On February 12, 2019, the Senate passed a bill, titled the "Natural Resources Management Act," with a vote of 92 to 8. According to the Washington Post, this new piece of legislation will protect "millions of acres of land and hundreds of miles of wild rivers across the country and establish four new national monuments..." The next step is for the Democrat-controlled House to vote on the bill, where thegaurdian.com reports "it's likely to pass," then it goes to the President's desk for his final approval.

The new bill is 662 pages in length and includes an extensive amount of provisions within that affects specific state parks, national parks, wildlife corridors, tribal lands, wild and scenic rivers, and more.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had this to say about the new piece of legislation, "It touches every state, features the input of a wide coalition of our colleagues, and has earned the support of a broad, diverse coalition of many advocates for public lands, economic development and conservation."

With the bill, more than 370,000 acres of land will be withdrawn from a mining-specific delegation and transferred over to protected land. This includes areas around Yellowstone. Furthermore, if approved by President Trump, the bill would permanently mandate that all offshore-drilling revenue be spent on conservational efforts, according to the Washington Post.

During a time with such governmental turmoil, many skeptics question the bipartisan nature of the bill and express concern over the length and density of the legislation. Additionally, the bill seems to go against what President Trump has campaigned for, and that is less land delegated as protected and more land for oil and drilling. To take a look at the bill for yourself, visit this link: https://tinyurl.com/yysppytk.