Redrock Headlines

Ask Secretary Salazar to Protect Greater Canyonlands

Gooseneck proposed wilderness, Greater Canyonlands, photo by Jeff Clay/Clayhaus Photography

The Greater Canyonlands area is a landscape of plateaus, stunning geologic formations, 10,000 year-old archeological sites, and unmatched natural beauty -- including iconic Utah landmarks such as Labyrinth Canyon, Indian Creek, White Canyon, Fiddler Butte, Robbers Roost, Lockhart Basin and the Dirty Devil River.  Today, we are releasing our Petition to Protect the Greater Canyonlands, which includes 1.4 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands surrounding Canyonlands National Park. 

To protect these scenic landscapes, the petition -- a formal request to the Secretary of the Interior under the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution -- requests that Secretary Salazar bar off-road vehicle (ORV) use on 1,050 miles of route in sensitive habitat, streams, wetlands, riparian areas, archaeological sites and other vulnerable areas until it can conduct further studies on the impacts of the activity and determine whether it is, in fact, a sustainable use.   Please join us by sending an email to Secretary Salazar in support of this petition.  The petition would leave open 1,400 miles of ORV route within the petition area, and about 13,000 miles of route in the four BLM field offices surrounding Greater Canyonlands.

The petition targets damage caused by ORV use as a first step in protecting this iconic landscape.  ORV use in the area has too frequently proven unmanageable, with increasing soil erosion, noise, crushed vegetation, degraded streams, and fragmented wildlife habitat.  Those who do not use ORVs, and who comprise the vast majority of visitors to Greater Canyonlands, are finding it increasingly difficult to experience the natural quiet, solitude and beauty of the area.

Protecting Greater Canyonlands would also facilitate a complementary and consistent management approach for lands managed by the BLM, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. Giving heightened protection to the most valuable and vulnerable places will give these ecosystems their best chance at long-term health, especially in an era of rapidly changing climatic and environmental conditions.  Please take a moment to let Secretary Salazar know you support protection for the treasured landscape of Greater Canyonlands.

 
Sincerely,

Heidi McIntosh
Associate Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

 

 

Tell Congress to protect America's Redrock Wilderness

Tell Congress to protect America's redrock wilderness!

Dirty Devil proposed wilderness.  Photo by Ray Bloxham.

Over the past 29 years, there has been one major reason why protection for Utah's redrock wilderness areas has continued to move forward: YOU.  Because of redrock activists like you, over 5 million acres of public lands in Utah now have some form of protection.  But there is still more work to be done in order to ensure that Utah's stunning redrock landscape is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

America's Red Rock Wilderness Act has stood as the ultimate vision of redrock wilderness protection since its introduction by the late Utah Rep. Wayne Owens in 1989. Throughout the years, congressional support for the bill has increased as more and more Utah wilderness supporters have asked their members of Congress to become cosponsors.  In the the last Congress, 168 representatives and 23 senators signed on to the "redrock bill."  Now that we have begun a new Congress, we must build up that support once again.

Already this year, anti-wilderness forces in Congress have begun to attack policies that could increase protection for Utah wilderness.  This is why it is so important to demonstrate broad support for America's Red Rock Wilderness Act; the best defense against anti-wilderness attacks is a long list of senators and representatives ready and willing to speak out in support of providing longterm protection for the redrock.

Please ask your members of Congress to cosponsor America's Red Rock Wilderness Act today!

Thank you for taking action,

Jackie Feinberg

National Grassroots Organizer
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

TAKE ACTION NOW - House debating anti-wilderness legislation today

Please tell your Representative to vote NO on the anti-wilderness Continuing Resolution!

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is debating an Appropriations bill and possibly proposed amendments that could, if enacted, deal huge setbacks to the BLM's abilities to protect the spectacular places in Utah's redrock country.  Your voice does matter -- your Representative needs to hear that you don't want Congress to throw away the tools essential to protecting America's wild lands.  Even if you think you know how your member of Congress will vote on these issues, it is still important to let him/her know that constituents value protecting wilderness for future generations.

Please contact your Representative today and ask that he/she oppose any attempts to undermine the Bureau of Land Management’s "Wild Lands" Policy, remove the authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act, or eliminate funding for the National Landscape Conservation System!

Thank you for taking action!

Jackie Feinberg

National Grassroots Organizer
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

URGENT - Tell your Rep. to vote NO on anti-wilderness Continuing Resolution

Today and tomorrow, the House of Representatives will be voting on the Continuing Appropriations Resolution and hundreds of amendments that have already been filed.  Please tell your Representative to oppose attacks on our wild lands!

The bill is a disaster for the environment – taking aim at safeguards for air, land, water and human health.  The underlying bill already includes an attempt to block implementation of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Lands Policy that was announced at the end of last year.  This policy simply reinstates the BLM’s ability to inventory and protect lands that possess wilderness character, and does not usurp Congressional authority as opponents claim.

