Wilderness in the news

The Thanksgiving weekend was a busy one for wilderness in the news. From Maine to Nevada, wilderness management, legislation and designation were all hot topics. It's amazing to see how much press wilderness gets on a daily basis in the media but just as amazing are the number of people who just aren't aware of wilderness. Couple that with a National Wilderness Preservation System that is under a variety of threats and you begin to get a sense of the challenges we wilderness stewards face on a daily basis. That said, the more wilderness stays on the front burner, the better!

To see what's affecting wilderness areas (existing or proposed), check out these links from the past few days:

From the Naples, Florida Naples News: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/nov/24/wilderness-area-big-cypress-shrink-off-road-atv/

From the Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces Sun News: http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_16713762

From the Crestview, Florida Crestview Bulletin News: http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/managing-12265-northwest-wilderness.html

From the Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks Herald: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/184863/

From the Petroleum News: http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/67082282.shtml

From the Waterville, Maine Morning Sentinel: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/opinion/letters/Wilderness-protection-bills-deserve-support-.html

National Forest Foundation - Grants for Wilderness Stewardship

Wilderness Stewardship Challenge

In 1964, Congress established the National Wilderness Preservation System, under the Wilderness Act. The legislation allows certain federal lands to be set aside as Wilderness Areas - lands generally 5,000 acres or larger that exist mainly in their "natural" state. The Wilderness Act describes these areas as places "...where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." The U.S. Forest Service is one of four federal agencies charged with management of the National Wilderness Preservation System, with responsibility for 35 million acres of wilderness areas, or 33% of the overall Wilderness system and 20% of Forest Service land.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, the U.S. Forest Service issued a Stewardship Challenge, calling for all Wilderness areas in the National Forest System to meet baseline management standards by 2014. To meet this standard, Wilderness Areas are measured on 10 stewardship elements and must achieve 60% of the total available points. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2008, only a small fraction of Wilderness Areas met this standard. The National Forest Foundation (NFF), as the official nonprofit partner of the Forest Service, has increased the resources available to meet this challenge since its inception, providing matching grants of up to $50,000 to nonprofit partners for the implementation of on-the-ground conservation projects that directly benefit National Forest Wilderness Areas.

For 2011, two types of federal grants will be available: (a) requiring a 1:1 nonfederal cash match, or (b) requiring a reduced match of 50% in nonfederal in-kind contributions. Only organizations with an operating budget under $150,000 are eligible to apply for a reduced-match grant. Within this category, priority will be given to smaller organizations, provided the same quality of work.

The NFF encourages organizations to conduct the highest priority work to help meet the Challenge. The NFF will provide weighted advantage for (a) work in Wilderness Area(s) that do not meet the minimum stewardship level and for (b) work that advances or helps meet any individual stewardship element(s) that are not managed to the baseline standard.

For more information or to apply, please visit: http://nationalforests.org/conserve/grantprograms/ontheground/wilderness/application

Why we need wilderness

For the past several months wilderness has been a hot topic in Colorado. Discussion about new wilderness designations and of those involved has reached a fever pitch. Amidst all the discussion, the fundamental idea of wilderness often gets lost in the shuffle.

A recent article in the Sky-Hi Daily News zeroed in on the need for wilderness, and specifically focused on the benefits and values of federally designated wilderness. From the article:

“We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope.” - Wallace Stegner's Wilderness Letter, December 3, 1960

Why Wilderness Matters

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” (The Wilderness Act).

There are 78,986 acres of congressionally designated “wilderness” on the National Forest Service lands in Grand County, and 92,888 acres of wilderness within Rocky Mountain National Park, offering hikers and backpackers the solitude they might not find on other public land.

In addition to the beauty of being surrounded by wilderness, there are long-term economic benefits.

Last August, The Wilderness Society reported the role wilderness plays in local economies: “Federally designated wilderness areas provide incredibly valuable services — like increasing local income and employment, boosting recreation and tourism and naturally filtering our air and drinking water. Economic studies show that wilderness can boost residential property values by almost 19 percent. Wilderness is also often a motivation for people to move to and stay in places, which leads to economic development.”

Read the full article here: http://www.tinyurl.com/23sm56r

Property Acquisition Helps Secure Washington's Wild Sky Wilderness

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash., Nov. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Wilderness Land Trust and The United States Forest Service announce the protection of a 113-acre property in the Wild Sky Wilderness in Snohomish County, Wash., with the transfer of the property from The Wilderness Land Trust to the United States for inclusion in the 106,000-acre Wild Sky Wilderness.

