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TAKE ACTIONAmerica’s Wilderness at Risk
The bottom line: Under the Administration’s new policies, our nation will lose millions of acres of potential wilderness to commercial interests instead of preserving them for future generations. Arizona is no exception. Bush’s wilderness attacks could impact the sweeping terrain in Vermilion Cliffs and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monuments; the verdant slopes of Sonoran Desert and Ironwood Forest National Monuments; and the cool, plunging depths of the Agua Fria River and its canyon. With development pressures outside these national monuments, what will become of the wildlife that depends on these special places for survival if they are carved up with roads, mined, and otherwise destroyed? Read more about the various threats to your wilderness by clicking on these links… No More WildernessOn April 11, in a late-night settlement
with the state of Utah, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton renounced
the long-standing wilderness review process of the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM). With this landmark ‘sweetheart’ deal impacting all states across
the West, the Bush Administration put tens of millions of acres of unprotected
wild lands at risk of development by commercial interests. Simultaneously,
Secretary Norton instructed the BLM in Alaska to cease wilderness reviews
in its resource management plans and said wilderness can be considered
with broad support of Alaska elected officials. These actions jeopardize
years of careful wilderness study by the Arizona Wilderness Coalition
and other volunteer groups – and even BLM field staff – to document and
recommend potential wilderness areas. The settlement, heralded by a May, 4 2003 New York Times editorial as the “End of Wilderness,” prevents the BLM from inventorying and recommending to Congress any of its lands for wilderness designation. The administration’s decision to remove this important tool for federal land managers, and citizens, results in a radical shift from the balanced land-use planning followed for decades by Republican and Democratic administrations alike. Additionally, the settlement deal immediately unraveled interim protection for 2.6 million acres of lands in Utah, which the BLM had found to possess wilderness characteristics, and revoked protections for some protected Wilderness Study Areas nation-wide. Before this drastic policy shift, protecting lands with potential for wilderness designation was given equal weight with other possible land uses in the BLM’s planning process. In fact, federal law requires the BLM to keep up-to-date inventories of its land along with land use plans whereby Wilderness Study Areas could be established until Congress decides whether or not to permanently protect the areas. Now, these areas remain unprotected from an array of threats, such as mining, road building, and other destructive activities. Roads to RuinThe Bush Administration’s assault on wilderness goes farther. In January, it announced a new regulation that opens the door for a wholesale giveaway of treasured lands owned by the American people. In issuing its “disclaimer of interest” rule, the Bush Administration resurrected a 137-year-old loophole known as Revised Statute 2477 (RS 2477) which allows states and counties to make road proposals through our National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Monuments, Forests, Wilderness Areas – and even potential wilderness. The loophole – which was repealed by Congress in 1976 – was originally
used to encourage settlement of the West by granting highway rights-of-way
and is completely unnecessary today with the modern laws available. The same week as her anti-wilderness settlement, after more than two years of negotiations behind closed doors, Secretary Norton penned another agreement with Utah purporting to establish a process by which RS 2477 rights-of-way will be recognized. In reality, this agreement leaves tens of millions of acres of treasured public lands vulnerable to a web of spurious road proposals. In particular, anti-wilderness proponents are eager to use RS 2477 to prevent future wilderness designations because roads would automatically disqualify areas for wilderness consideration. Representative Mark Udall (D-CO) has introduced legislation to establish a responsible process for recognizing any legitimate RS 2477 rights-of-way and ensures a public process. In addition, Udall recently offered an amendment to a funding bill that would have prevented citizen tax dollars from being used to process these claims. While the full protection of the Udall amendment was not passed, the House of Representatives did take a first step to curb the broad anti-wilderness agenda of the Bush Administration. We expect the Senate to take up this issue in September, and calls and letters from citizens in support of closing this public lands giveaway loophole will be needed. Bush Administration
Takes Wilderness Case to Supreme Court
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In
Arizona and around the nation, the Bush Administration has launched a
multi-pronged assault on America’s wilderness heritage. Some of our most
special places are in jeopardy like never before: places that Arizona’s
citizens are working hard to protect may never even have the chance to
be considered by Congress for wilderness designation. 
However, with the Bush Administration issuing a rule allowing the government
to “disclaim” federal interest in portions of these treasured lands, streambeds,
hiking trails, and cow paths could be turned into paved highways. 
