UPDATE 3/31/2009 -- On March 30th President Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, one of the most sweeping pieces of conservation and public land management legislation in decades.

This legislation includes more than 160 separate public lands proposals that will secure wilderness designation for more than two million acres in nine states, protect over a thousand miles of rushing rivers and streams and give legal status to the 26-million acre National Landscape Conservation System, which protects some of the most spectacular landscapes.

While signing the bill, President Obama stated, "As Americans, we possess few blessings greater than the vast and varied landscapes that stretch the breadth of our continent. Our lands have always provided great bounty -- food and shelter for the first Americans, for settlers and pioneers; the raw materials that grew our industry; the energy that powers our economy. What these gifts require in return is our wise and responsible stewardship."

Timeline:

• On January 15th the U.S. Senate passed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act.
• On March 11th, the U.S. House failed to pass the bill by just two votes.
• On March 19th, the bill was sent back to the Senate where it passed as an amendment to the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act (H.R. 146).
• On March 24th, the U.S. House Passed the bill.
• On March 30th, President Obama signed the bill into law.

Background:

The Act will provide the largest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 15 years, designating 2.1 million acres of permanent wilderness in nine states -- California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Michigan, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Another one of the bills in the package -- the National Landscape Conservation System Act -- will provide permanent protection for the first new system of conservation lands in the United States in more than 50 years. Under the National Landscape Conservation System Act, over 850 federally recognized areas covering 27 million acres of the Bureau of Land Management's most spectacular land and waters will be protected permanently.

Other proposals in the bill included:

• Protection of nearly 250,000 acres of Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.
• The Wyoming Range Legacy Act, which maintains the integrity of around 1.2 million acres of incredible big game and cold water fisheries habitat.
• Protection of more than 15,000 acres in San Miguel County in NM as wilderness.
• Protection of 43,000 acres of the Jefferson National Forest as wilderness, and 12,000 as a national scenic area in VA.
• Protection of more than 128,000 acres of national forest on Mount Hood in OR.
• Preservation of nearly 450,00 acres of wilderness and 73 miles of wild and scenic rivers near Santa Clarita and along the California Nevada border, including the White Mountains in CA.

More Information:

• Summary of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act
• Read the full text of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act