U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today secured a vote on a landmark bipartisan public lands package, which includes permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act.
The public lands package moves forward to the floor of the United States Senate just one day after Daines urged Senate Leadership to bring the package up for a vote.
“I’m pleased Senate Leadership is bringing this critical bill for Montana to the floor for a vote,” Daines said. “From permanent reauthorization of LWCF to the passage of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, it’s long overdue that we move on these Montana priorities. I look forward to getting these important bills over to the House quickly and onto the president’s desk for signature.”
At the end of 2018, Daines received commitment from Senate Leadership that the package would be brought to the floor of the Senate early in the 116th Congress. Yesterday, Daines urged Senate Leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote at the earliest opportunity.
To read the bill text, click HERE.
Among several other wins, the public lands package:
- Permanently reauthorizes LWCF
- Includes the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act which protects the Paradise Valley and Gardiner Basin from development
- Includes the WILD Act which strengthens wildlife conservation by reauthorizing sportsmen’s wildlife conservation programs, assists in the management of invasive species, and promotes anti-poaching programs
- Enacts long-awaited provisions supporting Sportsmen’s access and heritage
- Allows the permitting or leasing of public land for shooting ranges and target ranges
- Strengthens partnerships with our national parks by authorizing the Every Kid Outdoors program and the 21st Century Conservation Corps
- Requires federal agencies to manage and enhance wildlife species and habitats that respects statement management authority and private property rights
- Facilitates an “open until closed policy” on federal land by requiring federal public land to be open for hunting, fishing and recreational shooting unless the Secretary closes an area for public safety or applicable to other laws and only in consultation with state fish and wildlife agencies through public notice and comment
- Curtails obstructive litigation by requiring publishing of EAJA and Judgment Fund payments issued
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