Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
With Bears Ears National Monument now restored to its original boundaries, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting preliminary input (known as “scoping comments”) on how to manage the monument. This is a historic opportunity to ensure that the monument is managed for its unique and extraordinary values, and...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting comments on a draft travel management plan for the iconic Labyrinth Canyon and Gemini Bridges area outside of Moab. The plan will determine where off-road vehicle (ORV) use is allowed in this remarkable landscape for decades to come, so public input is...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Groene, Executive Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-712-5034, scott@suwa.org Moab, UT (August 24, 2022) – Today, the State of Utah, along with Garfield and Kane Counties, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging President Biden’s lawful use of the Antiquities Act to restore the...
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Last Earth Day, President Biden issued an executive order calling on the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conserve mature and old-growth forests as a climate solution. This was a great step toward meaningful protections and policy, but now it’s up to us to ensure that this...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has officially kicked off its management planning process for the restored Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and has announced a series of public meetings—two virtual and three in person—where the agency will share information, answer questions, and accept public comment. While the restoration of Grand...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Steve Bloch, Legal Director, 801-859-1552, steve@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (June 30, 2022) – In response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on West Virginia vs. EPA, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) legal director Steve Bloch issued the following statement: “We’re disappointed in today’s US Supreme...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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SUWA is pleased to announce that on Friday April 29th, at their 117th annual convention, lay and clergy delegates of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah passed a Resolution in Support of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act and for the Perpetual Protection and Management of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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More than a year ago, President Biden directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to pause all new oil and gas leasing on public lands while the agency conducted a comprehensive review of its outdated oil and gas program. The leasing pause was part of a broader executive order meant...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a motorized travel management plan for the greater Paunsaugunt area near Kanab, located just west of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and south of Bryce Canyon National Park. The plan will determine where off-road vehicle (ORV) use is allowed in this incredible place...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a motorized travel management plan for the greater Paunsaugunt area outside of Kanab—a plan that will determine where off-road vehicle (ORV) use is allowed in this incredible place for decades to come. Just west of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and south of...
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Utah Governor Cox and his pro-fossil-fuel allies are cynically trying to take advantage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to encourage President Biden to quickly lease publicly-owned lands across the United States, including in Utah. But issuing new leases will do little to alleviate rising fuel prices. First, the issuing of...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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It’s now been a year since President Biden issued his Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Among other things, the order placed a pause on oil and gas leasing on federal public lands and committed the United States to a ten-year goal of conserving 30...
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Great news! Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) recently sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland urging her department to designate new wilderness study areas as part of the Biden administration’s goal of protecting 30 percent of public lands and waters by 2030. That crucial goal simply isn’t possible without the...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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What happens when new land protections and wilderness are designated? While every land management journey is different, one thing’s for sure: the devil’s in the details. The latest episode of Wild Utah looks at this process through 663,000 acres of land recently designated as wilderness through the 2019 John D....
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On December 4th, the state of Utah issued a multi-million dollar contract bid, furthering their plans to file a lawsuit challenging the restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court. The state was clearly not listening to the people. Two...
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In 2019, as part of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, Congress passed the Emery County Public Land Management Act, which designated, among other things, 17 new wilderness areas (totaling 663,000 acres), the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area, and three Wild and Scenic segments on the...
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Great news! The Navajo Nation Council has passed a resolution in support of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, a first-of-its-kind endorsement that acknowledges the role protecting public lands can play in combating climate change. “Protecting our land is important to the Navajo people and we support this wilderness designation in...
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It’s been a month and a half since President Biden’s Rose Garden ceremony where he fully restored Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments and righted one of the most grievous wrongs from the last administration. Surrounded by Native American Tribal leaders, the first Native American Secretary of the Interior,...
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Not long ago we told you about the Biden administration’s plan to auction off more than 6,600 acres of public land in Utah for oil and gas development. You may have even submitted comments in September, during the scoping phase of the public process. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)...
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Over the past half-decade, our nearly 1,000 stewardship volunteers have dedicated over 11,500 hours of direct service on Utah’s public lands. If we include the travel time our volunteers have invested reaching our far-flung worksites, this number nearly doubles. No other hands-on conservation program in Utah measures up. And none...
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Now that we’ve collectively taken a month or so to deeply breathe in full restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments to their original boundaries: what comes next? We’ve invited SUWA’s Legal Director, Steve Bloch to explain the current state of things. Steve has guided SUWA’s work through...
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Human-powered recreation is exploding on public lands throughout the west, with Southern Utah as the poster child for unsustainable growth and associated impacts to resources and user experiences. These problems are compounded by under-staffed and under-resourced federal land management agencies like the Bureau of Land Management. Join Professor of Recreation...
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Want a say in how the Forest Service manages public lands and mountain ecosystems outside of Moab? The Manti-La Sal National Forest, which includes distinct forest units in the La Sal Mountains outside of Moab as well as the Abajo Mountains and a portion of Bears Ears National Monument in...
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“President Biden’s restoration of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments will be hailed by generations for protecting some of the nation’s wildest and most culturally significant public lands. It’s hard to describe the relief and joy our members are feeling right now knowing these places and their irreplaceable objects...
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Fossil fuel extraction on public lands accounts for nearly a quarter of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. These climate-altering emissions are wreaking havoc on our natural world, resulting in massive wildfires, extreme drought, and catastrophic flooding events. The Colorado Plateau and Utah’s redrock wilderness are expected to suffer some of...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Neal Clark, Wildlands Director, 435-259-7090, neal@suwa.org Judi Brawer, Wildlands Attorney, 435-355-0716, judi@suwa.org Moab, UT (September 21, 2021) – More than a dozen conservation organizations based in Utah and the surrounding region sent a letter today to the Bureau of Land Management (“the Bureau”), asking the agency...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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Sometimes referred to as “the science monument,” Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was established 25 years ago to protect the objects of significant scientific value found in the area. Since President Trump illegally halved the monument in 2017, monument supporters including SUWA and Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners have been working hard to...
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Last week, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a devastating new scientific report detailing the dire consequences of the ongoing—and worsening—climate crisis. The United Nations Secretary General called the findings “a code red for humanity.” (Read the key takeaways from the report here.) The IPCC’s report...
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We examine how America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act defines the turf of Utah’s wilderness debate—literally on the ground, as well as politically—and how the bill sets the standard against which other legislative and administrative actions are measured. Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Wild Utah’s theme...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a travel management plan for the remote Book Cliffs area in Uintah and northern Grand Counties—a plan that will determine where off-road vehicle (ORV) use is allowed in this stunning area for decades to come. Tell the BLM to keep motorized trails...
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Thanks to the steady and persistent work of our Wildlands Team and more than a half-decade of service expertise gained by our Stewardship Program, SUWA has successfully catalyzed overdue protection efforts for the diverse landscapes in the San Rafael Swell designated as wilderness over two years ago through the John...
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We take a step back to look at the macro view of why southern Utah captures the hearts of so many. We’re joined by Michael Haswood, Bears Ears Artist in Residence at Utah Diné Bikéyah, to ask: What is beauty? How is beauty embodied in your art? Is beauty important...
