John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act

The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 is an omnibus lands act that protected public lands and modified management provisions. The bill designated more than of wilderness area, expanded several national parks and other areas of the National Park System, and established four new national monuments while redesignating others. Other provisions included making the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent, protecting a number of rivers and historic sites, and withdrawing land near Yellowstone National Park and North Cascades National Park from mining.
Passage of the bill was hailed as a rare bipartisan environmental victory.
Legislative history.
The last major bill passed regarding public lands was the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Since then many bills had been introduced but never passed; the Act incorporates over more than 100 pieces of legislation, collectively introduced by some 50 senators and a range of representatives.
S. 47, initially the Natural Resources Management Act, was sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Maria Cantwell of Washington, the chair and former ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Senate voted for the bill 92–8 on February 12, 2019, and the House of Representatives passed it 363–62 on February 26. President Donald Trump signed it into law on March 12, 2019, as P.L. 116-9.
Following initial passage, an addendum named the bill for John Dingell, Jr. to honor the recently deceased former Congressperson who had sponsored multiple landmark conservation laws during his lengthy tenure, and was known as being an avid outdoorsman and conservationist.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would save $9 million in direct spending over 10 years and would generate substantial additional revenue.
Provisions.
The law is divided into nine titles, each containing a number of provisions. Selected major provisions are listed.
Title I.
Subtitle A.
Subtitle A authorizes land exchanges with and conveyances to local governments and private landowners.
Subtitle B.
Subtitle B addresses management of public lands and the National Forest System.
Subtitle C.
Subtitle C designates new wilderness areas and other protected areas, in total expanding designated wilderness area by across four states.
Title II.
Subtitle A.
Subtitle A calls for special resource studies of the President James K. Polk Home & Museum in Tennessee, the Thurgood Marshall School in Maryland, President Street Station in Maryland, Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado, and the George W. Bush Childhood Home in Texas for consideration of inclusion in the National Park System.
Subtitle B.
Subtitle B adjusts the boundaries of:
Subtitle C.
Subtitle C redesignates several NPS areas:
Subtitle D.
Subtitle D establishes new units of the National Park System:
Subtitle E.
Subtitle E amends miscellaneous management provisions.
Subtitle F.
Subtitle F relates to the National Trails System.
Title III.
Title III reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund indefinitely. At least 40% of the funds, derived from offshore drilling royalties, are to be used for federal lands, and at least 40% are allocated to the states.
Title IV.
Title IV states that public land managed by the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management is open to hunting, fishing, and shooting, unless closed under certain procedures.
Title V.
Title V establishes a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System under the United States Geological Survey and reauthorizes the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992.
Title VI.
Title VI designates new National Heritage Areas:
It also lays out procedures for planning and management of national heritage areas.
Title VII.
Title VII concerns wildlife management.
Title VIII.
Title VIII concerns water and power and the Bureau of Reclamation. Among its provisions, it reauthorizes the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, with the purpose of promoting water conservation, water supply, habitat, and stream enhancement improvements in the Yakima River basin.
Title IX.
Title IX has miscellaneous provisions: