Not later than 2 years after December 6, 2000, the Secretary, through the Bureau of Land Management, shall develop and begin to implement a comprehensive management plan for the long-term management of the public lands within the Conservation Area in order to fulfill the purposes for which it is established, as set forth in section 460ooo–3(a) of this title. Consistent with the provisions of this subchapter, the management plan shall be developed—

(1) in consultation with appropriate departments of the State of Arizona, including wildlife and land management agencies, with full public participation;

(2) from the draft Empire-Cienega Ecosystem Management Plan/EIS, dated October 2000, as it applies to Federal lands or lands with conservation easements; and

(3) in accordance with the resource goals and objectives developed through the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership process as incorporated in the draft Empire-Cienega Ecosystem Management Plan/EIS, dated October 2000, giving full consideration to the management alternative preferred by the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership, as it applies to Federal lands or lands with conservation easements.

The management plan shall include—

(1) provisions designed to ensure the protection of the resources and values described in section 460ooo–3(a) of this title;

(2) an implementation plan for a continuing program of interpretation and public education about the resources and values of the Conservation Area;

(3) a proposal for minimal administrative and public facilities to be developed or improved at a level compatible with achieving the resource objectives for the Conservation Area and with the other proposed management activities to accommodate visitors to the Conservation Area;

(4) cultural resources management strategies for the Conservation Area, prepared in consultation with appropriate departments of the State of Arizona, with emphasis on the preservation of the resources of the Conservation Area and the interpretive, educational, and long-term scientific uses of these resources, giving priority to the enforcement of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) and the National Historic Preservation Act [1] within the Conservation Area;

(5) wildlife management strategies for the Conservation Area, prepared in consultation with appropriate departments of the State of Arizona and using previous studies of the Conservation Area;

(6) production livestock grazing management strategies, prepared in consultation with appropriate departments of the State of Arizona;

(7) provisions designed to ensure the protection of environmentally sustainable livestock use on appropriate lands within the Conservation Area;

(8) recreation management strategies, including motorized and nonmotorized dispersed recreation opportunities for the Conservation Area, prepared in consultation with appropriate departments of the State of Arizona;

(9) cave resources management strategies prepared in compliance with the goals and objectives of the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.); and

(10) provisions designed to ensure that if a road or trail located on public lands within the Conservation Area, or any portion of such a road or trail, is removed, consideration shall be given to providing similar alternative access to the portion of the Conservation Area serviced by such removed road or trail.

In order to better implement the management plan, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies pursuant to section 1737(b) of title 43.

In order to assist in the development and implementation of the management plan, the Secretary may authorize appropriate research, including research concerning the environmental, biological, hydrological, cultural, agricultural, recreational, and other characteristics, resources, and values of the Conservation Area, pursuant to section 1737(a) of title 43.

(Pub. L. 106–538, § 6, Dec. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 2566.)