US House Approves Historic Public Constitution and Pledges to Protect Nearly 3 Million Acres | Environment

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a landmark public land conservation law that promises to protect nearly 3 million acres of federal land in Colorado, California, Washington, and Arizona.

The law combines several bills that languished without Senate approval during the Trump administration. Key provisions include permanently banning new uranium mining on land around the Grand Canyon, allocating wilderness to 1.5 million acres of federal land, and preserving 1,000 river miles by adding them to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

“This is one of the largest public land protection laws ever submitted by Congress,” said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association. “Wilderness designation is the strongest protection there is to ensure the land will never be developed. And it cannot be undone with a stroke of the pen. “

The bill, dubbed the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act, is strongly supported by the Biden administration, in part because it will help the president achieve his goal of protecting at least 30% of the U.S. land from development by 2030. climate. change.

Still, the bill must first pass a divided Senate. Given some Republican senators’ partisan opposition to the measure, the approval could amount to Vice President Kamala Harris drawing a draw.

The bill, sponsored by Colorado Representative Diana DeGette, passed by 227 to 200 votes, mostly along party lines. During Thursday’s debate, representatives of the Republican Congress opposing the law argued that, among other things, it would impede firefighting capabilities in areas close to or surrounded by wilderness in California and Colorado and create additional burdens for land administrators.

“This bill will not help the environment, but will instead kill jobs and jeopardize our national security and US energy dependence,” said Arkansas Congressman Bruce Westerman, the top Republican member of the House’s natural resources committee.

The package of eight individually sponsored accounts contained in the law includes:

Arizona

The Grand Canyon Protection Act would be a victory in the decades-long struggle of the Havasupai tribe, who live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, to protect their drinking water from contamination from uranium mining. The bill permanently pulls back more than 1 million federally owned acres north and south of the Grand Canyon to qualify for new mining claims.

“Grand Canyon is the homeland of indigenous peoples, one of the main drivers of Arizona’s outdoor recreation and tourism-powered economy, and a global wonder,” said Amber Reimondo, energy director of the Grand Canyon Trust. “The risks of uranium mining are not worth it now and never will be. We look forward to the Grand Canyon Protection Act becoming law. “

California

Four different accounts significantly improve the recreational opportunities of public land in the Golden State. A new 400-mile path along the central coast would link the northern and southern wilderness areas in the Los Padres National Forest. In northwestern California, a total of 306,500 acres would be protected by designation as wilderness. In southern California, popular mountain recreation areas of Santa Monica and San Gabriel would be significantly expanded and protected from development.

Colorado

Initially introduced by DeGette over a decade ago, a Colorado measure will add 660,000 acres of public land to the National Wilderness Preservation System. While many of Colorado’s towering peaks have already been designated wilderness areas, the new bill specifically protects lower-lying areas that are popular for recreation and critical wildlife habitats. Like all wilderness lands, the areas will be off limits to motorized vehicles and resource extraction. An additional measure provides protection to 400,000 acres of federal land by designation as wilderness and limiting oil and gas development.

Washington

This bill aims to expand the designated wilderness in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and add 460 river miles to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

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