Though the media were abuzz with President Obama’s announcements about auto industry bail-out conditions on Monday, environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts were likely to be more interested in this headline:
“Obama Signs Wilderness Protection Bill”
Sunrise in Houston, Texas; Photo: Theodore Scott
The Omnibus Land Management Act of 2009–one of the most ambitious environmental protection bills passed in the past 25 years–will protect a total of 2 million acres in nine states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia.
River runners across the United States were thrilled to learn that the 1,200 page bill extended to protect some of the nation’s waterways, too: more than 1,000 miles of rivers were designated as wild and scenic.
The designation of the land and waterways as wilderness areas means that commercial development is restricted, keeping the areas pristine for perpetuity.
Community Connection:
Thinking about heading out into the great wide American open? Check out Matador’s recent articles about Montana’s Big Sky country: 9 Montana Backpacking Trips That Will Blow Your Mind; Boating Big Sky: Montana’s Classic River Trips; and 4 More Reasons to Visit Montana Now.
Can’t travel anytime soon? Check out Matador member and regular contributor Ted Scott’s photos of wild places, both in the U.S. and abroad.
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4 Comments... join the discussion!
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Oh, this is awesome! Our economy is totally in the dumps, and what does this genius do?… he keeps spending money. First Barak and his cronies(one of which cannot even figure out how to use turbo tax) decide to print $787 BILLION, and now they decide to spend even more on something that is not a priority whatsoever. I love nature, but he’ll probably pass a huge bill for ethanol and all of this sweet nature will be turned into corn fields, but none to eat mind you.
This bill is 1,200 pages. Fantastic, maybe the idiots voting on this will read it this time since they obviously didn’t before when they decided to cause some serious inflation.
Thank you Barak,
A college student who doesn’t support you (how odd right?)↵ -
Hercules Rockefeller Jr. (Always love you anonymous commenters):
First, learn to spell your president’s name… even if you didn’t vote for him.
Second, what does the wilderness bill have to do with the economy? It has nothing to do with funding for wilderness–it just establishes protection for natural spaces.
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Hey Julie,
I love the anonymous comments as well. Honestly it is sad that people have to seek out articles such as this to propagate anti-Obama agenda… there are many other sites on “the other side” that would gladly agree with his opinion… misinformed or otherwise.
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