A House Natural Resources subcommittee last month held a hearing on the legislation, which has not come up for a vote in the 20 years it has been introduced. The bill, called America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, would designate 9.4 million acres of public land in Utah as wilderness, effectively barring new roads, mining or off-road vehicle use.
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Utah: Democrats in congress ask Interior to preserve 9.43 million acres
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009Colorado: San Jauns wilderness push gains momentum
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009Both senators are now on board for an extra 60,000 acres of wilderness. This is easily one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the west, and IMHO the most scenic in Colorado.
Canada signs on to continent-wide wilderness deal
Sunday, November 8th, 2009This all sounds good, but lets see some action. The deal joins the U.S., Mexico and Canada together in defending wild places. Canada can start right off the bat by absorbing the North Fork of the Flathead country into Waterton Park.
Roadless Rule in 10th circuit court nears conclusion
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009In a turn of events, the federal government is now arguing in favor of keeping the roadless rule. The state of Wyoming of course is opposed.
The 10th circut court decision may be the final ruling on this most important conservation issue. The 9th circuit court has already upheld the rule.
Montana: Senator Tester betrays wilderness
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009Interesting article by Brian Peck. Of particular concern is the fact that these new wilderness areas would be “WINO”(wilderness in name only).
Colorado: Mountain bikers oppose Hidden Gems proposal
Tuesday, November 3rd, 200998% of the lower 48 is roaded, trailed and open to bike use. I don’t see what the problem is for the Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association.
Tester randomly cutting out wilderness acreage in his “wilderness”bill?
Thursday, October 29th, 2009According to a new article in a Great Falls paper, he is. Tester has been slashing recommended wilderness acreage when mountain bikers complain about a specific trail. In fact, this article points out three instances in which Tester did just that:
For example, in far southwest Montana’s Sapphire Mountains, the bill moved Trail 313 out of proposed Sapphires wilderness by adjusting the boundary. It was previously running in and out of proposed wilderness.
Green group calls on Obama admin to stop roadless Tongass logging
Sunday, October 25th, 2009WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Pew Environment Group and 10 other conservation organizations called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today to stop two controversial timber sales in roadless areas of Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, one of the last intact temperate rainforests in the world. The groups asked Vilsack to honor President Barack Obama’s commitment to uphold the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which was issued to protect 58.5 million acres of undeveloped national forests, including the Tongass
Colorado: Salazar introduces bill designating new wilderness
Saturday, October 24th, 2009This is great news for a beautiful area. The San Juan Mountains are an outstanding range in SW Colorado. Also, I don’t see any kind of sell out in this plan that would trade away thousandsof acres of roadless lands to obtain wilderness.
OMG? You mean that people can actually pass a wilderness bill without hundreds of millions in industry subsidies and sacrificing rare roadless area to appease haters in the process?
Someone put this bill in Tester’s pocket.
Conservationist urges cabon reserves in U.S. forests
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009This is a very bright approach to forest conservation. By creating these carbon reserves, we are also essentially protecting roadless areas. And for whatever reason, climate change tactics are easier to explain to the public in easier soundbytes than the benefits of roadless preservation.
