Designating Certain Land As Components Of The National Wilderness Preservation System

Designating Certain Land As Components Of The National Wilderness Preservation System

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (S. 22) combines more than 160 individual bills to protect America's wilderness and responsibly manage our natural resources. The individual measures in this bill were originally introduced by nearly equal numbers of Democratic and Republican Senators and the vast majority have broad bipartisan support.

S. 22 would protect over 2 million acres of land by designating it as wilderness, making it the largest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in almost 15 years.

The new and expanded wilderness areas established by this bill would span nine States and include such treasures as: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan; Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia; Oregon's Mount Hood; Idaho's Owyhee canyons; the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California; the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado; Zion National Park in Utah; as well as wilderness-quality lands in Virginia and New Mexico.

S. 22 would also protect more than 1,000 miles of free-flowing rivers by adding them to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. It would add thousands of new miles of trails to the National Trails System, expand the National Park System, and establish new National Conservation Areas.

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act would create new National Heritage Areas and authorize additions to the National Park System to preserve historical sites, including the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park in Kentucky.

The package also contains critical measures to responsibly manage our Nation's water resources, including a provision to assess the impact of climate change on our national water supply, authorizations to repair water infrastructure, and the resolution of important water settlements in the West.

Other key provisions include the establishment of a 26-million-acre National Landscape Conservation System and protecting more than 1 million acres of Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest from oil and gas development.

In its waning days, the current administration went forward with a controversial oil and gas lease sale in Utah that included wilderness quality lands near several national parks. This sale highlights the need for Congress to come together and protect our public lands and precious natural resources for future generations.

I support this package to protect our wilderness areas and preserve the country's natural resources.

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