President Obama recently declared September to be National Wilderness Month, calling on Americans to “renew our pledge to build upon the legacy of our forebears.”

It’s a magnificent, if incomplete, legacy, one that has come to symbolize both democratic values and a rugged national character.

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The public lands protected under U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett's Washington County lands bill could end up as the senator's greatest legacy. But the successful negotiation and compromise that led to a sensible plan for fragile lands in Southern Utah should not end with Bennett's ouster from the Republican ticket this year.
 

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Lucky for wilderness lovers like me, the Wilderness Society has us covered. The House has yet to vote on the act, so to raise public awareness and support, the Wilderness Society just launched their Virtual OmniBus Tour, which gives online outdoor fanatics the chance to experience each of these wild places and learn why they should be preserved forever. By following on the blog, viewers will get photos, trip reports, and more from each of the proposed wildernesses, from Washington state to Washington D.C.

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The U.S. Senate, in a bipartisan 73-21 vote, moved Thursday to preserve 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness areas — including 315,000 acres in Colorado.

Among the areas in the largest expansion of the country's wilderness lands in 15 years are parts of Rocky Mountain National Park and Dominguez and Escalante canyons.

"This confers the highest level of protection on these lands," said Steve Smith, assistant regional director of the Wilderness Society.

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Amazing that Congress can approve a $700 billion bailout package in a matter of weeks, but it has taken more than 35 years to pass common-sense legislation that would designate much of Rocky Mountain National Park as a wilderness area.

…U.S. Reps. Betsy Markey, D-Fort Collins, and Jared Polis, D-Boulder, are correctly sponsoring companion legislation in the House.