The Senate overwhelmingly passed a public-lands bill that almost everyone likes

On Tuesday, the Senate passed a 662-page bill that protects millions of acres of public lands and hundreds of miles of river, creates four new national monuments, restricts mining and development around national parks while expanding other parks, and saves taxpayers $9 million, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. "The most sweeping conservation legislation in a decade" passed 92 to 8, The Washington Post says, it has widespread support in the House, and, for what it's worth, "White House officials have indicated privately that the president will sign it."

The legislation "represented an old-fashioned approach to dealmaking that has largely disappeared on Capitol Hill," the Post says, building on years of local input and "crammed full of provisions for nearly every senator who cast a vote Tuesday." At the same time, "a series of compromises won over advocacy groups representing hunters and anglers, conservationists, geologists, Native Americans, along with local officeholders and chambers of commerce," the Post reports.

The bill expands Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks, permanently bars mining on 370,000 acres around Yellowstone and North Cascades national parks, protects 1.3 million acres of land as national wilderness, codifies a program from former President Barack Obama that makes national parks free for fourth graders and their families, funds a migratory bird habitat protection program, and opens all federal lands to hunting and fishing unless otherwise designated, among other provisions.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Perhaps the most significant change the legislation would make is permanently authorizing a federal program that funnels offshore drilling revenue to conserve a spread of sites that includes major national parks and wildlife preserves, as well as local baseball diamonds and basketball courts," the Post says. "Liberals like the fact that the money allows agencies to set aside land for wildlife habitat. Conservatives like the fact that taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill for it." Read more about the rare win-win legislation at The Washington Post.