by Jessica Goad The United States is home to some of the most
stunning and unique natural areas in the world, including 397
national parks, 101 national monuments, and 556 national
wildlife refuges. But many more public lands—managed by the
federal government and owned by all Americans—are worthy of
protection for future generations. This Earth Day it’s worth
thinking about the places that have strong local coalitions
calling for protection that should be granted this year. The
road to protection could be a long one, though. Due to partisan
gridlock Congress has not sent the president a single piece of
land-designation legislation since March 30, 2009, when
President Barack Obama signed into law a bill protecting 2
million acres of wilderness and 1,000 miles of Wild and Scenic
Rivers from development. Both Republicans and Democrats have
introduced more than 20 wilderness bills in the 112th Congress,
but not only has a single one not passed, none has even come up
for a vote. President Obama has slowly begun bu