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The bill passed with a vote of 278-140, after the House adopted only a few of the amendments offered by Republicans intended to clarify the bill's language.

Despite the adoption of the amendments, Democrats said H.R. 2016 is not as vague as Republicans have claimed. Its only purpose, supporters say, is the make it a permanent protective system like the National Park System and National Wildlife Refuge System.

"It's not meant to change the management [of the system], but it will change its perception," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the bill's sponsor.

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt established the system during the Clinton administration to grant protections to ecologically and historically valuable lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.

The conservation system includes the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, Headwaters Forest Preserve in California, the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in Arizona and the Lewis and Clark Trail.

But Babbitt's designation did not codify the system, meaning a later Interior secretary could dissolve it.

"It's Congress's responsibility to ensure that the National Land Conservation System is forever," said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) during floor debate yesterday.

The bill directs the Interior Department to protect these lands "in a manner that protects the values for which the components of the system were designated."

Of the eight amendments proposed yesterday, the House cleared five, ensuring activities such as grazing and energy development would not be hindered or restricted by the designation. The House also approved language that assured the bill's passage would not impede efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to secure the nation's borders.

The amendments were mostly decided by large margins, though a motion to recommit was barely defeated by a vote of 208-212. The motion from Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), would have instructed the committee to rework the bill's language to ensure that the act does not impede gun owners' Second Amendment rights within NLCS lands.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) complained the House Rules Committee blocked other GOP amendments, including one by him that would have addressed the private property rights he said was threatened by what he called a "vague legislative entity."

"Protecting these landowners ... should be one of our values," Bishop said.

Denise Ryan, legislative representative for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation, said the bill could have gone back to the committee had the House not approved an amendment from Pennsylvania Democratic Reps. Jason Altmire and Christopher Carney that said the act shall not infringe on the right to hunting or recreational shoot on these lands.

"Because the amendment passed, it kept dissenters appeased," Ryan said. "Clearly [Cannon's motion] was an effort to kill the bill and not a question about Second Amendment rights."

The bill now moves to the Senate where matching legislation has been awaiting floor action for almost a year. Ryan speculated that the bill could become part of a public land package that is expected to be considered later this year.

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