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The Biden administration is poised to authorize oil and gas drilling on the doorstep of Dinosaur National Monument. If approved by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the proposal will industrialize a remote and scenic area by greenlighting the construction of new access roads, well pads, and the drilling of...
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There is some entertainment value to Senator Romney and Representative Curtis introducing an Illinois wilderness bill to contrast the more serious proposal from Senator Durbin to protect federally-owned wild lands located within the state of Utah. However, their bill covers the entire Shawnee National Forest regardless of what is still...
Read MoreToday, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA). That means both the House and Senate versions are officially on the books for the 117th Congress and we are ready to roll! Please ask your members of Congress to cosponsor...
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Read More Bending over backwards to help company, agency sets ball in motion to allow drilling within ½ mile of national monument; within greater sage-grouse priority habitat and wilderness-caliber lands FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991, landon@suwa.org Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981, steve@suwa.org Liam Kelly,...
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SUWA and coalition partners across the country are calling on the Department of Interior to assert its long-held and ongoing authority to inventory and manage Wilderness Study Areas as a practical and secure means of achieving national conservation and restoration goals. We discuss the role BLM wilderness study areas, in...
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Yesterday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (S. 1535), the seminal legislation that would protect 8.4 million acres of wild public lands in Utah. This bill is more important than ever as we face the Climate Crisis and the Nature Crisis, as its passage would keep...
Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jen Ujifusa, Legislative Director, jen@suwa.org Washington, DC (May 11, 2021) – Yesterday, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced S. 1535, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, the seminal legislation that would protect 8.4 million acres of public lands in Utah as wilderness. The wild and expansive lands proposed...
Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Groene, Executive Director, 801-712-5034, scott@suwa.org Moab, UT (May 6, 2021) – Today, the White House released the “America the Beautiful” initiative to reach the U.S. goal of conserving 30 percent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030. In response, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) executive...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a travel management plan for the iconic Labyrinth Canyon and Gemini Bridges area outside of Moab—a plan that will determine where off-road vehicle (ORV) use is allowed in this world-renowned area for decades to come. Please tell the BLM to keep motorized...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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Get the details behind a new scientific report from EcoAdapt: Contribution of the America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Efforts. The report is authored by EcoAdapt’s Laura Hillberg, and she joins us to explain its conclusions. Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of...
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The Biden administration has begun the process of reviewing and modernizing the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) outdated and broken oil and gas leasing program—and not a moment too soon. As President Biden recognized in his January 27th executive order, “[w]e have a narrow moment to pursue action at home...
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Today, in honor of National Women’s History Month, we harken back to the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s to recognize the pivotal role of women in the early decades of the Utah wilderness movement. In the interest of brevity, we have chosen to highlight just a few of the remarkable and...
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In this episode, we take on the climate implications of the Bureau of Land Management’s “vegetation removal” program. Previously, we’ve discussed this clearcutting of mostly healthy pinyon-juniper forest in the name of “habitat restoration” – a practice that mostly benefits domestic livestock grazers. SUWA Wildlands Attorney Kya Marienfeld joins us...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Groene, Executive Director, 801-712-5034, scott@suwa.org Moab, UT (March 15, 2021) – In response to the Senate’s confirmation of Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) executive director Scott Groene issued the following statement: “Utah’s public lands suffered significant damage...
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This Friday, March 12th, marks the second anniversary of the Emery County Public Land Management Act becoming law as part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. The Emery Act is one of the largest wilderness bills in a decade to become law, protecting 663,000 acres...
Read MoreThe Bureau of Land Management Failed to Decide the Application During the Trump Administration FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Michelle White, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.236.3775 Liam Kelly, National Parks Conservation Association, 213.814.8666 Anne Hawke, Natural Resources Defense Council, 646.823.4518 Jennifer Dickson, The Wilderness Society, 303.650.9379 Salt Lake City, UT (March...
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Our e-newsletter with the latest on redrock wilderness news and events.
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Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance lawsuits challenging secret 2017 meetings held between Kane, Garfield and San Juan County Commissions and Trump officials can proceed Contact: Laura Peterson, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.236.3766 David Reymann, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, 801.257.7939 Troy Booher, Zimmerman Booher, 801.924.0200 Salt Lake City, UT (February 25,...
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The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments for a new travel management plan for the spectacular San Rafael Swell. With the designation of new wilderness areas in the Swell in 2019, and with the BLM’s poor track record of over-designating new routes through this kind of planning, your...
Read More The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently developing a travel management plan for Utah’s spectacular San Rafael Swell and your input is urgently needed, especially if you’ve visited the area and don’t want to see it become a motorized vehicle sacrifice zone. Home to irreplaceable cultural and historical resources,...
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In just a few weeks, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) will reintroduce America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in the 117th Congress! This legislation is the grand vision for protecting Utah’s deserving wilderness and could play a key role in the Biden administration’s goal of protecting 30...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 435-259-5440, kya@suwa.org Laura Welp, Western Watersheds Project, 435-899-0204, laura@westernwatersheds.org Decision finds BLM failed to consider project alternatives that would have limited post-wildfire treatments to native seeds and manual restoration methods Moab, UT (February 18, 2021) – The U.S. Department of...
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Two conservation organizations filed suit today in federal district court in Utah challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s highly destructive motorized vehicle travel plan for the San Rafael Desert
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Our 2021 Stewardship Season begins mid-March and registration is now open for all posted projects. Whether you’ve joined us before or this is the first you’ve heard of our program, visit our Stewardship Program online to learn more and to apply! Transform Your Recreation into Stewardship We have several opportunities...
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Our Stewardship Scholar Essay Contest seeks to elevate new and essential voices through personal narratives pertinent to the broader conversation around public lands and their protection. Read Laci Begaye's Grand Prize-winning essay.
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What role can America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act play in achieving the Biden administrations goals of mitigating the climate crisis and protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030? We dive deep into two recent scientific reports that provide an answer. Wild Utah is made possible by the...
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The Earth and all its inhabitants face the dire threats of climate change and the loss of nature, including extinctions. And in its first ten days the Biden administration has already taken meaningful steps to address those threats. It isn’t our job at SUWA to cheerlead for a particular administration,...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3991, landon@suwa.org Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3981, steve@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (January 27, 2021) – President Biden today issued an Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which, among other things,...
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State of Utah’s sprawling litigation claiming more than 12,000 dirt paths and stream bottoms as “highways” threatens redrock wilderness across the state Contacts: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981, steve@suwa.org Phil Hanceford, The Wilderness Society, 303.815.3158, phil_hanceford@tws.org Brian Fletcher, Stanford Law School Supreme Court Clinic, 917.453.9477, bfletcher@stanford.edu Salt Lake...
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Contacts: Scott Lake, Center for Biological Diversity, (802) 299-7495, slake@biologicaldiversity.org Kya Marienfeld, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (435) 259-5440, kya@suwa.org Paul Ruprecht, Western Watersheds Project, (208) 421-4637, paul@westernwatersheds.org Connie Howard, Sierra Club, Toiyabe Chapter, (775) 224-3916, constancehoward58@gmail.com Lawsuit Launched Over Trump Plan to Accelerate Clearcutting, Herbicide Spraying, Fuel Breaks Across Six...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3991, landon@suwa.org Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 859-1552, steve@suwa.org Anne Hawke, Natural Resources Defense Council, (646) 823-4518, ahawke@nrdc.org Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2424, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org John Weisheit, Living Rivers, (435)-260-2590, john@livingrivers.org Washington, D.C. (December 22,...
