On Tuesday, the White House released a policy statement saying the Biden Administration “strongly supports” a House package aimed at protecting lands and waters in Arizona, Colorado, California and Washington. The bill, the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act, attempts to protect key public lands and waters in the above-mentioned states. However, House Republicans are pushing back on some of the legislation’s provisions through a series of amendments, though changes will likely face an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled House. Among the amendments are “measures that would require approval from counties that would be directly impacted by the wilderness designations, delay the mining portion of the bill to ensure the country’s uranium is ethically sourced, and grandfather in prior recreational activities.” While the legislation itself has a good chance of passing the House of Representatives, if it is introduced in the Senate, it would still have to contend with the filibuster. In the previous Congress, bipartisan consensus was able to be reached on a similarly ambitious conservation bill, however that effort largely gained traction following support from former President Trump and Republican senators who were facing reelection.
