Laserfiche WebLink
99 006 <br /> 107th Congress <br /> Report <br /> HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • <br /> 2d Session <br /> 107 416 <br /> DEEP CREEK-YAMPATIKA UTE WILDERNESS ACT <br /> April 23, 2002 . --Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the <br /> Union and ordered to be printed <br /> Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following R E P O R T <br /> together with <br /> DISSENTING VIEWS <br /> [To accompany H.R. 2963] <br /> [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] <br /> The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 2963)to establish <br /> the Deep Creek Wilderness Area, and for other purposes, having considered the same, <br /> report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do <br /> pass. <br /> The amendment is as follows: <br /> Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: <br /> SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. <br /> This Act may be cited as the —Deep Creek-Yampatika Ute Wilderness Act" . <br /> SEC. 2 . FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. <br /> (a) Findings. --Congress finds the following: <br /> 1111 <br /> (1) Certain areas located in the White River National Forest and the Bureau of <br /> Land Management, Glenwood Springs Resource Area, in Colorado along Deep Creek should be <br /> protected and enhanced for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations, <br /> including the areas making up the rugged and remote limestone gorge formed by Deep <br /> Creek on the White River Plateau of the White River National Forest in Garfield and <br /> Eagle Counties, Colorado, which have wilderness values and offer unique and valuable <br /> scenic, geological, scientific, and recreational opportunities. <br /> (2) The unique high elevation riparian areas and natural and wildlife <br /> components, enhanced by the rural western setting of the area, provide extensive <br /> opportunities for primitive recreational activities, are publicly used for hiking, cave <br /> exploration, and solitude, and are worthy of additional protection as a wilderness <br /> area. <br /> (3) Deep Creek carves a rugged and remote limestone gorge, forming a dramatic <br /> pristine canyon over 2,500 feet deep and 13 miles long. <br /> (4) The limestone strata have created ideal conditions for the formation of <br /> caves, many of which are among Colorado's most outstanding. <br /> (5) There are both absolute and conditional decreed water rights appertaining to <br /> waters upstream and downstream from the Wilderness Area. <br /> These rights are private property rights and are entitled to protection. <br /> (6) It is possible to provide for proper management and protection of the <br /> wilderness values of the Wilderness Area in ways that provide for the reasonable <br /> development of the upstream and adjacent water rights. <br /> (7) Out of respect for the native Ute people who frequented the area near <br /> Trappers Lake and the Deep Creek headwaters for centuries, the Wilderness Area shall be <br /> known as the Deep Creek-Yampatika Ute Wilderness. • <br /> Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> Flood Protection•Water Supply Planning and Financing•Stream and Lake Protection <br /> Water Supply Protection•Conservation and Drought Planning <br />