Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 4.djvu/544

 104 STAT. 2860 PUBLIC LAW 101-578 —NOV. 15, 1990 16 USC 4310 SEC. 203. CAVE RESEARCH INSTITUTE STUDY. Not later than one year after enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall prepare and transmit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States House of Representatives a study on the feasibility of establishing a Cave Research Institute. The Study shall include the need for such a facility, its costs, its purposes, what the facility should include and where it should be located. An analysis of potential sites for the Institute should include, but not be limited to, Carlsbad Caverns National Park. 16 USC 4310 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. TITLE III—PREHISTORIC TRACKWAYS STUDY SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that— (1) fossils are important for scientific studies of prehistoric life on earth; (2) lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the Robledo Mountains in New Mexico contain one of the most important fossil discoveries of the 20th century; (3) discoveries have included prehistoric tracks of amphibians, reptiles, arthropods and insects, extensive plant fossils, and clues to the weather and climate of the period; (4) fossil footprints that form trackways help scientists recreate the environment and habitat that supported prehistoric life; (5) nearly one hundred trackways from the Permian Age have been uncovered in the Robledo Mountains; (6) the trackways are over 280 million years old and they document the emergence of life from water to land; (7) the trackways are unique in length and represent most taxonomic groups, including many prints of previously unknown animals; (8) the trackways and other fossils are being lost for scientific study through unsupervised collecting, and commercial quarry- ing; and (9) the trackways and fossils found in the Robledo Mountains and surrounding areas should be evaluated for their potential protection and value for scientific interpretation and education. 0)) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are to— (1) require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to consider appropriate means to protect the discoveries and identify the scientific, interpretive, and public education values associated with the trackways and fossils located in the Robledo Mountains in southeastern New Mexico; and (2) provide for interim protection of such trackways and fossils. SEC. 302. INTERIM WITHDRAWAL. (a) IN GENERAL.—The area consisting of approximately 736 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled Prehistoric Trackways Study Area", numbered NM 030-01 and dated September, 1990 (hereafter referred to as the "study area"), is hereby withdrawn.

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