§1785 — Title 43 Public Lands | U.S. Code

Summary

Creates the Fossil Forest Research Natural Area of about 2,770 acres in the Farmington District of the Bureau of Land Management in New Mexico, shown on a map dated June 1983, to protect the site and support scientific study and public education. As soon as practicable after November 12, 1996, the Secretary of the Interior must file a map and legal description with the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Resources. That filed map and description count the same as if written into the law. The Secretary may fix clerical or map errors later, and the map must be kept for public inspection in the BLM Director’s office. The Secretary, through the BLM Director, must manage the Area to protect its resources and follow this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other laws. Subject to valid existing rights, the lands are withdrawn from mining and most mineral leasing and sales. The Secretary may swap coal leases elsewhere in New Mexico for any preference-right coal lease application in the Area if laws and regulations are followed and the swap is in the public interest. Oil and gas leases issued before November 12, 1996 must follow Group 3100 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (including section 3162.5–1) and any extra terms needed to avoid major surface damage or harm to the Area’s natural, educational, and research values as they existed on November 12, 1996. Livestock grazing is not allowed. Within 3 full fiscal years after November 12, 1996, the Secretary must make a baseline inventory of all kinds of fossil resources and then do monitoring as the management plan requires. The Secretary must submit a management plan within 5 years after November 12, 1996 to the two committees named above. The plan must include a cooperative research and education program (including vertebrate fossils), limits on vehicle use, rules for fossil excavation and collection (including plant fossils and only needed motorized tools), and standards to reduce and fix surface damage.

Title 43, §1785

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)To conserve and protect natural values and to provide scientific knowledge, education, and interpretation for the benefit of future generations, there is established the Fossil Forest Research Natural Area (referred to in this section as the “Area”), consisting of the approximately 2,770 acres in the Farmington District of the Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico, as generally depicted on a map entitled “Fossil Forest”, dated June 1983.

(b)(1)As soon as practicable after November 12, 1996, the Secretary of the Interior shall file a map and legal description of the Area with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives.

(2)The map and legal description described in paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act.

(3)The Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical, typographical, and cartographical errors in the map and legal description subsequent to filing the map pursuant to paragraph (1).

(4)The map and legal description shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

(c)(1)The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, shall manage the Area—

(A)to protect the resources within the Area; and

(B)in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other applicable provisions of law.

(2)(A)Subject to valid existing rights, the lands within the Area are withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing, geothermal leasing, and mineral material sales.

(B)The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue coal leases in New Mexico in exchange for any preference right coal lease application within the Area. Such exchanges shall be made in accordance with applicable existing laws and regulations relating to coal leases after a determination has been made by the Secretary that the applicant is entitled to a preference right lease and that the exchange is in the public interest.

(C)Operations on oil and gas leases issued prior to November 12, 1996, shall be subject to the applicable provisions of Group 3100 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (including section 3162.5–1), and such other terms, stipulations, and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior considers necessary to avoid significant disturbance of the land surface or impairment of the natural, educational, and scientific research values of the Area in existence on November 12, 1996.

(3)Livestock grazing on lands within the Area may not be permitted.

(d)Not later than 3 full fiscal years after November 12, 1996, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, shall develop a baseline inventory of all categories of fossil resources within the Area. After the inventory is developed, the Secretary shall conduct monitoring surveys at intervals specified in the management plan developed for the Area in accordance with subsection (e).

(e)(1)Not later than 5 years after November 12, 1996, the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives a management plan that describes the appropriate use of the Area consistent with this subsection.

(2)The management plan shall include—

(A)a plan for the implementation of a continuing cooperative program with other agencies and groups for—

(i)laboratory and field interpretation; and

(ii)public education about the resources and values of the Area (including vertebrate fossils);

(B)provisions for vehicle management that are consistent with the purpose of the Area and that provide for the use of vehicles to the minimum extent necessary to accomplish an individual scientific project;

(C)procedures for the excavation and collection of fossil remains, including botanical fossils, and the use of motorized and mechanical equipment to the minimum extent necessary to accomplish an individual scientific project; and

(D)mitigation and reclamation standards for activities that disturb the surface to the detriment of scenic and environmental values.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2) and (c)(1)(B), is Pub. L. 98–603, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3155, known as the San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of 1984. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, referred to in subsec. (c)(1)(B), is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2743, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1701 of this title and Tables. Codification November 12, 1996, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), was in the original “the date of enactment of this Act”, which was translated as meaning the date of enactment of Pub. L. 104–333, which amended this section generally, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Section was enacted as part of the San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of 1984, and not as part of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–176, § 124(1), substituted “Committee on Resources” for “Committee on Natural Resources”. Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 106–176, § 124(2), which directed amendment of par. (1) by substituting “this subsection” for “this Act”, was executed by making the substitution following “consistent with”, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Pub. L. 106–176, § 124(1), substituted ‘Committee on Resources” for “Committee on Natural Resources”. 1996—Pub. L. 104–333 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “(a) In recognition of its paramount aesthetic, natural, scientific, educational, and paleontological values, the approximately two thousand seven hundred and twenty acre area in the Albuquerque District of the Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico, known as the ‘Fossil Forest’, as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘Fossil Forest’, dated June 1983, is hereby withdrawn, subject to valid existing rights, from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing and geothermal leasing and all

Amendments

thereto. The Secretary of the Interior shall administer the area in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and shall take such measures as are necessary to ensure that no activities are permitted within the area which would significantly disturb the land surface or impair the area’s existing natural, educational, and scientific research values, including paleontological study, excavation, and interpretation. “(b) Within one year of October 30, 1984, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate

Rules and Regulations

for the administration of the Fossil Forest area referred to in subsection (a) of this section in accordance with the provisions of this Act and shall file a copy of such

Rules and Regulations

with the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate. “(c) The Bureau of Land Management is hereby directed to conduct a long-range study of the Fossil Forest to determine how best to manage the area’s resource values identified in subsection (a) of this section. Within eight years of October 30, 1984, the Secretary shall forward the study results and management plan for the area to Congress. During the study period and until Congress determines otherwise, the Fossil Forest area shall be managed under the provisions of this Act.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Resources of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Natural Resources of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Jan. 5, 2007.

§1785 Fossil Forest Research Natural Area

Summary

Title 43, §1785

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Short Title

Amendments

Amendments

Rules and Regulations

Rules and Regulations

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Citations & Metadata