The tract of land in the State of Colorado particularly described by and included within metes and bounds as follows, to wit: Beginning at the southeast corner of section 34, township 3 north, range 73 west of the sixth principal meridian, Colorado, thence north along the section lines to the northeast corner of section 3, said township; thence west to the northwest corner of said section; thence north along the section lines to the northeast corner of section 16, township 4 north, range 73 west; thence west to the northwest corner of said section; thence north to the northeast corner of section 8, said township; thence west along the section lines to the northwest corner of section 7, said township; thence north to the northeast corner of township 4 north, range 74 west; thence west along the first correction line north, to the southeast corner of section 36, township 5 north, range 74 west; thence north along the range line to the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 13, said township; thence west to the northwest corner of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 14, said township; thence north to the northwest corner of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 11, said township; thence east to the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 12, said township; thence south along the range line to the southeast corner of said section; thence east along the section lines to the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of section 10, township 5 north, range 73 west; thence north to the northeast corner of the southwest quarter of said section; thence east to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of said section; thence north to the northeast corner of said section; thence east to the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 2, said township; thence north to the northeast corner of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of said section; thence east to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter, said section; thence north to the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of said section; thence east to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 1, said township; thence north along the range line to the northeast corner of section 36, township 7 north, range 73 west; thence west along the section lines to the intersection with the west bank of the Big South Cache la Poudre River in township 7 north, range 75 west; thence southeasterly along the west bank of said river to the mouth of a tributary of said river, probably in section 1, township 6 north, range 75 west; said tributary heading at La Poudre Pass in section 20, township 6 north, range 75 west; thence southwesterly along the west bank of said tributary to its head; thence across the Continental Divide to the headwaters of the North Fork of the Grand River, which also heads at La Poudre Pass; thence down the west bank of the North Fork of the Grand River to its intersection with the section line between sections 29 and 30, township 6 north, range 75 west; thence south along the section lines to the southeast corner of section 18, township 5 north, range 75 west; thence west along the section line to its intersection with the west bank of the North Fork of the Grand River; thence down the west bank of the North Fork of the Grand River to its intersection with the section line between sections 25 and 36, township 4 north, range 76 west; thence east to the northeast corner of section 36, said township; thence south along the range line to the southeast corner of said township; thence east along the township line to the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 4, township 3 north, range 75 west; thence south to the southwest corner of the northeast quarter of section 9, said township; thence west along the quarter section line to its intersection with a creek in section 7, said township, this creek being an outlet of Grand Lake, and flowing into the North Fork of the Grand River; thence southerly along the said creek to its junction with the North Fork of the Grand River; thence southerly along the west bank of the North Fork of the Grand River to its intersection with the township line between townships 2 and 3 north; thence east along the township line to the southeast corner of section 34, township 3 north, range 73 west of the sixth principal meridian, Colorado, the place of beginning, is reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or disposal under the laws of the United States, and is dedicated and set apart as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the United States, under the name of the Rocky Mountain National Park. The United States Reclamation Service may enter upon and utilize for flowage or other purposes any area within said park which may be necessary for the development and maintenance of a Government reclamation project.
(Jan. 26, 1915, ch. 19, §1,
A statement in this section as originally enacted that the tract described was then a part of certain counties in Colorado has been omitted as historically obsolete.
The Reclamation Service, established in July 1902, changed to the Bureau of Reclamation on June 20, 1923, then to the Water and Power Resources Service on Nov. 6, 1979, and then back to the Bureau of Reclamation on May 18, 1981. See 155 Dep't of the Interior, Departmental Manual 1.1 (2008 repl.); Sec'y Hubert Work, Dep't of the Interior, Order (June 20, 1923); Sec'y Cecil D. Andrus, Dep't of the Interior, Secretarial Order 3042, §§1, 4 (Nov. 6, 1979); Sec'y James G. Watt, Dep't of the Interior, Secretarial Order 3064, §§3, 5 (May 18, 1981).
The following provisions authorized the addition of lands to Rocky Mountain National Park: