U.S. Senate Breaks Blockade of Public Lands Bills by Dr. No

WASHINGTON, DC, January 12, 2009 (ENS)

Sunday was a working day for the brand new 111th Congress, now in the control of Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada lost no time in using his authority to make a massive omnibus public lands package the first order of business.

Casting their first vote, the senators agreed to consider and vote later this week on the package of 160 public lands bills that would protect 200 million acres of wilderness in nine states - California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Michigan, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The bill would safeguard over 270,000 acres along over 1,000 miles of rivers in Oregon, California, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, and Massachusetts and add 2,800 miles of new trails to the federal system.

The package includes legislation Reid calls "crucial" for his home state of Nevada, where nearly 90 percent of the land is managed by the federal government.

Entitled the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, S.22, the bill is known informally as the "Tomnibus" Bill because it combines many measures blocked in the past by Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a physician nicknamed "Dr. No."

Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. of Oklahoma, nicknamed "Dr. No" (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator)

Coburn again objected to the legislation and has filed 13 amendments to the package that he says target both Republican and Democrat projects.

Among other things, he objects to a provision that protects lands in Wyoming that might produce about 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of oil.

"The energy resources walled off by this bill would nearly match the annual production levels of our two largest natural gas production states - Alaska and Texas," Coburn said.

But Coburn's greatest ire is directed at what he calls, "a $1 billion California water project to restore 500 salmon."

This project does require more than $1 billion in federal funds plus $200 million from the state of California to fund the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act.

The settlement refers to the September 13, 2006, settlement in a lawsuit won by the Natural Resources Defense Council and 13 conservation and fishing groups who sued Kirk Rodgers, regional director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

A federal judge in Sacramento ruled that the Bureau of Reclamation illegally dried up California's second longest river, the San Joaquin. The ruling means that the bureau will have to release water from Friant Dam near Fresno for the first time in 55 years.

The Friant Dam forms Millerton Lake, which is used for irrigation and hydroelectric power. (Photo by K.J. Kolb)

Before completion of the Friant Dam in 1942, the San Joaquin River supported one of the most important salmon fisheries on the Pacific coast and the southernmost Chinook salmon run in North America. Today, virtually all the water upstream from the dam is diverted for irrigation of San Joaquin Valley fruit, vegetable, nut and cotton crops, and two sections of the river totaling 60 miles have dried up.

Still, Senator Coburn objects to the project. "I'm disappointed the Senate Majority Leader has refused to allow senators the opportunity to improve, amend or eliminate any of the questionable provisions in his omnibus lands bill," Coburn said.

Contained in the omnibus bill are seven public lands bills authored by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who said, "After five years and well over a hundred meetings the Senate has finally overcome the procedural hurdles that have delayed action to safeguard some of Oregon's most special places."

Wyden's bills, including one designating eight wilderness areas on Mount Hood and another protecting 13,700 acres in the Siskiyou National Forest as the Copper Salmon Wilderness Area, had each passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before the end of the 110th Congress but were blocked by Dr. No.

The Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007 was originally introduced by Senator Wyden in 2004 and following months of public review and discussion, was modified and reintroduced with Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon, a Republican, in 2006 and again in 2007. Oregon Congressmen Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat, and Greg Walden, a Republican, championed a House version of the bill.

The Act includes input from more than 600 constituents who attended two public forums, as well as input from more than 1700 constituents, as well as Oregon's entire congressional delegation, Governor Ted Kulongoski, the Bush administration and over 100 community groups. The bill preserves almost 127,000 acres around Mount Hood with wilderness protection and adds almost 80 miles on nine free-flowing stretches of rivers to the National Wild and Scenic River System.

The Elk River in Oregon is one of the rivers to be protected under theOmnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. (Photo by Lance Nix)

Sunday's vote overrides Senator Coburn's efforts to block the Senate from voting on the legislation.

"These protections are significant not only because of the quantity, but because of the amazing quality of the rivers and lands it will protect," said David Moryc with the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers. He views the legislation as an investment in the future "by conserving precious resources such as clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreation."

Ocean protection is also included in the "Tomnibus" package, to the delight of Laura Burton Capps, senior vice president for government affairs and communications with Ocean Conservancy.

"We are thrilled that the U.S. Senate has started a true sea change for the health of the ocean," said Capps. "This wise decision could not have come a moment sooner the ocean faces unprecedented threats from climate change and industrial demands. These challenges can only be solved if scientists and ocean experts have the information they need to intelligently inform their decisions."

Four oceans bills are contained in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act.

The Ocean and Coastal Exploration and NOAA Act will authorize the National Ocean Exploration Program, National Undersea Research Program, and the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to increase scientific knowledge for the management, use and preservation of oceanic, coastal and Great Lake resources.

The Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act will authorize the establishment of an integrated system of coastal and ocean observations for the nation's coasts, oceans and Great Lakes.

The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act will authorize a coordinated federal research program on ocean acidification.

The Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act will authorize funding for a program to protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical, aesthetic, or watershed protection values, and that are threatened by conversion to other uses.

"The ocean is 71 percent of our planet, providing us with much of the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat and regulating the climate that we need to survive," said Capps. "U.S. Senators should recognize the significance of their demonstrated leadership it means we're taking steps to a healthier planet."

To read the full text of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, S. 22, click here.