by Jean Williams, examiner.com

Monday afternoon, March 30, 2009, President Obama will sign into law the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. After much wrangling in the house and senate, and major opposition by the American Motorcyclists Association and other off-road organizations, this bill has finally made it to the president’s desk. It is a compilation of natural wilderness Acts to designate certain land as components of the Natural Wilderness Preservation System and it authorizes the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture to participate in specified programs and activities concerning natural wilderness, rivers, boundary line adjustments, and much more.

This year will mark the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which was signed into law in 1964, by President Lyndon Johnson. The National Wilderness Preservation System and the National Wildlife Refuge section are components of the Wilderness Act. The state of Washington already enjoys the preservation of millions of acres of land designated for wilderness and wildlife refuges; including the Olympic National Forest and Nisqually Wildlife Refuge.

Now, President Obama is signing a law that will expand protection to over 160 other wilderness components, including the following: