Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 5.djvu/1019

 PUBLIC LAW 103-433—OCT. 31, 1994 108 STAT. 4509 authorization in an Act of Congress enacted after the date of enactment of this Act. TITLE X—PROTECTION OF BODIE BOWL SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE. This title may be cited as the "Bodie Protection Act of 1994". SEC. 1002. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that— (1) the historic Bodie gold mining district in the State of California is the site of the largest and best preserved authentic ghost town in the western United States; (2) the Bodie Bowl area contains important natural, historical, and aesthetic resources; (3) Bodie was designated as a National Historical Landmark in 1961 and a California State Historic Park in 1962, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is included in the Federal Historic American Buildings Survey; (4) nearly 200,000 persons visit Bodie each year, providing the local economy with important annual tourism revenues; (5) the town of Bodie is threatened by proposals to explore and extract minerals: mining in the Bodie Bowl area may have adverse physical and aesthetic impacts on Bodie's historical integrity, cultural values, and ghost town character as well as on its recreational values and the area's flora and fauna; (6) the California State Legislature, on September 4, 1990, requested the President and the Congress to direct the Secretary of the Interior to protect the ghost town character, ambience, historic buildings, and scenic attributes of the town of Bodie and nearby areas; (7) the California State Legislature also requested the Secretary, if necessary to protect the Bodie Bowl area, to withdraw the Federal lands within the area from all forms of mineral entry and patent; (8) the National Park Service listed Bodie as a priority one endangered National Historic Landmark in its fiscal year 1990 and 1991 report to Congress entitled "Threatened and Damaged National Historic Landmarks" and recommended protection of the Bodie area; and (9) it is necessary and appropriate to provide that all Federal lands within the Bodie Bowl area are not subject to location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of the United States, subject to valid existing rights, and to direct the Secretary to consult with the Governor of the State of California before approving any mining activity plan within the Bodie Bowl. SEC. 1003. DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this title: (1) The term "Bodie Bowl" means the Federal lands and interests therein within the area generally depicted on the map referred to in section 1004(a). (2) The term "mineral activities" means any activity involving mineral prospecting, exploration, extraction, milling, beneficiation, processing, and reclamation. Bodie Protection Act of 1994.

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