Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

Champs reintroduce America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act

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Yesterday Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Rush Holt teamed up to introduce America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (S. 769, H.R. 1630) in the 113th Congress, joined by 11 cosponsors in the Senate and 60 cosponsors in the House who understand that Utah’s wilderness is a singular American landscape worthy of the highest form of protection.

The bill began as a labor of love for hundreds of Utahns who plainly saw that the Bureau of Land Management’s initial inventories of wilderness overlooked some of the best, wildest county—not only in Utah, but within the United States—and who set out to rectify those inventory shortcomings with their own time, field work, sweat and blisters.

Since those early days, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act has stood firm as the seminal legislation to protect Utah’s fantastical sandstone hoodoos, soaring canyons and secret gardens, so that they may endure in their best, wildest state for future generations of Americans.

“The legislation Congressman Holt and I are introducing today will designate as wilderness some of our nation’s most remarkable, but unprotected public lands,” Durbin said. “This land was chosen based on meticulous research and surveying of thousands of square miles to determine which lands should be protected. America’s Red Rock Wilderness is a lasting gift to the American public that will give future generations the opportunity to enjoy a landscape that so many now cherish.”

“Development and irresponsible land use threaten one of this country’s most spectacular landscapes, Utah’s Redrock country,” Holt said. “America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act would preserve and protect these deep red canyons, windswept mesas, and fantastical sandstone formations for current and future generations.”

The protection of the Redrock is an effort that would be impossible without our dedicated champs in Congress and our activists on the ground. It is an effort that has taken years of time and effort by thousands of people. The next chapter begins now.

Holt and Durbin Introduce Bill to Protect America’s Red Rock Wilderness

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From the offices of Representative Rush Holt and Senator Dick Durbin:

Thursday, 18 April 2013 15:04

BILL WOULD SAFEGUARD 9.1 MILLION ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND IN UTAH

(Washington, D.C.) – In an effort to preserve 9.1 million acres of Utah’s spectacular red rock country as wilderness, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (IL) today introduced legislation in the Senate and House that would ensure the public land remains in its natural, undeveloped state. Holt and Durbin’s bipartisan America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, which was introduced with 60 cosponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate, would protect the land from commercial development, motorized vehicles, road building, as well as oil and gas drilling. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) currently owns the 9.1 million acres, but the agency is not prohibited from selling part of the land for development or developing parts itself.

“Development and irresponsible land use threaten one of this country’s most spectacular landscapes, Utah’s Redrock country,” Holt said. “America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act would preserve and protect these deep red canyons, windswept mesas, and fantastical sandstone formations for current and future generations.”

“The legislation Congressman Holt and I are introducing today will designate as wilderness some of our nation’s most remarkable, but unprotected public lands,” said Durbin. “This land was chosen based on meticulous research and surveying of thousands of square miles to determine which lands should be protected. America’s Red Rock Wilderness is a lasting gift to the American public that will give future generations the opportunity to enjoy a landscape that so many now cherish.”

The publicly owned wild places of Utah are renowned for their spectacular beauty, with deep, narrow red rock canyons, fantastic sandstone arches, tremendous open vistas, and wild rivers. Currently, only 1.1 percent of Utah’s BLM public lands are protected as wilderness. These areas are a haven for outdoor recreationists, backpackers, hikers, wildlife enthusiasts, and many more. The red rock area is also rich with archeological remnants of prehistoric cultures.

“We are thrilled to have Congressman Holt join Senator Durbin to introduce America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in the 113th Congress” said Scott Groene, Executive Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “Champions of this caliber match the world-class landscapes they are working to protect from oil and gas drilling and off-road vehicle abuse.”

The original version of the America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act was introduced in 1989 by former Utah Congressman Wayne Owens. The bill is based on an extensive survey conducted by volunteers from the Utah Wilderness Coalition (UWC). This public inventory, called the “UWC Citizen’s Proposal,” found that the BLM had overlooked or ignored vast areas of wild country in the agency’s original inventory. As additional inventory work has been conducted for the Citizen’s Proposal, the America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act has been updated to reflect the latest findings. The new version of the bill proposes protections for roughly 9.1 million acres of BLM public land in Utah.

The America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act would ensure the 9.1 million acres in Utah remain wild in their natural state, and strictly prohibit mining, road and dam construction, off-road vehicle use, and other activities that would destroy the area’s special character. Non-consumptive uses such as hunting, fishing, camping, backpacking, hiking, and horseback riding would be permitted and grazing rights existing at the time of any wilderness designation would also be unaffected.

The measure is endorsed by the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance in Utah, and more than 240 local and national conservation groups with the Utah Wilderness Coalition.

Attend the 2nd Annual Moab Earth Day Bazaar!

8:05 am

For those of you who live in the Moab area or will be in Moab this weekend, come celebrate Earth Day at Swanny City Park!

Saturday, April 20, 2013
11:00am – 4:00pm
Swanny City Park in Moab
400 N 100 W

Come to a community celebration in the park as spring kicks off! This year’s Moab Earth Day Bazaar will host discussions on local environmental issues and options for sustainability. There will be art, craft, and food vendors, kid’s games, as well as representatives from many local organizations that need your support to protect our region.

ADMISSION IS FREE! Save your dollars to come support a local surge of your crafty community.

RSVP and invite friends on Facebook by clicking here.

Tell Congress to Protect America’s Redrock Wilderness!

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ARRWA Facebook graphic

At the end of this week, redrock congressional champions Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) will be introducing America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, legislation that would protect over 9 million acres of spectacular public lands in Utah.

Will you ask your members of Congress to join them as original cosponsors?

A long list of congressional cosponsors from throughout the country is essential to our efforts to protect Utah’s redrock wildlands.  Not only are cosponsors necessary to show support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, but they can also be called on when needed to help defeat bad legislation for Utah wilderness.

Members of Congress need to hear from YOU — constituent contact is extremely important in securing support for protecting Utah wilderness.

Please ask your members of Congress to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act today!

P.S. You can also help by signing and sharing our new Change.org petition by clicking here.

Redrock Wilderness Spring 2013 Highlights

6:53 am

Obama II: Disappointment Dampens Desire to Hope

Desolation Canyon Within a month of his inauguration, the President had signed into law a wilderness package protecting over 2 million acres of public land, including 186,000 acres in Utah’s Washington County—lands also proposed for wilderness designation in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act.  That change thing was looking very good.  But not for long.  Read more . . .


The Land Grab: If You’re Gonna Go Nuts, Go Big

Gov Mansion Protest Utah legislators introduced a series of bills this year to advance the governor’s land grab scheme. One of them, HB 142, requires the state’s Public Lands Policy Coordination Office (PLPCO) to study the costs and benefits of transferring public lands to the state and provides $450,000 to fund outside analyses. The bill also requires PLPCO to set up a process by which the state takes title to the land and to detail ways to increase revenue from it.  Read more . . .




Talking about Greater Canyonlands in Utah

Greater Canyonlands Hearing The discussion in Utah about the future of Greater Canyonlands got a huge boost in February when Utah state Sen. Jim Dabakis and state Rep. Patrice Arent introduced a joint resolution in the Utah legislature calling on Congress or the President to protect Greater Canyonlands. Two days later, more than 100 Utah wilderness supporters packed a hearing at the Utah State Capitol to support Dabakis’s resolution.  Read more . . .


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