Wilderness protection bill passed

January 11, 2009 6:46 PM

The US Senate Sunday in an unusual session passed 66-12 the largest land protection bill in 25 years. It is an "omnibus" containing hundreds of bills that have been in the works for years. For a list of all the projects and new lands protected..

..go here, type "S. 22" in the search field, click the "Bill Number" radio button, then "Search", and then "Text of Legislation". Towards the bottom are some interesting new projects including Ocean Exploration ($50m a year). Permlinks should eventually show up at OpenCongress which has exact vote breakdown. The bill is not law yet but it is expected to pass the House and President Obama.

posted by stbalbach (18 comments total)

there may be hope, eh?
posted by HuronBob at 6:52 PM on January 11, 2009

In other conservation news: Guerrilla Tactics at Oil-Lease Auction: Activist Drives Up Prices With Bidding
posted by homunculus at 7:12 PM on January 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

Bush has a change of heart, once it's not his friends taking the resources.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:12 PM on January 11, 2009

There don't seem to be any new national parks in it, but tons of just about everything else.
posted by gsteff at 7:20 PM on January 11, 2009

Technically the Senate didn't pass the bill itself, just removed some obstacles to it passing. As the article says: "Senate approval is expected later this week."
posted by smackfu at 7:47 PM on January 11, 2009

To save people a Thomas search:

TITLE I--ADDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM
Subtitle A--Wild Monongahela Wilderness
Subtitle B--Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness
Subtitle C--Mt. Hood Wilderness, Oregon
Subtitle D--Copper Salmon Wilderness, Oregon
Subtitle E--Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon
Subtitle F--Owyhee Public Land Management
Subtitle G--Sabinoso Wilderness, New Mexico
Subtitle H--Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Wilderness
Subtitle I--Oregon Badlands Wilderness
Subtitle J--Spring Basin Wilderness, Oregon
Subtitle K--Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wilderness, California
Subtitle L--Riverside County Wilderness, California
Subtitle M--Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Wilderness, California
Subtitle N--Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, Colorado
Subtitle O--Washington County, Utah
TITLE II--BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT AUTHORIZATIONS
Subtitle A--National Landscape Conservation System
Subtitle B--Prehistoric Trackways National Monument
Subtitle C--Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area
Subtitle D--Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area
Subtitle E--Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area
Subtitle F--Rio Puerco Watershed Management Program
Subtitle G--Land Conveyances and Exchanges
TITLE III--FOREST SERVICE AUTHORIZATIONS
Subtitle A--Watershed Restoration and Enhancement
Subtitle B--Wildland Firefighter Safety
Subtitle C--Wyoming Range
Subtitle D--Land Conveyances and Exchanges
Subtitle E--Colorado Northern Front Range Study
TITLE IV--FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION
TITLE V--RIVERS AND TRAILS
Subtitle A--Additions to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
Subtitle B--Wild and Scenic Rivers Studies
Subtitle C--Additions to the National Trails System
Subtitle D--National Trail System Amendments
TITLE VI--DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AUTHORIZATIONS
Subtitle A--Cooperative Watershed Management Program
Subtitle B--Competitive Status for Federal Employees in Alaska
Subtitle C--Management of the Baca National Wildlife Refuge
Subtitle D--Paleontological Resources Preservation
Subtitle E--Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Land Exchange
Subtitle F--Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Project
TITLE VII--NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AUTHORIZATIONS
Subtitle A--Additions to the National Park System
Subtitle B--Amendments to Existing Units of the National Park System
Subtitle C--Special Resource Studies
Subtitle D--Program Authorizations
Subtitle E--Advisory Commissions
TITLE VIII--NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS
Subtitle A--Designation of National Heritage Areas
Subtitle B--Studies
Subtitle C--Amendments Relating to National Heritage Corridors
TITLE IX--BUREAU OF RECLAMATION AUTHORIZATIONS
Subtitle A--Feasibility Studies
Subtitle B--Project Authorizations
Subtitle C--Title Transfers and Clarifications
Subtitle D--San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund
Subtitle E--Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program
Subtitle F--Secure Water
Subtitle G--Aging Infrastructure
TITLE X--WATER SETTLEMENTS
Subtitle A--San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement
Subtitle B--Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects
Subtitle C--Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement
TITLE XI--UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AUTHORIZATIONS
TITLE XII--OCEANS
Subtitle A--Ocean Exploration
Subtitle B--Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act
Subtitle C--Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009
Subtitle D--Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009
Subtitle E--Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program
TITLE XIII--MISCELLANEOUS
TITLE XIV--CHRISTOPHER AND DANA REEVE PARALYSIS ACT
Subtitle A--Paralysis Research
Subtitle B--Paralysis Rehabilitation Research and Care
Subtitle C--Improving Quality of Life for Persons With Paralysis and Other Physical Disabilities
TITLE XV--SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FACILITIES AUTHORIZATION
posted by dhartung at 8:06 PM on January 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Neat.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:52 PM on January 11, 2009

