California & Nevada Wilderness and Wild Rivers
On this page: Omnibus Lands Bill, Death Valley Wilderness Stewardship Plan and Omnibus White House signing ceremony
Omnibus Lands Bill Passed
March 30, 2009 was an historic day for wilderness in California â€" and other states. When the president signed the Omnibus Public Lands Act, California achieved an additional 700,000 acres of wilderness, the largest addition since the California Desert Protection Act of 1994. Besides designating more than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states, the monumental bill also codifies the vast National Landscape Conservation System of special BLM lands, establishes three new national park units, a national monument, three national conservation areas, more than 1,000 miles of wild and scenic rivers, and four new national trails. It enlarges the boundaries of more than a dozen existing national park units and establishes 10 national heritage areas. There are provisions for land exchanges and conveyances to help Western communities, for improved land management, and to address water issues. However, one provision, strongly opposed by the Sierra Club, would mandate a land exchange in Southwest Alaska that could put a road through wilderness in Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Here is President Obama’s statement on signing the bill:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release March 30, 2009
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today I have signed into law H.R. 146, the "Omnibus Public Land Management
Act of 2009." This landmark bill will protect millions of acres of Federal
land as wilderness, protect more than 1,000 miles of rivers through the
National Wild and Scenic River System, and designate thousands of miles
Of trails for the National Trails System. It also will authorize the 26
million-acre National Landscape Conservation System within the
Department of the Interior.
Among other provisions, H.R. 146 designates three new units in our National
Park System, enlarges the boundaries of several existing parks, and
designates a number of National Heritage Areas. It creates a new national
monument -- the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument -- and four new
national conservation areas, and establishes the Wyoming Range Withdrawal
Area. It establishes a collaborative landscape-scale restoration program
with a goal of reducing the risk of wildfire and authorizes programs to
study and research the effects of climate change on natural resources
and other research-related activities.
Treasured places from coast to coast will benefit from H.R. 146, including
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan; Monongahela National Forest
in West Virginia; Oregon's Mount Hood; Idaho's Owyhee Canyons; the Rocky
Mountain National Park in Colorado; Zion National Park in Utah; remarkable
landscapes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California;
and wilderness-quality National Forest lands in Virginia and public lands in New Mexico.
This bipartisan bill has been many years in the making, and is one of the
most important pieces of natural resource legislation in decades. This
legislation also makes progress for which millions of Americans have long
waited on another front. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act is the
first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of
Americans living with paralysis. It creates new coordinated research
activities through the National Institutes of Health that will connect the
best minds and best practices from the best labs across the country, and
focus their efforts through collaborative scientific research into a cure
for paralysis, saving effort, money, and, most importantly, time. It will
promote enhanced rehabilitation services for paralyzed Americans, helping
develop better equipment and technology that allows them to live full and
independent lives free from unnecessary barriers. This legislation will work
to improve the quality of life for all those who live with paralysis, no
matter the cause.
Section 8203 of the Act provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall
appoint certain members of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
Commission "based on recommendations from each member of the House of
Representatives, the district of which encompasses the Corridor." Because
it would be an impermissible restriction on the appointment power to
Condition the Secretary's appointments on the recommendations of members of the
House, I will construe these provisions to require the Secretary to consider
Such congressional recommendations, but not to be bound by them in making
appointments to the Commission.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE, March 30, 2009.
Death Valley Wilderness Stewardship Plan
The Park is seeking early comments on development of a wilderness stewardship plan for the park. Approximately 93% of the park is in wilderness. Normally national parks create a Backcountry and Wilderness Management Plan as a General Management Plan subplan. Here Death Valley proposes to deviate from that practice and risks not considering important influences on wilderness from adjacent roads and other non-wilderness activities. They are asking for comments by June 1, 2009 and note there will be further comment opportunities in the future. Early comments may help prevent them from starting off on the wrong foot. It will be progressively harder to correct errors in the future.
President Obama signs the Omnibus Lands Bill
Flanked by environmental champions, and in front of an audience of environmentalists, hunters and anglers, and outdoor industry groups, President Obama signed the Omnibus Lands Bill into law yesterday. The bill signing was a big win for America’s wild places, and for the Sierra Club.
The bill, which protects more than 2 million acres of public land, has been a priority for the Sierra Club for the last two years. But some parts of the bill, such as the Owyhee wilderness, had been a chapter priority for more than a decade. Any way you look at it, the Omnibus Lands bill is the largest public lands bill to pass Congress in almost 20 years.
The best way for me to describe the bill signing ceremony is fun, about as much fun a Sierra Club lobbyist or activist can have in DC. Everyone there â€" and there was quite a bit of mingling prior to the ceremony - was in a fantastic mood. Members of Congress, hard-working Congressional staff, and enviros were back-slapping and were grinning gorp-eating grins.
The actual ceremony took place in the East Room. The last time I was in that room was in early January 2001, when then-President Clinton gave us some good news â€" that he was establishing the Missouri Breaks National Monument in Montana - but mainly bad news: that he was NOT going to name the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a monument. Most all of us left that ceremony disappointed and worried about the looming anti-environmental presidency of George Bush.
We survived the Bush years, and for instance won votes to keep the Arctic Refuge off limits. But those were votes to stop something bad. How great to revisit that room 8 years later â€" I practically was sitting in the same seat - to watch a president like Barack Obama sign a bill that we that protects more than 2 million acres of wilderness? Words can’t describe how good it felt to be on hand to see this bill signed into law.
It was proof that with Obama as president, we can be aspirational again, that we have a chance to make our country and planet better.
That was the other thing that struck me about yesterday’s ceremony. President Obama was introduced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who gave a great speech reminding everyone that in moments of national peril, American presidents and people have often looked at the land to bring us together and “fuel our spirit.” The Secretary’s speech touched on Lincoln protecting Yosemite during the Civil War, on Teddy Roosevelt expanding the national park system at the dawn of the 20th century, and how Franklin Roosevelt, as the nation struggled during the Depression, gave millions of Americans jobs through Civilian Conservation Corps. The speech concluded with Secretary Salazar saying “for America’s national character - our optimism, our dreams, our shared stories â€" are rooted in our landscapes.”
President Obama and Secretary Salazar were flanked by Congressional leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and environmental champs like Reps. Nick Rahall, Raul Grijalva, Dina Titus, and Senator Jeff Bingaman. It was unbelievable to be reminded that those are the people in charge of the country. That environmental policy is being made my leaders such as Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, folks who think like we do when it comes to America’s special places. Unbelievable.
As I left the ceremony - after I got to personally thank Speaker Pelosi - I wondered if our kids will look back at this era as the golden age of environmentalism. We hope yesterday’s bill signing is just the start of that era, one that starts with leaders like Obama, Salazar, Pelosi and Reid but ends long after my kids kids have had kids - and grandkids - of their own.
*********************************************************
Athan Manuel
Director of Lands Protection
Sierra Club
408 C St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-548-4580 / fax 547-6009
cell: 202-716-0006
You can see a video of the bill signing ceremony at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2_BJTwd12Q