Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to give legal recognition to a President Clinton-era conservation program that oversees some 27 million acres of federal land mainly in 11 Western states and Alaska.
The vote to write into law the National Landscape Conservation System came after assurances were given to Western and gun-rights lawmakers that the measure would not add new restrictions to current rules on hunting and fishing, energy development or grazing rights on the designated lands.
Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt created the system in 2000 as a means to conserve, protect and restore nationally significant landscapes. Overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, it is made up of more than 800 units, including scenic and historic trails, national conservation areas, national monuments and wild and scenic rivers. It makes up about 10 percent of the land administered by the BLM.
H.R. 2016 passed 278-140
Yes: Reps. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino and Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs.
No: Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Riverside; David Dreier, R-San Dimas; and Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar.