Western land protections advance in the Senate
Proposed Wild Olympics, photo credit: Chris Korbulic
In the last Congress, we narrowly missed the opportunity to pass a package of recreation policy and landscape protections.
Several of these protections were ones that Outdoor Alliance and our member groups have helped to develop and advocate for over many years, including the Wild Olympics in Washington, the PUBLIC Lands Act in California, and protections for the Dolores River Canyon and the CORE Act in Colorado.
Now, the Senate is taking steps to advance these and other landscape protections, and the outdoor community has a key role to play in advocating to our members of Congress that protecting land and water is a key priority.
In July, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on a number of landscape protection and related conservation bills. We submitted the following testimony to the committee, which you can read here. Now, the Senate is proceeding with a markup of these and other conservation bills.
The bills include:
Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act (S. 636): The Dolores River in Colorado is home to world-class recreation, including whitewater rafting, kayaking, and canoeing when flows allow; as well as remote backcountry hiking and backpacking opportunities and destinations for climbing and mountain biking. The proposed legislation would establish a National Conservation Area and a Special Management Area to protect more than 68,000 acres surrounding 76 miles of the Dolores River in western Colorado.
Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act (S. 1634): Although the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument protected portions of the original CORE Act, a number of additional landscapes deserve protection, including the Thompson Divide, the San Juan Mountains, the Curecanti National Recreation Area, and new Wilderness areas along the Continental Divide. All of the proposed designations in the CORE Act have been carefully vetted by recreation groups, and designations protect and enhance recreational opportunities like hiking, climbing, skiing, and mountain biking.
Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (S. 1254): The Wild Olympics legislation will protect more than 125,000 acres of Wilderness and 464 river miles as Wild and Scenic on the Olympic Peninsula. In addition to protecting conservation values, the bill protects hundreds of miles of trails, scores of climbing sites, dozens of whitewater paddling runs, and valued backcountry ski terrain. The Olympic Peninsula, with Olympic National Park and the adjacent Forest Service lands and rivers, is an important part of the outdoor recreation landscape in Washington, and preserving these iconic lands and rivers will benefit the state’s growing outdoor recreation economy.
PUBLIC Lands Act (S. 1776): The PUBLIC Lands Act includes three bills to protect public lands and waters in California, including the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act, the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act, and the San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act.
Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act (S. 1890): The Owyhee Canyonlands of southeastern Oregon are a scenically spectacular landscape, rich in biodiversity and cultural resources, that represent one of the most significant conservation opportunities in the lower 48 states. This bill would protect multiple sections of the Owyhee that are considered nationally significant by whitewater paddlers, as well as opportunities for hiking and backpacking.
Over the summer, the Senate also had hearings on:
Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (S.2149): The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act would protect existing recreation opportunities like hiking, fishing the world-renowned Blackfoot River, and hunting in the famous Bob Marshall Wilderness, and identifies areas for new mountain bike and snowmobile access. It will also add nearly 80,000 acres to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Mission Mountains Wilderness areas.
Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act (S.2216): Outdoor Alliance opposes this bill, which would eliminate Wilderness Study Area designations from 100,000 acres in western Montana including the Middle Fork Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, and Wales Creek.
Protecting more land and water has many benefits, including for outdoor recreationists who will see new trails and recreation areas, and expanded protections for special places. Conserving land and water is also a key strategy for fighting climate change and addressing the effects of climate change. And protected public lands and waters are the foundation for the growing outdoor recreation economy, which is under pressure from climate change, increased participation, and development.