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Deed of Conveyance from Mrs. Dickerson to the U.S. Government shows that she reserved <br />mineral rights on 33.16 acres. <br />Specifically, the 1963 deed reserved to Mrs. Dickerson: <br />"the perpetual right to mine and remove decomposed granite and the materials <br />intermixed therewith from a portion of the conveyance described above, together with <br />the right of ingress and egress over the same, but any rights reserved hereunder shall <br />be exercised in such a manner as will not interfere with...any works of the proposed <br />Curecanti Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project..." <br />Additionally, the deed reserved the right to prospect and remove all gas and oil in the 79.57 <br />acres, the rights to coal and minerals belonging to third parties, and existing rights-of-way. <br />At some point between 1958 and 1965, the Secretary of the Interior designated the NPS as the <br />agency responsible for implementing the recreational and conservation purposes of the <br />Colorado River Storage Project Act. In 1965, the NPS assumed jurisdiction over ail lands and <br />waters within the project area, including the quarry, pursuant to the delegation, Congressional <br />authority at 16 U.S.C. § 17j-2(b), and a Memorandum of Agreement with BOR. <br />Since then, the Dickerson property has been leased to at least two operators. The current <br />operator is Gunnison Gravel & Earthmoving. To date, the operators have mined and removed <br />decomposed granite and the various large granite boulders and blocks that are surrounded by <br />the decomposed granite. As stated above, the NPS has regulated the quarry since the 1980s <br />pursuant to NPS Special Use Permits in accordance with NPS regulations at 36 Code of <br />Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 1 and 5, NPS Management Policies (2001 c), and related <br />guidance. <br />1.2.2. The NPS Organic Act, as amended <br />The NPS Organic Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq.j provides the fundamental management direction <br />for all units of the National Park System. Section 1 states that the NPS shall: <br />"...promote and regulate the use of the federal areas known as national parks, <br />monuments, and reservations... by such means and measure as conform to the <br />fundamental purpose of said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to <br />conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to <br />provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave <br />them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." <br />The National Park System General Authorities Act of 1970 (16 U.S.C. § 1 a-1) affirms that while <br />all National Park System units remain "distinct in character," they are "united through their <br />interrelated purposes and resources into one National Park System as cumulative expressions <br />of a single national heritage." In other words, the Act clarifies that the NPS Organic Act and <br />other protective mandates apply equally to all units of the system. Subsequently, the 1978 <br />Redwood Act amendments to the General Authorities Act clarified Congress' mandate to the <br />NPS to protect park resources and values. The 1978 Act states, in part: "The authorization of <br />activities shall be construed and the protection, management, and administration of these areas <br />shall be conducted in light of the high public value and integrity of the National Park System and <br />shall not be exercised in derogation of the values and purposes for which these various areas <br />have been established except has may have been or shall be directly and specifically provided <br />by Congress" (16 U.S.C. § 1a-1). <br />4 <br />