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* WILDERNESS GUARDIAN *
May 2005
Volume 5
Wilderness Quote:
"What a country chooses to save is what a country chooses to
say about itself."
— Mollie Beatty, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993-1996
Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact
information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.
Wilderness News Briefs:
1. Kalmiopsis Wilderness Preserved as Roadless (OR)
2. Rider permits seismic testing in National Park Wilderness (MS)
3. Forest Service purchases Seminole Ranch in Selway-Bitterroot
Wilderness, MT
4. Helicopters in Tongass National Forest Wildernesses? (AK)
*Wilderness News Briefs*
1. Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area Preserved as Roadless - Second
Judge Refuses to Allow Taxpayer Extortion
(Eugene, OR) - For the second time in 5 months, a judge in federal
court has struck a blow for the American taxpayer and preservation
of wilderness. Judge Michael J. Hogan upheld an earlier ruling that
a group of land speculators had waited too long to challenge restrictions
on motorized access into the heart of the pristine Kalmiopsis Wilderness
Area. The speculators, who paid only $150 for 60 acres - had tried
to demand that the U.S. Forest Service either buy them out for $850,000
or allow their plan to irreparably alter the area's landscape.
"The ruling recognizes that Congress intended Wilderness Areas
to be permanently free from roads and vehicle use. It's an important
precedent that will have broad and direct application across the
entire Wilderness system," stated George Nickas, Director of
Wilderness Watch, one of the plaintiffs in the case…
More at http://www.westernlaw.org
2. Rider permits seismic testing in National Park Wilderness
(MS)
Wilderness Site May See Oil Drilling
By Julie Cart, LOS ANGELES TIMES
GULFPORT, Miss. - Tucked away in the 96-page emergency military
spending bill signed by President Bush this month are four paragraphs
that give energy companies the right to explore for oil and gas
inside a sprawling national park.
The amendment written by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) codifies Mississippi's
claim to mineral rights under federal lands and allows drilling
for natural gas under the Gulf Islands National Seashore - a thin
necklace of barrier islands that drapes the coastline of the Gulf
of Mexico.
As a preliminary step to drilling, the rider permits seismic testing,
which involves detonating sound-wave explosions to locate oil and
gas deposits in the park. Two of the five Mississippi islands are
wilderness areas, and the environs are home to federally protected
fish and birds, a large array of sea turtles and the gulf's largest
concentration of bottlenose dolphins.
The legislation marks the first time the federal government has
sanctioned seismic exploration on national park property designated
as wilderness - which carries with it the highest level of protection…
More at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gulf31may31,0,3792210.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Text of the amendment at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c109:6:./temp/~c109zUetFs:e167376:
3. Forest Service purchases Seminole Ranch in Selway-Bitterroot
Wilderness, MT
Associated Press
LEWISTON -- Government officials announced that 132 acres inside
the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area are getting federal protection.
What was once a 1908 homestead known as the Seminole Ranch has been
purchased by the Forest Service in a buyout and land swap with a
Virginia-based conservation group. Ranger Joe Hudson says getting
control over the land will protect it from development. The 1.3
million acre wilderness is home to bighorn sheep, grizzlies and
elk.
In all, the Forest Service had to pay $1.5 million and swap 180
acres of timberland to get the property. The ranch had been used
in recent years for guided hunting trips. It had it's own primitive
airstrip.
Some buildings may be removed while historical cabins will be left,
as Hudson puts it, to melt back into the landscape.
4. Helicopters in Tongass National Forest Wildernesses? (AK)
The Forest Service is reviewing a proposal to use helicopters to
access 900+ vegetation monitoring plots in Tongass Wildernesses
over the next 10 years. The Forest Service determined that the use
of helicopters was the minimum action necessary for achieving the
project, as well as the minimum tool for safety and accessibility.
Several years ago this same proposal was approved on the Tongass,
but reversed by the Chief of the Forest Service upon appeal. Now,
in a new political climate, it’s back on the table.
The proposal originated with the Forest Inventory Analysis team,
a research group charged with monitoring vegetation resources on
regional Forest Service lands. Data from the Tongass will be combined
with the similar projects across the country to form a statistically
uniform nationwide grid of monitoring plots. Each regional research
station is charged with accessing 10% of the study plots each year
to conduct vegetation inventories.
Though access for monitoring in other Wildernesses is accomplished
by foot, boat, or horseback, the team claims that ground access
is too dangerous, citing bears, sprained ankles, and steep slippery
terrain. If the proposal is approved, the Tongass will be the only
forest in the country using helicopters for vegetation studies.
Wilderness Watch participated in a negotiation meeting with Forest
Service personnel, who agreed to reconsider the feasibility of conducting
the studies without motorized equipment. Wilderness Watch is critical
of the agency’s determination, as motorized equipment can only
be used in Wilderness to protect the wilderness resource or in matters
of public safety. As invasive species are not currently present,
invading wilderness with helicopters for unnecessary monitoring
damages wilderness rather than protecting it.
More information: TinaMarie Ekker, Wilderness Watch, (406) 542-2048;
tmekker@wildernesswatch.org
_____________________________________________________________________________
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 web site at www.wildernesswatch.org.
Wilderness Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations
are fully tax-deductible.
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
Phone: (406) 542-2048
Fax: (406) 542-7714
http://www.wildernesswatch.org
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