16 U.S.C. § 460bbbb — Ashley Karst National Recreation and Geologic Area

(a) Definitions: This section defines five terms. "Management Plan" means the plan required under subsection (e)(2)(A). "Map" means the "Northern Utah Lands Management Act-Overview" map dated February 4, 2019. "Recreation Area" means the Ashley Karst National Recreation and Geologic Area established by subsection (b)(1). "Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture. "State" means Utah. (b) Establishment: (1) Subject to valid existing rights, this law establishes the Ashley Karst National Recreation and Geologic Area in Utah. (2) The Recreation Area consists of about 173,475 acres of land within the Ashley National Forest, as generally shown on the Map. (c) Purposes: The Recreation Area exists to conserve and protect its watershed, geological, recreational, wildlife, scenic, natural, cultural, and historic resources. (d) Map and legal description: (1) As soon as practical after March 12, 2019, the Secretary must submit a map and legal description of the Recreation Area to the House Committee on Natural Resources, the House Committee on Agriculture, and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (2) That map and legal description have the same legal effect as if written directly into this section, though the Secretary may correct minor errors in them. (3) A copy must be kept on file and available for public inspection at the appropriate Forest Service offices. (e) Administration: (1) The Secretary must administer the Recreation Area under (A) the laws generally applicable to the National Forest System, including the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974; (B) this section; and (C) any other applicable law. (2) Not later than two years after March 12, 2019, the Secretary must prepare a management plan for the Recreation Area, in consultation and coordination with Uintah County, Utah and affected Indian Tribes, and with provision for public input. (f) Uses: The Secretary may only allow uses of the Recreation Area that (1) further the purposes for which it was established, and (2) promote the long-term protection and management of its watershed and underground karst system. (g) Motorized vehicles: (1) Except as needed for emergency response or administrative purposes, motorized vehicles may only be used on roads and motorized routes the Management Plan designates for that use. (2) No new permanent or temporary roads or other motorized vehicle routes may be built within the Recreation Area after March 12, 2019. (3) Necessary maintenance or repairs to existing roads designated for motorized-vehicle use — including keeping them free of debris or safety hazards — are permitted after March 12, 2019, consistent with this section's requirements; nothing here stops the Secretary from rerouting an existing road or trail to protect Recreation Area resources or public safety, as the Secretary determines appropriate. (4) Nothing in this section prohibits using snowmobiles and other over-snow vehicles within the Recreation Area; not later than two years after March 12, 2019, the Secretary must undertake a winter recreation use planning process that includes opportunities for snowmobile or over-snow-vehicle use in appropriate areas. (5) All these activities must be consistent with the applicable forest plan, travel management plan, and other applicable law governing the Ashley National Forest. (h) Water infrastructure: (1) Establishing the Recreation Area doesn't affect authorized users' ability to access, operate, and maintain water infrastructure facilities within it, under their existing authorizations and permits. (2) The Secretary must offer to enter cooperative agreements with authorized users and local governmental entities to provide, under applicable law: (i) access — including motorized access — for repairing and maintaining water infrastructure within the Recreation Area, including Whiterocks Reservoir, subject to terms the Secretary determines necessary; and (ii) access and maintenance by authorized users and local governments to keep water flowing to the Ashley Valley if flows stop or diminish because the karst system is impaired, also subject to terms the Secretary determines necessary. (i) Grazing: Livestock grazing established in the Recreation Area before March 12, 2019 may continue, subject to reasonable regulations, policies, and practices the Secretary considers necessary, based on (1) applicable law, (2) the Recreation Area's purposes, and (3) guidelines in a specified 1980 House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee report accompanying H.R. 5487 of the 96th Congress. (j) Fish and wildlife: Nothing in this section affects Utah's jurisdiction over managing fish and wildlife on federal land in the state. (k) Wildlife water projects: The Secretary, consulting Utah, may authorize wildlife water projects — including guzzlers — within the Recreation Area. (l) Water rights: Nothing in this section (1) creates an express or implied federal reservation of water rights tied to the Recreation Area; (2) affects any water rights in Utah; (3) affects the use or allocation, as it existed on March 12, 2019, of any water, water right, or interest in water; (4) affects any vested absolute or decreed conditional water right in existence on March 12, 2019, including any held by the United States; (5) affects any interstate water compact in existence on March 12, 2019; or (6) counts as relinquishing or reducing any water rights the United States reserved or appropriated in Utah on or before March 12, 2019. (m) Withdrawal: Subject to valid existing rights, all federal land in the Recreation Area is withdrawn from (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. (n) Vegetation management: Nothing in this section prevents the Secretary from conducting vegetation management projects, including fuels reduction activities, within the Recreation Area to improve water quality and reduce wildfire risk. (o) Wildland fire operations: Nothing in this section prohibits the Secretary, consulting other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies as appropriate, from conducting wildland fire treatment or restoration operations in the Recreation Area, consistent with this section's purposes. (p) Recreation fees: Except for fees at improved campgrounds, the Secretary is prohibited from collecting recreation entrance or use fees within the Recreation Area. (q) Communication infrastructure: Nothing in this section affects the continued use of, and access to, communication infrastructure — including necessary upgrades — within the Recreation Area, under applicable authorizations and permits. (r) Non-Federal land: (1) Nothing in this section affects non-federal land or interests in non-federal land within the Recreation Area. (2) The Secretary must provide reasonable access to such non-federal land or interests. (s) Outfitting and guide activities: Outfitting and guide services within the Recreation Area, including commercial ones, are authorized under this section and other applicable law.