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March
2002
Volume 3
Welcome to the Wilderness Guardian, a monthly online digest
dedicated to providing up-to-date news and information concerning
Wilderness protection and stewardship nationwide. A service of Wilderness
Watch, the Guardian was created to help Wilderness advocates keep
abreast of breaking news, as well as providing contact information
to facilitate public participation.
Interesting Tidbits & Wilderness Quotes:
Another Wilderness for Idaho? Negotiations are underway for
the possible creation of the Boulder-White Cloud Wilderness Area
in Idaho. At 500,000 acres, the proposed Wilderness is twice the
size of the Sawtooth Wilderness, and a quarter of the size of the
Frank Church-River of No return Wilderness.
Finding Refuge - The Cabeza Prieta in southern Arizona is the
largest Wilderness-designated Wildlife Refuge in the lower-48. Comprised
of 860,000 acres of arid desert, the Cabeza Prieta poses a formidable
challenge to migrants seeking unnoticed entry into the United States,
as it has for a long history of other travelers before them.
"At the same time that wilderness boundaries are being established
and protected by Acts of Congress, attention must be given to the
quality of wilderness within these boundaries, or we may be preserving
empty shells." – George Marshall
Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact
information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.
Wilderness News Briefs:
1. Conservationists Challenge Rock Creek Mine, Again
2. National Park Service Recognizes Overuse of Mount Rainier Wilderness,
WA
3. New Backcountry Management Plan for Denali National Park due
Soon
4. Road Closure Ordered for two Arizona Wildernesses
5. Southeastern Arizona Wilderness Fire Contained
6. New Jersey Wilderness Threatened by Dune Buggies
7. Wolves to be Released in Gila Wilderness, NM
8. Independent Panel of Experts Finds Serious Flaws in Wilderness
Management
Action Alerts:
1. Comment on the Management Plan for the Steens Mountain Wilderness,
OR
* Wilderness News Briefs *
1. New lawsuits challenge proposed mine in Cabinet Mountain Wilderness,
MT
Since December, five conservation groups have filed two lawsuits
challenging the Forest Service’s approval of plans to construct
the Rock Creek Mine under the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness in Montana.
In January, the groups challenged the Montana Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), charging that the agency failed to evaluate the probability
of pollution to Rock Creek, the Clark Fork River, and Lake Pend
Oreille. The more recent suit, brought by the same groups, charges
that the DEQ should not have approved a mine that will violate air
quality standards. In the future, the groups plan to appeal the
agencies’ overall approval of the project.
For More Information:
High Country News: http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=11019
Spokesman-Review:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=022002&ID=s1103971
Missoulian:
http://www.missoulian.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/February/20-2383-news09.txt
Rock Creek Alliance: http://www.rockcreekalliance.org
Clark Fork Coalition: http://www.clarkfork.org
Montana Environmental Information Center: http://www.meic.org
Mineral Policy Center: http://www.mineralpolicy.org
Montana Wilderness Association: http://www.wildmontana.org
2. New management plan recognizes overuse of Mount Rainier Wilderness
Responding to evidence of overuse, the National Park Service (NPS)
approved a new management plan for Mount Rainier National Park,
a designated Wilderness. The plan recognizes the need to limit access
to protect the area’s wilderness character. Skiers from Crystal
Mountain ski area are currently accessing the Wilderness with help
from the area’s ski lifts, a problem that promises to increase
with the area’s plans for expansion.
For More Information:
Tacoma News Tribune: http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/0219a13.html
Mount Rainier National Park: http://www.mount.rainier.national-park.com
Wilderness.net: http://www.wilderness.net/news.cfm?RecordID=212&DispFullRecord=yes
3. New Denali Backcountry Plan under development
A new backcountry management plan is being developed for Denali
National Park in Alaska. The plan, to be released this fall, will
influence the management policies of the National Park and the designated
Wilderness. Wilderness Watch is currently reviewing limited aspects
of the plan, and will keep you updated as the information becomes
public.
4. Road closures implemented to protect pronghorn
Arizona land managers are issuing a road closure this summer that
will close about 85 percent of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
and one-third of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to the
public from March 15 to June 15. The closure was issued to protect
the pronghorn, the fastest land animal in North America. Opponents
of the closure believe that the action punishes the public while
ignoring the real problem – namely the United States border
control vehicles patrolling the US-Mexico border. Border patrol
vehicles are exempted from the closure, allowing them to continue
patrolling in Wilderness despite concerns about their impacts.
For More Information:
Arizona Daily Star: Get Story www.azstarnet.com (March 4 article)
5. Miller Peak Wilderness fire contained, AZ
A fire was reported in the Huachuca Mountains on March 2nd, probably
a result of an abandoned "warming fire" set by illegal
immigrants. Before it was contained on March 12th, the fire burned
2,189 acres of the area, including land designated as the Miller
Peak Wilderness. No structures were lost, and the Nature Conservancy’s
380-acre Ramsey Canyon Preserve, a popular bird-watching spot, was
reopened without damage.
For More Information:
San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.afseee.org/fsnews/020301newsr.htm#southwestern
Sierra Vista Herald: http://www.svherald.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/March/06-3993-news2.txt
Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0306mountainfire06-ON.html
Tucson Citizen: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/3_9_02fire.html
Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0310ValleyRailBriefs10.html
Arizona Daily Star: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/azstar/20020308/lo/cochise_county_plans_evacuations_if_wildfire_spreads_1.html
6. Legislation aims to change Wilderness boundaries to allow
ORV use
Controversy is building over Holgart beach on the Edwin B. Forsythe
National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Despite the fact that only
2 percent of the state is designated Wilderness, off-road vehicle
users are pushing to lift Wilderness restrictions on the 2.5 mile
stretch of seashore that is visited by over 300 species of bird.
