WV "Mon Plan" Lands on U.S. Senate Plate
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Charleston, WV – About 37,000 acres of the Monongahela National Forest could soon be designated as wilderness - and it would be the first new wilderness area in the state in 25 years. The "Wild Mon" plan is headed for the U.S. Senate floor as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.
Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness, says the plan has been a bipartisan collaboration that has benefited from a West Virginia champion in Congress.
"People locally there have been very pleased with Chairman Rahall and the effort he's expended in making sure that got included in the package."
Critics of the "Mon" plan are concerned about such forest resources as timber and minerals becoming off-limits. The Act is made up of more than 160 individual bills, and would designate a total of about two million acres of new wilderness nationwide, according to Matz.
"From the East Coast, West Virginia, all the way to the West Coast, California. There's a little bit in here for everybody, and everybody in-between."
The bills were held up last session by opponents who cited concerns about taking public land out of potential production for timber, or oil and gas development. Some of the individual wilderness proposals contained in the Omnibus Act have been in the works for almost ten years.
get more stories like this via email
Social Issues
Mississippi prisons often lack resources to treat people who are incarcerated with substance-use disorders adequately but a nonprofit organization is …
Social Issues
April is Second Chance Month and many Nebraskans are celebrating passage of a bipartisan voting rights restoration bill and its focus on second chance…
Health and Wellness
New Mexico saw record enrollment numbers for the Affordable Care Act this year and is now setting its sights on lowering out-of-pocket costs - those n…
Social Issues
Residents in a rural North Carolina town grappling with economic challenges are getting a pathway to homeownership. In Enfield, the average annual …
Social Issues
A new poll finds a near 20-year low in the number of voters who say they have a high interest in the 2024 election, with a majority saying they hold …
Social Issues
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could have implications for the country's growing labor movement. Justices will hear oral arguments in Starbucks …