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Supporters and wilderness advocates like you play a critical role in the protection of Utah’s spectacular wild places.
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March 28th, 2019Following public outcry and a formal protest from SUWA, this week the Utah Bureau of Land Management (BLM) deferred all of its proposed oil and gas leases in San Juan County from its March 2019 lease sale “due to additional environmental analysis required.”
The proposed leases were on the doorstep of Bears Ears, Hovenweep, and Canyons of the Ancients national monuments.*
Simply put, these leases would not have been deferred if not for SUWA’s tireless defense of every acre of BLM public land deserving of wilderness protection in Utah.
It’s the nature of environmental defense that this victory is short-lived—although deferred, the parcels will likely be back up for sale at the September 2019 lease sale.But SUWA will be there to fight those leases, too, and this decision by the BLM puts us in a strong position in our challenges to other BLM lease sales (from March and December 2018), because those lease sales relied on the same environmental analysis (surprise!). If it is insufficient now, then it was insufficient then.
Not all of our work results in victories, of course, and most of our work never makes the news. But you can be assured that SUWA will never give up and never give an inch in our defense of the Redrock.
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March 14th, 2019
In this episode of Wild Utah, we discuss SUWA’s field volunteer program, which gets folks working outside across Utah to preserve and enhance the lands we’re fighting to protect. We work directly with the BLM and Forest Service to identify and implement projects that focus on wilderness and habitat preservation, cultural resource protection, and restoration of damage caused by off-road vehicles. Join us for the discussion, then come join us in the field by visiting SUWA.org/join-service-project.Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Our theme music, “What’s Worth?” is written and performed in Moab by Haley Noel Austin. Wild Utah is recorded at the studio of KRCL 90.9 FM, Listeners Community Radio of Utah in Salt Lake City. Our producer is Jerry Schmidt. We thank you all for generously donating your time, equipment and talent to Wild Utah.
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March 11th, 2019FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLM Withdraws Permit for Helicopter Shuttles Near Bighorn Habitat Outside of Moab Following SUWA Appeal
Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, 435-259-5440, kya@suwa.org
Moab, UT (March 11, 2019) – The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Moab field office has withdrawn a multi-year special recreation permit authorizing a private helicopter company to shuttle customers in and out of Mineral Bottom, south of Labyrinth Canyon and north of Canyonlands National Park in the Green River corridor.
The permit withdrawal comes as the result of an appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals filed by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), challenging BLM’s previous decision to authorize these landings.
In response to the permit withdrawal, SUWA Wildlands Attorney Kya Marienfeld issued the following statement:
“The BLM’s withdrawal of this helicopter landing permit is a big victory for wildlife and solitude in the Green River corridor. The best available science shows that bighorn sheep are particularly sensitive to helicopter traffic compared to other aircraft, and even the occasional close overflight could have driven the native population of bighorn from its habitat in the side canyons of the Green River.
“The BLM’s original decision to grant this commercial permit would have increased helicopter traffic that could have severely disrupted the sheep’s breeding and lambing cycle, perhaps causing them to abandon the area altogether.
“While the BLM should never have granted the permit in the first place, we are glad to see the BLM correct their error and withdraw the permit.”
The permit, originally issued in August, 2018, would have allowed Pinnacle Helicopters, LLC to shuttle passengers during the boating season to a backcountry airstrip in Mineral Bottom that currently has no commercial helicopter traffic. The repeated helicopter shuttles would have brought increased noise and disruption to the adjacent Hell Roaring, Spring, and Tenmile Canyons — all of which are critical lambing and rutting habitat for a rare native population of desert bighorn sheep.
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February 26th, 2019We’re delighted to tell you that the Emery County Public Land Management Act just passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now heads to the president’s desk for his signature. (Yes, he’s expected to sign.)
Take a moment to appreciate just how historic this victory is.
For more than twenty years, the Utah delegation has put forward lousy bills that would have sold the San Rafael Swell short. SUWA opposed all those bills. And now, after a year-long fight, what began again as terrible legislation will instead extend much-needed protection to some of Utah’s most beloved redrock landscapes—places like Muddy Creek and parts of Desolation and Labyrinth Canyons.
Muddy Creek wilderness in the San Rafael Swell. Copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA
This happened because of people like you. Your emails, phone calls, and contributions made the difference—showing our congressional allies and opponents alike that the American people care about protecting Utah wilderness.
Thanks to you and our Utah Wilderness Coalition allies—the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council—we’ve made this legislation deserving of the places protected.
The result? 663,000 acres of wilderness will now be protected in Emery County! (Click here to view our story map showing what the bill protects.)
We’re grateful to our congressional champions, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA 47), who each challenged an earlier, flawed version of the bill—flaws that have now been largely addressed.
These lands belong to all Americans, and wilderness bills like this one can only succeed if Utah politicians recognize the national significance of their protection.
To be sure, there are still lands in Emery County and elsewhere deserving of protection, and we will continue to work every day to protect all of Utah’s magnificent redrock wilderness.
But today, it’s time to celebrate.
Thank you for being a critical part of the movement to protect Utah wilderness.
If you live in Utah, please call Representative John Curtis’ office at 202-225-7751, and Sen. Mitt Romney at (202) 224-5251 and thank them for seeing this legislation through.
If you live in California, please call Representative Lowenthal’s’ office at 202-225-7924 and thank him for his hard work to enact this legislation.
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February 26th, 2019Utah’s Iconic San Rafael Swell Nears Wilderness Protection as Part of Public Lands Package Passed by U.S. House of Representatives
Contact: Scott Groene, Executive Director, 801-712-5034, scott@suwa.org
Jen Ujifusa, Legislative Director, 801-791-2598, jen@suwa.org
Moab, UT (February 26, 2019) – In response to today’s passage of the Emery County Public Land Management Act by the U.S. House of Representatives as part of S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) executive director Scott Groene issued the following statement:
“Now that both the Senate and House have passed this legislation, only the President’s signature is needed to protect 663,000 acres of Utah’s iconic San Rafael Swell and Desolation and Labyrinth Canyons as designated wilderness. After a year-long fight, what began as terrible legislation will now extend much-needed protection to some of Utah’s most beloved redrock landscapes.
“With our Utah Wilderness Coalition allies- the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council- and thousands of Americans across the nation, we’ve made this legislation deserving of the places protected.
“There are still lands in Emery County and elsewhere deserving of protection, and we look forward to working with the Utah congressional delegation and other members of congress to that end.
“We’re grateful to Senator Dick Durbin and Rep. Alan Lowenthal, who each challenged an earlier, flawed version of the bill—flaws which have now been largely addressed. These lands belong to all Americans, and wilderness bills like this one can only succeed if Utah politicians recognize the national significance of their protection.
“We appreciate the efforts of Sen. Hatch, Rep. John Curtis, and their staffs for seeing the bill through.
“At a time when our nation’s public lands are under assault by the Trump administration, this legislation is good for Redrock wilderness. Passing this legislation involved compromises, and worthy landscapes were left out. Nonetheless, this bill is good for Utah and good for the United States.”
Additional Resources
More information, including maps and photographs of the protected region, is available here.