Washington County Wilderness Bill Becomes Law!
Public Land Package Clears Congress and Is Signed by President 

President Obama signs the Omnibus Public Land Package into law.  Photo by Mike Matz.

Congratulations America!   On March 30, 2009,  President Barack Obama  signed the Omnibus Public Lands Act of 2009, which included the Washington County wilderness bill.   As a result, 180,000 acres of the Zion-Mojave region's unique landscape -- including Canaan Mountain, Black Ridge, Beaver Dam Wash, and Doc's Pass -- were protected.

Added to the 2006 Cedar Mountains wilderness legislation, the Washington County bill marks the second successful wilderness bill for Utah’s redrock country in 3 years.

Background
Since the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act was first introduced in 2006, SUWA and other groups -- including the Sierra Club and Citizens for Dixie’s Future -- worked tirelessly to make the bill a step forward for public land conservation in Washington County, and a model for future Utah wilderness designation. 

We are proud that this bill will designate wildlands surrounding Zion National Park, including Canaan Mountain, Black Ridge, Cottonwood Canyon, and Red Mountain as wilderness.   And we are especially pleased that the remote Bull Valley Mountain complex of wildlands centered on the Beaver Dam Narrows will be similarly designated. 

The bill also establishes the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area, comprising nearly 78,000 acres.  Of this, over 50,000 acres of proposed wilderness are now closed to motorized vehicles, mineral entry, and common variety disposal.  When added to the BLM wilderness designated in the bill, over 180,000 acres of wilderness-quality BLM land gained protection. 
   
In addition, the act designated 165 miles of the Virgin River and its tributaries as Wild and Scenic Rivers (nearly all in Zion National Park) and an additional 125,000 acres of national park wilderness.  Given the overlap with the park, these two steps don’t match the conservation gains of the new BLM wilderness, but are still appreciated.

The bill also establishes the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, comprising nearly 62,000 acres, which provides permanent protection for the endangered desert tortoise and other at-risk species in the area surrounding St. George, Utah.

We are also pleased with the elimination from the bill of bad precedents for future wilderness legislation: the newest version of the bill no longer sells public land to bankroll local development.  The Washington County bill originally proposed selling tens of thousands of acres of land owned by all Americans, and would have directed millions of dollars in proceeds towards controversial local development projects.  Today, the bill sells only public lands already identified by the BLM in its existing management plan and directs 95% of the proceeds towards acquiring inholdings within the wilderness and conservation areas designated in this bill (the remaining 5% is directed to education). 

Additional improvements made to the Washington County lands bill include:

• Removal of provisions giving away thousands of acres of public land rights-of-way for water development projects;
• Removal of utility corridors and land sale proceeds that would have facilitated the construction of the controversial water pipeline from Lake Powell to St. George, Utah;
• Stronger management language for designated wilderness areas, county-wide off-road vehicle use, and an off-road vehicle trail system.

SUWA thanks Sen. Bennett and his staff for their great effort and leadership on this legislation.  We’d also like to thank Senator Bingaman and the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee staff for their work to improve this bill.  And, of course, thanks to our Redrock champions -- including Representative Hinchey and Senators Durbin, Cantwell, and Feingold, and their staffs -- who made this success possible.  
 
And finally, our thanks to you, the dedicated Redrock activists whose calls, emails, testimony, and letters turned what was once a disaster for the Redrock into legislation that will protect wilderness for generations to come.

Black Ridge, copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.
 

Beaver Dam Wash, copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.