House votes to approve DeGette’s wilderness bill as part of annual defense bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the latest sign of continued support for U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette's (D-CO) wilderness-protection bill, the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to approve the measure for the fifth time in two years and, once again, send it to the Senate for approval as part of its annual defense bill.

By a vote of 219 – 207 the House voted Thursday to add DeGette's legislation – known as the Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act – as an amendment to this year's National Defense Authorization Act.

The legislation, also known as the PAW+ Act, would permanently preserve more than 1.6 million acres of public land across the American West – including more than 660,000 acres in DeGette's home state of Colorado.

"Taken together, this amendment will preserve more than 1.6 million acres of public land across Colorado, California, Washington and New Mexico – and will add more than 1,000 miles of river to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System," DeGette said on the House floor Thursday in urging her colleagues to support the measure. "Preserving these pristine, untouched, wilderness lands is about more than just protecting our environment. It's about protecting our economy, our way of life – and ensuring our nation's top military pilots have the space they need to train."

If approved, DeGette's measure would be the largest land-protection package Congress has ever approved as part of its annual defense bill; and it would provide permanent protection to some of the nation's most pristine, untouched wilderness areas in Colorado, Washington, California and New Mexico.

The areas that would be permanently protected under the measure led by DeGette are not only popular destinations for outdoor adventurists from across the country, they also include some of the nation's most important military training grounds.

Among the 36 areas that would be protected in DeGette's home state of Colorado alone, for example, is Colorado's High Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, or HAATS. This unique military flight school in Gypsum, Colorado, which is run by the Colorado National Guard, provides some of the nation's most elite military helicopter pilots an opportunity to train for some of the harshest conditions anywhere on the planet.

By protecting the areas that would be designated under the bill and, therefore, making them off limits to any future development – including logging, mining and drilling activities – the legislation will ensure that this vital military training site is able to continue its mission uninterrupted.

It's the third time in as many years that the House has voted to include DeGette's legislation as part of its annual defense bill, which is now headed to the Senate for consideration.

If approved in both chambers, the legislation would permanently protect:

• 660,000 acres in 36 areas across Colorado. Unlike many of the high-elevation wilderness landscapes that have been the focus of previous land-protection bills, DeGette's legislation would protect more of Colorado's mid-elevation ecosystems that are often used by Coloradans and tourists for a wide-range of outdoor recreation activities. These areas serve as critical habitats for a variety of plants and wildlife. While roughly two-thirds of the areas in Colorado that would be protected under the bill are already being treated as wilderness areas, DeGette's legislation would officially designate them as such, providing them the highest-level of land protection available. In all, DeGette's legislation would protect 36 unique areas across Colorado – including Handies Peak, the Dolores River Canyon and Little Bookcliffs. More information on the areas that would be protected in Colorado is available here.
• 306,500 acres in Northwest California. The legislation will expand nine existing wilderness areas in Northwest California and establish eight new ones. It would also add 480 river miles to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The areas to be protected in Northern California were originally included in legislation introduced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) (H.R. 878).
• 287,500 acres in Central California. The legislation will create two new potential wilderness areas and two new scenic areas in the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument. It would also create a 400-mile hiking trail to connect the wilderness areas in the southern and northern portions of the Los Padres National Forest. The areas to be protected in Central California were originally included in legislation introduced by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA)(H.R. 973).
• 30,700 acres in Southern California. The legislation will expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, establish a new National Recreation Area, and designate approximately 30,659 acres as wilderness. It would also add approximately 45.5 river miles to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The areas to be protected in Southern California were originally included in legislation introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) (H.R. 693).
• 191,000 acres in Southern California. The legislation would expand the existing Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by adding 191,000 acres of the Rim of the Valley Corridor. The area to be protected was originally included in legislation introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) (H.R. 1075).
• 131,900 acres in Washington State. The legislation would designate 126,544 acres on the Olympic Peninsula as wilderness and another 5,346 as potential wilderness. It would be the first new wilderness designation in Olympic National Forest in nearly 30 years. The bill would also add an additional 464 river miles to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The areas to be protected in Washington were originally included in legislation introduced by Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) (H.R. 999).
• 12,900 acres in New Mexico. The legislation would establish the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness area within the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico. The 12,898 acres that would be designated along the Colorado-New Mexico border not only offer spectacular scenic views, but are also a critical winter habitat to migrating elk. The areas to be protected were originally included in legislation introduced by Rep. Leger Fernandez (D-NM) (H.R. 2522).

A map showing the 36 unique areas in Colorado that would be protected is available here.