President Obama yesterday signed an important land-management package into law, designating more than 2 million previously unprotected acres as wilderness and creating a new national system to conserve another 26 million acres of land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (see the full text), which combines 170 different bills that represent one of the largest and most significant expansions of wilderness protection to come out of Congress in the past quarter century, will safeguard millions of acres of wilderness, protect more than 1,000 miles of rivers in several states, expand the national trail system, and keep important wildlife habitat and recreational areas safe from logging, mining, and oil and gas leasing. In addition, the new law authorizes the first coordinated federal research program on ocean acidification as well as additional funding to protect coastal areas and estuaries considered ecologically significant.
The law also establishes the National Landscape Conservation System, which is designed to protect 26 million acres of BLM-controlled land, which is deemed both environmentally and historically significant. The new system requires the agency to make conservation a priority when managing land at 850 sites nationwide.
In signing the bill into law, Obama said, "This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments and wilderness areas for granted, but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That's something all Americans can support.
"And that's why so much of this legislation, some of it decades in the making, has the backing of Americans from every walk of life and corner of this country, ranchers and fishermen, small-business owners, environmentalists, conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats, on the local, state and federal levels, all united around the idea that there should be places that we must preserve, all doing the hard work of seeking common ground to protect the parks and other places that we cherish."
The newly protected wilderness lands are in nine states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. The new law also protects rivers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming by naming them as “wild and scenic rivers.” The 1968 law that created the “wild and scenic rivers” designation declares that such rivers “shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.”
The bill also included a few non-wilderness elements, most notably the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which boosts research, rehabilitation and care for people with paralysis, and aims to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
Photo of Oregon's Mount Hood by Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images. Mount Hood is one of the areas that will benefit from both wilderness and river protection under the new law.
Comments
The government pay NO property taxes and shouldn’t EVER own or be in the control of land! This is just another land grab scheme!
Private property is the foundation of our freedom and the fountainhead of our prosperity. We are allowing our government to strip our children and grandchildren of both!!! This bill can be described ONLY as WATERMELON…GREEN ON THE OUTSIDE, RED ON THE INSIDE!!
This bill also prohibits motorized vehicles-motorcycles and ATV on 2 million acres of PUBLIC land that should be multi-use. Yes that also means oil, gas and mineral production, also. It is now the private domain of the environmental left. Like they would ever want to be outdoors! It is everyone’s land; to be shared.
Does he know that the “Wilderness” designation means No vehicles, NO wheel chairs No wheelbarrows Nothing with a wheel or that is driven by any motor or engine is allowed within it’s boundaries??? What a FOOL!
I agree with Ann & Ted.
Most of the folks protesting are too frigging fat to hike down the street, much less, do an all day hike in the wilderness.
I would like to see a poll on how many people actually have ever visited some of the remote wilderness that are now protected. I would bet it’s so small as to not make a blimp on anyone’s radar screen. And, I also, want to know if these good folks walk everywhere they go or ride bicycles? How are many of substance & not ‘feel gooders”.
When God comes back and destroys the earth with fire, that will be the day people realize why HE created all these places in the first place.
If all of you environmentalists are so concern about land use, why don’t all of you become Amish! I would like to see how long you would last living off the land. And, I don’t have anything against the Amish, I rather like their simple way of living.
I guess, next in line is to see how many more creatures we can protect.
Does anyone know where to find the actual Bill and what parts of Idaho are affected?
If you want a copy of any bill, contact your congressman. Each has an office or two in his district in your state and should be listed in the phone directory under government offices.
I was hoping to find a copy on the net with descriptions of specific areas and restrictions for those areas to see if we will be prohibited from accessing our favorite hunting locatons. Since the mandated gray wolf program many areas are no longer safe to take horses and dogs. The only other way to access certain areas is by ATV. It is sad that people who never really see the vastness of the west have such an impact on the way of life they know nothing of.
Sam, you can find the full text of the bill at this link: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:2:./temp/~c111ccxLLu:: I’ll also add this to the text of the article to make it easier for other readers. For future reference, all you usually have to do to find the full text of a bill or statement is to type the title into a search engine, add “full text” in quotes, and hit ENTER. There is usually a pretty good chance of finding what you need.
Thank you for the link Larry. After locating the Owyhee Subtitle F section it appears that the future of Upland Game Hunting in our back yard will be a thing of the past for those of us who cherish our right to the land as we have for generations.
It’s one thinig to protect wilderness from the bulldozer and another to eliminate it from the use of the citizens.
Appently the Liberals misspelled their campaign slogan: They spelled it “CHANGE” when they meant “CHAINS”.
The Republicans in Idaho are responsible for more than a decade of legislation and capitulation for the bills that have been written. Kempthorn was a huge detriment to the way of life we have enjoyed. His betrayal won him a job in Bush’s administration that helped to perpetuate the destruction of our wild Elk and Muledeer herds due to the false belief that we needed the Gray Wolf “reinstated” to our lands when they were never a native species to begin with. At the rate the cow Elk are being slaughtered during calving, the herds may never recover. I wish all of the people that have never seen a wolf disembowel a cow Elk in the process of birth only to leave her lay while still alive to go on to another cow, would at least refrain from voting or voicing an opinion about the “endangered” species issues they know nothing about. Unfortunately it will only become a news item when someone’s unsuspecting child becomes prey to the wolf.
I see your point, Sam, but just to keep the record straight, there has NEVER been a reported case of a wolf killing a human in N. Am.
It would be nice if all of the “records” were kept straight. Unfortunately, when a Govenor places a “gag” order on the Fish and Game only the numbers that are preferable become known. Should it be allowed that a non-native species be introduced and protected to the point that native species can no longer inhabit their historic feeding/calving areas? Those of us who live where we are fortunate to have heard the bugle of a bull elk in the wild are strikenly aware of the absence of these great animals and the dead silence of their calls. They have now been replaced by the howl of roaming packs that kill not only for sustanance but for the thrill and leave the dead to rot.
Wolves! Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up!
One of the main purposes of this bill is to help preserve wild animals, so why are you people complaining that there will be no motorized vehicles allowed? Of course they shouldnt be allowed! You, the humans, complain that you will not be able to use the land however you want, but this isnt about you. Humans have miles and miles of America to use however they wish, but the animals have been pushed out of many areas because of us humans. Let the animals, the real natives, have a few acres to thrive on. Why should the humans that have only harmed our planet, be allowed more free range of destruction?
LIZ comment #15: RIGHT ON !!!!!!!!!
I wholeheartedly applaud Obama for passing this bill and his efforts in protecting our mother earth. Our earth needs a good lawyer.
#15 you speak the truth
Most of the wild-eyed, angry comments above are fueled by the same short-sighted greed that is ruining our world and the goodness in human hearts. *I* want to log and raze these lands for money, *I* want to make myself billions of dollars pumping oil out of these lands and pollute the air, *I* want to kill the animals on this land for sport and the glee of eating them, *I* want to drive my ATV and ruin the landscape for the wildlife, future generations, and everyone else that takes the effort to leave no trace. *I* want to own this river so that I dont have to share it with others. *I*, *I*, *I*, … And it just goes on. Greed has destroyed so much in our world already that we will never replace. Please, give it a rest. Just give it a rest. Try protecting something sacred for a change. And just… leave it be.