The property is located in the Bitter Creek drainage a few miles upstream of the North Fork Skykomish River. The Skykomish drains a vast watershed on the edge of the Cascades just outside of Seattle. The property contains a thick canopy of Douglas fir, silver fir, cedar, and mountain hemlock and expansive views of the surrounding mountain peaks.

The transfer completes a process that started in August of 2006 when The Wilderness Land Trust purchased the property from a private seller. The Trust's acquisition of the property helped the Wild Sky designation move forward to a successful completion in 2008. The purchase also allowed the Forest Service to terminate an existing road right of way that had been used in the mid 1900s for timber harvests. The old road can now be used for a trail into the wilderness.

"This acquisition would not have been possible without the strong partnership of the Wilderness Land Trust and the support of the many within the environmental community. This is a wonderful legacy for the Wild Sky Wilderness," said Rob Iwamoto, Forest Supervisor for the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

"The Wilderness Land Trust is pleased to assist the Forest Service with this transaction. With the private property now becoming part of the wilderness and the road going away, the quick-growing Cascade forest will soon return the Wild Sky to its natural condition," said David Kirk, Senior Lands Specialist for the Trust. "These transactions take a while, but the long-term result of secured wilderness makes it all worthwhile. I highly recommend a hike up into this area."

The Wilderness Land Trust acquires unprotected private land within wilderness, returning it to public ownership to guarantee that future generations can enjoy the enduring resources of wilderness. The Trust is a small, highly specialized non-profit organization established to buy and protect wilderness land. Since it was founded in 1992, the organization has preserved more than 344 parcels comprising more than 31,000 acres of wilderness inholdings in 76 designated and proposed wilderness areas. Read more at http://www.wildernesslandtrust.org

Wilderness and politics

It's a fact that wilderness, wilderness stewardship, wilderness management, wilderness designation and even support for wilderness is at times directly linked to politics. Even something as pure as wilderness isn't immune to political swings and changes over time. An article recently published in Seattle PI Local looks at how a changing Natural Resources Committee Chair could have impacts on wilderness in the coming years.

From the article:

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Congressman Doc Hastings, a soft-spoken conservative who toes the Republican party line on most issues, generally doesn't garner much public attention outside his sweeping U.S. House district in central Washington. That's likely to change with GOP control of the chamber come January.

Hastings is set to take over the Natural Resources Committee, a panel that has jurisdiction over most federal land and water policy, covering national parks, wilderness areas and American Indian reservations.

Issues in those areas resonate across large swaths of the American West, not just in Hastings' 4th District, which stretches from north-central Washington to the Oregon border.

In a telephone interview this week, Hastings noted that he has yet to be named chairman, but said he's pleased his colleagues named him ranking member beginning in 2009. Hastings, 69, first won his seat in 1994 and has won re-election, often handily, in each election since.

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

Industrial air pollution - external threats to wilderness mount

Some of the biggest threats to federally designated wilderness come from outside the wilderness boundary. There are times when those who steward wilderness can adequately address these threats and times when the specific threat is linked to a much bigger environmental issue. A recent op/ed piece in the Duluth News Tribune discusses how industrial air pollution is impacting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, what the causes are and some potential solutions. As wilderness stewards, we have to be aware of both internal and external threats in order to effectively manage and protect the life sustaining benefits and values of wilderness.

From the Duluth News Tribune:

Haze generally is thought of as a city problem. Unfortunately, haze and industrial air pollution also invade our national parks and wilderness areas. One in three national parks across the country suffers from air pollution levels that exceed health standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In Minnesota, haze hangs over the splendor of Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, not only spoiling pristine views but also making the air unhealthy for visitors, plants and wildlife.

Full article here: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/183307/group/Opinion/

Society signs national Memorandum of Understanding with US Forest Service

The Society for Wilderness Stewardship recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the USDA Forest Service. This national level MOU is designed to foster "cooperation between the Society and the Forest Service to identify and collaboratively resolve issues related to stewardship of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS)." The MOU was signed by Society Board Chair, Don Hunger and Deputy Chief of the US Forest Service, Joel Holtrop.

"It's great to have the USDA Forest Service support the Society for Wilderness Stewardship. This MOU acknowledges our commitment to a professional society supporting the environmental, economic and educational benefits of America's National Wilderness Preservation System. We look forward to a strong partnership with the Forest Service," said Chair Don Hunger.

The Society is pursuing MOU's with other federal land management agencies that manage wilderness, including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to achieve a shared vision of proper stewardship for lands managed under the NWPS.