January 2012

Here’s what is happening this month with the redrock:
1.  THANK YOU for helping us reach 10,000 postcards to President Obama.
2.  You have until Jan. 27 to say NO to Alton coal.
3.  Mark Kirk is the first Republican Senator in 10 years to cosponsor the redrock bill.
4.  Attend a Utah wilderness event this winter! 

With YOUR help we’re at 10,000 Postcards and Counting

We’ve said it time and time again because it’s important and TRUE — grassroots support from across the country has been essential in defending Utah wilderness against the various threats it has faced throughout the years.  And in 2011, redrock activists from Hawaii to Maine and a whole bunch from Utah again showed their strength and dedication by collecting 10,000 postcards to the Obama administration calling for the protection of Greater Canyonlands.  (Click on the map to the left to see where postcard signers were from.)

So THANK YOU for taking the time out of your busy lives to take action for the redrock.  Whether you collected a few postcards, filled out our online action alert, or posted a petition to your Facebook wall, every bit helps in our effort.

What’s next for 2012?  Our new goal is to reach 50,000 messages to President Obama asking for the protection of Greater Canyonlands — through postcards, action alert responses, and social media. 

Want to join the effort?  To help collect postcards, please click here to let us know and your regional SUWA grassroots organizer will be in touch.

Stay tuned for more ways you can get involved in the Greater Canyonlands campaign.

 

Remember to tell the BLM to say NO to the Alton Coal Mine!

The existing Coal Hollow mine site. Copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.

There are only a few weeks left for you to voice your opposition to the proposed Alton coal mine expansion on the doorstep of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Click here to tell the BLM to say NO to this strip mine!

Back in November, the Obama administration released a
draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing
a proposal to sell a federal coal lease on the western doorstep of Bryce Canyon
National Park, potentially threatening the remarkable clean air, water, and
dark night skies at the park, as well as the livelihood of nearby gateway
communities. Please urge the BLM to deny this expansion by adopting the “no action alternative” of the EIS.

The deadline for comments is January 27.

For more information, visit our website by clicking here.

 

We’ve waited 10 years for this

Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL)

America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R. 1916/S. 979) has now reached 116 cosponsors in the House and 14 in the Senate in the 112th Congress. And for the first time in 10 years, a Republican Senator, Mark Kirk from Illinois, has cosponsored the redrock bill.  Thank you to all the fantastic redrock activists from Illinois who made this happen!  Please thank Senator Kirk if you live in Illinois.

Other newly signed-on members of Congress include Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).  Please thank your members of Congress if they have cosponsored the bill!

If your members of Congress are not on the list of cosponsors, please ask them to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act today!

 

Attend a redrock event this winter

If you live in Florida, Colorado, Washington, New York, Illinois, Iowa or Michigan, a Utah wilderness event is coming to a location near you.  For the schedule of Wild Utah: America’s Redrock Wilderness slideshows and other national grassroots events, click here.

To schedule an event in your area for 2012, contact Terri in the Southwest (terri@suwa.org), Brooke in the Northwest (brooke@suwa.org), Clayton in the Midwest (clayton@suwa.org), and Jackie in the East (jackie@suwa.org).

 

 

Sign the petition to save Greater Canyonlands