4 Million Acres of Public Land Protections Pass the House
Photo credit: Thomas O’Keefe
This afternoon, the House passed an ambitious package of public lands billed, called the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act Plus (PAW+) that offer protections for more than 4 million acres of public lands and more than 1000 river miles.
The package includes eight bills that Outdoor Alliance and our partners have worked on closely. They include:
The Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act.
The Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act.
The Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
Colorado Wilderness Act of 2020.
The Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act.
The Central Coast Heritage Protection Act.
The San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act.
The Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act.
You can read in more detail about each of the bills right here. Along with these land protection bills, the Outdoors for All Act, introduced by Rep. Barragan was passed as an amendment. You can read more about that bill here.
These bills are long-standing efforts from Outdoor Alliance, our partners, and local groups to protect outstanding recreation, including climbing, mountain biking, hiking and camping, and paddling. They will protect cherished landscapes across the West, from parts of the Trinity Alps in California, to Castle Peak in Colorado, to climbing on Mt. Ellinor, Mt. Washington, and Jefferson Peak in Washington. In addition, the 4 million acres of protections included in these bills will help the U.S. advance toward its stated goal of protecting 30 percent of its lands and waters by 2030. With protections that are both remote and close to urban areas, this package will also improve equitable access to protected outdoor places. You can read our full letter of support to Congress about this package right here.
This is the third time the House has passed these protections in one form or another – they passed six of the bills last spring, and included the full package of eight bills in their version of the defense spending bill back in the fall.
The outdoor community has been instrumental in supporting these protections and advocating for their passage in Congress. The next step is moving the protections through the Senate and you can help – we’ve made it easy to write your Senators a message using the tool below.
Why do this? Lawmakers are constantly navigating a crush of different issues, bills, and priorities. Even if your Senator is supportive of protections, you can help make these bills a priority by reminding them that public land protections matter to you! And if you think your Senator might oppose protections regardless, you help attach a cost to their opposition.
Take action below: