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On behalf of the many Americans from around the country who wished to see action on the Omnibus Public Lands Bill, S. 3213, the Campaign for America's Wilderness expresses its disappointment that a short schedule and a still-evolving response to the financial crisis will apparently prevent action by the Senate on that important piece of legislation by this week.
Senator Reid has said that he will call up the Omnibus Public Lands Act of 2008 during the post-election session, and we look forward to the Senate taking action next week. This important conservation package includes 15 wilderness bills which will protect nearly 2 million acres across 8 states, ensuring more places for Americans to hike, hunt, fish, camp, canoe and otherwise enjoy. In addition, it contains myriad bills for water projects, land exchanges, and heritage areas that have economic impacts for local communities.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee favorably reported eight wilderness bills today, which together would protect special wild places to benefit local economies, enhance the quality of life for people living in nearby communities, safeguard clean air and crystalline water, and provide for hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, and other popular activities.
"This Congress continues to build an impressive record of accomplishment on wilderness protection, much to the gratitude of constituents of every stripe, from Main Street businesses to county commissions, from teachers
Over the next two weeks, delegates to the political conventions will see the faces of everyday Americans - from both political parties and different walks of life - in a new advertising effort by the Campaign for America's Wilderness. A rancher, biker, business people, children, and others are asking lawmakers to protect the special wild areas they treasure. The ads will run in the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and National Journal.
Living on Earth (Public Radio International) correspondent Jeff Young takes a hike with wilderness advocate Mark Miller in one of the special places in southwestern Virginia that may be protected as wilderness this year. Mike Matz, Campaign for America's Wilderness executive director, discusses prospects for this Congress to leave a proud wilderness legacy for future generations.
Radio host Jim Slinsky and Mike Matz took time recently to discuss wilderness and the status of wilderness legislation in Congress for Jim's sportsman-oriented radio program. Jim and Mike cover a lot of interesting ground in their nearly hour-long conversation. Listen here, and visit the Outdoor Talk Network for more from the perspective of hunters and anglers across the country.
Nearly nine in ten Americans believe that protecting public land as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System is important, according to a new Zogby International poll of 1039 likely voters across the country. These voters view as “very important” (57 percent) or “somewhat important” (30 percent) the protection of publicly owned land as wilderness, leaving it just as it is. The support cuts across political parties, regions, age groups, and ethnic and religious backgrounds. Twelve percent said it was not important to protect the nation’s wilderness.
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.
Nearly 40,000 acres of some of Oregon's most dramatic and picturesque landscapes-lava flows, castle-like rock formations, ancient junipers and blooming wildflower meadows-are a step closer to permanent protection today, as legislation to designate the Oregon Badlands and Spring Basin areas was heard by the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.
Senator Jeff Bingaman introduced a major lands bill, S. 3213, yesterday, before Congress began its July 4th recess. The Chairman’s package contains more than 90 titles, including more than a half dozen wilderness measures to protect over 900,000 acres of wild land in Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Virginia and West Virginia.