Read More SUWA Legislative Director Jen Ujifusa and Legal Director Steve Bloch discuss how the 2020 election results will affect our work to protect Utah’s wild redrock country, and what we expect President Biden to do with respect to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Wild Utah is made possible by...
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For Immediate Release Contacts: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3991, landon@suwa.org Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 859-1552, steve@suwa.org Anne Hawke, Natural Resources Defense Council, (646) 823-4518, ahawke@nrdc.org Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2424, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.orgJohn Weisheit, Living Rivers, (435)-260-2590, john@livingrivers.org Washington, D.C. (December 18, 2020)...
Read More Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 573-228-1061, kya@suwa.org Scott Lake, Center for Biological Diversity, 802-299-7495, slake@biologicaldiversity.org Gwen Dobbs, Defenders of Wildlife, 202-772-0269, gdobbs@defenders.org Chris Krupp, WildEarth Guardians, 206-417-6363, ckrupp@wildearthguardians.org Susan Jane Brown, Western Environmental Law Center, 503-914-1323, brown@westernlaw.org Laura Welp, Western Watersheds Project, 435-899-0204, laura@westernwatersheds.org Logan Glasenapp, New Mexico...
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In the interest of transitioning to clean energy sources, we’re excited to announce that SUWA’s Salt Lake City office has gone solar! Panels were installed this summer and we are all set to harness the power of the sun. This project was made possible with funding support from Rocky Mountain...
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Located just three miles from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s White Mesa community and one mile from Bears Ears National Monument, the White Mesa Uranium Mill was originally designed to run for 15 years before being closed and cleaned up. 40 years later, the mill is still in operation, and...
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The coronavirus pandemic entered the American psyche the same week our 2020 stewardship season was slated to begin, forcing us redefine how we work on the landscape. Today, as we plan for the 2021 season and beyond, adaptation remains critical in protecting the health of people and the integrity of...
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Read More One month before the largest wilderness bill of the last ten years was passed (the Emery County Public Land Management Act, signed into law as part of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act on March 12, 2019), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rushed to issue...
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Yesterday was Indigenous Peoples’ Day. We recognized it by sharing the Bears Ears Inter Tribal Coalition’s words. Today, we want to continue the spirit of Indigenous Peoples’ Day with a message about public land. The wild lands of America’s red rock wilderness are ancestral Goshute, Ute, Shoshone, Diné, Paiute, Hopi,...
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For Immediate Release Contact: Oliver Wood, Wildlands Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 435-355-0716, oliver@suwa.org Moab, Utah (October 5, 2020) – Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) withdrew its May 4, 2020 decision authorizing the removal of pinyon pine and juniper in a nearly 20,000-acre area within the remote...
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SUWA Staff Attorney Laura Peterson discusses the recent decision by the Utah Bureau of Land Management to more than double the number of off-road vehicle routes across the wild San Rafael Desert. We get her perspective on the decision, how it will affect future BLM travel planning across Utah, and...
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Trump administration forced to reverse course; rescind approval for oil/gas wells on public lands located less than a quarter-mile from the national monument; in greater sage-grouse Priority Habitat Management Area For Immediate Release Contact: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-428-3991, landon@suwa.org Salt Lake City, Utah (September 24, 2020) – The...
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In June, we wrote to you about plans from Energy Fuels Resources—the company that successfully lobbied the Trump administration to reduce Bears Ears National Monument in 2017—to ship radioactive waste from Estonia to the White Mesa Uranium Mill, on the doorstep of the monument. Now, Energy Fuels Resources wants to...
Read MoreThe Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is excited to announce our Fall 2020 Stewardship Scholarship Essay Contest. Please review the guidelines below: Students are invited to write a 750-1250 word essay on the topics of Land Stewardship or Trust in the More-Than-Human world for a chance to win a cash...
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Proposal will open 4,231 acres of public lands to coal mining and contribute millions of new greenhouse gas emissions—emissions that are driving the climate crisis, including the wildfires and droughts currently engulfing the western United States For Immediate Release Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-428-3981, steve@suwa.org ...
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After a long August recess, Congress is back in session for September. This is one of the best chances to get your members of Congress to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. Will you ask them today? America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act is the seminal legislation that would protect the amazing...
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Read More For Immediate Release Contact: Laura Peterson, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance 801-236-3762, laura@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (August 24, 2020) – On Friday, August 21, the Bureau of Land Management released the final motorized vehicle travel management plan for the San Rafael Desert in eastern Emery County, Utah. Left unchecked, this plan...
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Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) each recently sent separate letters to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt urging against the leasing of nearly 87,000 acres of redrock country near Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef National Parks, including significant landscapes that would be protected within America’s Red Rock Wilderness...
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SUWA attorneys Landon Newell and Kya Marienfeld discuss the recent Trump Administration revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. NEPA and its implementing regulations have been described as our nation’s “Magna Carta for the protection of the environment.” Not surprisingly, the revised regulations severely undermine the dual NEPA...
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Contact: Steve Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-859-1552, steve@suwa.org Anne Hawke, Senior Press Secretary, Natural Resources Defense Council, 646-823-4518, ahawke@nrdc.org Liam Kelly, Communications Manager, National Parks Conservation Association, 213-814-8666, lkelly@npca.org Emily Thompson, Associate Director of Engagement, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, 202-758-3936, Emily_Thompson@protectnps.org Salt Lake City, UT...
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It’s been a wild month. Two weeks ago, the Trump administration finalized its attack on America’s bedrock environmental law—the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Today, SUWA, along with a nationwide coalition of conservation and environmental justice organizations, challenged the administration’s rollback of NEPA regulations in federal court. NEPA, often referred...
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Our guest is Leah Thomas, activist, eco-communicator and founder of Intersectional Environmentalist, a new and growing community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color environmental writers and content creators. Intersectional Environmentalism advocates for the protection of both people and the planet by identifying ways in which injustices happening to marginalized...
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Salt Lake City, Utah (July 21, 2020) – The Bureau of Land Management today announced the appointment of Greg Sheehan as the BLM’s new State Director for Utah. In response, Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, released the following statement: “Greg Sheehan is not fit to...
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As you may have heard by now, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wants to open up more than 114,000 acres of wild lands in Utah—including more than 86,000 acres in southeastern Utah—to oil and gas drilling as part of its upcoming September lease sale. If this massive lease sale...
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June is Pride month! In this episode, we explore how mother nature can cultivate confidence, healing, and embodiment for LGBTQ+ people. SUWA Community Organizer Olivia Juarez and guests Eva Lopez of Orgullo Utah and Salvador Oregon-Torres, a Utah-based LGBTQ+ and undocumented community advocate, delve into queerness in the wild....
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At the doorstep of Bears Ears National Monument, the White Mesa Uranium Mill in southern Utah wants to acquire tons of new radioactive waste shipped all the way from Estonia. The mill’s owner, Energy Fuels Resources, lobbied the Trump administration to reduce Bears Ears National Monument in 2017. If the...
