The Senate Bill S 22 I blogged about last night has advantages for Michigan. The 200 million acres slated for protection under the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009includes 9 states of which Michigan is one of them.
An article on (ENS) Environmental News Service website highlights some of the details of this package of 160 public land bills that also includes four ocean bills. The ocean bills are important to Michigan and the Great Lakes. They are:
The Ocean and Coastal Exploration and NOAA Act will authorize the National Ocean Exploration Program, National Undersea Research Program, and the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to increase scientific knowledge for the management, use and preservation of oceanic, coastal and Great Lake resources.
The Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act will authorize the establishment of an integrated system of coastal and ocean observations for the nation’s coasts, oceans and Great Lakes.
The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act will authorize a coordinated federal research program on ocean acidification.
The Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act will authorize funding for a program to protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical, aesthetic, or watershed protection values, and that are threatened by conversion to other uses.
Read more about this bill that took quite a lot of effort and an even longer time to get passed due to opposition by one Senator:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-12-03.asp