An amendment failed in the Senate this week that would have kept the federal government from buying land in Nebraska and South Dakota without first getting the approval of the state government. Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns says that the amendment was to protect the Niobrara Confluence and the Ponca Bluffs Conservation areas.

Johanns says the federal government has already shown interest in acquiring these areas and several landowners have expressed concern.

He says that Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid has refused to take up this amendment in order to block its advance in the Senate.