Obama gets bill on land conservation

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — In the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 15 years, Congress on Wednesday sent President Barack Obama legislation that would conserve a wide swath of the West, including stretches of California from the desert to the Sierra Nevada.

The lands bill, which passed the House, 285 to 140, is expected to be signed by the president this year. It would give the highest level of federal protection to more than 2 million acres in nine states — prohibiting new roads, the use of motorized or mechanized vehicles, most commercial activities, logging, new structures, new mining claims and new grazing. That is almost as much land as was designated for protection during George W. Bush’s entire presidency.

In California, which has 14 million acres of wilderness (second only to Alaska, which has more than 57 million acres), the bill would protect 700,000-plus acres. The measure also would authorize $88 million to fund restoration efforts on the San Joaquin River and provide $61 million toward cleanup of polluted groundwater in the San Gabriel Valley area.

The legislation, which cleared the Senate last week, is an amalgam of about 160 bills.

They call for things such as designating President Bill Clinton’s boyhood home in Hope, Ark., a national historic site, increasing protection of Oregon’s Mount Hood, and creating a commission to plan for the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, Fla.

The new wilderness designations will be the latest additions to the 107-million acre National Wilderness Preservation System, created when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act in 1964.