Here’s what is happening this month with the redrock:
1.  Take action to protect Desolation Canyon!
2.  Join Aron Ralston in giving back to Greater Canyonlands.
3.  New tar sands proposal is still too much.



Obama Administration Puts Desolation Canyon Wilderness in Its Crosshairs

Last Friday, the Interior Department issued the Gasco natural gas project final environmental impact statement and moved one step closer to approving this massive development project which would include 215 new wells in the Desolation Canyon proposed wilderness.  Incredibly, those 215 wells (only 7 less than the company asked for) would fragment the proposed wilderness 50% more than even Gasco proposed in its initial plans.

Looking north/northwest from the Sand Wash airstrip (Sand Wash road leading to the river put-in below). Wells would be drilled atop the Bad Land cliffs (background) and on the western (left) edge of the Wrinkle Road in the photo.

Under the BLM’s preferred alternative for this project – Alternative F — the Gasco natural gas development project will degrade wilderness and wild landscapes, further jeopardize the region’s air quality and hurt the state’s tourism.   In giving its tentative support for Alterative F, the Interior Department rejected calls by the Environmental Protection Agency and tens of thousands of citizens from across the country to approve an alternative to Gasco’s proposal that would have allowed for significant development while also protecting the Desolation Canyon proposed wilderness and reducing the overall footprint and impact of the project.

Fortunately, there is still time for you to weigh in and tell Secretary Salazar to protect Desolation Canyon!  The BLM hasn’t issued its ‘record of decision’ for the Gasco project and can still change its mind about which alternative to adopt.

Tell Secretary Salazar to protect the Desolation Canyon proposed wilderness!

Also, sign our Change.org petition and spread the word — tell your friends to take action to protect Desolation Canyon!



Greater Canyonlands Campaign Heats Up

Packed house for Aron Ralston in Boulder, CO

“It’s not enough to go out in places like Greater Canyonlands and have fun.  You also need to give back.”

A year and a half ago, while filming 127 Hours in Salt Lake City, Aron Ralston called up the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and insisted on coming down to the office.  He wanted to talk about how he could help protect Utah’s redrock canyon country, including the landscape where his accident took place – Greater Canyonlands.

On March 8, Aron stood on stage at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, CO and not only shared his personal story, but also described the beauty and wonder of Greater Canyonlands and asked the audience to call on President Obama to protect the area by proclaiming it a national monument.

About 800 folks were in attendance, and redrock volunteers from CUWild at UC-Boulder and Coloradans for Utah Wilderness were able to collect 600 postcards and hundreds of photo messages to President Obama.  There was also some great press surrounding the event, including an op-ed in the Boulder Daily Camera.

Join Aron in the campaign to protect Greater Canyonlands!

Cody Spyker was the lucky winner of the March prize — a Petzl headlamp.

1) “Like” the new Protect Greater Canyonlands Facebook page and invite friends to “like” the page as well.

2) Send a photo message to President Obama like the one pictured at left.  Visit our Facebook app or greatercanyonlands.org to get started.  You’ll also be entered to win a prize in a monthly drawing — a Petzl headlamp is the prize for April!

3) Join a “banner brigade” and hold up “Protect Greater Canyonlands” signs when President Obama comes to your city!  Click here to view an inspiring video from past banner brigade activists.

4) Visit greatercanyonlands.org to find out other ways that you can amplify your message to President Obama.







Still Too Much Proposed Tar Sands Leasing


The BLM recently released its 2012 Oil Shale and Tar Sands Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS), an effort by the BLM to determine what areas – if any – in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming should be available for dangerous and far-fetched oil shale or tar sands leasing and development.

In the recently-released Draft PEIS, the BLM’s preferred alternative (Alternative 2b) proposes to make 252,181 acres available for shale leasing in Utah and 91,045 acres available for tar sands leasing.  This is still too much! For that reason we support a different alternative (Alternative 3) that would go even further toward shutting the door on this “unconventional” fuels nightmare.  Alternative 3 prohibits new oil shale leasing and most tar sands development.  Under this alternative, only existing oil shale research, development, and design leases would remain on public lands.  One commercial tar sands project just outside of Vernal could continue to undergo environmental reviews and permitting.  That’s it.

