Some Western Counties Feel They Have Enough Wilderness

Over the past several weeks, there have been county commissioners from a number of western states who feel that their respective counties have enough land designated as wilderness. Many people feel that wilderness designations "tie up land" indefinitely, as well as restrict development of resources at the local level. A new wildlands initiative announced recently by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that requires the Bureau of Land Management to inventory property for possible designation as wildlands, which has created a stir in counties such as Iron County in Utah.

To read more about the issue, visit: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51146802-76/county-wilderness-management-plan.html.csp

New NPS Director's Order Could Affect Climbing Regulations in Wilderness

Rocky Mountain National Park in north central Colorado is a fairly recent addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System. While the park was managed as wilderness for many years, it's relatively new wilderness designation 2009 has park managers exploring new options for managing use and impacts from climbing. A recent article in the http://www.coloradoan.com/ details steps that the National Park Service (NPS) is taking in order to operate in compliance with NPS wilderness guidelines...

"The NPS is taking public comments through March 10 on Director's Order 41, which governs how the agency manages wilderness areas within the 394 units of the National Park Service. The order mandates "clean climbing" and Leave No Trace techniques, which encourage the use of temporary equipment and anchors that can be removed from rock faces without altering them. At Rocky Mountain National Park, the order could mean the park might eventually implement a permitting system for the installation of fixed anchors within the park's 249,000 acres of designated wilderness, Chief Ranger Mark Magnuson said."

Read the full article here: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20110128/NEWS01/101280322/Park-Service-seeks-comment-on-change-to-climbing-rules

Wilderness permit system goes online

At least one wilderness area requiring permits has shifted from hand-processing applications to a more streamlined and efficient online application process. The Enchantments Lakes Basin area of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington's Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest will shift to the new system in February.

For more than 20 years the ranger district has processed annual applications, now numbering in the thousands annually. The online reservation system is operated by the National Recreation Reservation Service at www.recreation.gov and is faster and offers more security, according to the news release. Details are still being worked out, but there should still be a "walk-in" lottery for day-of-entry permits for backpackers at the ranger station in Leavenworth. (Day hikers can get free permits at trailheads.) The on-line system will provide area information and alerts to notify people as their trips draw near about special conditions such as wildfires.

Because so many wilderness enthusiasts, and recreationists in general, use the internet these days for everything from information gathering to trip planning to obtaining maps, this is a logical extension of this existing use. Not only is the system far more efficient, it's timely in that wilderness managers are more stretched than ever in terms of staffing resources.

This is the kind of "new school" wilderness management tool that could prove useful across the agency spectrum in the future.

Not your typical wilderness stewards...or are they?

Have you ever heard of Great Old Broads for Wilderness? Their mission states that "Great Old Broads for Wilderness is a national organization that uses the voices and activism of elders to preserve and protect wilderness and wild public lands."

Based in Durango, Colorado, the Broads brand of advocacy ranges from education to litigation. They’ve been called the “evidence gathering arm of wilderness advocacy” as well as “the fun bunch.”

The organization was recently highlighted in an article in the Silver City Sun-News:

SILVER CITY - A great group of old broads is getting together Saturday morning to host a wolf parade through downtown Silver City to raise awareness about the plight of the endangered Mexican Gray Wolf and declaring 2011 "The Year of the Mexican Wolf."

They don't mind being called "old broads" - that's what they call themselves, as a local chapter of the national organization, Great Old Broads for Wilderness. The national group seeks to use "the voices and activism of elders to preserve and protect wilderness and wild public lands," its website states.

Saturday's wolf parade, followed by an education session and then an early evening gathering, will be the local chapter's first event.

Read the full article here: http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_17155048?source=most_viewed

Air Quality in Wilderness

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- A group of environmentalists has sued the federal government in an effort to force a declaration on the source of air pollution over national parks and wilderness areas in the West.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, contends that emissions from two coal-fired power plants on the Navajo Nation and a third in Washington state have obscured views at places like the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde and Mount Rainier.

The nine groups have accused the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department of unreasonably delaying a response to petitions for formal certification of visibility impairment.

"If DOI and DOA were to grant plaintiffs' petitions, large sources of air pollution that are presently causing visibility impairment in many national parks and wilderness areas would more likely be required to reduce their emissions," the lawsuit said. It was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency already is addressing visibility impairment under a 1999 regional haze rule that covers air pollutants from sources over a wide geographic area.

Read full article here: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_az_parks_air_pollution.html

Feds designate new wilderness area in NorCal

Ukiah, Calif. (AP) --

Federal land managers have designated nearly 11,300 acres of land in Mendocino County as new wilderness.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday entered the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness Area into the National Preservation System.

Elkhorn Ridge was included in the 2006 Northern California Wilderness Heritage Act, a law that required BLM to restore part of the area before it could be officially deemed wilderness.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson of St. Helena, who authored the heritage act, said the official designation would ensure the land's wildlife and undisturbed ancient forest could be enjoyed by future generations.

Located about 60 miles north of Ukiah, the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness includes forest thick with redwoods and a seven-mile-long stretch of the Eel River that is important salmon and steelhead habitat.

A voice against wilderness

Wilderness, and more precisely wilderness designation, is a touchy issue for many. While there are those who want more wilderness and those who can't stand the mere discussion of new wilderness designations, there are yet those who would simply like to see existing wilderness managed to the minimum standard.

A recent op/ed piece in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner gives an interesting perspective on new wilderness designations in Alaska. This viewpoint is from a person who is directly associated with the oil and gas industry, and the emotion surrounding the issue is palpable.

The article starts out: The 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge must continue to be excluded from wilderness designation. There is no need for additional wilderness designations in ANWR, given that 92 percent of the refuge is already closed to development.

Alaskans strongly oppose a wilderness designation on ANWR’s coastal plain. In fact, 78 percent of Alaskans support oil exploration in the 1002 area. Every Alaska governor and every legislature and elected congressional representative and senator from Alaska have supported responsible development.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Sustain Alaska’s economy

National Wilderness Conference - March 11-12, 2011

The newly formed National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance, a natural ally of the Society for Wilderness Stewardship, has a mission to develop a growing network of volunteer-based organizations (e.g. wilderness friends groups) to provide stewardship for America's enduring resource of wilderness.

The NWSA will hold it's first National Conference March 11 & 12, 2011 in Las Vegas. The conference will be action-oriented: speakers, presentations, and mini-workshops all designed to help wilderness stewards do an even better job protecting wilderness resources.

For more information on the conference visit:http://www.nationalwildernessstewardshipalliance.org/news/latest-news/30-save-the-dates

111th Congress Did Well In Terms of National Park Wilderness

It's hard to believe that it's already the 4th day of 2011. That said, it's a good time to reflect on how Congress worked on wilderness in 2010.

A review of how the 111th Congress acted on wilderness legislation shows that the National Park System benefited quite nicely, but it could have fared better.

According to Frank Buono, a former National Park Service official who now tracks wilderness issues, "the 111th Congress designated wilderness in more separate park units (6) than in any Congress since 1980 in the Carter Administration."

That said, he notes that "the number of acres designated was dwarfed by the park wilderness in the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and in the California Desert Protection Act of 1994."

Read full article here: http://tinyurl.com/2uwhdd4