Additionally, an amendment has been offered to block the use of the Antiquities Act – the Presidential authority that is used to create national monuments.  This important authority has been used consistently for more than a century to protect some of the Colorado Plateau’s most stunning landscapes -- places like Arches, Bryce and Zion National Parks as well as the Grand Staircase-Escalante, Cedar Breaks and Natural Bridges National Monuments.  Scrapping this authority would tie the President's hands at a time when he needs this power most to protect large tracts of public land from the effects of climate change.

Another amendment would completely eliminate funding for the National Landscape Conservation System, which would be devastating to the over 800 BLM national monuments, wilderness areas, wilderness study areas, national conservation areas, and other BLM landscapes the Conservation System is charged to protect.

Please contact your Representative today and ask that he/she oppose any attempts to undermine the Bureau of Land Management’s "Wild Lands" Policy, remove the authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act, or elimate funding for the National Landscape Conservation System!

Thank you for taking action,

Richard Peterson-Cremer

Legislative Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

Take Action - "Wild Lands" under attack in Congress!

A key tool to protect Utah’s redrock country is coming under attack!  Please contact your Members of Congress today to let them know how important the Bureau of Land Mangement’s "Wild Lands" Policy is to you!

Want more information about the "Wild Lands" policy?  SUWA's Associate Director Heidi McIntosh offers her take in this video.

Late last year, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a policy that restores wilderness values to their proper place under BLM’s multiple use mandate.  For Utah, this means added protection for up to 6 million acres of lands proposed for wilderness in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act – land that remain open to off-road vehicle routes that damage rare desert streams and historically valuable cultural resources.

Now, the oil & gas industry, ATV manufacturers and their allies in Congress are drawing up plans to handcuff the BLM and keep Bush administration policies in place.  In the coming weeks,  Congress is set to take up a Continuing Appropriations Resolution – where anti-wilderness representatives may try to block implementation of the "Wild lands" policy.

Please contact your Members of Congress today to let them know that the vast majority of the American public supports the new "Wild lands" policy – that this is not a “land grab” as wilderness opponents claim, but a restoration of a necessary authority used for decades to protect the redrock’s most special places.

Act today!

Richard Peterson-Cremer

Legislative Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

Help Protect the Greater Canyonlands Region

Utah’s wild canyonlands are once again threatened by oil and gas leasing – this time by a little known state agency, the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration or “SITLA.”  This past Monday, SITLA held an auction for oil, gas, and other mineral leases that cover some of Utah’s most iconic landscapes, including Muddy Creek, the Dirty Devil, and several scenic parcels within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park.  Please ask Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to protect these sensitive lands so they are no longer vulnerable to such threats.

View from Harts Point, one of several proposed wilderness areas threatened by SITLA's lease sale.

The leases sold at the auction comprised a hit list of special places and wilderness-quality lands in the Greater Canyonlands region.  SITLA offered 29 separate lease parcels for oil and gas development or mineral development that impacted lands proposed for protection in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, setting the stage for new well-pads, roads, pollution, and other destructive impacts associated with drilling.  The largest grouping of parcels lies within the Harts Point, Shay Mountain, and Bridger Jack Mesa proposed wilderness areas, all of which sit just east and south of Canyonlands National Park.  This gives you an idea of where SITLA parcels conflict with wild lands in Utah and their proximity to Canyonlands National Park.  

The Greater Canyonlands region is a landscape of jaw-dropping beauty and unsurpassed wilderness.  Three rivers – the Colorado, Green, and Dirty Devil  – come together in a stunning labyrinth of deeply incised gorges, towering mesas, and a mind boggling maze of sinuous canyons.  Archeological artifacts abound; the striking stone architecture of the ancient Puebloan and Fremont cultures stands essentially undisturbed across the terrain.  These national treasures were sacred to many in the past and continue to inspire and draw visitors from around America and the world.  

The threat to these lands posed by the SITLA oil, gas, and mineral leases is compounded by the additional threats of tar sands and potash mining, and the damage inflicted by off-road vehicle (ORV) use in ecologically and archeologically sensitive areas. The fragmentation of the region’s management, as demonstrated by this lease sale, only serves to magnify these threats.  In order to sustain the natural and cultural resources of this great piece of our national heritage, the Obama administration should act to ensure that the Greater Canyonlands region receives the greatest possible protections.  Please tell Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to protect the Greater Canyonlands region today!

Thank you,

Richard Peterson-Cremer
Legislative Director

Success! BLM to Utah: new wilderness protection coming

Last week, wilderness protection in Utah got a needed boost as National Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey came to Utah to discuss the new BLM wilderness guidance that has the potential to give needed protection to 6 million acres of wilderness-quality lands across the state.

In the face of some antagonistic questioning by Utah Governor Gary Herbert and his “Balanced Resources Council,” Director Abbey held firm, saying that the new wilderness guidance is a tool to provide protection to BLM-managed wild lands until Congress acts to officially designate wilderness.

Over a hundred Utah wilderness supporters showed up to the meeting to thank Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and BLM Director Abbey for their commitment to giving wilderness its rightful place as an equal among the range of other resources BLM must manage and protect -- a critical first step towards ensuring the permanent protection of our last remaining wild lands in the West.   

