Scenic Rivers’ Bill Headed to House
20 Jan
A large public lands and wilderness bill — the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 — which includes the designation of rivers in seven states as “National Wild and Scenic Rivers,” is headed to the House of Representatives.
The New York Times reported on the bill’s passage out of the Senate last week, HERE, and then ran THIS editorial today. According the the advocacy group American Rivers, over 1,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 270,000 acres of adjacent land will be protected by the Wild and Scenic River aspects of the bill.
Rivers in Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Vermont, and Massachusetts are included in the bill.
Wild and Scenic designation creates a protected buffer along both sides of a river, blocks dams and other water projects, and preserves a river’s free-flowing nature. The designation helps protect and improve water quality, as well as a river’s unique historic, cultural, scenic, ecological, and recreational values.
A full listing of existing National Wild and Scenic Rivers can be found HERE.
