Conservation Wins with Senate Passage of Bipartisan Lands Bill

January 15, 2009

Republicans for Environmental Protection, a national grassroots organization, today applauded Senate passage of a comprehensive lands bill that designates 2 million acres of wilderness and gives legal permanence to the National Landscape Conservation System.

"This bipartisan legislation carries out the truly conservative tradition of protecting our country's great natural and historic heritage for the benefit of future generations," said David Jenkins, REP vice president for government and political affairs. "We applaud the 19 Republican senators from all regions of the country who helped push this important legislation over the top."

An important element of the bill is granting statutory permanence to the National Landscape Conservation System, America's newest network of protected public lands. The conservation system includes national monuments, conservation areas, wilderness lands, wild rivers, and historic trails overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

"The conservation system showcases America's history by protecting the dramatic, pristine landscapes that enable visitors to experience our country's past as our forebears experienced it," said Jim DiPeso, REP vice president for policy and communications.

"By visiting these amazing places, Americans can see our nation through the eyes of the ancient tribes and early explorers who wrote the first chapters of our country's story," DiPeso said.

The legislation also protects wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, and historic trails from one end of the country to the other, from the New England woods that shaped early American history to the eastern Sierra, where the world's oldest living things, millennia-old bristlecone pines, are found.

"Real conservatives understand how important it is to foster greater appreciation of America's history and our country's natural beauty. The public lands bill is a fine example of having 'reverence for the past,' as conservative author Russell Kirk taught," Jenkins said. "We urge the House to pass this bill quickly and send it to the President for final approval."

REP thanks the following Republican senators for voting to approve the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009:

AK - Lisa Murkowski
FL - Mel Martinez
ID - Mike Crapo, Jim Risch
IN - Richard Lugar
ME - Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe
MS - Thad Cochran, Roger Wicker
MO - Christopher Bond
NH - Judd Gregg
OH - George Voinovich
PA - Arlen Specter
TN - Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker
UT - Robert Bennett, Orrin Hatch
WY - John Barrasso, Michael Enzi

REP Resources on National Landscape Conservation System:

The Land That Time Remembers
Jim DiPeso's Blog, April 8, 2008

Vast Land, Vast Protection
Op-Ed by Scott MacCurdy, REP New Mexico Chapter President, Albuquerque Tribune, October 19, 2006