A look at key provisions in Senate lands bill
By AP STAFF
Associated Press
January 12, 2009

(AP) - The Senate on Sunday advanced legislation that would designate more than 2 million acres of wilderness across nine states, from California to Virginia. The bill, introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also would set aside former President Bill Clinton's childhood home in Hope, Ark., as a national historic site.

Among the provisions, by state:

California:

--Preserve 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.

--Protect some 190,000 acres in Riverside County as wilderness, including parts of Joshua Tree National Park.

--Protect about 70,000 acres of wilderness, including the new John Krebs Wilderness, named for the former congressman and conservationist who fought to protect these lands in the Mineral King Valley.

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Colorado:

--Protect nearly 250,000 acres of Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.

--Protect 66,000 acres of red rock sandstone canyons, cliffs, streams and waterfalls in western Colorado.

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Idaho:

--Protect as wilderness 517,000 acres in Idaho's Owyhee Canyonlands.

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Michigan:

--Protect 11,739 acres of wilderness at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

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New Mexico:

--Protect more than 15,000 acres in San Miguel County as wilderness.

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Oregon:

--Protect 13,700 acres of old-growth forest in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest.

--Protect more than 128,000 acres of national forest on Mount Hood.

--Protect 23,000 acres in southeastern Oregon's Soda Mountain region.

--Protect nearly 31,000 acres of wilderness in the Badlands just east of Bend.

--Protect 8,600 acres of wilderness overlooking the John Day Wild and Scenic River.

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Utah:

--Protect more than 250,000 acres of wilderness in and near Zion National Park.

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Virginia:

--Protect 43,000 acres of the Jefferson National Forest as wilderness, and 12,000 as a national scenic area.

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West Virginia:

--Protect 37,000 acres in the Monongahela National Forest.

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