| "The most important things in life are those already possessed," said President Barack Obama.
Yesterday, he signed legislation that sets aside more than 2 million acres as protected wilderness.
He said the legislation protects the land, lakes and shorelines for future generations.
Much of the wilderness area was being promoted for drilling and development by the Bush administration.
The new law is a collection of nearly 170 separate measures.
It represents the largest expansions of wilderness protection in a quarter-century and confers the government's highest level of protection in nine states.
In West Virginia, it protects 37,000 acres in the Monongahela National Forest.
It protects 43,000 acres of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia as wilderness and 12,000 acres as a national scenic area.
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