December 2003
Volume 12

Know Someone who Shares Your Passion for Wilderness? Give them the gift of Wilderness this Holiday Season and help protect America’s proudest legacy – our National Wilderness Preservation System! (And its Tax deductible too!)

"…in the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the streets or villages…in the woods we return to reason and faith." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

What could be a better surprise this holiday season than the gift of Wilderness? Whether your favorite Wilderness is Okefenokee, Gates of the Arctic, Death Valley, or Shenandoah, you understand the unique and inestimable value of places where "the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man." A gift membership and/or holiday donation to Wilderness Watch helps assure that your favorite Wilderness lands and rivers remain wild and free to the benefit of present and future generations of all living things.

Wilderness Watch is dedicated solely to the protection and proper stewardship of the lands and rivers included in the National Wilderness Preservation System and Wild and Scenic Rivers System. As a grassroots organization, we depend upon the passion and support of our involved membership, making your donation (no matter what size!) or gift membership of critical importance.

Donations can be made online at www.wildernesswatch.org or by sending a check or money order to Wilderness Watch, PO Box 9175, Missoula, MT 59802.

Gift Memberships ($15-$25) can be purchased by contacting Glenn Marangelo at (406) 542 – 2048, ext. 1 or gmarangelo@wildernesswatch.org. Each new member will receive a welcome packet and our quarterly newsletter updating them on Wilderness Watch’s work to safeguard America’s Wilderness and Wild Rivers.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Wilderness Watch!

Interesting Tidbits & Wilderness Quotes:

From ENS:
December 17, 2003 - The Bush administration must reinstate a 2001 Clinton administration ban on snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday. The decision puts the Park Service back on track to phase out snowmobile use in the parks by next year and is a victory for conservationists who have battled long and hard for the ban…More at http://www.ens-newswire.com

Kudos for Canada: A huge forest-protection initiative has been proposed in Canada, aiming to put half of the nation's northern boreal forests -- some 650 million acres -- off-limits to logging and development, and to ensure that activity in the other half is carefully controlled and eco-friendly.
Read more at: http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1773

Quote: "There are no words that can tell of the hidden spirit of the wilderness..." — Theodore Roosevelt

Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.

Wilderness News Briefs:

(1) Wilderness Watch joins fight to end illegal & destructive grazing on the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wildernesses, NM

(2) Mining Industry to draft management plan for Steens Mtn. Wilderness, OR

Action Alerts:

(1) Comments needed on proposal for unrestricted motor vehicle use by ranchers in the Steens Mountain Wilderness, OR!

(2) Keep Steens Wild! Comment on the draft Resource Management Plan!

*Wilderness News Briefs*

(1) Wilderness Watch joins fight to end illegal & destructive grazing on the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wildernesses, NM

A federal judge recently granted our motion to intervene in the case of Diamond Bar Cattle Company v. USA, a suit seeking to end illegal and destructive grazing on the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wildernesses. Concerned that in its defense the Forest Service might intentionally fail to adequately protect the Wildernesses, Wilderness Watch and a coalition of conservation groups moved to gain intervener status. Intervener status allows the coalition to submit briefs for the court’s consideration and, among other things, to appeal the final decision.

(2) Mining Industry to draft management plan for Steens Mtn. Wilderness, OR

Mining Leaders Drafting Steens Blueprint
The Oregonian 12/03/03
— By Michael Milstein

The U.S. government has hired leaders of mining groups that promote industry access to public lands to prepare a management blueprint for Steens Mountain, among the largest protected public landscapes in Oregon.

They said, however, that their mining involvements will not influence potential uses for Steens land.

The situation arose amid a Bush administration drive to hire out to private companies work historically handled by public agencies. The new plan for managing Steens Mountain is the first such project in Oregon -- and one of the first in the nation -- turned over to an outside business.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials said they did not know until informed by The Oregonian that the company they enlisted has ties to the mining industry…

Read more at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1070457011175230.xml

*Action Alerts*

(1) Comments needed on proposal for unrestricted motor vehicle use by ranchers in the Steens Mountain Wilderness, OR!

When the Steens Mtn Wilderness in Oregon was designated in 2000, the legislation transferred 104,000 acres of public land into private ownership of five cattle ranchers and paid them over $5 million in cash for the inconvenience of moving their cattle from a portion of the wilderness to the newly privatized land. In exchange, the public gained 18,000 acres of land originally owned by the ranchers inside the wilderness, and a Steens Mtn Wilderness that is partially cow-free.

Now four ranchers are requesting permission from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to use motor vehicles and mechanized equipment inside those portions of the wilderness where grazing is still allowed. Ranchers claim they need motorized access to manage their livestock and maintain range facilities such as fences and stock tanks that are located on public land.

