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Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines and California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a bipartisan bill Tuesday aimed at protecting communities by increasing forest management and reducing environmental litigation. The Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020 would grant broad authority to federal agencies to push fuels reduction projects, create a new center providing training on prescribed fire and allow projects to proceed while agencies consult over species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The senators first announced their intention to introduce the bill last year following a record 2017 wildfire season in Montana and fires near Paradise, California, that

Fresh off his success in passing the Great American Outdoors Act which was signed by President Trump on Tuesday, Senator Steve Daines resumed work on yet another Forest Management bill along with California Democrat Dianne Feinstein. The bill is called the Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020, and with the fatal fires that have occurred in California and that have destroyed millions of acres of Montana forests, Daines explained the bill. “It’s about addressing the four ‘W’s’, wildfires, wildlife, watersheds and workers,” said Daines. “That’s an easy way to remember it with the four W’s. And I also

Following decades of political wrangling, federal leaders are finally able to wrap up permanent financing of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, with President Trump signing legislation on Tuesday morning. It was 35 years ago this month President Regan asked a special commission to look into a permanent way to fund conservation and public lands programs. But the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) — which is paid for through revenues from oil and gas leasing — has continued to be a political football. Now, in a few short months, Congress was able to pull together bipartisan support for the

The Great American Outdoors Act is now the law of the land. The act has been touted by conservation and access groups as one of the largest pieces of conservation legislation to pass in decades. The bipartisan bill fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million annually and makes the allocation permanent in the budget. The bill also generates roughly $9.5 billion to finance backlogged maintenance on federal lands, including national parks, wildlife refuges, national forest and some tribal lands. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed the legislation into law. “There hasn’t been anything like this since

At a White House ceremony on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law. Montana Senator Steve Daines, who along with fellow Senator Jon Tester and Congressman Greg Gianforte helped shepherd the bipartisan conservation bill through Congress and to the President’s desk. Daines addressed the President from the podium at the White House. “Thank you, Mr. President,” said Daines. “This really is a great day for Montana. This is a great day for America. This is a great day for conservation and all of us who love the great outdoors.” Daines looked back at the long

President Trump signed a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that will pay for repairs at national parks, permanently finance the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and create thousands of jobs. The investment under the Great American Outdoors Act, heralded as the most significant conservation bill in a generation, is the biggest for parks since President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration in the early 1900s, he said. “We are proving that we can protect [our] treasured environment without bludgeoning our workers and crushing our businesses,” Trump said. “This is record-setting stuff.” WHAT IS THE GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACT? The National Park Service accounts

President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill Tuesday that will spend nearly $3 billion on conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public land. The Great American Outdoors Act was hailed as the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century. “For more than 50 years Congress has struggled to fund land and water conservation, leading to a never ending backlog of maintenance and other critical needs in our parks and public lands that I’ve been hearing about for years,” Trump said at the bill signing in the East Room of the White House.

With the stroke of President Donald Trump’s pen, the biggest land conservation legislation in a generation became law Tuesday morning, prompting widespread praise on a measure that sets a new standard of stewardship for public lands. The bill, called the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), authorizes billions in funding for two major conservation needs — the National Park Service deferred maintenance backlog and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The House approved the bill 310-107 on July 22, weeks after it won overwhelming approval in the Senate, and as it headed to the White House President Trump was expected to