The Nature Conservancy Applauds Passage of Historic Public Lands Act

Historic and bipartisan act supports abounding acute efforts at the local, accompaniment and civic levels to assure and conserve accustomed places and wildlife. From our abundant coasts of Florida, to the mountains of Idaho, to the breathtaking rivers of Utah, the Public Lands Act offers abundant achievement for the approaching of our accustomed areas I am abnormally heartened by the bipartisan abutment the Act received. There is abundant charge from both abandon of the alleyway to assure our acreage and amnion while continuing to accommodate for recreational and bread-and-butter befalling on our accessible lands.

Washington, D.C. (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 25, 2009 -- The Nature Conservancy applauds the access of Omnibus Public Lands Act. This celebrated and bipartisan act supports abounding acute efforts at the local, accompaniment and civic levels to assure and conserve accustomed places and wildlife.

"From our abundant coasts of Florida, to the mountains of Idaho, to the breathtaking rivers of Utah, the Public Lands Act offers abundant achievement for the approaching of our accustomed areas," said Robert Bendick, Director of US Government Relations for the Nature Conservancy. "I am abnormally heartened by the bipartisan abutment the Act received. There is abundant charge from both abandon of the alleyway to assure our acreage and amnion while continuing to accommodate for recreational and bread-and-butter befalling on our accessible lands."

Key elements of the legislation included:

-- The Forest Landscape Restoration Program (FLRP) will accommodate new ascendancy to administer analysis of blaze at greater scales above acreage managed by the Forest Service and Department of Interior. This important about-face in calibration and access will abate costs by absorption allotment on large-scale, collaborative, science-based projects area bonfire risks are high.

-- The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) alternating with Title XII (Subtitle e) of the Omnibus Bill will assure bank areas with top conservation, recreation, celebrated and adept amount while aswell accouterment important abutment for coastal/marine mapping and altitude change adaptation.

-- The Owyhee Lands Management Act, accurate by Senator Crapo, will baptize added than bisected a actor acreage of Idaho's Owyhee-Bruneau Canyonlands as wilderness alternating with 315 afar of National Wild and Scenic Rivers and added ecology protection.

-- The Washington County Utah Bill will baptize added than 260,000 acreage of acreage in Utah as Wilderness and 166 afar of Virgin River and its tributaries and National Wild and Scenic Rivers. This legislation, championed by Senator Bennett, aswell creates two civic attention Areas in Washington County, creating protections for the arid tortoise and recreational opportunities on 140,000 acres.

-- Under the administration of Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Everglades National Park Expansion accouterment will assure the aegis of a key ability in the Florida Bay.

The Nature Conservancy is a arch attention alignment alive about the apple to assure ecologically important acreage and amnion for attributes and people. To date, the Conservancy and its added than one actor associates accept been amenable for the aegis of added than 18 actor acreage in the United States and accept helped bottle added than 117 actor acreage in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

Contact
Cristina Mestre, 703.841.8779