Obama Signs Wilderness Protection Bill

Law Protects Acreage From Sierra Nevada Mountains In Calif. To Jefferson National Forest In Va.

(CBS/ AP)  President Barack Obama signed legislation Monday setting aside more than 2 million acres as protected wilderness.

Obama called the new law among the most important in decades "to protect, preserve and pass down our nation's most treasured landscapes to future generations."

At a White House ceremony, Obama said the law guarantees that Americans "will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parts, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted, but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That's something all Americans can support."

The law — a collection of nearly 170 separate measures — represents one of the largest expansions of wilderness protection in a quarter-century. It confers the government's highest level of protection on land in nine states.

Land protected under the 1,200-page law ranges from California's Sierra Nevada and Oregon's Mount Hood to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.

Land in Idaho's Owyhee canyons, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan and Zion National Park in Utah also won wilderness protection, and more than 1,000 miles of rivers in nearly a dozen states were designated as wild and scenic. The law expands wilderness designation — which blocks nearly all development — into areas that previously were not protected.

The law also protects land in Alaska under a contentious land swap that allows the state to go forward with a planned airport access road in a remote wildlife refuge near the Bering Sea. Critics call the project a "road to nowhere."

Environmental groups and lawmakers in both parties said the law will strengthen the national park system, restore national forests, preserve wild and scenic rivers, protect battlefields and restore balance to the management of public lands.

Opponents, mostly Republicans, had called the legislation a "land grab" that would block energy development on vast swaths of federal land.

Aside from the public lands provisions in the bill, the measure includes the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which provides for paralysis research; paralysis rehabilitation and care; improving quality of life for persons with paralysis and other physical disabilities, reports CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.

Mr. Obama said it's the first piece of comprehensive legislation specifically aimed at addressing the challenges faced by Americans living with paralysis, Knoller reports. The president called Reeve's son Matthew to the stage for the signing.

[4mtnman]

i like barrack. i voted for barrack. i think he will be a great president.
unfortunately, he's from the rural mind-set. he thinks he's doing a good thing by passing a bill the so called "environmentalist" push as protection for our national forrests. IT'S A LIE.
wilderness is the land of "NO USE". you can't drive a car in a wilderness area, you can't ride an ohv in a wilderness area, you can't ride a bicycle in a wilderness area, you can't even get access to most wilderness areas. there are laws already in place to protect our precious lands. for those areas that need further protection, there are plenty of ways to add new regulations that protect the land without shutting out the people who will most use and enjoy it. don't fool yourselfs, once it goes wilderness it may be protected, but you will never see it ... either will your grandchildren.

[gramto8]

Sry, I am falling asleep at the desk.. The numbers in the subtraction should be 52428960 acres left in Utah.

[EatSmoke]

I wish that half of the people that like this legislation could see the total devastation that wildfires do to the "Pristine Wilderness Areas" because they are in a Wilderness Area.

BREAKIN NEWS for the ignorant

The US Forest Service DOES NOT fight wildfires in Wilderness areas as it is an act of nature. They let them burn themselves out and only fight them when they endanger non wilderness areas. OK so instead of having selected logging it is total destruction by fire Yep that makes sense. About as much sense as putting a Junior Senator with only 143 days experience in the office of POTUS.

[gramto8]

Back in 1996, Bill Clinton locked up 1.5 million acres of land in Utah in what is known as the Grand Staircase National Monument, and more recently 264,000 acres were locked up in northern Arizona in what is the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Before all those acres were locked away, did you ever visit those lands? Did you know they were already in a pristine state? Who do you think was taking care of them before the government moved in and took them over? Gee, maybe it was the people who were already here. But of course, that couldn't be, we are just idiots too dumb to know better.
Posted by leeanna59 at 8:51 AM : Mar 31, 2009

You would probably complain if you were hung with a new rope.

The 1.9 million acres you are complaining about is from a total of 54328960 acres in the state of Utah, most of which is uninhabitable. The Grand Staircase Area is included in that uninhabitable area, but could still have been destroyed by people bringing in their 4-wheel-drive vehicles, their ATVs, or their oil wells. Considering that this area was the last place in the Continental United States to be mapped, I cannot understand why it is such a big ordeal for you to do without it. It isn't like you don't have 54328958.1 other acres in Utah to use.

The same scenario would hold true for the Vermillion Cliffs. They are a beautiful area. They do not need a bunch of idiots with 4WD or ATVs ruining them. With this protection, maybe, just maybe, our kids and grandkids can enjoy their beauty also.

[genexrs08]

OH PLEASE...thats the best you can do???
LETS just all stop driving and flying everywhere, dumb.
I want a clean environment for future generations, whats so horrible about that?

[genexrs08]

Krauq,

AS far as the war being worth fighting for, talking to one solder, isnt the opinion of all. I too have had MANY friends and family members who are in the military who dont agree with the war. Luckly they are all still alive.

THere are already too many unwanted starving children right here in this country, not to mention around the world. Im sorry, but the arguement that many want babies, isnt a valid one.

YES, I do donate my time to homeless shelters.

Im happy that not all conservatives are right wing nut jobs... so good for u that u are not a complete hypocrate.

[honestabe8]

dongo3: perhaps you should, before you call anyone "brain-dead", learn how to spell Endangered. now you can resume your mindless rambling

[Marie Zarankevich]

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

[krauq]

genexrs08

you want us to have a better environment? Tell Obama to stop flying on Air Force 1 then. I would bet that would help out a lot.

