Administrative provisions

(a) In general Subject to valid existing rights, lands designated as wilderness by this Act shall be managed by the Secretary in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act, except that, with respect to any wilderness areas designated by this Act, any reference in the Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Grazing Grazing of livestock in wilderness areas designated by this Act shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)), as further interpreted by section 108 of Public Law 96–560, and the guidelines set forth in appendix A of House Report 101–405 of the 101st Congress. (c) State jurisdiction As provided in section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State of Colorado with respect to wildlife and fish in Colorado. (d) Buffer zones (1) In general Nothing in this Act creates a protective perimeter or buffer zone around any area designated as wilderness by section 2. (2) Activities outside wilderness The fact that an activity or use on land outside the areas designated as wilderness by section 2 can be seen or heard within the wilderness shall not preclude the activity or use outside the boundary of the wilderness. (e) Military helicopter overflights (1) In general Nothing in this Act restricts or precludes— (A) low-level overflights of military helicopters over the areas designated as wilderness by section 2, including military overflights that can be seen or heard within any wilderness area; (B) military flight testing and evaluation; or (C) the designation or creation of new units of special use airspace, or the establishment of military flight training routes over any wilderness area. (2) Aerial navigation training exercises The Colorado Army National Guard, through the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, may conduct aerial navigation training maneuver exercises over the wilderness areas designated by this Act— (A) in a manner consistent with the memorandum of understanding dated August 4, 1987, entered into among the Colorado Army National Guard, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service; or (B) in a manner consistent with a subsequent memorandum of understanding entered into among the Colorado Army National Guard, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service. (f) Running events The Secretary may continue to authorize competitive running events currently permitted in the Redcloud Peak Wilderness Area and Handies Peak Wilderness Area in a manner compatible with the preservation of such areas as wilderness. (g) Potential wilderness designations (1) In general The following lands are designated as potential wilderness areas: (A) Certain lands managed by the Glenwood Springs Field Office or located in the White River National Forest, which comprise approximately 20,742 acres, as generally depicted on a map titled Deep Creek Proposed Wilderness and dated is December 30, 2025, which, upon designation as wilderness under paragraph (2), shall be known as the Deep Creek Wilderness. (B) Certain lands managed by the Glenwood Springs Field Office, which comprise approximately 7,376 acres, as generally depicted on a map titled Pisgah East & West Proposed Wilderness and dated November 22, 2023, which, upon designation as wilderness under paragraph (2), shall be known as the Pisgah East Wilderness. (C) Certain lands managed by the Glenwood Springs Field Office, which comprise approximately 6,828 acres, as generally depicted on a map titled Pisgah East & West Proposed Wilderness and dated November 22, 2023, which, upon designation as wilderness under paragraph (2), shall be known as the Pisgah West Wilderness. (2) Designation as wilderness Lands designated as a potential wilderness area by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) shall be designated as wilderness on the date on which the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register a notice that all nonconforming uses of those lands authorized by subsection (e) in the potential wilderness area that would be in violation of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) have ceased. Such publication in the Federal Register and designation as wilderness shall occur for the potential wilderness area as the nonconforming uses cease in that potential wilderness area and designation as wilderness is not dependent on cessation of nonconforming uses in the other potential wilderness area. (3) Management Except for activities provided for under subsection (e), lands designated as a potential wilderness area by paragraph (1) shall be managed by the Secretary in accordance with the Wilderness Act as wilderness pending the designation of such lands as wilderness under this subsection.