All together, the bills — which were added to a defense spending bill that was approved on Friday — protect more than 1 million acres of national parks, wilderness areas, and wild and scenic rivers. It is the most significant piece of land conservation legislation that Congress has passed since 2009. “In addition to setting aside nearly a quarter million acres of wilderness in the American West, it also expands more than a dozen of our national parks to protect more of this country’s natural splendor for future generations,” said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD). The bills passed today include protections for 244,970 acres of new wilderness, including an addition to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana, the creation of the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness in New Mexico, the Pine Forest Range and Wovoka Wildernesses in Nevada, and the Hermosa Creek Wilderness in Colorado. The package also designates 208,160 acres in Montana as the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management Area, protects 70,650 acres in Colorado as the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area, and adds more than 100 miles of rivers to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 01:51:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015