It now seems less likely the lame-duck Congress will vote on a lands bill that includes legislation to establish a Mojave Trails National Monument along the Route 66 corridor in Southern California, reported Kurt Repanshek today for National Parks Traveler.
Repanshek explains:
Conservation groups last month urged Congress to sweep these and dozens of other pending bills up into one omnibus lands bill and pass it before adjourning the 111th session. While there is movement in the U.S. Senate to do just that … , the 327-page “Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2010” has yet to be introduced and the clock is quickly ticking.
And if it doesn’t make it this session, it’s back to square one for all these measures. How they’d fare in a GOP-controlled House of Representatives is questionable.
A draft of the bill can be found here.
Of course, the situation can quickly change in Washington. Barely a week ago, a vote on a lands bill seemed probable.
But with other legislation (unemployment benefits, tax cuts, DADT) being given higher priority in Congress, it’s easy to see why a big lands bill might get shunted to the side.
The major problem with our leadership in this country today is ‘Party Politics”. This bill is not a left or right issue, BUT one for all of us. The future of our desert needs to be protected yet kept open to development of alternative sources of energy.