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As expected, the Trump administration has gone all-in on its plans to flood southern Utah’s redrock country with oil and gas development. If Trump’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) gets its way during its September 2020 oil and gas lease sale, new oil and gas wells could appear at the...
Read MoreSpeak out against climate-damaging oil and gas leasing near Arches and Canyonlands National Park The Trump administration is proposing to sacrifice our national parks and exacerbate the climate crisis by leasing a massive swath of treasured public lands near Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks for oil and gas...
Read More Contact: Liam Kelly, National Parks Conservation Association, 213-814-8666, lkelly@npca.org Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991, landon@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT – The Trump administration has released its proposal to open up more than 110,000 acres of public land to oil and gas drilling, most of which lies in southern...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently accepting public comments on a proposed coal mine expansion on the western slope of the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah. The proposal would allow Utah American Energy—a wholly owned subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp., the nation’s largest (and now bankrupt) coal company—to...
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As you know, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been destroying native vegetation like sagebrush, pinyon pine, and juniper for decades. But in recent years, your voice and input has played a critical role in stopping or delaying many of the worst large-scale mechanical vegetation removal proposals on our...
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Read More Michael Johnson, Senior Policy Advisor for Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), discusses the resolution Sen. Udall is sponsoring in the U.S. Senate to protect 30% of U.S. lands and waters by the year 2030, known as the “30 by 30” campaign. This urgent push represents America’s contribution to avert catastrophic collapse...
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An FAQ page on what has changed and what hasn't.
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Spatial distancing doesn’t mean that we can’t engage in collective action! On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we hope you will join us online for three days of workshops, storytelling, performances, and action. The Utah-focused digital events will be bookended by special keynotes featuring SUWA board members and veteran wild...
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Thank you, as always, for supporting the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. You may be aware that Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27, 2020. Included in this legislation were several provisions that may change your charitable donations this year. Please consider the following:...
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Comments due by April 13th, 2020! The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of native pinyon pine and juniper forests throughout the West each year. In recent years, public input has stopped many of these controversial projects or...
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Twenty-eight redrock volunteers traveled to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC in the waning days of February to participate in our annual Wilderness Week event. Their advocacy will lay the groundwork for the next big step forward in protecting Utah’s magnificent wild lands. The purpose of February’s Wilderness Week was to...
Read More While physical distancing measures to prevent the spread of Coronavirus have kept many people at home, gateway communities at the edge of wild public lands in Utah are hardly catching a break. Residents and healthcare practitioners in places like Moab and Boulder, Utah are doing everything they can to stop...
Read More In light of coronavirus impacting our communities and disrupting our day-to-day routines, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the fear and uncertainty that the world is facing right now. In a very short amount of time, our lives at work, school, and home have had to change so...
Read More Salt Lake City, UT (March 19, 2020): The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is preparing to offer a massive swath of treasured Utah public lands for oil and gas development. The Washington Post reported on this new development on March 18th. BLM has received more than 230 oil and gas...
Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, 573-228-1061, kya@suwa.org Moab, UT (March 11, 2020) – Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) Wildlands Attorney Kya Marienfeld released the following statement in response to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) proposal to fast track approvals and eliminate public input and review on...
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This op-ed by SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene was published in the online version of the Salt Lake Tribune on February 13, 2020. With the reintroduction of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in Congress last week, it’s worth reflecting on how far wilderness has come in Utah. Over the past...
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In this episode, we talk with SUWA Wildlands Attorney Kya Marienfeld and Legislative Director Jen Ujifusa about the status of, and funding for, large-scale eradication of piñon pine and juniper forests on BLM lands in Utah.
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It’s official! America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA). With your support to galvanize members of Congress, there are already 58 members who have joined the fight to protect wild Utah. We want to give these members a standing...
Read More Salt Lake City, UT (February 6, 2020) – In response to the release today of the management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) released the following statement: “We’re disappointed but not surprised that the BLM has finalized terrible management plan for...
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Withdrawal Means Planned Vegetation Treatments in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Have Been Reduced From More Than 135,000 Acres to Zero FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 435-259-5440, kya@suwa.org Moab, UT (January 30, 2020) – The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is praising the withdrawal by the...
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Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) will soon reintroduce America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in the House of Representatives, and we need your help to gather support! We have two actions for you that can really make a difference. First, will you contact your members of Congress today and ask them to...
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The Trump administration’s rush for “energy dominance” encounters another setback in Utah; BLM forced to reanalyze environmental impacts of oil and gas development For Immediate Release Contact: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991, landon@suwa.org Ann Alexander, Natural Resources Defense Council, 415.875.8243, aalexander@nrdc.org Phil Hanceford, The Wilderness Society, 303.225.4636, phil_hanceford@tws.org...
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Check out a short clip from our latest episode of Wild Utah: Listen to the full episode: Mark Maryboy made history when he was elected in 1986 as the first Native American county commissioner in Utah’s history — in San Juan County, home to Bears Ears National Monument. A former...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 435-259-5440, kya@suwa.org Laura Welp, Western Watersheds Project, 435-899-0204, laura@westernwatersheds.org Mary O’Brien, Grand Canyon Trust, 435-259-6205, mobrien@grandcanyontrust.org Moab, UT (January 9, 2020) – On New Year’s Eve, the Utah office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a five-year, $75...
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Last Friday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft travel management plan for the San Rafael Desert in Emery County, Utah that would more than double the number of miles open to motorized use—forever changing the area’s stunning and remote wild lands, and turning them into a playground...
Read More Offers public only 30 days, including over the holidays, to submit comments on a plan that has been years in the making. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Laura Peterson, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-236-3762, laura@suwa.org Soren Jespersen, The Wilderness Society, 970-819-7377, soren_jespersen@tws.org Salt Lake City, UT (December 16, 2019) – On...
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Utah’s public lands are facing death by a thousand cuts. And now the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) near St. George—home to the densest population of threatened Mojave desert tortoise anywhere on earth—is on the chopping block. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is being pressured by Washington County,...
Read More The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering giving away the United States’ interest to a 10-mile dirt road (the so-called “Manganese Road”) in the southwest corner of Utah. This is a test case brought by the State of Utah that, if successful, would open the door for the Trump...
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What a year! As we push onward under a deeply problematic administration, we take time to revisit those encouraging stewardship moments and milestones of the past year to buoy us through these trying times. Join us as we recap the year now nearly past, covering our Stewardship Program’s initiatives, progress,...
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Read More Following a public outcry, an outlandish Interior Department order that was proposed to allow off-road vehicles in national parks in Utah was dropped by the Trump administration. But the controversy over the Park Service proposal raises a larger, under-the-radar ORV issue with the potential for long-term damage to America’s redrock...
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Fourth Time This Year BLM Has Suspended Leases in Utah; Feds Ignored Climate Change, Opened Scenic, Cultural Lands to Fossil Fuel Extraction For Immediate Release Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3981, steve@suwa.org Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3991, landon@suwa.org Diana Dascalu-Joffe, Center for Biological Diversity,...
