House sends first wilderness bill since 2009 to Obama

E&E News
By Jessica Estepa and Phil Taylor
March 5, 2014

Congress reached a milestone yesterday with the passage of its first wilderness bill in nearly five years.

The House passed by voice vote S. 23, which would designate about 30,000 acres at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore along the northwest coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The measure, which passed the Senate last year, now heads to President Obama for his signature.

More than 1 million people visit the seashore each year, said Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.), sponsor of the House version of the legislation.

After the public registered opposition to a draft management plan for the lakeshore, the National Park Service agreed to work with residents and interest groups, he said. That effort led to the legislation first introduced in 2009 to protect land, keep county roads in local control, and allow public access to beaches and other sites.

"Final passage of this legislation is good news for all of us who cherish the matchless beauty and the ecological importance of Sleeping Bear Dunes," the Senate bill's sponsor, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), said in a statement. "The local community has worked long and hard to preserve this valuable wilderness while ensuring that visitors can access and appreciate it, and I am pleased that the House has followed the Senate to preserve this important part of Michigan's heritage."

Much of the wilderness would be designated on North and South Manitou islands, accessible only by an hourlong ferry ride from Fishtown. The islands feature hiking trails, camping, virgin stands of white cedar trees and shipwrecks within a hundred feet of the beach. The mainland features a stunning landscape of dunes, towering bluffs, turquoise waters and endangered piping plovers.

The last time wilderness legislation was passed by both chambers was the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which protected more than 2 million acres in their roadless state. Whether this represents a new era of cooperation on public lands bills is hard to say.

Representing the Democrats, Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford said the minority hopes yesterday's vote was a sign of more to come. Horsford is the prime sponsor of a bipartisan bill to designate a national monument north of Las Vegas that would showcase the area's array of ice age fossils of mammoths, ground sloths, American lions, camels and horses. Despite the bipartisan support, the bill has run into some opposition, mostly on technical grounds (Greenwire, Feb. 27).

"Congress should not stand in the way of locally driven conservation initiatives," Horsford said on the floor yesterday.

His thoughts were echoed by conservationists who lauded the passage of the legislation.

Mike Matz, director of U.S. public lands for the Pew Charitable Trusts, said he hoped this might spur more congressional action, noting that dozens of lands bills have been passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"We're hopeful that the two bodies can get together and agree on some sort of lands package," he said.

But the going will only get tougher as Congress gets closer to election season, and it's unclear what kinds of trade-offs Republicans will demand in exchange for passage of more wilderness and parks bills. In addition to Sleeping Bear, the Senate last June passed bills to designate more than 30,000 acres of wilderness in old-growth forests on Oregon's Coast Range and add to the National Wild and Scenic River System more than 20,000 acres to Washington state's Alpine Lakes wilderness area, as well as 10 miles of the Pratt River and nearly 30 miles of the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River (E&E Daily, June 20, 2013).

The Washington bill is sponsored in the House by Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, which could bolster its prospects.

After more than three years, wilderness bills in January began to trickle out of the House Natural Resources Committee -- though not without conflict. Republican leaders insisted on amendments to Nevada wilderness bills that would loosen wilderness restrictions, limit land purchases and make it harder to close roads. Green groups opposed the changes, and the Senate may well reject them.

House Republicans say wilderness designations -- which prohibit energy development, motorized recreation and roads -- must be paired with provisions releasing other lands into multiple use and economic development. Wilderness advocates have been willing to accept that, though agreeing on a compromise is never easy.

It's unclear whether the chambers will continue pushing lands bills one at a time, or will seek a broader lands package that could combine wilderness, parks and land developments like mines and logging.

Protection for Mont. watershed

The House also passed by voice vote H.R. 2259, which prevents future mining claims and oil and gas development in Montana's North Fork Watershed.

The measure ensures the protection of the watershed -- which is the gateway to Glacier National Park -- while ensuring that "common sense" resource management, such as outdoor recreation and agricultural practices, can continue, sponsor Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said.

Because of ongoing protection efforts, oil and gas companies have relinquished more than 80 percent of leased acreage in the area, Daines said.

According to Daines, it is the first lands bill to be supported by the entire Montana congressional delegation in nearly 30 years.

In a statement, Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) urged his colleagues to take up the measure.

"Until the Senate provides its approval, we will fall short of the decades-long effort to secure the North Fork," he said.

Additionally, the House approved by voice vote H.R. 2197. The measure from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) would designate parts of the York River and its tributaries for study for potential inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.