Lands Omnibus Bill Introduced

[bakerhab]

E&E: 12/17/10

SENATE: Reid files water, lands, wildlife omnibus in eleventh-hour push
for environmental victory
Paul Quinlan, E&E reporter
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed omnibus legislation
today containing 110 bills aimed at improving and protecting public
lands, waterways, ocean resources and wildlife -- which Republican
leaders have already threatened to block.

"I want to get this package done before Congress adjourns," Reid said.
"I sincerely hope that the delays and obstruction we are seeing from my
Republican colleagues will not prevent us from taking up this critical
legislation."

Advocates say the bill represents a rare opportunity for an
environmental legislative victory in the closing days of a Congress
better known for major defeats on climate change and oil spill
legislation.

"This bill has just gone from life support to hyperventilating," said
Joshua Saks, senior legislative representative for water resources
campaigns at the National Wildlife Federation. "This could be one of
the most enduring actions of the 111th Congress."

Called the "America's Great Outdoors Act of 2010," the bill includes
bipartisan measures that would designate new wilderness areas in three
states; add 4,600 miles to the national trail system; preserve
battlefield sites; protect marine turtles, sharks and great cats; and
restore water bodies like Lake Tahoe, the Columbia River and the Long
Island Sound, according to a news release. The bill would also slow the
decline in the world's shark populations and permanently authorize the
Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The bill combines measures from four Senate committees: the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, the Environment and Public Works
Committee, the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee.
Half of the bills have passed the House with broad support, according
to Reid's statement.

Reid defended the bill against recent Republican attacks that the
planned measure would amount to a "Frankenstein omnibus," in the words
of Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), cobbled together behind closed doors.
Reid's statement said that Republicans for the past six years have
"intentionally and methodically obstructed normal consideration of
these bills," forcing them to be packaged into massive measures that
could attract the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

It's unclear when the Senate will take up the measure or if time enough
remains before Congress adjourns. Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin (D) said
this week that the bill had enough Republican support to get 60 votes.
Oklahoma Republicans Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn have both threatened to
block the bill, citing concerns about its size and cost and, at the
time, uncertain contents.

"There is nothing divisive about protecting historic battlefields,
improving our most critical water sources, or making sure that our best
wildlife habitat remains wild and healthy," Reid said. "These are
things that people in Nevada and across America want, and they expect
us to work together to achieve them."

Reporter Phil Taylor contributed.


Here's a link to the Lands Bill. S303, that Reid introduced today:

http://rfflibrary.files.wordpress.co...ct-of-2010.pdf

Helen Baker
Cal 4 Wheel

[karstic]

The link doesn't work.

Here ya go.

http://rfflibrary.files.wordpress.co...ct-of-2010.pdf

Talk about trying to stuff 10# of stuff into a 5# bag.

I'm opposed to it just on the fact of everything that is trying to be included in one bill.

[bakerhab]

The Senate adjourned today without taking action on this bill.

Helen Baker
Cal 4 Wheel

[curtis]

That's a good sign I hope. The new congress can take a look at it.

[TipsE-Z]

Talk about trying to stuff 10# of stuff into a 5# bag.

I'm opposed to it just on the fact of everything that is trying to be included in one bill.

After a brief skim; I agree, good initiative, poor execution.

[Roger]

Yay! No more wilderness areas - for now anyway.

[dirtman13]

Yay! No more wilderness areas - for now anyway.

That was short lived.

Wilderness rules restored for public lands

KRISTEN WYATT
From Associated Press
December 23, 2010 4:22 PM EST

DENVER (AP) — The Obama administration plans to reverse a Bush-era policy and make millions of undeveloped acres of land once again eligible for federal wilderness protection, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.

The agency will replace the 2003 policy adopted under former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Salazar said. That policy — derided by some as the "No More Wilderness" policy — stated that new areas could not be recommended for wilderness protection by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and opened millions of acres in the Rocky Mountain region to potential commercial development.

That policy "frankly never should have happened and was wrong in the first place," Salazar said Thursday.

Environmental activists have been pushing for the Obama administration to restore protections for potential wilderness areas.

Salazar said the agency will review some 220 million acres of BLM land that's not currently under wilderness protection to see which should be given a new "Wild Lands" designation — a new step for land awaiting a wilderness decision. Congress would decide whether those lands should be designated permanent wilderness areas, Salazar said.

Congressional Republicans pounced on the "Wild Lands" announcement as an attempt by the Obama administration to close land to development without congressional approval.

"This backdoor approach is intended to circumvent both the people who will be directly affected and Congress. I have to question why this announcement is being made only after Congress adjourned for the year," said Washington Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican tapped to lead to the House Natural Resources Committee when the GOP takes control of the House in January.

BLM Director Bob Abbey said it hasn't been decided how many acres are expected be designated as "Wild Lands" and whether those acres will be off-limits to motorized recreation or commercial development while under congressional review. It's also unclear whether there will be a time limit on how long acres can be managed as "Wild Lands" before a decision is made on their future.

The BLM has six months to submit a plan for those new wilderness evaluations.

These "Wild Lands" would be separate from Wilderness Study Areas that must be authorized by Congress. Wild Lands can be designated by the BLM after a public planning process and would be managed with protective measures detailed in a land use plan.

Ranchers, oil men and others have been suspicious of federal plans to lock up land in the West, worrying that taking the BLM land out of production would kill rural economies that rely on ranchers and the eastern Montana oil and gas business.

Their suspicions have been heightened since memos leaked in February revealed the Obama administration was considering 14 sites in nine states for possible presidential monument declarations.

That included 2.5 million acres of northeastern Montana prairie land proposed as a possible bison range, along with sites in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.

The 2003 policy was an out-of-court deal struck between Norton and then-Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt to remove protections for some 2.6 million acres of public land in that state.

The policy allowed oil and gas drilling, mining and other commercial uses on land under consideration as wilderness areas.

Salazar's reversal doesn't affect about 8.7 million acres already designated as wilderness areas.

Environmental groups praised the reversal, though there has been grumbling that it took the Obama administration nearly two years to overturn the Bush-era policy.

"Washington D.C. always takes longer than you want, but we're glad we've gotten here," said Suzanne Jones, regional director for The Wilderness Society.
___
Associated Press Writer Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report.