CNN: “Tucked inside the defense authorization bill that the Senate passed Friday was an unrelated public lands package that’s set to bring the biggest expansion to the National Park Service in decades. Despite some conservative opposition—a chorus that skewered the legislation as a pork-barrel land grab—the measure also establishes thousands of acres of new wilderness areas. The bill designates seven sites as official national park units, many of which place a special emphasis on history, such as Manhattan Project work sites in New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington State. Grand Canyon, other national parks could cost more. Sites in New York related to Harriet Tubman’s life will be added as a park unit, and parts of the Underground Railroad in Maryland will be formally named a part of the National Park Service. Tule Springs Fossil Beds outside of Las Vegas is set to become a national monument, preserving its thousands of fossils that show traces of Ice Age mammoths, bison, and American lions. “This legislation clearly demonstrates that Congress and the administration are making national parks a national priority,” said Clark Bunting, president of National Parks Conservation Association. Untamed wilderness in the Tetons – The legislation also expands nine national park sites—such as the Apostle Islands, Oregon Caves National Monument, and Gettysburg National Military Park—and extends funding for 15 national heritage areas. All told, roughly 120,000 acres will be newly managed by the park service, and the number of official park units will jump from 401 to 408.”