Pew: Wilderness release act would ‘open area size of Wyoming to industrial activity’

The Pew Environment Group today came out in opposition to a bill introduced last spring by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., that would open up a “Wyoming-sized” chunk of national forest and Bureau of Land Management land to resource extraction, road building and motorized vehicle traffic.

“This legislation would undo decades of public land protections by opening up an area the size of Wyoming to new industrial activity,” Pew Environment Group Deputy Director Tom Wathen said in a prepared statement. “It would allow some of the country’s most pristine and spectacular landscapes to be exploited, including the vast majority of undisturbed national forests.”

Technically, McCarthy’s H.R.1581, the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act, would “release wilderness study areas administered by the BLM that are not suitable for wilderness designation from continued management as defacto wilderness areas,” according to the bill’s summary.

Read the full article here: http://coloradoindependent.com/95024/pew-wilderness-release-act-would-open-area-size-of-wyoming-to-industrial-activity

Hear McCarthy's testimony:

Table Rock Wilderness - Oregon

A decade ago Philip Connors left work as an editor at the Wall Street Journal and talked his way into a job far from the streets of lower Manhattan: working as one of the last fire lookouts in America. Spending nearly half the year in a 7' x 7' tower, 10,000 feet above sea level on Apache Peak in the Gila National Forest’s Aldo Leopold Wilderness Area, his tasks were simple: keep watch over one of the most fire-prone forests in the country and sound the alarm at the first sign of smoke. His book, Fire Season, captures his time as a fire lookout.



For more information on the book, visit Amazon.

Wilderness Toolbox

Looking for wilderness resources? Look no further than Wilderness.net http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=toolboxes No matter what your wilderness situation or needs, it's highly likely that you'll be able to find the resources you need here.

The other place to find resources, particularly expert advise is our Experts Database. This members-only benefit is invaluable for those needing expert consultation on specific wilderness issues.

Not yet a member of the Society for Wilderness Stewardship? Join today!

Alone in the Wilderness - Part II

Another great installment in the story of Dick Proenneke and his life at Twin Lakes in Alaska's Lake Clark National Park.

Two national forests begin revision of management plans

The Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests, in a joint effort, are revising their forest plans.
The project will conclude with a new management plan for an area of nearly 5 million acres of National Forest lands. The forests stretch from the eastern foothills of Mount Rainier north to the Pasayten Wilderness at the Canadian border and east to the Salmo-Priest Wilderness in the far northeast corner of the state.

The National Forest Management Act requires each national forests to update their land management plans every 15 years. The Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests introduced their land management plans in 1989-90. Managers from the two forests released a plan revision proposed action on June 30, which began a 60-day comment period that ends Aug. 29.

Comments will help in the development of alternatives for a draft environmental impact statement which should be released in June 2012. A final environmental impact statement and Record of Decision is planned for fall 2013.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/07/03/1731010/two-national-forests-begin-revision.html#ixzz1R8ld1tPE

Winter Wildlands Alliance - Jedediah Smith and Winegar Hole Wilderness Areas

Yosemite National Park

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity..." --John Muir, 1898

Yosemite National Park – A true gem of the park system. While most visitors stick to Yosemite Valley — making the shuttle bus system a necessity — there are miles and miles of trails and tens of thousands of acres where you’re unlikely to run into another human being. More than 94 percent of the park is designated wilderness.

By the numbers:

Park size: 747,956 acres or 1,169 square miles
2010 visitation: 4,047,880
Busiest month: August, 659,857 visitors
Slowest month: January, 96,089 visitors
What you may not know: The park has five waterfalls of 1,000 feet or more.
Website: www.nps.gov/yose

For more on how wilderness is managed in Yosemite, visit: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/yosemitewilderness.htm

Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center in Action!

To learn more about the work of the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, visit: http://carhart.wilderness.net/

Cars in wilderness?

As I was reading through the wilderness headlines for the day, two strange links jumped out at me:

1. Aston Martin to tackle Alaskan Wilderness – http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1062480_aston-martin-rapide-to-tackle-alaskan-wilderness

2. Jeep Grand Cherokee Ready for Wilderness – http://www.autoevolution.com/news/xplore-jeep-grand-cherokee-ready-for-the-wilderness-36778.html

To say I find this amusing is an understatement. Not only do advertisers think that the rugged appeal of wilderness will sell cars, they obviously have no clue what wilderness actually is; what it actually means for an area to be wilderness.

This is one of the wilderness community's greatest challenges - ensuring that the public knows what wilderness is and why it's so important.

What are you doing today to raise awareness about wilderness?