The U.S. House of Representatives is debating an Appropriations bill that could deal huge setbacks to Utah’s redrock country.

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!

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!

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!

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!