e360 digest
26 Mar 2009:
Large Areas of U.S. Wilderness
Are Given Highest Protection By Congress
The U.S. Congress has approved a bill that would protect 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states across the country, the largest expansion of federal wilderness areas in 15 years. The bill — approved by the House of Representatives Wednesday and expected to be signed soon by President Obama — provides strict protection for 470,000 acres of the Eastern Sierra and San Gabriel mountains in California, 517,000 acres of the canyon lands in Idaho, parts of the shoreline of Lake Superior in northern Michigan, and smaller areas in New Jersey, West Virginia, and Connecticut, among other states. In addition, the bill provides a less-strict level of protection to 1.2 million acres of the Wyoming Range, shielding the wildlife-rich area from oil and gas drilling. The latest bill expands to 109 million acres the areas in the U.S. designated as wilderness, which bans commercial activities such as oil drilling and logging and prohibits the use of vehicles. The bill also designates more than 1,000 miles of rivers as Wild and Scenic Rivers, offering them protection from development.Click here to view the complete e360 digest.
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