Ohio Environmental Council helped the state acquire 5,735 acres of the privately-owned land that is now the Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area. In addition, the state entered into an MOU to purchase approximately 7,000 additional acres over two installments (one installment later in 2019, and another in 2020). The 2019 and 2020 purchases will…
The Methow Headwaters Protection Act permanently protects 340,079 acres within the Methow Valley’s Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest from future mining activity. Congress passed this bill in February 2019 as part of the Natural Resources Management Act.
The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act protects 30,370 acres adjacent to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park from industrial scale gold mining. Congress passed this bill in February 2019 as part of the Natural Resources Management Act. Passage of this bill makes permanent the 20-year mining prohibition, otherwise known as a mineral withdrawal, that outgoing…
The California Desert Protection and Recreation Act established protections for 543,815 acres and 77 river miles in Southern California. Congress passed this bill in February 2019 as part of the Natural Resources Management Act. The legislation protected 375,500 acres as Wilderness, expands Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks, designated 77 miles of new Wild…
The Emery County Public Lands Management Act protects 971,997 acres of public land in Emery County Utah, including more than 700,000 acres of Wilderness. The legislation also protects most of the iconic San Rafael Swell as a National Recreation Area and 63 miles of the Green River as Wild and Scenic. Congress passed this bill in February…
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act created eight new Wilderness areas within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument when Congress passed the Natural Resources Management Act in February 2019. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument was designated by President Obama in May 2014, and now 241,554 acres within the monument are designated Wilderness Areas. Wilderness is…
Congress passed the Oregon Wildlands Act in February 2019 as part of the Natural Resources Management Act. This legislation secured protections for 30,621 acres of Devil’s Staircase as Wilderness and 252 river miles in the Rogue and Molalla River watersheds as Wild and Scenic. The legislation also protects an additional 55 miles of rivers and streams from…
The Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Special Management Area Protection Act protects 99,653 acres along Steamboat Creek in Oregon’s North Umpqua River watershed as a sanctuary for some of the best wild steelhead spawning areas in the Pacific Northwest. The area provides more than 50 miles of high-quality river and stream habitat for summer…
Whatcom Land Trust acquired the 1,400-acre Skookum Creek property located in a major tributary watershed of the South Fork Nooksack river basin. Protecting this riparian and upland forest improves salmon habitat, watershed health, landscape connectivity and recreation opportunities.
The Tennessee Wilderness Act was signed into law on December 20, 2018. The act designated the 9,000-acre Upper Bald River Wilderness Area – the first new wilderness area in Tennessee in 30 years. It also expanded the existing existing Joyce Kilmer-Slicrock, Big Frog, Little Frog Mountain, Big Laurel Branch, and Sampson Mountain wilderness areas in the Cherokee National Forest. …
