The House of Representatives passed its first significant public lands conservation bill in years yesterday, designating more than one million acres of wilderness for environmental protection and permanently reauthorizing a federal program to pay for conservation measures. The National Resources Management Act was a package of bipartisan public lands-related bills that passed the House or Senate in the previous Congress. It included critical lands legislation that had been introduced by Representative Paul Cook of Yucca Valley in the last Congress. The bill includes an expansion of Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks in the California desert and designation of nearly 80 miles of scenic rivers, while providing new off-highway vehicle recreation areas in San Bernardino County for motorized trail riding. The House passage of the bill, on a vote of 363-62, sends the measure, which was passed by the Senate earlier this month, to the desk of Donald Trump who is expected to sign the bill into law. The package includes passage of the Desert Protection and Recreation Act. Cook said, “This historic legislation is the culmination of years of work by members of both parties in both chambers, as well as countless groups and individuals on the ground. When it becomes law, this will be the most comprehensive public lands legislation to pass Congress in over a decade. I’m particularly proud of what we were able to include locally. Groups, such as off-roaders and environmentalists, who have historically been at odds over how best to manage and use our public lands were able to work together, forging a compromise to protect the desert and all its uses. This is truly a model for how grassroots legislating should work and I look forward to it becoming law.”
