Laserfiche WebLink
<br />18 <br /> <br />c. Condemnation of Lands or W~ter Ri~hts <br /> <br />In conjunction with the authority to purchase lands and water rights . <br />discussed above, the Act of August I, 1888, 40 U.S.C. 257, provides <br />authority to condemn lands for public purposes, which would include <br />protection of wilderness resources. This authority extends to lands <br />outside of wilderness areas established under the Wilderness Act; <br />however, section 5(c) of the latter, 16 U.S.C. 1134(c), requires <br />specific authorization from Congress to condemn lands within a <br />wilderness. While these authorities can be used to acquire such lands <br />and related water rights as may be necessary to protect wilderness <br />water resources, it is the policy of the Forest Service to employ this <br />mechanism only as a last resort. <br /> <br />Application in Colorado: The Forest Service has not identified any <br />current situation in Colorado where condemnation of lands or water <br />rights is necessary to protect wildernesses. <br /> <br />6, OTHER CONSIDERATIONS <br /> <br />a. Availability of Funds <br /> <br />The Forest Service has legislative and appropriation authorities for <br />the purchase of water rights. land or interests in land. Acquisitions <br />are made on a priority basis using available programmed funds. <br />Special or large purchases are submitted as specific budget requests <br />to Congress. <br /> <br />The Forest Service has not identified any situations requ~r~ng the use . <br />of funds to purchase or condemn lands or water rights to protect <br />wilderness at this time. The Forest Service cannot predict the <br />appropriation or availability of funds in the future. <br /> <br />b. Reserved Water Rights for Instream Flows Under the Authority of the <br />Organic Act of 1897 <br /> <br />The ForGst Service has filed for reserved instream flow rights under <br />the authority of the OrganiC Act of 1897. 16 U.S.C. 473 et seq.. in <br />the water courts in Water Divisions 1, 2. 3, and 7 for maintaining <br />stream channel conveyance capabilities to achieve the primary national <br />forest purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows. The <br />stream flows have been quantified and identified in various applica- <br />tions in Water Divisions 1 and 3. Some of these applications are for <br />streams that originate and flow through the Rawah, Comanche Peak, <br />Neota and Indian Peaks Wilderness on the Roosevelt National Forest; <br />Lost Creek and Mount Evans Wilderness on the'Pike National Forest; the <br />Mount Evans Wilderness on the Arapaho National Forest; and the <br />Weminuche and La Garita Wilderness on the Rio Grande National Forest. <br />No specific quantifications have yet been made for streams on those <br /> <br />. <br />