President signs public lands bill

A day before embarking on his first major foreign trip and leaving Congress to continue its showdown over his budget,  President Barack Obama heralded the fruits of bipartisan labor by signing a huge public lands management act today at the White House. 

The centerpiece of the bill is a protected wilderness designation for more than 2 million acres across the United States.  "That's something all Americans can support," said the President, "that's why so much of this legislation, some of it decades in the making has the backing of Americans from every walk of life and corner of this country:  ranchers and fisherman, small business owners, environmentalists, conservative republicans and liberal democrats, on the local state and federal levels."

The omnibus signed today is made up of more than 150 different bills - and is a massive expansion of wilderness protection.  Among other things this bill will:  create ten new National Heritage Areas, including former president Bill Clinton's childhood home in Hope, Arkansas; authorize land exchanges between the USDA Forest Service, National Park Service and other groups, it will permit new studies, ocean programs, a water projects. 

Also included in the bill was the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.  The President described it as "the first piece of comprehensive legislation specifically aimed at addressing the challenges faced by Americans living with paralysis."

This marks the sixth piece of legislation the President has signed.  "I've gotten good at this," he joked.