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Agency may hand over an alleged right-of-way to the state of Utah as it considers unprecedented public land giveaway FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 2019 Contacts: Alison Heis, National Parks Conservation Association, 202.384.8762 Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.859.1552 Jen Ujifusa, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 202.266.0473 Anne Hawke, Natural...
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As you no doubt have heard, the National Park Service (NPS) recently abandoned a proposal to allow certain off-road vehicles in Utah’s national parks and monuments. That proposal provoked enough public outrage to force the Trump administration to reverse course and keep the longtime closure of park roads to off-road...
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Decision protects park resources, promotes visitor safety
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From Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef national parks to Dinosaur, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, and Cedar Breaks national monuments, Utah is home to some of the most spectacular and beloved jewels of the National Park System. But these world-renowned landscapes are now threatened by a shortsighted directive from...
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Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, (801)-859-1552 or steve@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (October 1, 2019) – In response to Judge Chutkan’s decision allowing lawsuits to proceed against President Trump’s reductions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, SUWA legal director Stephen Bloch issued the following statement: “The...
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SUWA and partners win appeal of plan to masticate and chain Skutumpah Terrace in GSENM.
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Decision finds BLM ignored cumulative impacts and failed to comply with the Monument’s prohibitions on using non-native seed Moab, UT (September 17, 2019) – The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) yesterday set aside a decision by the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Grand Staircase-Escalante National...
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT (September 12, 2019)— Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today for failing to consider the climate pollution from 130 oil and gas leases spanning 175,500 acres of public lands in Utah. Today’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, says the Bureau...
Read More SUWA Latinx organizer Olivia Juarez speaks with activists Brooke Larsen (UPLIFT) and Eliza Van Dyk (Wasatch Rising Tide) about the protest, and about the intersection between the fight for climate justice and efforts to protect Utah’s remaining wild lands.
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Plan Undermines Standards for National Monument Protections, Ignores Public Opposition and Ongoing Litigation Over Reduced Boundaries ESCALANTE, Utah (August 23, 2019) – Today, local and national groups, businesses and globally-respected scientist organizations, denounced the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) release of management plans for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as another step toward undermining...
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Over the weekend, SUWA’s Service Program organized a Wilderness Stewardship Training in Salt Lake City. Forty trainees attended the Saturday session, twenty-four of whom then took part in a training hike on Sunday to practice their monitoring skills on a portion of Stansbury Island (Great Salt Lake) that’s proposed for...
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BLM’s “wild west” mentality will deface Utah landscape For Immediate Release Contact: Laura Peterson, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-236-3762 Anne Hawke, Natural Resources Defense Council, 646-823-4518 Phil Hanceford, The Wilderness Society, 303-225-4636 Salt Lake City, UT (August 1, 2019) – Three conservation organizations filed suit today in federal district court...
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MOAB, UT — Utah’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to rush forward a plan for the illegally reduced Bears Ears National Monument that completely ignores the more than 1 million acres removed by an unlawful executive order and leaves most of the culturally and scientifically significant lands unprotected. In...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Approximately 57,000 acres of remote, wild, and culturally significant public lands temporarily spared from oil and gas development Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981, steve@suwa.org Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991, landon@suwa.org Salt Lake City (July 18, 2019): For the third time in less...
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Approximately 204,000 acres of remote, wild, and culturally significant public lands temporarily spared from oil and gas development Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981, steve@suwa.org Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991, landon@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (June 13, 2019): For the second time in less than...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-428-3981 steve@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (May 31, 2019) – This weekend is the second since the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its controversial decision to authorize destructive cross-country off-road vehicle (ORV) use across 5,400 acres of public...
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Without prior notice or opportunity for public input, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Richfield field office announced last Wednesday—just before Memorial Day weekend—that it has opened 5,400 acres of public lands surrounding Utah’s iconic Factory Butte to unfettered cross-country off-road vehicle (ORV) use. The BLM’s decision reverses the agency’s...
Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 435-259-5440 kya@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (May 14, 2019) – Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) withdrew a 2018 decision authorizing the destruction of more than 2,500 acres of pinyon pine and juniper trees within the Desolation...
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Good news! Following SUWA’s appeal of the BLM’s decision to sell eight oil and gas leases for development at its March 2018 sale, the BLM has reluctantly agreed with SUWA that their leasing decision violated the law! SUWA argued that the BLM failed to take the necessary “hard look” at...
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For Immediate Release Decision Made Under Cover of Darkness to Push Through Garfield County’s Long-Held Desire to Pave Remote Desert Dirt Road Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801-428-3981 steve@suwa.org Phil Hanceford, Conservation Director, The Wilderness Society, 303-225-4636, phil_hanceford@tws.org Matt Abele, Communications Manager, National Parks Conservation Association,...
Read More For Immediate Release April 22, 2019 Contact: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991, landon@suwa.org Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.859.1552, steve@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (April 22, 2019) – The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) has filed a federal lawsuit challenging two decisions by the Bureau of Land...
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February 2019 scientific review counters claims made by agencies on environmental benefits of vegetation removal on public lands Contact: Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, 435-259-5440, kya@suwa.org Moab, UT (April 10, 2019) – Citing a new report on the lack of scientific evidence supporting “vegetation treatment” projects on public lands, the Southern...
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Following 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...
Read More 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,...
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FOR 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...
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We’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...
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Utah’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...
Read More In this episode of Wild Utah, we bring you exciting news from Washington, D.C. about an issue we detailed in our first episode — wilderness legislation for Emery County, Utah. What happened in Congress on February 12, 2019 was a long time in the making, and is great news for...
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Are you sitting down? We can hardly believe we get to say this, but against great odds, Labyrinth Canyon, Muddy Creek, Desolation Canyon and other Utah wild lands may soon get permanent protection as wilderness! The Emery County Public Land Management Act just passed the Senate as part of a...
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Utah’s Iconic San Rafael Swell Nears Wilderness Protection as Part of Public Lands Package Passed by U.S. Senate Contact: Scott Groene, Executive Director, 801-712-5034, scott@suwa.org Jen Ujifusa, Legislative Director, 801-791-2598, jen@suwa.org Neal Clark, Wildlands Program Director, 435-260-1199, neal@suwa.org Moab, UT (February 12, 2019) – In response to the U.S. Senate’s...
Read More SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE – THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY – SIERRA CLUB FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Nada Culver, The Wilderness Society, 303.225.4635 Over the course of 12 months, the Trump Administration has systematically leased the Four Corners region, making the area Ground Zero for...
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For Immediate Release January 29, 2019 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Salt Lake City — In a remarkable about-face following a protest from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) announced yesterday that it had dropped its proposal to...
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For Immediate Release January 25, 2019 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Salt Lake City — In a remarkably shortsighted decision, the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) is proposing to sell twelve oil and gas leases totaling roughly 5,700 acres located on SITLA-managed lands within...
Read More Moab, UT (January 10, 2019) – In response to the introduction by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) of the Protect Utah’s Rural Economy (PURE) Act, which would limit the ability of the president to protect landscapes in Utah through the use of the Antiquities Act, Southern...
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A new season is upon us and there is work to be done! Visit our Upcoming Projects listing to preview the year’s first round of service trips. Then check back regularly for new project listings. Planning a visit to Utah in 2019? Join as a crew member and serve with...