Written comments on the Draft PEIS should be submitted by May 4 using an online comment form on the Draft PEIS Website at http://ostseis.anl.gov. This is the preferred method for commenting. Comments may also be submitted by regular mail to: Oil Shale and Tar Sands Draft Programmatic EIS, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, EVS 240, Argonne, IL 60439.

Here’s what is happening this month with the redrock:
1.  We’re now staring down the barrel of a massive lawsuit…
2.  Join the campaign to protect Greater Canyonlands!
3.  SUWA asks agency to protect the Colorado and Green Rivers.
4.  Attend redrock events in Colorado and New York this March.

Utah to file lawsuits for over 18,000 R.S. 2477 claims and seize federal public lands to boot

“The right of way for the construction of highways across public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted.”

Little did Congress know when it enacted this innocuous-sounding law in 1866 that it would wreak havoc on the nation’s public lands 145 years later, threatening the future of the very same scenic lands that Congress later sought to protect in national parks, national monuments, wilderness and wilderness study areas, national forests, national wildlife refuges and other fragile public lands.  They strike at the heart of places that have been protected for years, like Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, dozens of wilderness study areas, and they spread like a web of red tendrils across the entire redrock wilderness.

There are even R.S. 2477 claims in the Cedar Mountains Wilderness, designated under President Bush in 2006, and in the wilderness areas designated in the Washington County lands bill, enacted in 2009.  Clearly, Utah politicians who crowed about the passage of these bills only to slice them apart later with dozens of “highways” cannot be trusted to negotiate true wilderness bills in the future.  We can see that now, and so can everyone else.

Today, R.S. 2477 has become the most serious threat to the future of Utah’s remaining wild lands, designated wilderness, national parks and national monuments we’ve seen in decades.

Find out what you can do to help fight a few very loud Utah politicians trying to seize control over someone else’s land – ours – by clicking here.

Tell President Obama: Protect Greater Canyonlands!

Steven Sadleir was the lucky winner of February’s prize — a Petzl headlamp. Will it be you next month?

President Obama has the power to protect the 1.4 million acres of public BLM land surrounding Canyonlands National Park with the stroke of a pen – if we can convince him to do so.

Join the effort to protect the spectacular Greater Canyonlands region by visiting greatercanyonlands.org and participating in our Facebook photo campaign, collecting postcards to the President, and joining our Colorado banner brigade.

By taking part in the “President Obama: Protect Greater Canyonlands” photo campaign (if you’re not on Facebook you can still participate by sending a photo to jackie@suwa.org), you will also be eligible to win a monthly prize and the grand prize of a custom Ultralight backpack this fall.  Steven Sadleir (see photo at left) was the lucky winner of a Petzl headlamp in February — will it be you next month?  Thanks to Ultralight and Petzl for their generous prize donations.

SUWA and the Sierra Club have also recently teamed up to create a Protect Greater Canyonlands Facebook page and a Flickr group for you all to post your photos.  Please share far and wide!

SUWA petitions state agency to protect Colorado, Green Rivers


In early February, SUWA petitioned a little-known state agency to protect the mighty Colorado and Green Rivers from activities like oil and gas leasing.  The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands oversees the management of so-called “sovereign” or “state lands,” which include the lands underlying navigable waters within Utah like the Great Salt Lake and larger rivers, like the Colorado and Green.

SUWA has petitioned DFFSL to prepare a comprehensive management plan for the Colorado and Green Rivers to guide how that agency manages these remarkable resources. In the meantime, we’ve asked them not to offer or sell any new oil and gas or other leases.  In other words, “think first, lease later.”  DFFSL has done the same thing on the Great Salt Lake – deferring new mineral leasing while it prepares a new comprehensive plan.  It only makes sense to do the same thing here.

To learn more, visit our blog by clicking here.

Beyond 127 Hours and other upcoming redrock events


Join Aron Ralston, inspiration for the Oscar-nominated film 127 Hours, in Boulder, CO on March 8 for a free presentation to protect Greater Canyonlands.  See the event flyer by clicking here, and invite friends on Facebook too.

Also, see our Wild Utah: America’s Redrock Wilderness slideshow in New York this March.  For the full schedule of national grassroots events, click here.

To schedule an event in your area for 2012, contact Terri in the Southwest (terri@suwa.org), Brooke in the Northwest (brooke@suwa.org), Clayton in the Midwest (clayton@suwa.org), and Jackie in the East (jackie@suwa.org).

