Wilderness at risk from new policies under Bush

Since taking office, the Bush administration has opened up an area larger than Texas and Oklahoma combined to logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling -- stripping protections from 10 percent of America's public lands.

In July, the Forest Service essentially dismantled the Roadless Area Conservation Rule by requiring governors to petition for protection for national forests. The Sierra Club and its allies have set an ambitious goal of generating 1 million comments by the end of the public comment period on September 14.

Wildlands at Risk: Executive Summary
It's summertime and Americans from coast to coast are heading to the great outdoors, leaving behind the stress of the workplace for the vast expanses of wild places that comprise America's extraordinary public lands system.

Americans love the outdoors and have long treasured the natural and scenic beauty of our lands and supported the preservation of the wilderness that is our American heritage and has shaped our American character. Hunters, hikers, boaters, anglers and families all seek the recreation and solitude that these landscapes provide. Increasingly, these places – from the forested hills of the Southeast to the rugged peaks of the Rockies to the towering ancient forests of the Northwest and Alaska
– offer an escape from the frenzy of modern life, not to mention unparalleled recreational opportunities, clean water and wildlife habitat.

Regrettably, America's wildlands are facing an unprecedented threat from Bush administration policies that are threatening to destroy these special places and reverse decades of progress on public lands protection. Since taking office, the Bush administration has opened up an area larger than Texas and Oklahoma combined to logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling – including some of the most environmentally sensitive places – stripping protections from 10 percent of America's public lands.
A recent issue of Sierra magazine catalogued this assault.

With each of these proposals – whether to ramp-up oil and gas exploration in the Rocky Mountain region, allow unfettered access for road-building and off-road vehicle use, or ultimately remove protection for hundreds of millions of acres of U.S. lands managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management – the administration is allowing irresponsible corporations to benefit at our expense. By dismantling important environmental protections and pursuing development in previously unspoiled
areas, the Bush administration is exploiting the public's land for private gain.

“Wildlands at Risk” is not designed to chronicle all the thousands of species places at risk. This is an introduction to a sampling of wild places across the country that represents the kinds of threats America's wildlands face from Bush administration policies. “Wildlands at Risk” chronicles 25 places covering all regions of the country – from Vermont to Georgia, Arizona to Alaska, Minnesota to Texas – where Bush administration policies have already and could have devastating impacts on the wild places that Americans cherish.

You can read about 25 special places -- such as Idaho's Owyhee Canyonlands in "Wildlands at Risk," a new Sierra Club report. Read more about this danger:
Wildlands at Risk Report

Read more . . .
Mark Fiore animates the Bush Roadless Rule You will love this!

Mark Fiore animates the Democratic Convention and this too!!

EASTERN OREGON ADVENTURES
Backpacking Big Indian Gorge in The Steens
Owyhee Canyon wilderness study area in south east Oregon
ONDA's Owyhee wilderness inventory camp near Rome, Oregon
NOLS group on an Owyhee River Canyon adventure
Owyhee River desert lands - Jordan Valley Rodeo
Steens Mountain wedding in Eastern Oregon

The Badlands Wilderness
BLM posts Reward for information on Juniper rustlers
BLM weighing public input on management plan
Oregon's Badlands hit by old growth Juniper rustlers Photos
Congressman Greg Walden to visit The Badlands
Badlands Wilderness endorsed by COTA
OpEd - Unregulated OHV use is being reviewed across the western states
OHV use curtailed by new USFS policy decisions
Sierra Club's Juniper Group supports Badlands Wilderness
OHV regulation discussed at BLM meeting in Bend, Oregon
OpEd - Badlands part of BLM's recreation management area
OpEd - We need the Badlands Wilderness
OpEd - Off-roaders have no reason to fear Badlands Wilderness designation
Speak for the Badlands at Town Hall Meeting
Hiking poles are becoming essential gear
Vandals destroy ancient pictographs in the Badlands
Senator Wyden tests support of Badlands Wilderness
Badlands Wilderness endorsed by Bend City Commissioners
The Badlands: proposed for Wilderness status
The Badlands, a brief history
The Badlands pictographs reported 75 year ago
Map of huge exclusive OHV areas adjoining the Badlands

Environment
Nation's forests might be on the road to ruin, by President Bill Clinton
Wilderness at risk from new Bush policies
Steens management scandal may affect wilderness study areas
BLM outsourced Steens Management Plan to mining industry leaders!
Owyhee River wilderness study area inventory with ONDA
OHV vandals charged in Yellowstone
Oregon's B and B Complex fire closure modified
Senate says NO to Big Oil in Alaska
Gloria Flora - Environmental Hero
Re-introducing wolves into Oregon
George Bush overlooking the environment

Wilderness at risk from new policies under George Bush