HELP STOP THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ASSAULT
ON CALIFORNIA'S WILDERNESS
CALL NOW TO ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO SIGN THE HINCHEY-UDALL-BLUMENAUER "WILDERNESS LETTER"
The Bush Administration has launched a far-reaching assault on
America's treasured wilderness. Powerful political appointees --
acting without the public's knowledge or involvement -- have taken
radical actions to undermine the process by which we protect special
places for future generations.
Take action today to protect California wildlands like Case Mountain
with its giant sequoia trees; Big Butte, a proposed addition to the
Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness in legislation currently before
Congress; San Ysidro Mountain, a important, intact wild piece in the
Anza Borrego wilderness complex; and the cathedral-like groves of
ancient redwood trees in the famed Headwaters Forest Reserve.
PLEASE PHONE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TOLL-FREE AT 1-800-839-5276 AND ASK
THEM TO SIGN ONTO THE HINCHEY-UDALL-BLUMENAUER "WILDERNESS LETTER"
OPPOSING THE ADMINISTRATION'S ATTACK ON WILDERNESS!
To find out who your representative is, and their mailing address,
just type in your ZIP code at:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
(If your Representative is one of the following, they have already
signed on -- please thank them for protecting California's wilderness
heritage:)
George Miller (D-7th)
Barbara Lee (D-9th)
Ellen Tauscher (D-10th)
Michael Honda (D-15th)
Lois Capps (D-23rd)
Howard Berman (D-28th)
Henry Waxman (D-30th)
Bob Filner (D-51st)
Background
Late on Friday April 11, the Department of the Interior and the State
of Utah struck a "sweetheart deal" in which Secretary Norton
committed to never again allow the Bureau of Land Management to
review and classify areas as "wilderness study" - an important
interim protection for lands suitable for wilderness designation by
Congress. This decision affects all BLM lands, not just in Utah, but
across the nation. At stake are ancient redwoods in northern
California, giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada, and countless other
wilderness lands across the Golden State. Instead of being
safeguarded as wilderness study areas, these treasures could be
opened to mining, drilling, logging or reckless road building!
Also on April 11, Secretary Norton issued an order that the Bureau of
Land Management halt wilderness reviews in Alaska specifically -
despite the fact that there are millions of acres of incredible
forests, mountains, wetlands, and delicate tundra that deserve
consideration for permanent wilderness protection.
These decisions came on the heels of an April 8th agreement, also
with Utah, that will make it easier for the state, counties and even
individuals to claim and build roads across millions of acres of wild
lands, including California's Mojave National Preserve, Giant Sequoia
National Monument, King Range Conservation Area, and other National
Parks and Wilderness Areas.
Your Help is Needed!
The Bush Administration has shown time and again that it is all too
eager to sell out America's birthright of public wild lands to its
friends in the oil, mining, and logging industries. The Bush
Administration has undergone these actions in secret, as they realize
the American people overwhelmingly support protecting more of our
lands as wilderness.
Now is the time for the public to expose the Bush Administration's
attempts to rob future generations of their birthright of wilderness,
and to demand responsible stewardship of lands that belong to all
Americans. Urge your elected Representative to join the fight for
our public lands by signing on to letter led by Representatives
Hinchey (NY), Udall (CO), and Blumenauer (OR) opposing the
Administration's attack on America's wilderness heritage.
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ASKING THEM TO OPPOSE THE DESTRUCTION
AND GIVEAWAY OF CALIFORNIA'S WILDERNESS!!!
FYI -- here is the text of the Hinchey-Udall-Blumenauer letter you
are asking them to sign:
May XX, 2003
The Honorable Gale Norton
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C St., NW - 6156
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Secretary Norton:
We are writing in strong opposition to several recent decisions that
undermine the protection of wilderness on our nation's public lands.
These decisions appear designed to limit Congressional options and to
preclude action by future Secretaries to protect millions of acres of
some of our most magnificent public lands as Wilderness or as
Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs).
Specifically, we are referring to the April 11 settlement agreement
between the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the state of Utah
that prohibits the designation of new Wilderness Study Areas on the
public lands, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the
Department and the Governor of Utah regarding road right-of-way
claims across public lands, and the policy changes you have
instituted regarding wilderness reviews of public lands in Alaska.
The April 11 settlement of an old lawsuit with the state of Utah has
implications for all BLM lands. It seems intended to effectively
prohibit BLM from ever again reviewing lands under its jurisdiction
for wilderness suitability and WSA status, unless the lands have
already been identified as having wilderness characteristics in a
1991 BLM inventory. Furthermore, the settlement seems aimed at
prohibiting BLM from providing interim protection to more than 2.5
million acres in Utah that have already been inventoried by the BLM
and identified as having wilderness qualities. Millions of
additional acres that should be inventoried and possibly designated
as WSAs now will not be reviewed - despite the fact that the public has
already been invited to share information on the suitability of these
lands for potential WSA designation.
By preventing the inventory and establishment of future WSAs - which
are required by law to be managed in a way that does not impair their
suitability for wilderness designation - and prematurely approving
non-wilderness uses of BLM lands, the Department has effectively and
inappropriately taken away a key management tool to preserve
Congress's prerogative to designate wilderness areas on the public
lands. Because these areas now will be opened to a variety of
development activities, such as road construction, mining, and oil
and gas exploration, the wilderness qualities of such areas likely
will be destroyed, precluding their future designation as wilderness
by Congress.
The April 9, 2003 MOU is being touted as a resolution to the
longstanding controversy over the validity of road right-of-way
claims - often referred to as RS 2477 claims - on public lands
throughout Utah. Given the ambiguity of the MOU and the potential
for misinterpretation, it especially concerns us that the Department
is promoting it as a model for "resolving" RS 2477 claims in other
states. While as part of the MOU the state of Utah agreed not to
assert claims in national parks, national wildlife refuges, and
designated wilderness areas (counties and other entities would still
be able to make claims in these areas), both the Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument and approximately 10 million
acres of other Federal lands that are potentially eligible for
wilderness designation would be open to road right-of-way claims. We
are very concerned that these claims will be handled in a way that
effectively precludes public involvement and that could lead to
further restricting Congressional options to protect affected lands.
Finally, on April 11, you stated in a letter to Alaska elected
officials that, in effect, unless there was "broad support" among
Alaska officials, the BLM would never again study the public lands
under its stewardship in that state for potential wilderness
designation. This decision inexplicably excludes the American public
from any input in the protection of these nationally significant,
publicly-owned lands as wilderness.
With these three decisions you seem to be trying to limit Congress's
future opportunities to exercise its exclusive authority to designate
qualifying public lands as wilderness. You have effectively taken
away an important management tool for the BLM to protect some of the
finest remaining wild lands in America from environmental harm. And
you have limited the public's ability to be fully informed and to
participate in a meaningful way in the planning process for our
public lands.
As chief steward for our nation's federal lands, you have a
responsibility to ensure that all potential uses of public lands are
considered, including wilderness. We urge you to fulfill your duty
by reconsidering these recent decisions and replacing them with
policies that more fully meet that important responsibility.
Sincerely,
|
Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
