Senate Passes Omnibus Lands Package

By Avery Palmer

Hoping the second time is the charm, the Senate passed an omnibus federal lands bill Thursday, March 19, and set the stage for the House to clear it soon after.
The bill (HR 146) passed by 77-20 following months of delay and procedural maneuvering in both chambers. It combines hundreds of separate measures that together designate more than 2 million acres of new wilderness areas and establish lesser degrees of protection for other federal lands.
The use of motorized vehicles and other mechanized equipment is forbidden in wilderness areas, which are to be preserved in their natural state as nearly as possible. Camping, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, fishing, climbing, canoeing, and similar non-motorized activities are generally permitted.
“When you take all of these bills together, I believe they represent the most significant conservation legislation passed by the Senate at least in the last 15 years,” said Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who worked with members of both parties to assemble the package.

Amalgam of Measures
Much of the bill consists of wilderness designations, or protections for wild and scenic rivers or national historic sites that are popular in members’ districts.
But one controversial section would codify a National Landscape Conservation System that the Clinton administration established by executive order. Some Republicans say this could force additional restrictions on land use, though supporters say it is only a management tool.
Environmentalists mostly support the measure, but they oppose a provision that would authorize the Interior secretary to approve a road through an Alaska wetland to provide airport access to an isolated town, in exchange for land elsewhere.

Some of the bill’s major new wilderness areas include:
• 517,000 acres in Idaho’s Owyhee-Bruneau Canyonlands.
• About 256,000 acres in Washington County, Utah, including in Zion National Park.
• Almost 250,000 acres in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo.
• 128,000 acres of wilderness around Mt. Hood in Oregon.