Protect green space in red and blue states

A RARE legislative feat of authentic bipartisan achievement before the U.S. House of Representatives has a bulky name: The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.

House passage of the measure will protect treasured American landscapes and outdoor activities from Washington to West Virginia. The Senate passed the public-lands bill in January by a lopsided vote across party lines. Senate approval is applauded, and House passage is strongly endorsed.

Omnibus is a wholly appropriate word. The act combines more than 160 ideas and proposals in congressional districts across the country. Beginning with the spirit of how the legislation was built, the bill is good for Washington.

No new wilderness areas are created in this state, but the act authorizes the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail through Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, from its prehistoric origins in Lake Missoula. There is also designation of the multistate Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. Enthusiasm is building along those routes about the possibilities for greater tourism and recreational opportunities. The legislation also provides a Snoqualmie Pass fire-and-rescue station.

Neighboring Oregon would have five areas designated with wilderness status, including the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness at 128,000 acres. The bill designates 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states.

Supporters of this comprehensive lands bill have no trouble finding local business support. For many rural communities, this is a jobs bill.

One element of the act created a bit of heartburn in the environmental community. A remote Alaskan village has asked for a second time to build a road across the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to connect to another village for better access to an airport for medical emergencies. Congress nixed a similar request in 1998, and instead provided $28 million to improve a medical clinic for roughly 800 residents, and a $9 million hovercraft for transport.

This time, the remedy was not to decide and give the Interior boss the right to veto the new request after further review.

Certainly, all politics are local, that is how the omnibus bill got built. The legislation represents a constructive expansion of protection for beloved pieces of America the beautiful.