Updated on March 30:
Today President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, making the new wilderness designations official. Both Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar spoke eloquently on our national heritage in these lands and our duty to protect them for future generations. Good excerpts are here on the White House blog.
Now, would you believe that a measurable percentage of the Lee Vining population was in attendance? That’s right, local friends Tim Alpers, of Alpers Trout, and Sally Miller, of The Wilderness Society, joined President Obama and other dignitaries at the White House for the signing. That represents 0.5% of Lee Vining!
We’re awaiting all their stories but already have a photo back of them with Buck McKeon, our local Congressman and a champion of the bill (that’s him on the left). Congratulations Sally, Tim, and everyone who has worked for years to make this bill a reality.
March 26 post:
Yesterday’s public lands bill designating new wilderness areas in the Eastern Sierra passed with strong bipartisan support. Here in the Mono Basin there’s a lot of excitement that more than 50,000 acres of public land near Mono Lake were included. It’s great news for protection of Mono Lake and nearby watersheds and great news for these outstanding scenic and ecologically valuable areas to the west in the Sierra and to the east as well.
The LA Times covers the bill’s passage today: Wilderness protection bill gets Congress’ OK