In response to the ranchers' requests, BLM is assessing four preliminary alternatives:

A) Unrestricted access for motor vehicles and mechanized equipment
B) Voluntary reduction in motorized/mechanized access
C) Limited motorized/mechanized access when maintenance activities "could not be readily or practically accomplished by stock use."
D) No motorized access for repairing or maintaining range facilities

Holding a permit to graze livestock on public land is a privilege, not a property right. Having range facilities such as stock tanks on public lands does not give ranchers a 'property right' to use motor vehicles and heavy equipment such as backhoes inside wilderness. However, BLM is incorrectly basing its assessment of the ranchers' access requests on federal law that governs access to privately owned land.

Comment Points to Consider:

(1) The Steens Mtn Wilderness Act gives BLM the authority to allow "occasional" use of motorized equipment for maintaining range developments in wilderness "where practical alternatives are not available and such use would not have a significant adverse impact on the natural environment." Much of the necessary maintenance can be accomplished with hand tools and packstock, such as fence repairs. Any need for motor vehicle use by the ranchers inside wilderness should be assessed on a case by case basis, not authorized through a permit granting blanket approval for unrestricted or voluntarily restricted motorized access.

(2) Public land ranchers do not have a 'property right' for unrestricted motor vehicle use inside Wilderness. The Steens Mtn Act states that:
"motorized or mechanized vehicles on federal lands is appropriate for the construction or mainteance of agricultural facilities, fish and wildlife management, or ecological restoration projects, EXCEPT in areas designated as wilderness" This clause clearly precludes unrestricted or "voluntarily restricted" motorized access for routine maintenance of range facilities.

E-MAIL COMMENTS TODAY:

John_Neeling@blm.gov

(2) Keep Steens Wild! Comment on the draft Resource Management Plan!

The BLM is seeking public comments on a draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and EIS for the Steens Mountain Wilderness in Oregon and surrounding BLM lands. Although designated by Congress as Wilderness in 2000, BLM has yet to begin managing Steens Mountain as wilderness. There are some highly vocal local interests who seem determined to assure that nothing will change in regard to their commercial activities and use of motor vehicles inside the wilderness.
It is CRITICAL that BLM hear from the public that this wilderness belongs to all Americans, not just the residents of Harney County, Oregon!

SEND COMMENTS BY January 5, 2004 to:

Gary Foulkes, RMP Project Manager
Bureau of Land Management
28910 Highway 20 West
Hines, OR 97738
e-mail: OR_Burns_RMP@or.blm.gov
Fax: 541-573-4411

(1) There is a major conflict of interest in hiring a firm with strong ties to the mining industry to write the Steens Mtn management plan. BLM should not allow the firm Enviroscientists to write the Final plan!!!

(2) It is very difficult to determine in the draft plan whether certain proposed activities apply to wilderness, or only to the non-wilderness lands covered by the plan. The Final Plan should explicitly indicate whether a certain goal or action will apply to wilderness, such as juniper manipulation.

(3) The RMP intends to encompass a wilderness management plan and transportation plan. Both of these should be released as separate documents for public comment.

(4) Several of the draft alternatives propose new developments at trailheads, potential new trail construction, and posting trail signs in wilderness where none currently exist. Such development is not necessary to protect the area as wilderness, and would diminish current opportunities for route-finding, self-reliance, and exploration.

(5) The same group size limits should apply to both commercial and non-commercial groups, with no exceptions for certain 'historic users' as BLM's preferred alternative proposes.

(6) Encounters with other groups should not be allowed to significantly increase over time, as suggested in some alternatives.

(7) Management-ignited fire should NOT be allowed in wilderness. Support allowing for natural wildland fire to burn, as proposed in Alternative B.

(8) The preferred alternative recommends closing only 7 miles of the area's 2,328 miles of vehicle routes, despite evidence that more than 600 miles are either dead-ends, little-used, and redundant. The plan should close the numerous dead-end "cherry-stemmed" routes that are not needed but that diminish the area's sense of solitude from motorized vehicles.

(9) The plan should emphasize that input from the Steens Mtn Advisory Council will be considered solely as suggestions, not as 'direction' that BLM must follow. The Steens Mtn Wilderness belongs to ALL Americans!

(10) The plan should place strong emphasis on making Steens Mtn a motor-free wilderness to the fullest extent possible under the law.

(11) With consideration to the above points, support the Citizens' Alternative for consideration in the Final Plan as proposed by Sierra Club and others -- read at: http://www.oregon.sierraclub.org/conserv/hidsrt/index.asp

_____________________________________________________________________________
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