(Washington, D.C) U.S. Congressman Sam Graves opposed H.R. 146- the Omnibus Public Land Management Act today. The bill would have expanded federal land ownership by 3 million acres. Over 2 million acres of the land would be designated as a federal wilderness areas- preventing access for recreational or energy exploration purposes.

“The federal government already owns 3 of every 10 acres in America,” said Graves. “We should not be buying more land when we cannot take care of what we already own.”

The bill would lock away energy resources permanently. In Wyoming alone, the bill eliminates 1.2 million acres from energy exploration. Those acres account for 331 million barrels of recoverable oil and over 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“We are already addicted to foreign oil,” said Graves. “We have to increase the amount of energy produced in the United States. Locking away these resources will only make us more dependent on foreign countries for our own energy needs.”

H.R. 146 combined over 165 separate land bills from last Congress into one bill. The House defeated a similar bill (S. 22) earlier this month, but it was brought back using a parliamentary procedure that prevents Members from amending the bill.