As the days of December get checked off, it seems less and less likely that the lame-duck Congress will address an omnibus land bill that would have considerable impact on the National Park System.

There are a great number of measures pending that would affect not just the National Park System but also lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Some aimed at the park system would designate wilderness, expand existing units of the park system, require studies into prospective park units, and even add some units. One measure, for instance, would transfer Valles Caldera National Preserve from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Park Service. Another would add Castle Nugent on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to the park system. And another would designated 32,577 acres of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as official wilderness.

Conservation groups last month urged Congress to sweep these and dozens of other pending bills up into one omnibus lands bill and pass it before adjourning the 111th session. While there is movement in the U.S. Senate to do just that (see attached), the 327-page "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2010" has yet to be introduced and the clock is quickly ticking.

And if it doesn't make it this session, it's back to square one for all these measures. How they'd fare in a GOP-controlled House of Representatives is questionable.

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, this week was named to chair that chamber's Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, is hopeful of gaining the chair of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee. Both have voiced support for more energy development on public lands, and Rep. Bishop has argued adamantly that environmental regulations have hampered border security, even after a Government Accountability Office investigation said that wasn't the case.

The two tried to introduce legislation that essentially would block the National Park Service and Interior Department from enforcing The Wilderness Act or the Endangered Species Act along the country's border with Mexico if those laws prevented the Border Patrol from doing its job.

With the GOP picking and choosing which legislation advances in the House next year, it will be interesting to see what approaches to public lands management are offered through the Natural Resources Committee and its subcommittees.

Can a more efficient Congress address individual measures without the need for catch-all omnibus bills? Can energy development be handled without impacting units of the National Park System? What will happen if President Obama moves to designate national monuments, something Reps. Hastings and Bishop have cautioned the administration on?

“As chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, I’ll pursue policies that both create jobs and protect our nation’s treasured lands, oceans and wildlife," Rep. Hastings said earlier this week upon being appointed the committee chair. "By utilizing our vast natural resources in a safe, environmentally responsible way, we can create and keep jobs here in America, grow our economy and ensure that we are not dependent on foreign countries with far lower environmental standards for the energy, minerals and timber vital to our economy.

"A thoughtful, balanced, multi-use approach to our nation’s lands and resources will be necessary to protect the livelihood of millions of Americans who depend on access to public lands, while also ensuring that the environment is protected," he continued. “The committee will also pursue strong oversight of the administration’s energy, environment and lands policies that cost American jobs, lock-up resources and increase federal spending."