A coalition of more than 80 nonprofit conservation and other organizations, led by the Wilderness Society, is optimistic that Congress will soon pass bipartisan-backed legislation creating America’s newest conservation system — the National Landscape Conservation System.

The system of more than 26 million acres of mountains, streams, rivers, trails and historic sites could be approved as part of the The Omnibus Public Land Management Act that the Senate may consider during a lame duck session in November.