A QUICK REDROCK BILL UPDATE
This past month, three new Representatives have cosponsored America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R. 1916/S. 979) — Congressmen Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Hansen Clarke (D-MI) and Ed Markey (D-MA).  All three cosponsorships were the product of great work by local redrock activists.  Please say thank you if one is your member of Congress! If your members of Congress are not on the list of cosponsors, please ask them to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act today!

Sign the petition to save Greater Canyonlands

January 2012

Here’s what is happening this month with the redrock:
1.  THANK YOU for helping us reach 10,000 postcards to President Obama.
2.  You have until Jan. 27 to say NO to Alton coal.
3.  Mark Kirk is the first Republican Senator in 10 years to cosponsor the redrock bill.
4.  Attend a Utah wilderness event this winter! 

With YOUR help we’re at 10,000 Postcards and Counting

We’ve said it time and time again because it’s important and TRUE — grassroots support from across the country has been essential in defending Utah wilderness against the various threats it has faced throughout the years.  And in 2011, redrock activists from Hawaii to Maine and a whole bunch from Utah again showed their strength and dedication by collecting 10,000 postcards to the Obama administration calling for the protection of Greater Canyonlands.  (Click on the map to the left to see where postcard signers were from.)

So THANK YOU for taking the time out of your busy lives to take action for the redrock.  Whether you collected a few postcards, filled out our online action alert, or posted a petition to your Facebook wall, every bit helps in our effort.

What’s next for 2012?  Our new goal is to reach 50,000 messages to President Obama asking for the protection of Greater Canyonlands — through postcards, action alert responses, and social media. 

Want to join the effort?  To help collect postcards, please click here to let us know and your regional SUWA grassroots organizer will be in touch.

Stay tuned for more ways you can get involved in the Greater Canyonlands campaign.

 

Remember to tell the BLM to say NO to the Alton Coal Mine!

The existing Coal Hollow mine site. Copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.

There are only a few weeks left for you to voice your opposition to the proposed Alton coal mine expansion on the doorstep of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Click here to tell the BLM to say NO to this strip mine!

Back in November, the Obama administration released a
draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing
a proposal to sell a federal coal lease on the western doorstep of Bryce Canyon
National Park, potentially threatening the remarkable clean air, water, and
dark night skies at the park, as well as the livelihood of nearby gateway
communities. Please urge the BLM to deny this expansion by adopting the “no action alternative” of the EIS.

The deadline for comments is January 27.

For more information, visit our website by clicking here.

 

We’ve waited 10 years for this

Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL)

America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R. 1916/S. 979) has now reached 116 cosponsors in the House and 14 in the Senate in the 112th Congress. And for the first time in 10 years, a Republican Senator, Mark Kirk from Illinois, has cosponsored the redrock bill.  Thank you to all the fantastic redrock activists from Illinois who made this happen!  Please thank Senator Kirk if you live in Illinois.

Other newly signed-on members of Congress include Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).  Please thank your members of Congress if they have cosponsored the bill!

If your members of Congress are not on the list of cosponsors, please ask them to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act today!

 

Attend a redrock event this winter

If you live in Florida, Colorado, Washington, New York, Illinois, Iowa or Michigan, a Utah wilderness event is coming to a location near you.  For the schedule of Wild Utah: America’s Redrock Wilderness slideshows and other national grassroots events, click here.

To schedule an event in your area for 2012, contact Terri in the Southwest (terri@suwa.org), Brooke in the Northwest (brooke@suwa.org), Clayton in the Midwest (clayton@suwa.org), and Jackie in the East (jackie@suwa.org).

 

 

Sign the petition to save Greater Canyonlands

November 2011

Here’s what is happening this month with the redrock:

1.  Obama administration continues to be a disappointment.
2.  Help stop the Alton Coal Mine expansion!
3.  Get your holiday gift at the SUWA online store.
4.  December’s Utah Wilderness Dialogue is with David Strayer.
5.  The redrock bill now has 113 House cosponsors.

Will the disappointment ever end?

A message from SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene

The Obama administration recently announced a meager list of areas that deserve federal protection. Given the fanfare of the list release, you might ask: does Obama plan to use his ample authority under the Antiquities Act to save these places as national monuments or grant some other form of administrative protection?