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The Winter Solstice has always been a time of celebration and reflection. Here at SUWA, some of our most meaningful moments have taken place in the redrock. Whether viewing ancient petroglyphs, floating muddy rivers with family and friends, or wandering solo in the canyons, one can’t help but be touched...
Read More Welcome to the SUWA podcast, Wild Utah! Dave Pacheco speaks with SUWA’s Kya Marienfeld and Wild Utah Project’s Allison Jones about the Utah BLM’s ecologically destructive practice of “chaining” — or, in the BLM’s vernacular, “vegetation treatment.” This practice of mechanically removing trees, shrubs and virtually all vegetation from otherwise...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, (801)-859-1552 or steve@suwa.org Salt Lake City, UT (December 15, 2018) – In response to the announcement of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s departure from President Trump’s cabinet, SUWA legal director Stephen Bloch issued the following statement: “Utah’s federal public lands are unquestionably worse off...
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The Trump administration today offered up more than 150,000 acres of public land in Utah for fossil fuel development, including in the heart of some of the state’s most iconic landscapes. In response, dozens of Utahns gathered at a press conference in the State Capitol Rotunda to raise their voices...
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Relentless. That’s the word that best describes the assault on Utah’s public lands from the Trump administration and Utah politicians over the past 12 months. From President Trump’s illegal reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments last December to the nearly seven-fold increase in oil and gas leasing...
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Today at the Utah State Capitol, a group of 40 young womxn* and allies — including students, educators, and community leaders from throughout Utah — braved the cold to make an urgent call for the protection of Utah’s irreplaceable wild lands in the San Rafael Swell and beyond. After several...
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Even as it solicits public comments on how to (mis)manage the illegally-reduced Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving forward with two terrible “vegetation management” proposals within the original boundaries of Grand Staircase. These two proposals would strip sagebrush and pinyon-juniper forests from more than...
Read More This Thursday, November 15th, marks the closing of the comment period for the Trump administrations’s hastily-drafted management plans for the illegally reduced Bears Ears National Monument. If you haven’t already done so, please click here to submit your comments now. You’ll recall that back in August, President Trump’s Interior Department...
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Court issued a short opinion this week dismissing challenges brought by the State of Utah and various counties to a settlement between conservation groups, the United States, and off-road vehicle groups over travel management plans governing millions of acres of public...
Read More Harry Truman once wished for a one-armed economist because he’d grown tired of hearing, “On the one hand…on the other hand.” This post-election wrap-up is a bit like that: slivers of hope set against hard reminders. For public lands, the election’s best news is probably this: the blue wave...
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Read More Welcome to the SUWA podcast, Wild Utah! In this episode, Dave Pacheco speaks with SUWA Board Member Darrell Knuffke about the origins and early days of SUWA. In doing some research for our show, we found Darrell’s name listed as a Board Member in SUWA’s newsletter as early as 1986,...
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SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene has an op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune today: At the end of his 40-plus year tenure as the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is clinging to the past. And he’s trying to drag Utah with him. Hatch’s “Not-so-Swell”...
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Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “Not-so-Swell” bill, the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018, passed a Senate markup Tuesday on voice vote. The bill 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....
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Hispanic Heritage Month is observed nationally from September 15th to October 15th to commemorate the important contributions of Hispanic and Latinx peoples to America’s cultural tapestry. The wild public lands of the Colorado Plateau hold the histories of these peoples in their canyon walls, rivers, and mountains. In advocating for...
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There were a few fireworks today during the House Committee on Natural Resources’s markup of HR 5727, Rep. Curtis’s (UT-3) “Not-So-Swell” bill for Emery County bill. Rep. Grijalva (AZ-3), the committee’s ranking member, issued a strong opening statement, acknowledging the work Rep. Curtis has put into this legislation, but highlighting...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, (801)-859-1552 or steve@suwa.org Washington, D.C. (September 24, 2018) — This morning, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan ruled from the bench and denied a motion to transfer the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s illegal evisceration of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments to Utah....
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Twenty-two years ago, the real Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated, encompassing one of our nation’s most spectacular and scientifically important wilderness landscapes. It includes world-class fossil sites, archaeological and historical treasures, unique geologic formations, and incredible intact ecosystems—all of which the monument’s original designation was designed to safeguard for...
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It was an interesting week for the Emery County Public Lands Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Curtis and Sen. Orrin Hatch and introduced in May of this year, would affect 1.4 million acres of land proposed for wilderness designation in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. The legislation has...
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More than 300 passionate wilderness advocates poured into the Salt Lake City Main Library for the People’s Hearing on the San Rafael Swell last night. The auditorium filled to overflowing as Utahns showed up to call for greater protection for the San Rafael Swell and surrounding wild lands. Speaker after...
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Welcome to the new SUWA podcast, Wild Utah! In this episode, Dave Pacheco interviews SUWA Wildlands Director Neal Clark about the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018, introduced by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative John Curtis. The devil is in the details of this bill, which affects...
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Last fall, SUWA filed a lawsuit to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from destroying pinyon-juniper woodlands through “chaining” and “bull-hog” projects in an area of Utah’s West Desert called Hamlin Valley. Click here for more information on these types of projects. These projects arose out of an analysis...
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This Wednesday, August 22nd, the “Not-so-Swell” bill proposed by Utah’s Sen. Hatch and Rep. Curtis will receive a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The Emery County Public Land Management Act, which affects places like Desolation Canyon, Labyrinth Canyon, and the San Rafael Swell, is crammed into...
Read More President Trump’s Interior Department just released draft management plans revealing their vision for how to manage what’s left of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as well as the lands that were illegally excised from those monuments. It was only last December that the president unlawfully attacked both of...
Read More For Immediate Release August 15, 2018 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, 801-428-3981 Salt Lake City, UT – In response to the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) release of draft management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, which were illegally reduced by President Trump in December of last...
Read More 203,000 Acres of Remote and Wild Lands Including in the San Rafael Desert and Dirty Devil Regions to be Auctioned Off for Oil and Gas Leasing and Development SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE * NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL * SIERRA CLUB * THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY For Immediate Release July 26, 2018...
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Guided by the Trump administration’s “energy dominance” agenda, on July 16th the Utah Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed a massive statewide auction of federal public lands for oil and gas leasing and development. The December 2018 lease sale will be the largest in Utah in more than a decade,...
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Proposed Sale of More than 300K Acres Threatens Wild Utah Federal Public Lands SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE * THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY * NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL For Immediate Release July 16, 2018 Contact: Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991 Nada Culver, The...
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Proposed approval is yet another signal of the Administration’s lack of support for our public lands FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 13, 2018 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3981 SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Today, the Trump Administration once again turned its back on protecting our nation’s public...
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Thanks to the commitment of our Field Volunteers, 2018 is proving to be our most active and productive service season to date. Our crews continue to expand our work across Utah where impacts to our wild and public lands are most severe. We have traveled from the mountains of the...
Read More This morning, HR 5727, the Emery County Public Lands Management Act—or the Not So Swell bill—was heard before the Federal Lands Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives. The hearing, like the bill, was not good. Though the Utah Wilderness Coalition (which is comprised of SUWA, NRDC, and The Sierra...
