New “Wild Utah” Film Premieres in Salt Lake City and Washington, DC
SUWA recently premiered Wild Utah: America’s Red Rock Wilderness, our 14-minute short documentary film on the movement to protect Utah’s last remaining wild places. With stunning videography, the film walks the viewer through magnificent redrock landscapes and draws upon diverse voices to explain why these lands are worth protecting from the threats of fossil fuel extraction, off-road vehicle damage, hardrock mining, and anti-wilderness legislation from Utah’s own politicians.
Two screenings in Salt Lake City, at Fisher Brewing and the Patagonia Outlet, were both well attended. Over 100 enthusiastic supporters came out each night to watch this educational and inspirational film that will serve as our advocacy centerpiece for years to come. The film’s producers from TWIG Media Lab and a few volunteer “stars” took questions from the crowd, explaining how their roles were shaped by personal experiences in wild Utah that inspired them to take action. Our “national premiere” was held at Patagonia in Washington, DC—to another full house!
Become part of the Redrock Nation by clicking here to join SUWA today! Both new and renewing members at the $100 level or above can choose a DVD version of this film as a thank-you gift.
If you belong to a business, organizational, or student group that would
like to schedule a film screening and activism presentation, please
write to us at issues-action@suwa.org.
Subtitles available in English and Spanish. Subtítulos disponibles en Inglés y Español.
Photo © Maddie Hayes/SUWA
Not-So-Swell Bill Still Threatens Utah Wilderness
Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “Not-so-Swell” bill, the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018, passed a Senate markup earlier this month. The bill leaves more than two-thirds of the deserving wilderness in Utah’s Emery County unprotected, including much of the Muddy Creek and Labyrinth Canyon areas, while excluding the culturally-rich San Rafael Badlands entirely. It remains a one-sided proposal from a county that openly admits it is attempting to designate the minimum amount of wilderness it can get away with.
So what’s next? Knowing that his terrible bill can’t pass the full Senate on its own, Sen. Hatch hopes to attach the bill to an omnibus package or unrelated legislation in the limited time he has left before the end of the congressional session. That’s where you come it. Please take a moment now to educate your members of Congress and ask them to oppose this bill when it resurfaces.
>> Click here to contact your members of Congress
>> Learn more on our blog
Photo © Ray Bloxham/SUWA
Good News! Utah Monuments Cases to Remain in DC Courts
In a September 24th ruling cheered by monument supporters, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan denied a motion to transfer the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s illegal eviscerations of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments to Utah.
“We are gratified by [this] decision by Judge Chutkan to keep these significant cases in federal district court in Washington, D.C,” said SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch. “With this venue issue behind us we look forward to tackling the merits of President Trump’s unlawful decisions to dismantle Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.”
>> Read our full press statement
Photo © Jeff Foott
Submit Your Comments on the Trump Administration’s Management Plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante
Why bother writing comments on the Trump administration’s management plans for Utah’s eviscerated monuments if they’ll just be ignored? Ever since Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released the rushed plans for what’s left of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments (as well as the lands removed from monument status entirely), we’ve received calls and emails asking this understandable question.
Simply put, submitting well-written, heartfelt comments on these spectacular places establishes a permanent historical record of public opinion (and these are, after all, our public lands). For example, after the sham Bears Ears “comment period” in the summer of 2017, we could confidently, and with evidence, point to the 2.9 million public comments submitted, 98% of which favored keeping the Bears Ears boundaries established by President Obama.
While it’s true that the very legality of the monument roll-backs are being challenged in court, we cannot allow the Trump administration to proceed with its inadequate planning process as if nobody’s watching, or worse, nobody cares. You care, so please help establish the public record.
>> Click here to comment on Bears Ears National Monument by November 15th
>> Click here to comment on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by November 30th
Photos © Tim Peterson
Wild Utah Intersects with National Hispanic Heritage Month
During National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), SUWA participated in community festivals and activities celebrating Hispanic and Latinx culture and contributions in America. We kicked off the month with a bright yellow cactus patch on wheels at the Utah Hispanic Heritage Parade in Salt Lake City (see photo). Then we stoked conversation with community members at our outreach tables at the Utah Hispanic Heritage Fest and the Ogden Hispanic Festival. SUWA Latinx Community Organizer Olivia Juarez also traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to facilitate a panel on Migrant Justice Amidst Climate Crisis at the Uplift Climate Conference (learn more about this in our upcoming autumn-winter 2018 newsletter).
The depth and richness of events like these, and our conversations with participants, reveal how integral Utah’s redrock wilderness is to Hispanic culture and heritage in the southwest, and how relevant and essential it is to the lives of Hispanics today. Learn more about the Hispanic heritage of wild Utah on our blog.
Photo © Olivia Juarez/SUWA
Get a Free SUWA Beanie with Any Year-End (Nov-Dec) Gift Membership Purchase!
Looking for that perfect non-commercial, non-toxic, non-fattening, environmentally friendly gift-that-keeps-on-giving? A SUWA gift membership could be just the thing! Each gift membership is just $25. We’ll send a welcome packet with a newsletter and “Protect Wild Utah” sticker to your gift recipient (or to your own address if you prefer).
AND if you place your order between November 1st and Dec. 31st, we’ll throw in a free SUWA beanie! (Note: the value of the beanie is not tax-deductible.) Offer good only on gift membership purchases made during this limited time period.
To take advantage of this special offer, visit our website at suwa.org/giftmemberships.