Click on the video below to view clips from a news conference we organized featuring SUWA’s Heidi McIntosh along with Utahns Bryson Garbett, a former Republican legislator and owner of a prominent home building company, and Eve Miller, a new mom and co-founder of Women Protecting Wilderness.

The new policy also reverses the much-maligned and illegal 2003 back-door agreement between former Utah governor Michael Leavitt and former Interior boss Gale Norton by which Norton renounced the BLM’s authority to manage public lands to protect their wilderness character.

But, we all know that good policies are only good if they are implemented correctly, so we’re going to be watching implementation of this new wilderness guidance closely, and will urge the BLM to take a robust approach to protection of wild lands under its jurisdiction.

A big thanks to all of you who love and support Utah’s wild lands! Working together we can continue to ensure that these amazing places remain wild so the generations that come after us can experience them in their natural splendor.

Sincerely,
Deeda Seed

Grassroots Outreach Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

P.S. If you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to thank Secretary Salazar for the new wilderness guidance policy.

Show your support for protecting redrock wild lands!

On December 24, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reversed the Bush-era "No More Wilderness" policy, creating a new "Wild Lands" policy that could potentially protect 6 million acres of wilderness in Utah (see our Associate Director's note). 

Please thank Secretary Salazar for the new policy, but let him know that the BLM must uphold the policy’s full potential to protect the last remaining wild country in Utah.

National BLM Director Bob Abbey will be visiting Salt Lake City this Friday, and we will hand deliver everyone's notes at that event.  Please show your support for protecting Utah wilderness by thanking Secretary Salazar today!

Thank you,

Jackie Feinberg

National Grassroots Organizer
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

Let's get to work in 2011!

Happy New Year from all of us at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.  Thank you for your strong support in 2010.  Now let’s get to work in 2011!

2010 ended on a bright note with Secretary Salazar’s new wilderness guidance that could give needed protection to 6 million acres of Utah’s redrock wilderness.  Thanks to all of you, this action reverses the Bush administration’s "No More Wilderness” policy, which left these lands vulnerable to off-road vehicle damage and inappropriate energy development.

Only with your activism and support can we seize this opportunity to secure these lands the protection they deserve.  Wilderness opponents are already promising to block this policy: the oil and gas industry and off-road vehicle advocates are fuming, and politicians like Utah Senator Orrin Hatch are declaring they’ll do everything possible to stop us.

To blunt this opposition, newly minted House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-MA) is already circulating a letter to members of Congress asking them to thank Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for the new policy.  Please take a moment now to ask your representative to sign Mr. Markey’s letter! 

For Utahns:  Please take a moment now to ask let your Utah Congressional representatives know that you support Secretary Salazar's action.

This type of action will encourage the Obama administration to continue issuing conservation-oriented policies for public lands by demonstrating broad popular support.

 

Thank you,

Scott Groene
Executive Director

 

 

 

P.S.  Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of supporters like you, we met our year-end goal and won a matching gift of $100,000! Your financial contributions are absolutely essential to the important work of protecting America’s redrock for current and future generations.  Sec. Salazar’s new wilderness guidance demonstrates that your support is yielding results!

A Holiday Gift from Interior Secretary Salazar!

With your dogged determination and willingness to speak out for Utah wilderness, it was inevitable.  And yesterday, it finally happened . . . Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar released new wilderness guidance that has the potential to give needed protection to 6 million of acres of wilderness-quality lands in Utah. 

Upper Desolation Canyon proposed wilderness is one area that needs protection. Photo copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.

The new policy also reverses the much-maligned and illegal 2003 back-door agreement between former Utah governor Michael Leavitt and former Interior boss Gale Norton by which Norton renounced the BLM’s authority to manage public lands to protect their wilderness character.

There is much to like about Interior’s policy.  It gives wilderness a rightful place as an equal among the range of other resources BLM must manage and protect, and it’s a critical first step towards ensuring the permanent protection of the last remaining wild lands in the West. 

But of course, the path to real wilderness protection is never that simple.  The new policy also has an escape hatch that allows the BLM to decide not to protect deserving lands if it decides that development is “appropriate.”  That’s a loophole big enough to drive a drilling rig through, and the BLM will have to close that gap if this policy is to fix the wilderness mess that the BLM’s historically unbalanced policies have left us.  And the BLM would not designate new “wilderness study areas” under the policy – another shortcoming.

There are other questions: the new policy will be applied in future land use planning and in project-level decision making, but how will wilderness character lands that were ignored in the BLM’s 2008 land use plans be protected?  That includes over 2 million acres of spectacular land in the heart of the red rock. 

The "No More Wilderness" debacle of 2003 was born in Utah, and leadership at Interior and the BLM must ensure that the injustices done here are remedied.  The new policy has the potential to do that, but the Utah BLM is famous for digging up reasons not to protect wilderness.

There’s more work to be done.  Please thank Secretary Salazar for the new policy, but let him know that the BLM must live up to the policy’s full potential to protect the last remaining wild country in Utah.

 

Heidi McIntosh
Associate Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

P.S. If lands that the BLM itself identified as eligible for wilderness protection in the 2008 land use plans were protected, 86% of the proposed oil and gas wells could still be drilled.