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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Senate moves on San
Joaquin River restoration bill<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white'
id="story_subheadline"><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";
font-style:normal'>Legislation that would also protect wilderness awaits likely
approval.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span class=byline4><b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>As printed
in the Fresno Bee – 12/11/2009</span></b></span><span class=byline4><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span class=byline4><b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>The
Associated Press</span></b></span><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>WASHINGTON -- In a rare Sunday session, the Senate advanced legislation
that would implement the San Joaquin River restoration settlement and set aside
more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness.</span><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Majority Democrats assembled more than enough votes to overcome GOP
stalling tactics in an early showdown for the new Congress.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Republicans complained that Democrats did not allow amendments on the
massive bill, which calls for the largest expansion of wilderness protection in
25 years. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats
said the bill -- a holdover from last year -- was carefully written and
included measures sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>By a 66-12 vote, with only 59 needed to limit debate, lawmakers agreed
to clear away procedural hurdles despite partisan wrangling that had threatened
pledges by leaders to work cooperatively as the new Obama administration takes
office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Senate approval is expected this week. Supporters hope the House will
follow suit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>"Today is a great day for America's public lands," said the
bill's sponsor, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. "This big, bipartisan package
of bills represents years of work by senators from many states, and both
parties, in cooperation with local communities, to enhance places that make
America so special."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The measure -- actually a collection of about 160 bills -- would confer
the government's highest level of protection on land ranging from the Sierra
Nevada mountain range to parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Besides new wilderness designations, the bill would designate the
childhood home of former President Bill Clinton in Hope, Ark., as a national
historic site and expand protections for dozens of national parks, rivers and
water resources.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The measure would implement the 2006 legal settlement to restore the
San Joaquin River, bringing water and salmon back to a now-dry stretch of the
waterway. The lawsuit stemmed from the opening of Friant Dam in 1949, which
transformed the Valley's main artery from a river thick with salmon into an
irrigation source for more than a million acres of farmland.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The measure also would:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Protect about 70,000 acres of wilderness in Sequoia and Kings Canyon
National Parks, including the new John Krebs Wilderness, named for the former
congressman and conservationist who fought to protect these lands in the
Mineral King Valley.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Preserve nearly 470,00 acres of wilderness in the Eastern Sierra and
San Gabriel Wilderness, including lands in the Angeles, Humboldt-Toiyabe and
Inyo National Forests. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'>Protect some 190,000
acres in Riverside County as wilderness, including parts of Joshua Tree
National Park</span><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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