[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2440 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2440
To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture to jointly conduct a study of certain land adjacent to the
Walnut Canyon National Monument in the State of Arizona.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 19, 2004
Mr. McCain introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture to jointly conduct a study of certain land adjacent to the
Walnut Canyon National Monument in the State of Arizona.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Walnut Canyon Study Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the Coconino National Forest was established in the
State of Arizona on July 2, 1908;
(2) the Walnut Canyon National Monument in the State of
Arizona was originally designated as a national monument by
Presidential proclamation on November 30, 1915, to protect
Sinaguan cliff dwellings;
(3) since the original designation, the Monument boundaries
have been expanded to include 3,580 acres;
(4) National Forest System land and State trust land in the
study area contain significant cultural and natural resources;
(5) the Coconino National Forest Land and Resources
Management Plan of 1987 identified National Forest System land
in the study area as land for nondevelopment or disposal under
the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a et
seq.);
(6) State trust land in the study area has been temporarily
removed from consideration for development by State agencies
with jurisdiction over the State trust land;
(7) the communities in the vicinity of the land in the
study area support maintaining public uses of the land
surrounding the Monument while protecting the resources of the
land;
(8) several interest groups have proposed expanding the
Monument and designating the expanded area as a national park
or national preserve;
(9) the city of Flagstaff and Coconino County, Arizona,
have passed resolutions supporting further review and study of,
and the development of management options for, the study area;
and
(10) to determine the appropriate management of the
adjacent land, interested parties have requested a study to
help identify management options.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to authorize a study of the study area to evaluate
public uses and resource values; and
(2) to obtain recommendations for management options for
maintenance of the public uses and protection of resources of
the study area.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled ``Walnut
Canyon Proposed Study Area'' and dated July 17, 2003.
(2) Monument.--The term ``Monument'' means the Walnut
Canyon National Monument in the State of Arizona.
(3) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture,
acting jointly.
(4) Study area.--The term ``study area'' means the area
identified on the map as ``Walnut Canyon Proposed Study Area'',
consisting of 30,818 acres, of which--
(A) 24,987 acres is Federal land in Coconino
National Forest; and
(B) 2,037 acres is State land;
(C) 214 acres is private land; and
(D) 3,580 acres is the Monument.
SEC. 4. STUDY.
(a) In General.--The Secretaries shall conduct a study of the study
area.
(b) Requirements.--The study shall evaluate--
(1) the significance of the resources of the study area as
the resources pertain to--
(A) the management objectives of the Forest
Service; and
(B) the management objectives of the National Park
Service;
(2) the opportunities for maintaining existing public uses;
and
(3) a range of options for managing and conserving
resources by the National Park Service or the Forest Service,
or by both agencies acting jointly, including the suitability
and feasibility of--
(A) a boundary adjustment to the Monument;
(B) designation of the study area as a national
park or preserve;
(C) maintaining the study area as managed by the
Forest Service; and
(D) any other designation or management option that
will accomplish both the protection of resources and
the maintenance of public use and access for the study
area.
(c) Consultation.--In conducting the study, the Secretaries may--
(1) contract with a third-party consultant with experience
in park and land use planning to prepare a draft study; and
(2) collaborate with the persons identified in subsection
(d) in developing a scope of work for the draft study under the
guidance of the third-party consultant.
(d) Review; Recommendations.--The Secretaries, the Forest
Supervisor of the Coconino National Forest, the Superintendent of the
Flagstaff Area National Monuments, the Flagstaff City Council, and the
Coconino County Board of Supervisors shall--
(1) review the draft study prepared by the third-party
consultant; and
(2) provide to the third-party consultant comments on and
recommendations for the draft study.
(e) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to Congress a report that--
(1) describes the findings and conclusions of the study
conducted under this section, including the recommendations of
the persons identified in subsection (d); and
(2) makes a recommendation for the future management of the
study area.
(f) Effect.--Nothing in this Act affects the management of the land
depicted on the map.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.
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