From The New West Blog

Senate May Take Up Broad Public Lands Bill in November

By Matthew Frank, 10-05-08

A collection of bipartisan bills that would protect land and rivers and limit energy development around the West—the Omnibus Public Land Management Act—may make it to the Senate floor in November, the Jackson Hole News&Guide reports.

In Wyoming,

It includes the Craig Thomas Snake Headwaters Legacy Act, which would protect 387 miles of rivers and streams in the Snake River drainage under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

It also includes the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, which would prohibit further energy leasing in the Wyoming Range south of Jackson Hole and would allow conservation groups to buy and retire existing energy leases. Both measures were championed by the late U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, added another 53 bills to the measure Friday, adding to the more than 90 pieces of legislation already in the package. Besides the Wyoming Range and Snake River measures, it includes other additions to the Wild and Scenic River system, additions to wilderness areas and national parks, and other land-management actions.

Tom Reed of Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range said members of his group were “elated” at the news.

“A lot of folks worked on it really hard in Wyoming,” he said. “It is homegrown, and a lot of sportsmen are going hunting right now and that is what it’s all about — the future of hunting and fishing and keeping the Wyoming Range like it is.”

A summary of the bill from govtrack.us:

Makes amendments to various public laws, including the Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, the National Trails System Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996, the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor Act of 1994, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Act of 1988, the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Act, the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act, the Colorado River Storage Project Act, the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992, the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act of 2000, and the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act.

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