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Protect Utah's Redrock Wilderness
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Progressive Portal
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Jun 05, 2005 23:15 PDT
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BUSH ADMINISTRATION IS CONSIDERING OPENING DELICATE DESERT
TO OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS OFF-ROAD VEHICLE USE
[From the Natural Resources Defense Council <http://www.nrdc.org>]
The United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently revising
seven long-term land-use plans that affect more than 11 million acres of
public lands in Utah, including roughly six million acres proposed for
wilderness designation. These seven plans will serve as the foundation
for every management decision the BLM makes over the next two decades in
southern and eastern Utah.
Among the lands covered by these plans is an area known as the Redrock
Wilderness, a desert area marked by delicate sandstone arches and
fantastical crimson towers created by the erosion of salt deposits from
an ancient sea. The fragile soils that ring these natural monuments
sustain Pronghorn antelope, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, desert
tortoises, Gila monsters, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and mountain
lions - not to mention bursts of spring wildflowers.
The Bush administration is considering plans that would sacrifice much
of this precious wilderness to oil and gas extraction and off-road
vehicle use. The government allowed 50,000-pound trucks to crash through
the desert in search of oil and gas in 2002; scientists say it might
take up to 300 years for the soils to recover from the damage. Permanent
energy development, which would deface the desert with a network of
roads and pipelines, towering wells and pumps and massive waste pits,
would be even more devastating.
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Citizen groups have submitted alternative proposals that would protect
sensitive areas while still allowing oil and gas leasing and development
in and near appropriate sites, such as the eastern Book Cliffs and the
Uintah Basin. These citizen-backed "Heritage Proposals" would also
allocate plenty of room for off-road vehicles to roam, while keeping
wild places free from noise, tracks, and degradation.
The current planning effort represents a huge opportunity for the BLM to
protect Utah's most cherished places from industrial development and
off-road vehicle damage. Urge the Bureau to adopt the Citizens' Heritage
Proposals for the Price, Vernal, Moab, Monticello, Richfield, St.
George, and Kanab field offices.
Take Action
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Send your comments to the Bureau of Land Management at:
http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52787
More Information
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From the Natural Resources Defense Council:
http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock
http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/fastfacts.asp
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance:
http://www.suwa.org
Campaign for America's Wilderness:
http://www.leaveitwild.org/regions/utah/index.html
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