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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House is considering a bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness.
Majority Democrats agreed to amend the bill to clarify that it won't impose new restrictions on hunting, fishing or trapping on federal land. The amendment was sought by the National Rifle Association.
Republicans complained that the bill -- one of the largest expansions of wilderness protection in 25 years -- would cost up to $10 billion and block oil and gas development on millions of acres of federal property. The measure would confer the government's highest level of protection on land ranging from California's Sierra Nevada mountain range to Oregon's Mount Hood and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.
The Senate approved the bill in January.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
