America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act
Sponsored By: Senator Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced
Summary
Designates large parts of Utah's red‑rock country as federal wilderness. The bill would add dozens of named areas to the National Wilderness Preservation System to protect cultural and scenic landscapes, improve habitat connectivity, and preserve traditional Indigenous uses like hunting, fishing, and ceremony.
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- Recognizes Indigenous communities: Declares these lands "living cultural landscapes" and explicitly preserves Indigenous traditional uses while leaving federally recognized tribal rights and obligations intact.
- Protects recreation and wildlife habitat: Would create dozens of wilderness parcels across canyon, plateau, and river corridors, safeguarding hunting, fishing, hiking, horsepacking, rafting, and connected habitat that ranges from thousands to hundreds of thousands of acres.
- Limits development and secures water and grazing rules: Withdraws the designated lands from new mineral and geothermal leasing, reserves federal water rights with a priority date at enactment, and allows existing livestock grazing to continue under reasonable regulations.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
New Utah wilderness protections
If enacted, the bill would designate many named federal lands in Utah as wilderness. The Secretary would file maps and legal descriptions with Congress and make them public soon after enactment. The bill would reserve water for each new wilderness area with a priority date equal to enactment and require the United States to file claims in State water cases. The bill would withdraw the listed lands from new mining, mineral, and geothermal leasing, while keeping valid existing rights. The bill would not change tribal rights or State authority over fish and wildlife.
Rules for grazing, boundaries, and exchanges
If enacted, grazing that was authorized on the date of enactment could continue inside the new wilderness areas under rules set by the Secretary. The bill would set how far wilderness boundaries must be from roads. Where wilderness is on one side, setbacks would be 300 feet from major highways, 100 feet from other paved roads, and 30 feet from other roads. Where wilderness is on both sides, setbacks would be 200, 40, and 10 feet. The Secretary could use fences or natural topography for boundaries and may exclude some disturbances near roads if needed. The Secretary would offer equal-value land swaps when State land lies inside a new wilderness area and could not transfer mineral rights in such swaps unless the State first transfers those mineral rights to the Secretary.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
IL • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
WA • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
WA • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
MN • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
VT • I
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
WI • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
NH • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Amy Klobuchar
MN • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 3/31/2025
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 4/2/2025
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 4/2/2025
Gary Peters
MI • D
Sponsored 5/5/2025
Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]
IL • D
Sponsored 6/17/2025
Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 11/4/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov