a utility right-of-way corridor and the 2020 Lone Pine Vegetation Management Project) and allowing new rights-of-way up to 150 feet wide for existing transmission lines if relocated to further conservation purposes.

This section preserves the operation of the Dolores Project and McPhee Reservoir by the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the Dolores Water Conservancy District, in accordance with specified reclamation laws, contracts, environmental assessments, mitigation measures, and statutes including the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, and Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988. The section directs the Secretary, in managing flows below McPhee Dam to conserve, protect, and enhance native fish and whitewater boating resources in the Dolores River within the covered land, to consult with stakeholders including the Native Fish Monitoring and Recommendation Team; and requires the Commissioner of Reclamation to issue annual public reports, beginning one year after enactment, on progress toward native fish conservation. The section prohibits the Secretary or other federal officers from assisting, after enactment, in constructing or modifying water resource projects on or affecting the covered land that impair its free-flowing streams or unreasonably diminish specified river resource values, subject to exceptions for minor developments and maintenance of existing projects outside the covered land. The section further states that the Act does not affect existing state-decreed water rights, allocations, or uses (including those held by the United States); interstate compacts; or state water jurisdiction; and imposes no mandatory streamflows, stricter federal water quality standards, or federal reserved water rights within the covered land.

This section specifies that nothing in the Act (1) affects valid existing rights; (2) requires private property owners to bear costs of implementing the management plan; (3) affects state jurisdiction over fish and wildlife; (4) requires changes to or affects local zoning laws; or (5) affects jurisdiction, use, or maintenance of county roads in the covered land or administration of the "Dolores River Road" within the Conservation Area, provided the Secretary does not improve that road beyond its existing primitive condition. The section further provides that the designations of the Conservation Area and Special Management Area do not create buffer zones around those areas and do not prohibit activities on adjacent private land that are visible or audible from within such areas.

This section provides that nothing in the Act affects treaty rights of any Indian Tribe, including rights under the Agreement of September 13, 1873 (ratified by the Act of April 29, 1874), and directs the Secretary to allow continued use of covered land by tribal members for traditional ceremonies and as a source of traditional plants and materials, subject to necessary terms and conditions and applicable law.