Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) offered an amendment to H.R.4350, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which would combine six public lands bills in the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act to protect public lands and waters in California, Colorado, and Washington. It would protect nearly 1.3 million acres of wilderness, more than 1,000 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers, and over 375,000 acres of other permanent protections. This includes protecting 600,000 acres of Colorado wilderness; 261,000 acres in Northwest California including some of the largest intact stands of old-growth and redwood forests, the key drinking water sources in central California of the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain, and the San Gabriel Mountains Foothills; 191,000 acres around the Santa Monica Mountains; and 126,000 acres of new wilderness around the Olympic National Forest. On September 22, the House approved the DeGette amendment by a vote of 222-200 (House roll call vote 273). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.