FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2009

CONTACT:
Elyssa Rosen — 775.224.7497

Pew Environment Group statement on the signing of the Omnibus Wild Lands Act

WASHINGTON — Jane Danowitz, Director of the Pew Environment Group’s U.S. public lands program, today issued the following statement on President Obama’s signing of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009:

“This is a seminal moment for public land protection in the United States and one of the most significant measures to protect our landscapes in a generation.

“Swift action by President Obama and the new Congress signals a welcome change in the way our federal lands are managed. It gives hope to millions of Americans that our leaders stand with us in the effort to safeguard our nation's last wild places.

“There is still much more to be done, however.  With roughly 60 million acres of America’s roadless national forests still vulnerable to logging and other development, we hope the administration will put an immediate ‘time out’ on road-building and other activities on these pristine national forestlands – including Alaska’s Tongass National Forest –  until the necessary steps can be taken to fully reinstate the roadless rule.”

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Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improving public policy, informing the public and stimulating civic life.