Senate clears lands-bill filibuster

In a rare Sunday session, the Senate took the first step to crush procedural barriers that for months blocked a package of more than 160 public lands bills — including creating more Utah wilderness and several land trades to help a Utah Boy Scout camp, a ranch for troubled youths and Park City open space.

The Senate voted 66-12 to cut off a filibuster against the package that has been waged by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. That was seven more votes than the 59 needed for the required three-fifths majority. Both Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, joined the majority in favor of the motion.

The next step will be another procedural vote expected on Wednesday to order a final vote, which in turn is expected by the end of the week.

"Action on these bills has already been delayed for far too long," said Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. "It is time to pass these bills and move on."

Coburn has blocked the package for months saying it is full of wasteful earmarks and may block oil and gas development on some federal land. He also says it is part of a larger trend for Democrats to block the minority from offering amendments.

The bill includes the largest expansion of wilderness areas in 25 years — protecting more than 2 million acres nationwide.

That includes creating 264,394 acres of wilderness in Washington County — part of a lands bill that has been pushed there for years by Bennett and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

That Washington County lands bill included in the overall package would also designate 165.5 miles of the Virgin River that are in or adjacent to Zion National Park as a wild and scenic river (sort of a wet wilderness area).

It would also create two national conservation areas in Washington County, allow the sale of non-environmentally sensitive federal lands in the county, and enhance the management of off-road vehicle use there.

Other Utah bills in the omnibus bill include:

• Allowing a land trade between a Boy Scout camp and the Brian Head ski resort to give the resort more steep terrain for skiing and the camp more usable flat land. It requires congressional approval because of restrictions on federal land that had been given years ago to the Scouts.