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Greetings from Southern Utah – Summer is upon us and our Field Crews are gearing up for a season of high elevation volunteering! Several spots remain open on our first batch of June-July-August Projects and I invite you to join the ranks of our 111 volunteers who have put in over 1,255 service...
Read More On May 9, 2018, Senator Orrin Hatch and Rep. John Curtis of Utah introduced “The Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018” — a bill that would significantly impact YOUR public lands in Emery County, Utah. In response, SUWA is launching a statewide television ad campaign to raise awareness...
Read More Bill is a “Big Step Backwards” for Conservation and Wilderness on Public Lands in Emery County, Utah FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jen Ujifusa, 202-266-0473, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance jen@suwa.org Virginia Cramer, Sierra Club, 804-519-8449, Virginia.cramer@sierraclub.org Anne Hawke, 202-513-6263, Natural Resources Defense Council ahawke@nrdc.org Washington, DC (May 9, 2018) — Today,...
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As early as next week, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative John Curtis could introduce legislation for the San Rafael Swell and portions of Labyrinth and Desolation Canyons. While we haven’t yet seen a final version of the bill, our review of previous drafts and recent communication with the delegation...
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Reports From the Field is a blog of SUWA’s Field Volunteers, accounting experiences, reflections and activism from time spent in direct service of Utah’s wild and public lands. When hiking and exploring Bears Ears National Monument, it is easy to lose oneself in the beauty and isolation of its many...
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As you know, on December 4th, 2017, the Trump administration illegally repealed Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, replacing them with two and three drastically smaller national monuments, respectively. This left over 2 million acres of cultural and natural wonders without protection. Despite legal challenges filed by SUWA and...
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Over the past two years, SUWA’s Field Volunteers have traveled across Utah to work for the protection of our public lands. In our third season, we invite you to join us in the field on a service project and experience firsthand the public lands we are all fighting to protect!...
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Over the past few weeks, the State of Utah and other organizations have taken to the airwaves and Internet to bolster support for vegetation removal projects on Bureau of Land Management-managed public lands in Utah. While these efforts are big on assertions and anecdotal evidence, the actual projects lack scientific...
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March 20 Lease Sale Sold Leases on Public Lands near Bears Ears, Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments, along with Culturally Significant Areas in Southeast Utah Updated March 20, 2018 Contact: Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991 Anne Hawke, Natural Resources Defense Council, 202.513.6263 Michael Saul,...
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What happens when the government is controlled by friends of the oil/gas/mining industry and decides that public lands should be destroyed for short-term rewards? People get angry, and that anger turns to ACTION. Earlier this week, Congress heard from 30 impassioned activists in Washington, D.C. during the Utah Wilderness Coalition’s...
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As you know, SUWA works day in and day out to protect Utah’s magnificent wild lands. From our lawsuits challenging President Trump’s illegal reductions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments to our campaign to stop the BLM from chaining our public lands and fragmenting wilderness with oil and...
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As you know, on December 4, 2017, President Trump signed two illegal proclamations that seek to significantly reduce the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. Despite legal challenges filed by SUWA and partner organizations over these unlawful abuses of presidential authority, the Bureau of Land Management is...
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BLM also does away with popular master leasing plan program FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 1, 2018 Contact: Steve Bloch, Legal Director, 801.428.3981 or 801.859.1552(c) Landon Newell, Staff Attorney, 801.428.3991 Salt Lake City, UT –Today, the Bureau of Land Management released new policy guidance for how the agency will approach oil...
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The Bureau of Land Management in Utah is ramping up a failed policy called chaining—in which bulldozers drag anchor chains to uproot and destroy native pinyon and juniper forests and sagebrush. Why do they do this? To create more forage for cattle on public lands. And now, under the Trump...
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We need your eyes and ears. President Trump’s orders to rescind Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments and replace them with dramatically smaller monuments has stripped protections for over two million acres of land. We believe Trump’s orders are illegal and have filed two lawsuits challenging his drastic reductions...
Read More In response to the announcement today by the Bureau of Land Management that it will begin to prepare Monument Management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, which were illegally modified by President Trump on December 4, 2017, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance executive director Scott Groene issued the...
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As you know, one month ago President Trump issued an unlawful order to repeal the Bears Ears National Monument and replace it with two smaller monuments—leaving nearly 80% of the original monument unprotected. That same day, Representative John Curtis (UT-03) introduced H.R. 4532, the “Shash Jaa National Monument and Indian...
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Federal Public Lands Targeted for Oil and Gas Development near Bears Ears, Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments, and Culturally Significant Areas in Southeast Utah For Immediate Release January 3, 2018 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Landon Newell, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3991 Salt Lake...
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Today, the Winter Solstice takes place in the northern hemisphere, which means we will pass through the longest night of the year. What most of us forget is that this darkness is not universal. In the southern hemisphere, December 21st is the longest DAY of the year. Shift the perspective...
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As you know, last week President Trump issued an unlawful order to repeal the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and replace it with three smaller monuments—leaving nearly half of the original monument unprotected. The next day, Representative Chris Stewart (UT-02) introduced H.R. 4558, the “Grand Staircase-Escalante Enhancement Act” in the U.S....
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 7, 2017 Contact: Jen Ujifusa, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (202) 266-0473 This week, following the outrageous and illegal repeal of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments by President Trump, Utah’s representatives in Congress doubled down on the effort to unprotect these iconic landscapes by introducing...
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President’s abuse of authority strips protections from a priceless cultural and natural heritage that belongs to all Americans FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 7, 2017 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, (801) 428-3981 Washington, D.C. — Three days after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation taking an axe to Bears...
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On December 4th, President Donald Trump swooped into Utah and committed the most destructive act against public lands in the history of the presidency by repealing both the decades-old Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the not-yet-a-year-old Bears Ears National Monument. Grand Staircase was shrunk by 47 percent, with about 1...
Read More President’s abuse of authority strips protections from iconic dinosaur wonderland in Utah and undermines 1906 Antiquities Act FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 4, 2017 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (801.428.3981 or 801.859.1552 (cell)) Washington, DC —Hours after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation taking an axe to Grand Staircase-Escalante...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 4, 2017 Contact: Scott Groene, Executive Director, 801.712.5034 (cell) Steve Bloch, Legal Director, 801-428-3981 Mathew Gross, Media Director, 802-578-3394 Salt Lake City, UT – In response to President Trump’s proclamations today that eviscerate Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance...
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Following President Trump’s unlawful attempt to repeal Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, the federal public lands and significant cultural, paleontological and wilderness resources in those monuments will be left exposed to oil, gas and coal leasing and development, as well as the location and development of new hard...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Steve Bloch, 801-428-3981 In response to reports in the Washington Post today that President Trump intends to eliminate 85% of Bears Ears National Monument and half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Executive Director Scott Groene issued the following statement: “If President Trump...
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On November 8th, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed one of the most egregious dirty energy bills Trump’s Congress has attempted yet. H.R. 4239, the so-called “SECURE Act,” prioritizes fracking above all other energy sources, decimates rules that regulate drilling, guts public involvement and input on development through the...
