16 U.S.C. § 460ddd — Establishment

(a) In general This section creates the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, to protect and improve its riverside land and the aquatic, wildlife, archeological, paleontological, scientific, cultural, recreational, educational, and scenic resources described in subsection (b). (b) Areas included The conservation area is made up of public land shown on a February 1990 map, covering about 20,900 acres. (c) Map As soon as possible after November 28, 1990, the Secretary had to file a map and legal description with the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. That map counts as if it were written into this section. Copies are available for the public at the Bureau of Land Management's national office and its Arizona office. (d) Management of conservation area (1) The Secretary must manage the area to conserve, protect, and improve its resources and values, following the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and other applicable law, including this subchapter. (2) The Secretary may only allow uses that further the purposes for which the area was established. Except for administrative or emergency needs, motorized vehicles may only use roads specifically set aside for that in the management plan. (e) Withdrawal Subject to valid existing rights, all federal land in the conservation area is closed off from entry, claiming, or disposal under public land laws; from mining claims and patents; and from mineral and geothermal leasing, including later amendments to those leasing laws. (f) Water (1) Congress reserves however much water is needed to fulfill the area's purposes. This right's priority date is November 28, 1990. (2) The Secretary and other federal officials must take all necessary steps to protect this right, including filing a claim to quantify it in any Arizona stream adjudication where the United States is or may become a party, following section 666 of title 43. (3) This does not reduce or give up any water rights the United States already held or claimed in Arizona on or before November 28, 1990. (4) This reserved water right applies only to this Arizona conservation area. It does not set a precedent for future land designations or interpret any other law. (5) This does not conflict with the authorization in section 1524(f) of title 43. (g) Management plan (1) Within two years of November 28, 1990, the Secretary had to write a comprehensive, long-term management plan, developed with full public participation, that protects the area's resources and values, including those named in subsection (a). (2) The plan must discuss whether to add more land — including private land next to the boundary, or land within two miles of Eagle Creek's centerline between the Apache National Forest's southern boundary and where Eagle Creek meets the Gila River (called the "Eagle Creek riparian area"). (3) To help carry out the plan, the Secretary may make cooperative agreements with state and local agencies under section 307(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. (4) To help develop and carry out the plan, the Secretary may authorize research — including environmental, biological, hydrological, and cultural research — under section 307(a) of that same 1976 Act. (h) Acquisition and boundary adjustments (1) Subject to the limits in paragraph (3), the Secretary may acquire non-federal land or land interests inside the conservation area or the Eagle Creek riparian area. (2) The Secretary may adjust the conservation area's boundaries to add land acquired in the Eagle Creek riparian area after November 28, 1990, plus public land west of Eagle Creek's centerline that the Secretary finds necessary to properly manage that acquired land. Any land added this way becomes part of the conservation area. (3) Land owned by the State of Arizona or its subdivisions can only be acquired by donation or exchange. Land owned by anyone else can only be acquired by donation, exchange, or purchase with the owner's consent. (i) No buffer zones Congress did not intend creating this conservation area to create a buffer zone around it. An activity not allowed inside the area is still allowed outside it, right up to the boundary, as long as other applicable law allows it. (j) Advisory committee The Secretary must set up a seven-member advisory committee to advise on writing and carrying out the management plan. One member comes from the Arizona Governor's recommendations, one from the Graham County Board of Supervisors' recommendations, and one from the Greenlee County Board of Supervisors' recommendations. The rest must be recognized experts in wildlife conservation, riparian ecology, archeology, paleontology, or related fields tied to the area's purposes. (k) Report No later than five years after November 28, 1990, and at least every ten years after that, the Secretary must report to Congress on how this subchapter is being carried out, the condition of the area's resources, and progress toward the area's purposes. (l) Enforcement Anyone who violates a Secretary's regulation implementing this subchapter can be fined under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, imprisoned for up to one year, or both. (m) Authorization Congress may appropriate whatever money is needed to carry out this subchapter.