The answer is . . . drum roll please . . . no. What they’ve done is produce a list. That’s it. And it’s a pathetic list at that, one that omits upwards of 90% of Utah’s redrock wilderness and is based on 30 year-old and grossly deficient BLM inventories. The list includes just a few hundred thousand acres of already protected land in Utah, in contrast to the more than 9 million acres of magnificent BLM lands that deserve wilderness designation.

And what will they do with the list? Nothing. Not a single additional acre of redrock will be protected.

On the other hand, here’s what this administration IS doing: 1) defending in court the disastrous Bush administration decisions that left open much of this wilderness to ORV use and energy development (see feature story in our autumn/winter 2011 newsletter), 2) pushing forward with approval of a massive drilling project in proposed wilderness along the Green River in Upper Desolation Canyon (even though Desolation canyon is on their list), and 3) wasting valuable time and resources on silly gestures like this list.

Utah’s congressional delegation relishes attacking this administration as an electoral strategy, even for meaningless snake oil like this. Appeasement doesn’t work. So why won’t the Obama administration do something, anything, to protect these lands?

It’s of course our job, with your help, to see that it does.

To date, this administration has been a horrible disappointment for failing to step up to its obligation to responsibly manage our public lands. With this latest meaningless gesture, the only recognizable virtue is consistency.

If you haven’t already, please tell the Obama administration to protect the heart of the redrock wilderness — the Greater Canyonlands region — and ask your friends to do so as well.  And click here to get more involved in the movement to protect the remaining redrock wild lands in Utah.


Tell the BLM to say NO to the Alton Coal Mine!

The existing Coal Hollow mine site. Copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.

The BLM could leave coal in our stockings this holiday season, specifically in the form of a coal strip mine outside of Bryce Canyon National Park.

The Obama administration recently released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing a proposal to sell a federal coal lease on the western
doorstep of Bryce Canyon National Park, potentially threatening the remarkable clean air, water, and dark night skies at the park, as well as the livelihood of nearby gateway communities.

Let the BLM know that they shouldn’t approve this coal strip mine!

Five public meetings will be held where you can share your concerns with BLM staff and managers. The meetings are scheduled from 6pm to 8pm MT on the following dates at these locations:

Alton, UT
November 29th, 2011
Alton Town Hall, 11 S 100 W
6:00pm-8:00pm

Kanab, UT
November 30th, 2011
Kanab City Library, 374 North Main St.
6:00pm-8:00pm
Panguitch, UT
December 1st, 2011
Panguitch City Hall/Library, 25 South 200 East
6:00pm-8:00pm
Cedar City, UT
December 6th, 2011
[Includes a hearing on the Draft EIS, Maximum Economic Recovery (MER), and Fair Market Value (FMV)]
Festival Hall Convention Center, 96 North Main
6:00pm-8:00pm
Salt Lake City, UT
December 7th, 2011
Salt Lake City Library, 210 E 400 S
6:00pm-8:00pm

Tell your friends about the meetings by inviting them through Facebook.
If you can’t make it to one of the meetings, please take action on our website by clicking here


The SUWA store is open for the holidays

Need a gift for the holidays?  Be sure to check out SUWA’s online store to purchase hats, t-shirts, and posters.  Or consider giving the gift of a SUWA membership to a budding redrock supporter you know.

Click here to visit our online store.

Utah Wilderness Dialogues: David Strayer


Please join us at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at Jane’s Home, 1229 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, for this free presentation.

David Strayer

David Strayer received the University of Utah Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award in 2010, and has been conducting research in the cognitive and neural sciences at the University of Utah since 1991. Each spring, he teaches an interdisciplinary course entitled “Cognition in the Wild” that explores the restorative effects that interacting in nature have on our cognitive function. In 2010, he led an expedition of neuroscientists down the San Juan river in southern Utah as part of a research agenda to better understand how our brain is subtly changed by being in nature. He spends his spare time exploring the red rocks of the desert southwest near Bluff.  Appetizers for the event have been generously donated by Squatters Pub Brewery.

Please RSVP at http://suwa.org/strayer. 

New cosponsor spotlight


America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R. 1916/S. 979) has now reached 113 cosponsors in the House and 12 in the Senate in the 112th Congress. Newly signed on Representatives include Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Jim Himes (D-CT), Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), John Lewis (D-GA), and Rush Holt (D-NJ).  Please thank your members of Congress if they have cosponsored the bill!

If your members of Congress are not on the list of cosponsors, please ask them to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act today!

Sign the petition to save Greater Canyonlands