WASHINGTON - Despite protests by some senators worried about world energy production, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a bill Wednesday putting 1.2 million acres of the Wyoming Range off-limits to future oil and gas production.

Sen. John Barrasso introduced the bill in October, based on legislation that the late Wyoming Republican Sen. Craig Thomas had planned to offer. It passed 13-9 and now goes to the full Senate.

"The people of Wyoming have clearly done their part," Barrasso said. "And when I have town meetings and travel around the state, the people of Wyoming want to make sure that Wyoming still looks like Wyoming 20 and 40 years from now, for our children and our grandchildren."

The bill has the support of conservation and sporting groups and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who flew to Washington and back on the same day to testify for it in February. The Petroleum Association of Wyoming opposes the measure.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., objected to the bill, calling it counterproductive at a time of high energy prices. She said the area includes 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and potentially 331 million barrels of oil. She noted that President Bush has asked OPEC to increase production.

"I just think actions like this send the wrong signals to OPEC," she said. "We just sent a letter asking them to open up their production, and this committee is going to this morning close areas in America for production? I don't understand that."

She said new technology allowing directional drilling would protect the landscape. Landrieu fought for years to open areas of the Gulf of Mexico to drilling and said Barrasso's bill would take more energy "off the table" than she successfully fought to put on.

"We're not moving forward, we're moving backwards," she said. "And I strongly object to this bill. This is not a local issue, this is a national issue."

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, agreed. "This is a message that should not be sent to the world oil suppliers," he said.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the top-ranking Republican on the panel, said he thinks the bill is a mistake but that he wouldn't try to derail it because both of Wyoming's senators favor it.

Barrasso said there are 4,300 producing oil and gas wells in the area and a proposed 4,400 additional wells that would not be affected by the legislation. He noted Wyoming is the No. 1 coal and uranium producer in the country and the No. 2 on-shore natural gas producer.

"There are certain places that we want to protect, and that is this area of the Wyoming Range," he said. "It does allow for directional exploration. It doesn't stop anything that's going on there currently."

Under the Wyoming Range Legacy Act of 2007, no additional oil and gas leasing, mining patents or geothermal leasing would be allowed in the 100-mile-long area of the range that is part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming. No currently producing areas within the boundaries would be affected. For leases already issued in the area, the bill would establish a process to allow groups or individuals interested in conservation to buy back voluntarily offered leases and retire them permanently.

"On behalf of literally thousands of sportsmen and women across Wyoming, I want to say thank you to Sen. Barrasso for having the fortitude to stand up for Wyoming's rich outdoor heritage," said Tom Reed, spokesman for Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range. "The senator truly gets it. We need to keep some places as they are but not locked up."