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A new Utah poll demonstrates, again, that while bold conservation is often controversial at inception, it becomes appreciated with time. But Utah’s politicians still haven’t learned. When significant landscapes are protected by executive orders, they pull the Chicken Little routine and shake their fists at the sky. History proves them...
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A band of badgers confronted Utah state officials today about their efforts to turn federal public lands over to the state of Utah to own or manage. “How can we trust the state with our public lands when they assert that badgers loot artifacts and deny that human driven climate...
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The House Natural Resources Committee has advanced H.R. 3990, a disgraceful bill that would essentially gut the Antiquities Act. The full committee mark-up also effectively killed a Democratic request for more transparency in Zinke’s monument review process. H.R. 3990, sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), would so severely limit a...
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Do you want to hear the sound of helicopters in Utah’s backcountry? Moab-based Pinnacle Helicopters wants to fly wealthy tourists into wilderness quality areas, using a loophole that would allow them to land on state lands inside a Wilderness Study Area near Canyonlands National Park. The National Park Service has...
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Once again the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is poised to auction off outstanding federal public lands in redrock country for fossil fuel development. The latest ill-conceived proposal targets some of the most culturally significant and dramatic lands in southeastern Utah, threatening the region’s air quality, cultural resources, dark night...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) this afternoon released an environmental study in support of its proposal to offer 46 leases (encompassing approximately 57,000 acres) for oil and gas development on federal public land in southeastern Utah.
Read More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 18, 2017 Contact: Laura Peterson, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.236.3762 Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Last Friday afternoon, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a lawsuit in Utah’s Third District Court alleging that San Juan County repeatedly violated Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act when...
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Congress is back in session following its summer vacation and, unfortunately, a return of Congress often means a fresh set of attacks made on public lands. These assaults come in the form of three bills: the so-called Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act, the Native American Energy Act, and...
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Interior Order sets arbitrary process for completing complex environmental review; poses a direct threat to local community involvement in decision making FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 6, 2017 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 Salt Lake City (Sept. 6, 2017): Heading into last week’s Labor Day weekend the Interior...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced plans to offer seventy-five leases for oil and gas development on federal public land on the doorstep of Dinosaur National Monument and in the San Rafael Swell.
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Labor Day commemorates the social and economic achievements of American workers. This century-old tradition began in the spirit of protest from laborers fighting for fair wages, better working conditions, and a 40-hour work week. These days we get to celebrate this tradition in the spirit of leisure, often by spending...
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In August, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent his final monument report to the White House. Remarkably, Secretary Zinke refused to divulge what his final recommendations are. But early reports from the Washington Post indicate that Zinke is recommending President Trump unilaterally (and illegally) shrink both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears...
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In response to news that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has delivered his monuments report to the White House, SUWA executive director Scott Groene released the following statement: “Secretary Zinke’s illegal recommendations to the President are the latest salvo in this administration’s attacks on America’s public lands. It’s outrageous that after...
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Read More Kane and Garfield County Commissions held a series of unlawful meetings over Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, violating Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act For Immediate Release August 15, 2017 Contact: Laura Peterson, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.236.3762 David Reymann, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, 801.257.7939 Today, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance...
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In July, a Resolution supporting Latinx engagement in the great outdoors and conservation was introduced to the U.S. Senate. The Resolution is supported by Democrats and Republicans across the nation as well as in the House of Representatives. It affirms the role Latinos have to play in conservation efforts, supports...
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Once 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...
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The 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...
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This 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...
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Read More* SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE * For Immediate Release: June 22, 2017 Contact: Landon Newell, Staff Attorney Tel: 801-428-3991 Acting 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...
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Acting 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...
Read More San Juan, Kane and Garfield County Commissions held a series of unlawful meetings over Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 15, 2017 Contact: Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981 David Reymann, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, 801.257.7939 In response to a series of recent,...
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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s interim report on the fate of Bears Ears National Monument was released yesterday—and it isn’t good. As expected, Zinke recommends that President Trump dramatically shrink the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument—though he doesn’t say specifically by how much, or where. Instead, he punted the details...
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For Immediate Release: June 12, 2017 Contact: Mathew Gross, (435) 259-4316 Today Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued an interim report that signaled his desire to greatly reduce the Bears Ears National Monument. A final report is expected in August. The following statement is from Mathew Gross, Media Director of the...
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Terrific news! The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has pulled back an outrageous proposal to lease federal public lands for oil and gas development at the doorstep of Zion National Park. And it was citizen action that made the difference! The problem emerged this past winter when the BLM identified...
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You stood up in defense of Bears Ears National Monument. Now we need you to do the same for Grand Staircase-Escalante. Over the last few weeks, you helped deluge the Department of Interior with more than 685,000 comments in support of Bears Ears. Thank you to everyone who took action! ...
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SUWA’s field volunteers set things in motion on Sunday, May 21st, with the season’s first work trip. In collaboration with the Moab BLM, our crew set out for a side drainage into Ten Mile Canyon for the purpose of establishing habitat protections in sensitive bighorn sheep breeding grounds. Moab BLM...
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Last week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke came to Utah to “review” Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments — and SUWA supporters were on the ground to meet him in force. The day before he arrived, more than 3,000 people rallied at the State Capitol in Salt Lake City to...
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President Trump has declared war on Utah’s national monuments. Now is the time to act. President Trump’s April 26th Executive Order requires a “review” of national monuments dating back to 1996. This bureaucratic speak hides the administration’s real intention: dismantling the protections put in place for our nation’s most treasured...
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On April 28th, the Interior Board of Land Appeals issued an order dismissing an appeal filed by Washington County, the City of St. George, and the Washington County Water Conservancy District that challenged the recently finalized Resource Management Plans for the Red Cliffs and Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Areas....
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Great news! Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) last week reintroduced America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (S. 948) in the Senate. The bill would permanently protect 9.2 million acres of Utah’s amazing wilderness—places like Labyrinth Canyon, the Dirty Devil, the San Rafael Swell, and the West Desert, ensuring that they remain wild for...
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For Immediate Release April 12, 2017 SALT LAKE CITY – Mountain West Hard Cider today announced the launch of its new Desolation Prickly Pear Hard Cider in honor of Southern Utah’s iconic Desolation Canyon, available beginning this Saturday, April 15. In an effort to help protect and defend the Utah’s...
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In our work to protect the redrock wilderness, we’ve long had to go beyond Utah’s boundaries to gain support for protecting public lands, and our neighbors in the Four Corners area have been powerful friends and allies. Today, they need our help. The Trump administration wants to open the Greater...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 30, 2026 Over 125 Local, State, and National Groups Oppose Utah Politicians Attempt to Undo Management Plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante – 3.30.26 Threatens to bring chaos to a crown jewel of the nation’s public lands system and upend public lands protection as we know it Contacts:Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA);...
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting public comments on a proposal to auction off 39 lease parcels spanning more than 54,000 acres at its June oil and gas lease sale. Most parcels are in the scenic Ten Mile Canyon region of southeastern Utah, east of the Green River. ...
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While it may feel like we’re constantly on the defensive in this current political climate, SUWA continues to build meaningful relationships with Tribal Nations and broaden the base of support for protecting the redrock. As a result, we’re honored to have received formal resolutions of support for America’s Red Rock...
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