House Rejection of Land Protection Bill Disappointing

March 11, 2009

Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), a national grassroots organization, is disappointed that the House rejected a comprehensive lands bill that would have designated 2 million acres of wilderness, protected rivers and trails, and given legal permanence to the National Landscape Conservation System.

"This bill was the most important conservation legislation that Congress had considered in many years. It passed out of the Senate with strong bipartisan support. Unfortunately, House Republican leaders used extremist rhetoric to block passage by raising anti-conservation red herrings," REP Government Affairs Director David Jenkins said.

The bill would have granted statutory permanence to the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), America's newest network of protected public lands. The NLCS includes wilderness lands, conservation areas, national monuments, wild rivers, and historic trails overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

"Without statutory permanence, a future administration could take the conservation system apart at the stroke of a pen, endangering the pristine landscapes and historic sites that it protects," Jenkins said.

The legislation also would have protected 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.

"True conservatism imposes a moral duty to protect our natural and historical heritage on behalf of future generations. Unfortunately, the so-called conservatives in charge of our party in the House have a lot to learn about what it means to be truly conservative," REP Policy Director Jim DiPeso said.

"We should not give up on protecting these special places. We urge Congress to keep working to pass this important legislation," DiPeso said.

REP thanks the 34 House Republicans who voted for the lands bill:

AK - Don Young
CA - Mary Bono Mack, David Dreier, Jerry Lewis, Howard "Buck" McKeon
DE - Michael Castle
FL - Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, C.W. "Bill" Young
ID - Mike Simpson
IL - Tim Johnson, Mark Kirk
KY - Ed Whitfield
MI - Vern Ehlers, Candice Miller, Fred Upton
MN - Erik Paulsen
NE - Jeff Fortenberry
NJ - Rod Frelinghuysen, Leonard Lance, Frank LoBiondo, Christopher Smith
NC - Walter Jones
OH - Steve LaTourette, Michael Turner
OR - Greg Walden
PA - Charles Dent, Jim Gerlach, Todd Platts
TN - Zach Wamp
VA - Rob Wittman, Frank Wolf
WA - Dave Reichert
WV - Shelley Moore Capito
WI - Tom Petri

REP Blog Entries on Omnibus Lands Bill

The Reddish Tinge on the Omnibus Lands Bill
Jim DiPeso's Blog, January 27, 2009

The Most Significant Conservation Effort in 15 Years
Daily Green posting, January 18, 2009

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