{"id":95402,"date":"2019-02-27T20:54:01","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T03:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/public-lands-package-passes-house-heads-to-trumps-desk\/"},"modified":"2019-02-27T20:54:01","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T03:54:01","slug":"public-lands-package-passes-house-heads-to-trumps-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/public-lands-package-passes-house-heads-to-trumps-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Public lands package passes House, heads to Trump\u2019s desk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A crew member with Horizon Environmental Services walks through an area of the Perins Peak Wildlife Area northwest of Durango planting ponderosa pine tree seedlings. Perins Peak State Wildlife area has received funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

WASHINGTON \u2013 The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed a sweeping public lands package, including bills long supported by several Colorado congressmen.<\/p>\n

The bill held bipartisan House support with a vote of 363-62 and designates 1.3 million acres of wilderness. The lands package had previously passed the Senate on Feb. 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom fishing and kayaking, to skiing and hiking, public lands provide valuable recreation opportunities for all Americans. I am glad to see this vitally important legislation get passed through Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support,\u201d Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

The lands package also provided for the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund uses revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling to reinvest in conservation and outdoor recreation projects.<\/p>\n

A number of projects in Southwest Colorado have benefited from LWCF funds, including 17 in La Plata County totaling nearly $1.6 million, among them is the Perins Peak State Wildlife Area. Archuleta County has received almost $500,000, and Montezuma County has received about $150,000.<\/p>\n

The LWCF Coalition, a network of conservation groups charged with support and oversight of the fund, released a statement saying Congress\u2019 passage of the lands package \u201creaffirms the gold standard in American conservation.\u201d The Coalition called it a \u201chistorical victory for America\u2019s natural and cultural treasures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who both voted to pass the public lands package in the U.S. Senate, expressed support as the bill heads to the White House.<\/p>\n

Bennet tweeted out his support shortly after the bill passed, saying, \u201cLWCF has directly benefited communities in our state like Durango. We are now one step away from providing Coloradans the certainty they need to pursue conservation projects that will boost the outdoor economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardner has also supported LWCF throughout his time in the Senate. After the bill\u2019s passage, he released a statement saying, \u201cThe program has a direct impact on public lands in Colorado and will be used to protect our state\u2019s natural beauty for future generations. I\u2019m thrilled we were able to finally permanently reauthorize this commonsense program supported by Coloradans across the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tipton\"
Tipton<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Tipton has supported bills like Every Kid Outdoors Act, which provides free admission to national public parks and lands for fourth-grade students and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill will help to ensure responsible management and preservation of public lands for decades to come. I am especially pleased that the package contained several bills I have championed over the past few years,\u201d Tipton\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

The lands package now heads to the White House to await President Donald Trump\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

Liz Weber is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado senators, representatives support bill\u2019s passage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[23,24,25],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-95402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-u-s-rep-scott-tipton","tag-u-s-sen-cory-gardner","tag-u-s-sen-michael-bennet"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95402"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=95402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}