14 DAY TRIAL // Wednesday could very well go down in history as one of the days when nature conservation efforts won an important victory in the United States. The Congress has passed a set of some 160 bills, setting the basis for more accurate and protective environmental regulations, which will affect millions of acres of land throughout the country. Parks, forests, rivers, creeks and paths are all included in the new measures, and nearly 2 million acres are “covered” under the protective “umbrella” of the new bills.
All this land is located across nine states, and the passing of the legislations implies that not a single inch of this soil will be used to construct oil, coal or gas extraction facilities, or for any other development, in the future. The areas are now considered to be “wilderness,” and therefore preserve all the species that live on them. Conservationists around the world have saluted this measure with excitement, saying that they are glad that the Obama administration is keeping true to its campaign promises.
After several years of legislative roadblocks and delays in the Senate, the bill package has finally passed to the house of Representatives, which has voted it a week later. Now, the documents will go directly to President Barack Obama, which is expected to sign and promulgate them as soon as possible.
“I can't think of a single bill that has ever done more to ensure the enjoyment of, and access to, wilderness areas (and) historic sites,” the Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, says.
“Future generations will look back at this day as a major milestone in our nation's conservation history,” the President of the Wilderness Society, William Meadows, believes. “It has been a long and difficult road, but today, Congress acted on behalf of hunters and anglers who understand the need for intact habitat,” Trout Unlimited representative Tom Reed also adds.
California, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia, New Mexico and Michigan are the states that host most of the 2 million acres of land that are to become wilderness. The bills also include restoration measures for such landmarks as the Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado, and the Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas.
Opponents to the bills, most of them, naturally, Republican, uphold that the measures will deny access to important oil and gas reserves, which will endanger the energy security of the US. However, this argument no longer stands, as Obama has vowed to expand the country's production. The only thing that is different is the fact that he plans to do so in a way that is also strange to most Republicans, namely via renewable energy.