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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SENATE TO CONSIDER MAJOR PUBLIC LANDS BILL Measure Would Protect Nearly a Million Acres as Wilderness 
WASHINGTON D.C., June 27, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- 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.
“There’s great symbolism in what Senator Bingaman has done as the nation gets set to observe its founding,” said Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness. “These are places of the original America, out of which we carved this great nation and by which we formed our character as a people. It’s a fine gift to the country on its birthday.” A bipartisan set of wilderness measures in the lands package includes:
The Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act, to permanently protect more than 128,000 acres of national forest on Mount Hood in Oregon; The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Voluntary and Equitable Grazing Conflict Resolution Act, to protect 23,000 acres in southeastern Oregon’s Soda Mountain region; The Owyhee Public Lands Management Act, which will protect as wilderness 517,000 acres in Idaho’s Owyhee-Bruneau Canyonlands; The Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness and Indian Peaks Wilderness Expansion Act, to protect nearly 250,000 acres (94 percent) of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park; The Wild Monongahela Act, to protect 37,000 acres of wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia; The Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness and National Scenic Area Act, protecting 43,000 acres of the Jefferson National Forest as wilderness, and another 12,000 as a national scenic area. The Campaign for America's Wilderness works with state and local partners to protect the nation’s last wild places for future generations. Celebrating 5 Years of Protecting America's Wilderness: Our Common Ground. For the latest news on wilderness around the country, visit www.LeaveItWild.org. Susan Whitmore Director of Communications Campaign for America's Wilderness (202) 266-0435 122 C Street, N.W. #240 Washington, DC 20001 swhitmore@leaveitwild.org |
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