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News Archives
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July 19th, 2017Once again, your voice in defense of Utah’s wild places is urgently needed.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to lease 79 parcels for oil and gas development on approximately 100,000 acres of federal public lands in eastern and central Utah. Included in this list are parcels along the western edge of the San Rafael Swell, in the heart of the Desolation Canyon region, the Book Cliffs, and immediately adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument.
Leasing in the San Rafael Swell
For the third time in five years, the BLM is proposing to offer leases in the Molen Reef region of the western San Rafael Swell—an area with high cultural and archaeological density and outstanding recreational opportunities. The agency’s initial decision to offer these leases in 2013 drew immediate and widespread criticism, including a large public protest in front of the BLM’s state headquarters in Salt Lake City.Ultimately, the agency determined that it did not have enough information regarding cultural and archaeological resources to justify leasing the area for oil and gas development. In 2015, the BLM once again deferred leasing in the Molen Reef region, citing the continuing need to gather more cultural and archaeological resource information.
Citizens protested a very similar BLM lease sale for the San Rafael Swell in 2013. It was a bad idea then and it’s a bad idea now. Copyright Terri Martin/SUWA
To date, the agency has still not completed those cultural resource inventories. In fact, the BLM admits that it has surveyed at most only 2.9 percent of the proposed parcels and thus is in no stronger a position to justify leasing now than it was in 2013. The agency’s leasing flip-flop is a disservice to this remarkable wilderness-caliber landscape and its thousands of known—and yet to be discovered—cultural resources.
Leasing near Dinosaur National Monument and in the Desolation Canyon and Book Cliffs regions
In a return to the Bush administration’s scorched earth approach to oil and gas leasing in the Uinta Basin, the BLM is also proposing to offer leases in areas proposed for wilderness designation in the Desolation Canyon and Book Cliffs regions as well as immediately adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument.This ill-advised proposal would, among other things, green-light oil and gas development right next to the monument, including along the primary access route travelled by thousands of visitors annually. One of the parcels was previously offered at the BLM’s infamous December 2008 oil and gas lease sale and later withdrawn from sale by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar after a successful lawsuit by SUWA and others blocked its issuance.
In a letter to the BLM, the National Park Service has objected to the leasing proposal, citing adverse impacts to air quality, viewsheds, dark night skies, water quality, and natural soundscapes. Oil and gas development on the parcels near the monument would be visible from the Quarry Visitor Center as well as from numerous vantage points within the monument.
Thank you.
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July 12th, 2017The Trump administration asked for your opinion on their plans to reduce Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and 25 other national monuments across the country—and you gave them an earful.
Thanks to SUWA members and supporters like you, along with millions of concerned citizens across the nation, the Trump administration received more than 2.7 million comments in SUPPORT of our national monuments during their public comment period, which ended Monday. Comments in favor of keeping our national monuments intact outnumbered those opposed to national monuments by a staggering 98 to 1.
And more than one million of those comments specifically mentioned support for Bears Ears, which is the first target on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s list of endangered monuments.
Will this outpouring of support make a difference? That remains to be seen. Secretary Zinke has already indicated that he wants to see Bears Ears shrunk, perhaps dramatically. The fate of Grand Staircase-Escalante remains an open question, which should be answered when Secretary Zinke issues his final report on August 24th.
We hope that this tremendous show of support for national monuments will give Secretary Zinke pause and convince the administration that there is no political victory in eviscerating America’s natural and cultural heritage.
But if it doesn’t change their minds, and they try to shrink Bears Ears or Grand Staircase-Escalante, we’ll take them to court.
And we’ll take them to court knowing that we have the backing of thousands of people like you, people who are willing to stand up and speak out on behalf of the redrock—any time, any place, and no matter the odds.
Thank you for being such a critical part of the SUWA team.
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July 6th, 2017This coming Monday, July 10, is the final day for you to tell Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that he and President Trump need to leave Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments intact.
Click here to submit your comment to the Department of Interior today.
On June 12th, Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke issued an interim report recommending that Bears Ears National Monument be significantly reduced in size—a move that simultaneously dishonored Native American Tribes and ignored the input of hundreds of thousands of American citizens.
Meanwhile, Secretary Zinke has invited local counties to submit revised boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante—a well established monument celebrated for revitalizing local communities and yielding stunning paleontological discoveries.
With both monuments under siege, a strong record of public support is essential. If you haven’t made your voice heard yet, now is the time. Tell Secretary Zinke to leave Utah’s monuments alone!
>> Click here for more information on Bears Ears.
>> Click here for more information on Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Your comments are urgently needed. Please take action today.
Thank you!
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June 23rd, 2017Read More »Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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June 22nd, 2017
* SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE *
For Immediate Release: June 22, 2017
Contact:
Landon Newell, Staff Attorney
Tel: 801-428-3991Acting in lockstep with the Trump administration’s relentless onslaught against federal public lands, the BLM is proposing to offer at the agency’s December 2017 oil and gas lease sale 79 parcels for leasing and development on approximately 100,000 acres of federal public lands in eastern and central Utah. Included in this list are parcels along the western edge of the San Rafael Swell and immediately adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument.
“This is an outrageous proposal to lease and develop some of Utah’s most culturally rich and wildly scenic federal public lands. BLM has quickly come full circle and brought us back to the ‘drill now-drill everywhere’ days of the early 2000s, and once again Utah is front and center on the national stage for these disastrous policies,” said Landon Newell, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
BLM Vernal field office leasing documents here; BLM Price field office leasing documents here.
Leasing in the San Rafael Swell
For the third time in five years, BLM is proposing to offer leases in the Molen Reef region of the western San Rafael Swell – an area with high cultural and archaeological density and outstanding recreational opportunities. The BLM’s initial decision to offer these leases in 2013 drew immediate and widespread criticism, including a large public protest in front of the agency’s state headquarters in Salt Lake City. Ultimately, the agency determined that it did not have enough information regarding cultural and archaeological resources to justify leasing the area for oil and gas development. In 2015, the BLM once again deferred leasing in the Molen Reef region, citing the continuing need to gather more cultural and archaeological resource information.To date, the agency has still not completed those cultural resource inventories. In fact, the BLM admits it has surveyed only 0.6 percent of the proposed parcels and thus is in no stronger a position to justify leasing now than it was in 2013. The agency’s leasing flip-flop is a disservice to this remarkable wilderness-caliber landscape and its thousands of known – and yet to be discovered – cultural resources.
View of lease area in the western San Rafael Swell (Eagle Canyon/Molen Reef region). Copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.
Leasing on the Doorstep of Dinosaur National Monument
In a return to the Bush administration’s scorched earth approach to oil and gas leasing in the Uinta Basin, the BLM is also proposing to offer leases immediately adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument. This ill-advised proposal would green-light oil and gas development right next to the monument, including along the primary access route travelled by thousands of visitors annually. In fact, one of the parcels proposed for sale was previously offered at BLM’s infamous December 2008 oil and gas lease sale and later withdrawn from sale by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar after a successful lawsuit by SUWA and others blocked its issuance.In a letter to the BLM, the National Park Service has objected to the leasing proposal, citing the adverse impacts to air quality, viewsheds, dark night skies, water quality, and natural soundscapes.
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