The bill is not law yet but it is expected to pass the House and President Obama.

Feeling guilty, I have to admit that I read that sentence out loud about six times just to enjoy how it sounds.

I await the day "President Bush" sounds quaint and odd.
posted by rokusan at 9:01 PM on January 11, 2009

I await the day "President Bush" sounds quaint and odd.

It hadn't already?

But anywho, that underwater exploration thing sounds suspicious. Related to the offshore drilling boondoggle, maybe?
posted by Evilspork at 9:24 PM on January 11, 2009

In other conservation news: Guerrilla Tactics at Oil-Lease Auction: Activist Drives Up Prices With Bidding

I'm so glad Tim DeChristopher got brought up -- a lot of Utah Wilderness advocates were worried sick about the selloff, but I don't think anybody knew what to do beyond protest and complain to elected officials, and what he did was took guts and might end up being more effective than anything anybody else thought up.

Here's another article on his day at the auction. Apparently he hadn't even thought up the plan before he got there, but it's worked out well enough. The action might be enough to delay sale until the rules are changed by the new administration -- or, DeChristopher might even be able to raise the money to fulfill the auctioned leases, which would be good, because the BLM's said they'd otherwise re-offer the parcels Tim purchased during a sale sometime in February.
posted by weston at 12:17 AM on January 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's like a box of Cracker Jack - - I can't wait to find out what surprise is buried at the bottom!
posted by fairmettle at 2:34 AM on January 12, 2009

dhartung: "To save people a Thomas search"

Thanks. Of course if you go to Thomas, the list is hyperlinked, to further information about where and what each one is. I didn't post a direct link to the list because it looked to be auto-generated with each search, but on closer look, a permanent link might work. So here it is.
posted by stbalbach at 5:41 AM on January 12, 2009

Tim DeChristopher

Thanks for the mention of this - I hadn't heard about it before. Sounds like a great opportunity for a fpp, but I don't have time to put one together.

hint hint
posted by Big_B at 9:57 AM on January 12, 2009

I scanned quick, but I was hoping to see something about forcing someone to clean up Newtown Creek in Brooklyn or maybe parts of the Hudson, etc. Or would clean up not be covered under this kinda thing?
posted by spicynuts at 2:20 PM on January 12, 2009

Tim DeChristopher

Thanks for the mention of this - I hadn't heard about it before. Sounds like a great opportunity for a fpp, but I don't have time to put one together.

I posted about him over on MoFi. If anyone wants to do a more up to date fpp here, go for it.
posted by homunculus at 4:36 AM on January 13, 2009

I was watching the Rachel Maddow show last night and she said this bill was all stuff that Tom Colburn had put a hold on.
posted by delmoi at 6:33 AM on January 13, 2009

Sounds like a great opportunity for a fpp, but I don't have time to put one together.

Yeah, I thought about doing one about a few weeks ago. Looks like they raised at least the first payment! (link)
posted by salvia at 8:25 AM on January 13, 2009

Utah Student Who Thwarted Auction of Utah Wilderness Hails Cancellation of Bush Admin Selloff
posted by homunculus at 12:30 PM on February 5, 2009 [1 favorite]