[krauq]

genexrs08

Funny you should say that Obama supports choice. Apparently, it is not the baby's choice.

I actually accept abortion in special circumstances (rape, baby will not live, or woman's life is in danger) . I think many conservatives have the same beliefs.

1) I do support the Iraq War.
I do not know anyone who went to the Iraq war, but my roommate did. The funny thing is, he told me that his friends said it was a war fighting for. I find it an insult for ungrateful brats like you to say that the war was a mistake. IDK about you, but I believe the soldiers more than I believe you.

2) I am AGAINST the death penalty. Surprised?

3) We are not against gay people. We do not like them trying to destroy what is left of the sanctity of marriage. Note that I said "what is left"

4) No, I do not. Do you?

I also noticed that you asked NoReasoningWithLiberals if he would raise all the babies himself. I wouldn't think so, but there are those who want babies but cannot reproduce.

Your turn

[genexrs08]

AND TO THE REST OF U CRAZY CONSERVATIVES.....
WE WON!!!! We are going to make decisions based on logic, facts, science, not corperate greed hidden under the pretence of a god.
We have to clean up the toxic world left behind by these EVIL people.
And try to leave a better envirionment for those who follow us. And yes this includes keeping our precious forests and wildlife protected aggainst corp greed.

[genexrs08]

IN RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING POST:
Obama wants to protect the wilderness yet at the same time he wants to slaughter unborn babies by using tax-payer money to fund abortion (murder) clinics all over the globe. My God this is an evil man!!
Posted by NoReasoningWithLiberals
and others like them.

Obama doesnt want to slaughter anyone...he supports a persons right to choose.
R u going to raise all of the unwanted babies? He also supports having something left behind for our children, such as parks and wildlife.
Im not a gambling person by nature....
BUT I BET U R A HYPOCRITE LIKE MOST WHO HOLD YOUR VIEWS ARE>>>>
NO 1:
I BET you have supported the war, where hundreds of thousands of people have died (including Iraq civilians, of course u probally dont think that thier lives mean as much as a US citizen or an unborn fetus!)

NO 2:
I BET you are for capital punishment bc a adults life doesnt mean as much as an unborn fetus.

NO 3: I BET you are aggainst anything to do with gay people or anyone who is different from the norm. Yet I bet u call yourself a Chrstian all the while hating on anyone who doesnt live up to what U think others should be like. Not very Jesus like of any of u who do this.

NO 4: I BET you dont give one single minute of your time to a homeless shelter, a abused women shelter, a big brother/sister program, ect, to help the hundreds of already born unwanted children in this or any other country.

DID I WIN MY BET????

[shurch4truth]

Posted by olyboy at 7:51 PM : Mar 30, 2009


you don't get it...

it's a matter of how the land is used.....you can either use it in a way that protects it for future generations or use it in a way that destroys it....in either case it is still owned and managed by the government

....the problem with the neo-con republicans is they don't care about the future health of the our natural resources... their way is to take everything from it now to get rich fast


just look at the mess they made for the country......it's their fault....face it

[shurch4truth]

the easy to understand explanation as to why the neo-con republicans don't like conservation or wilderness protection.....they really rather have the government own it because that means when their party - the republicans - are in power they will be given permits to take everything they can get off the land...with no rules to follow

To them it it does not matter that they destroy wilderness that is habitat for wildlife and lands for recreation that support local economy....they don't care about that , they just want to move in there quick, take all they can get even if it means destroying the land for generation, and then get out so they can live fat and happy with lots of $$$$$

that's their mentality.

[olyboy]

This is just one more way to take jobs away from Americans and put them at the mercy of the democrat party. Those forests are a renewable resource of ALL AMERICANS not a playground for the liberal flower children. Taking these resources away from our use is a hidden tax on everyone because doing so makes resources artificially scarce and drives up the price we all pay for housing and energy. The stupidest part is it hits the poor the hardest making decent housing and heat harder for them to afford. Way to go Barry!

[janefondu]

WHY IS OBAMA CONSTANTLY SAYING HIS IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND FOR THIS AND THE FIRST OF ITS KIND FOR THAT. I'LL LAUGH WHEN HE IS IMPEACHED IN UNDER 4 YEARS AND ALL IS UNDONE WITH THE SWIPE OF THE NEXT PRESIDENTS PEN. THAT WILL DEFINATELY BE A KODAK MOMENT!!!!

[kiawest]

This land is already national forest land. Why was a bill needed when it is already government owned?

[johnb8888]

Drill for oil in Rush Limpbough's a$$--there's plenty of blubber there.

[brianbwb-2009]

"... wonder how badly the public got skrewed in this federal takeover of public lands." Posted by Rowdy101

Sometimes I am surprised at how uneducated many Americans are. The statement above is proof of a failed education system. Public land is federal land, this poster complains about a non-existent take-over of land we already own. I had to wait to stop laughing before I could start to address this.

Perhaps it is the alcohol, or maybe other drugs, perhaps it is a failed education, or just simple low IQ that prompts such people to make such inane statements.

But then again this is the person who said she would leave America if Obama became president, but obviously lied.

[eclecticman1]

It's amazing how much Obama has accomplished in less than three months. Kudos on protecting our wilderness areas!!