In a formal East Room ceremony, President Obama today signed into law one of the most sweeping pieces of conservation and public land management legislation in years.
"This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments and wilderness areas for granted, but rather, we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share," Obama said.
Obama cited President Theodore Roosevelt's commitment to responsible stewardship as "the spirit behind the bipartisan legislation," which he described as a rare product of when Americans of all parties and places compromise and consider more than the politics of the moment. "It's the very idea at the heart of this country: that each generation has a responsibility to secure this nation's promise for the next. And by signing this bill into law, that's what we're doing today," he said.
Using 10 pens to sign the bill before an audience of about 150 people, Obama thanked the 13 lawmakers gathered behind him for their work. The 2 million acres of wilderness designated by the bill are almost as much as that designated over the last eight years combined, he noted.
The bill is "one of the most significant protections for our treasured landscapes in a generation," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. "This bill is a Herculean first step in President Obama's agenda for our open lands."
Salazar emphasized the importance of providing protections for natural resources even during the economic crisis. "We are in a time of deep uncertainty and economic pain," he said. "But for Americans, moments of crisis are opportunities to rebuild, renew and restore the places we cherish."
Obama in turn joked to Salazar, "We're going to add a little bit to your plate today."
H.R. 146 designates more than 2 million acres of public lands as wilderness in nine states and establishes three new national park units, a new national monument, three new national conservation areas, more than 1,000 miles of national wild and scenic rivers, and four new national trails. It enlarges the boundaries of more than a dozen existing national park units and establishes 10 new national heritage areas.
It also authorizes numerous land exchanges and conveyances to help local Western communities, addresses water resource and supply issues, and launches programs to study the effects of climate change on natural resources. The measure includes some contentious measures, including language to codify the 26-million-acre National Landscape Conservation System and allow construction of a road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
Obama said the provision that designates part of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness has been 35 years in the making.
"It protects treasured places from the Appalachians of Virginia and West Virginia to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, from the canyons of Idaho to the sandstone cliffs of Utah, from the Sierra Nevadas in California to the Badlands of Oregon," he added.
He noted that the bill contains provisions to settle water disputes in the West, saying "it's hard to overstate the real and measurable impact this will have on people's lives." To make that point, Obama pointed to a World War II Navajo "code talker" in the audience, saying he and 80,000 others will have clean water for the first time in their lives because of the bill.
The audience included officials from conservation groups, hunting and fishing organizations, and the Navajo nation; disability advocates; and members of Congress. Obama brought one non-lawmaker, Matthew Reeve, on stage because the bill includes a non-natural resources measure, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which authorizes $100,000 for medical research.
Working on the next bill
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), who led the omnibus through its passage in the House, said after the signing that work has already begun on another public lands package through the introduction of several wilderness and other land protection bills this year.
Noting that Obama called today's omnibus "the groundwork" for future public lands protections, Rahall said he and House and Senate leaders have already had discussions on the next package, which he said will include land proposals for California and Colorado that were not part of today's bill.
Rahall said the Democratic leadership will work with both parties, along with local stakeholders, to create a bill that can receive broad support and avoid many of the troubles that plagued the omnibus bill. "We want to work on this again the grassroots level up," he said. "We don't want to jam it down people's throats."
Natural Resources Committee ranking member Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) called the signing disappointing because the bill "did not receive fair and open review from Congress, nor the full time for public input on the White House Web site."
"Republicans will continue to encourage Democrats to address the problems in this bill by providing Congress with the opportunity to restore Americans' second amendment rights on federal lands, ensure border security and create American jobs by increasing domestic energy production," Hastings added.
Today's ceremony was the final step in the measure's long and winding path. Congressional committees considered some of the bills as early as 2007, but Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) used procedural methods to slow the measures over the course of a year, saying they would raise government spending and limit energy development on public lands. Senate supporters had hoped to finish the omnibus last year but brought it to a successful 73-21 vote in January.
After House Republicans secured enough votes to defeat the measure earlier this month, Democrats in both chambers used a complicated procedural strategy to ease passage. The Senate passed the omnibus again but used an unrelated bill that had already passed the House as a vehicle, thereby preventing House Republicans from offering amendments or trying to send the omnibus back to committee. The House last week approved it, 285-140.