The U.S. Senate is keeping wilderness legislation near the top of its agenda. Today, the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee heard testimony on bills to permanently protect wild lands in California, Colorado and New Mexico.
Jim Mathews, Government Affairs Representative with Campaign for America’s Wilderness, said, “The subcommittee’s attention to these bills protecting California’s Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Mountains, Colorado’s Dominguez Canyons and New Mexico’s Sabinoso region are a clear indication congressional leaders from both parties understand the importance of protecting our best public lands for future generations and have made wilderness protection a top priority.”
The Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act, introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), aims to preserve more than 470,000 acres of wilderness and 52 miles of wild and scenic rivers near Santa Clarita and along the California – Nevada border.
The Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area Act, introduced by Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Representative John Salazar (D-CO), includes protection for 66,000 acres of red rock sandstone canyons, cliffs, streams and waterfalls in western Colorado.
The Sabinoso Wilderness Act, introduced by Representative Tom Udall (D-NM), passed the House of Representatives June 9, 2008. The bill would designate more than 15,000 acres in San Miguel County, NM, as wilderness. The area is one of the finest intact Great-Plains ecosystems left in New Mexico.
Already Congress has passed and the President has signed into law Washington’s Wild Sky Wilderness Act, and more than a dozen bills to protect wilderness areas are lined up for action this year.
“People across the United States voice strong support for protecting our finest public lands, so they’ll forever remain open and accessible for hunting and fishing, camping and hiking, horseback riding and sightseeing,” Mathews said. “Congress’s continued efforts to move these bills forward means they’re listening to their constituents, both present and future.”
