The House of Representatives voted on March 25 to pass the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. The final vote in the House was 285-140. The bill passed the Senate 77-21 last week. The lands package now goes to President Obama for his signature, possibly as early as next Monday. The President is expected to sign the bill.

The legislation protects two million acres of Wilderness and 1,000 miles of rivers, and prohibits new oil and gas development on 1.2 million acres in Wyoming. It also legislatively affirms the 26-million-acre National Landscape Conservation System.

“This is a major conservation victory that preserves wild places throughout the US forever,” said John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance.

Every conservation provision included in the legislation started at the local level where grassroots organizations led the charge to build public support to protect a special landscape or waterway. The Conservation Alliance supported the local organizations that led the efforts behind 12 of the 16 Wilderness provisions included in the package. The Alliance also funded the groups leading the efforts behind protecting the Snake River Headwaters, and closing the Wyoming Range to new oil and gas development.

In total, The Conservation Alliance contributed more than $700,000 to ten different organizations whose good work eventually wound up in the package. Some of the grantees had more than one provision in the package. The Alliance also worked in close partnership with Outdoor Industry Association to demonstrate that the outdoor industry stood uniformly behind the provisions in this package.

“This is a big victory, and we did everything within the limits of our lean staff capacity and financial resources to ensure it crossed the finish line,” said Sterling.

By John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance

Lance Mackey wins Iditarod for 3rd consecutive year. He joins an elite group of people ever to have one the event itself and becomes on the 3rd person ever to win 3 consecutive events (Susan Butcher, 1986-1988 and Doug Swingley, 1999-2001).

Mackey crossed the finish line yesterday after just less than 10 days on the trail. The Iditarod has been called one of the last great races on earth.

Mackey was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002 and came back to compete in the race in 2004 with a top 30 finish and competed again in 2005 with a top 7 finish (he won the Yukon Quest that year). He won his first Iditarod in 2007.

Mackey is also a four-time winner of the 1000-mile Yukon Quest (2005-2008).

For more information on Lance Mackey, visit www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com.

From 5-8th June this year the golden beachside town of Forster on the NSW North Coast, 3hrs North of Sydney, will play host to over 500 competitors, support crew, family and friends for the Mountain Designs GeoQuest 48hr adventure race. With the perfect winter climate, Forster and the region will witness the annual pilgrimage of the sport to Australia’s premier adventure race. Race HQ will be based at the central Forster Beach Caravan Park. Not only is a great HQ for an adventure race, but it is also the perfect location to bring family and friends for the Queens Birthday Long Weekend. See the website for more details.

For competitors, the Mountain Designs GeoQuest 2009 is looking to be one of the best GeoQuest events ever to be staged. An incredible new location taking in Forster and Barrington Tops sees some modifications being made to the original format to allow teams to visit some truly spectacular areas. Barrington Tops is an unspoilt wilderness including subtropical rainforest, ancient beech forests and subalpine woodlands. The Forster region boasts a glittering mosaic of inland waterways based around the impressive Wallis, Smiths and Myall Lakes networks – known as the Great Lakes. These lakes are surrounded by an undulating network of forests just waiting to be explored by adventure racers.

2009 will see the addition of Grade 1 white water kayaking using inflatable kayaks provided by Geocentric. This is the first time white water kayaking will be included in the Mountain Designs GeoQuest and will provide teams a massive “fun factor” in this exhausting event. Add to this a roping section on some exposed cliffs, some great mountain biking, trekking, a rafting mystery discipline and you have the premier adventure race of the year!

Mountain Designs GeoQuest involves 48+hrs of non-stop endurance racing in the major disciplines of trekking, mountain biking and kayaking. Mixed, Male or Female teams of four must navigate their way through an arduous 200+km course that is only revealed to them the evening before the race. The Mountain Designs GeoQuest is held annually on the Queens Birthday long weekend in June. The race is moved each year to a different location with exciting new challenges for the teams.

The Geo-Half adventure race is run at the same time as the Mountain Designs GeoQuest. It covers only half the distance but teams have the full 48hrs to complete it. The legs will be challenging, but with the additional time available to complete the half course, teams have a greater chance to reach the finish line.

Early bird entries are a significant saving and are NOW OPEN until 8 March.

From Press Release

After an award winning debut edition last Summer, the Untamed New England Adventure Race joins with premiere races from around the planet in the Adventure Racing World Series (AR World Series). The Untamed New England Adventure Race returns to New Hampshire in July 2009, this time as the only American race in the prestigious global Series. Podium finishers at Untamed New England will battle for over $10,000 in prizes and qualify for the World Championship race being held in Portugal in December 2009.

“We’re excited by the opportunities this opens for our race, for the New England region, for the American and Canadian teams who deserve a World Championship Qualifier on their own home turf, and for the environmental causes we promote;” observed Untamed New England Director Grant Killian.

9 races around the globe host races as part of the AR World Series. In all of the races, teams compete non-stop for days of biking, trekking, paddling, orienteering, and other challenges. With this announcement, New England adds its name to this list of adventure destinations and participants in Untamed New England will explore the wilderness terrain of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

AWM has completed its first year and we are excited to be heading into year 2 with even more great things in store.  Check us out at www.adventureworldmagazine.com