Missouri Breaks Get a Break on President’s Desk
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Lewistown, MT – Congress said "yes" Wednesday to a package of public lands bills, the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, that gives permanency to the National Landscape Conservation System – which includes the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.
Mary Jones, with Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument, says designation will raise the importance of the Breaks Monument as one of the state's crown jewels.
"It's not just Glacier National Park or Yellowstone National Park, but it's the plains, it's the grasslands, it's the history."
The Breaks Monument includes the Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Nez Perce Historic Trail – all under the jurisdiction of the federal Bureau of Land Management. The package of bills on its way to the President's desk also includes new Wilderness designations – to the tune of more than 2 million acres nationwide.
Opponents of the package of bills cited concerns about the limitations its designations place on oil and gas development.
Jones points out that the world-class hunting, fishing and other recreation in the Breaks is now protected, along with the land's cultural and historic significance.
"It keeps it 'as is' as much as possible. The water, the natural resources are for the public - to preserve and protect those for future generations."
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