http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=86201.0

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2009

Contact: Kristina Johnson
541-914-9744

Senate Passes Historic Protection for Wilderness, Rivers, Parks


Washington, D.C.- The Senate voted today to safeguard millions of acres of
new wilderness, protect hundreds of miles of rivers, expand Everglades
National Park, and protect critical habitat in Wyoming from oil and gas
leasing.

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 passed 73-21. The bill
protects more than two million acres of wilderness in eight states,
including the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, Oregon’s Mt. Hood, and
Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

"This is the biggest wilderness protection bill in decades," said Sierra
Club executive director Carl Pope. "Through their leadership on this bill,
Senator Reid and Senator Bingaman have helped ensure that we will have a
wild legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Now future
generations will be able to hike in pristine forests from California to
West Virginia. They'll be able to fish America's untouched rivers, watch
antelope migrate through Wyoming, and enjoy the majesty of treasures like
Everglades National Park."

In addition to protecting new wilderness, the lands package codifies the
26-million-acre National Landscape Conservation System, protects hundreds
of miles of free-flowing rivers in six states, and designates numerous new
National Scenic Trails, Natural Historic Sites, and, National Heritage
Areas across the United States. It also protects over a million acres of
key hunting and fishing grounds on the Wyoming Range from oil and gas
drilling.

"Wilderness, rivers, trails and parks support important tourist economies
across the country," said Pope. "This legislation will protect the tourist
dollars and jobs that outdoor recreation generates by keeping our last,
best places safe from unchecked industrial development."

Overview of the Omnibus Lands Package:

The bill codifies and adds permanence to the National Landscape
Conservation System, which includes all of the Clinton/Babbitt-era
national monuments, wilderness study areas, and other protective
designations, encompassing more than 26 million acres.

The bill will protect more than 1 million acres of the Wyoming Range
from oil and gas development.

The bill also includes the Forest Landscape Restoration Act and the San
Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act.

The package includes five important ocean protections:

1. NOAA Undersea Research Program Act
2. The Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act
3. The Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act
4. The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act
5. The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program.

Wilderness Protection includes:

1. Wild Monongahela Wilderness - WV
2. Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness - VA
3. Mt. Hood Wilderness - OR
4. Copper Salmon Wilderness - OR
5. Cascade Siskiyou National Monument (Includes Soda Mt. Wilderness) - OR
6. Owyhee Public Land Management - ID
7. Sabinoso Wilderness - NM
8. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Wilderness - MI
9. Oregon Badlands Wilderness - OR
10. Spring Basin Wilderness - OR
11. Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wilderness - CA
12. Riverside County Wilderness - CA
13. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness - CA
14. Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness - CO
15. Washington County - UT



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Kristina Johnson
Deputy Press Secretary
Sierra Club
Office: (415) 977-5619
Cell: (541) 914-9744
85 Second Street - 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105-3459
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