Legislation is being introduced (HR 896) to alter the boundaries
of the Wilderness to accommodate motor vehicle use. Find out what
you can do at the address below!
For More Information:
The Wilderness Society: http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction
7. Mexican gray wolves to be released in Gila Wilderness, NM
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the New Mexico Department
of Fish and Game are planning to reintroduce two breeding pairs
of endangered Mexican gray wolves into the Gila Wilderness in southwestern
New Mexico. Conservationists support the plan, seeing it as a step
towards reestablishing ecosystem health for the area, which is currently
short on keystone predators like the wolf. The plan is opposed by
ranchers and rural residents who fear the wolves will threaten livestock
and human populations. The USFWS also plans to release wolves in
neighboring Arizona.
For More Information:
Eastern Arizona Courier:
http://eacourier.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/March/12-844-news07.txt
8. Wilderness Stewardship Panel Asks Agencies to Improve Wilderness
Record
A ten-person panel appointed to critique the federal government’s
wilderness management policies has found numerous shortcomings since
the establishment of the National Wilderness Preservation System
in 1964. In a report to the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior,
the panel calls for immediate action to stop the continuing degradation
of the nation’s fragile wilderness heritage.
The report was issued after 2 years of study by an independent panel
of wilderness scholars throughout the country. In 1999, the Pinchot
Institute for Conservation was asked by the four wilderness management
agencies, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National
Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, to review their management
history and come up with recommendations for improvement. This request
resulted in the 25-page report entitled "Ensuring Stewardship
of the National Preservation System" which stated the importance
of its task in the following language: "37 years after the
passage of the Wilderness Act, we find that the Wilderness System
has grown from 10 million acres in 54 units to nearly 105 million
acres in 600 units. We find also that the National Wilderness Preservation
System is more important to the American people than ever before."
For More Information:
Pinchot Institute for Conservation: http://www.pinchot.org/pic/wilderness.html
* Action Alerts*
1. Speak up for the Steens Mountain Wilderness
Comments Needed by April 15, 2002
Oregon’s newest Wilderness needs your help! The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) is developing a Resource Management Plan for the
Andrews Resource Area and Steens Mountain Cooperative Management
and Protection Area in central Oregon, which includes the new 155,632
acre Steens Mountian Wilderness. Interior Secretary Gale Norton
has appointed a 12-person council to advice the BLM in shaping the
policy, including a private landowner and proponents of grazing,
commercial interests and motor vehicle access.
Your letters are needed to urge the BLM to make protection of the
area’s Wilderness character the Management Plan’s chief
priority. The points listed below may help you formulate your argument,
though your comments should be in your own words:
= The Management Plan must end the use of motor vehicles in the
Steens Mountain Wilderness. The BLM currently sanctions some motor
vehicle use in the Wilderness, allowing an outfitter motorized access
to leased land within the Wilderness, and for a local realtor to
drive clients to a parcel of private land also within the Wilderness.
Furthermore, ranchers are insisting that they were "promised"
that they could drive inside the Wilderness, although the Steens
Mountain legislation contains no such promise. The BLM is currently
working on an Environmental Assessment to determine what type of
access will be allowed for private inholdings.
= Decisions on access to private inholdings should be evaluated
on a case by case basis with opportunities for public comment. Past
modes of transportation should not be used as the main criteria
for determining access. Instead, foot and horseback access should
receive priority consideration to protect the area’s Wilderness
values.
= Numerous "cherry-stemmed" roads make up portions of
the Wilderness boundary. Many of these minor roads should be closed
to prevent purposeful or inadvertent motor vehicle trespass –
already a problem for the new Wilderness.
= The plan should establish group size limits that apply equally
to private visitors and commercial outfitters to ensure opportunities
for solitude.
= Recreational developments, such as signs and trails, should be
kept to an absolute minimum to protect the area’s Wilderness
character. Trailhead signboards should stress the importance of
leave-no-trace camping techniques and educate visitors about the
special restrictions that apply to travelling in a Wilderness.
The BLM needs to hear your opinions! Don’t let Norton’s
panel erode Wilderness protections for the Steens! Please send your
comments to the following address by April 15, 2002:
Gary Foulkes
RMP/EIS Project Manager
Burns BLM District Office
28910 Highway 20 West, Hines, OR 97738
Fax: (541) 573-4411 Email: or020mb@or.blm.gov
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Since
its founding in 1989, Wilderness Watch has pursued its mission
as the citizen voice for Wilderness
stewardship, giving a voice to the wilderness and wild rivers of
our national preservation systems. We
seek to preserve our unique natural heritage - the public will articulated
by the Wilderness Act and Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act.
To join Wilderness
Watch please visit our website at www.wildernesswatch.org.
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe from
this list, have any questions, or would like to post a news
release, please contact Hilary Wood at hwood@wildernesswatch.org.
If you prefer the post, please send your
letters to:
Wilderness Watch
P.O. Box 9175
Missoula, MT 59807
Ph: (406) 542-2048
Fax: (406) 542-7714
http://www.wildernesswatch.org
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