Ask Secretary Salazar to Protect Utah Wilderness

You and I know that Utah is home to some of the most beautiful wilderness landscapes in the nation.  Please help ensure that these wild lands are given the protection they deserve.

When Ken Salazar took over the reins as Secretary of Interior he proclaimed that there's a “new sheriff in town.”  Frankly that is exactly what we need in the West and especially in Utah, where destructive and unbalanced policies put in place by the former administration have needlessly placed awe-inspiring wilderness treasures at risk -- places like the Glen Canyon/San Juan River area, Cedar Mesa and Comb Ridge, where threats from excessive off-road vehicle use, mining and drilling loom large on the horizon.  

In 2003, the State of Utah and the Department of Interior secretly negotiated a deal in which the Interior Department abandoned its duty to identify and protect lands worthy of wilderness designation.  Relying on that back-room deal, in the last days of the Bush administration the BLM issued land use plans for 11 million acres in eastern Utah which included only limited protection for wilderness-quality lands.  Secretary Salazar has the authority to rescind the “no more wilderness” deal and give wilderness-quality lands the protection they deserve.  He should use it before we lose these treasured landscapes.

The place is here. The time is now.

Please send a message to Secretary Salazar asking him to defend Utah’s magnificent natural treasures from off-road vehicle abuse, vandalism to archaeological sites, and the drilling of new oil and gas wells until Congress can protect these landscapes permanently under the Wilderness Act. 


Sincerely,

Deeda Seed
Grassroots Outreach Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

P.S. Get involved on Facebook!  The top signature gatherers for our “Please Overturn President Bush's ‘No More Wilderness' Policy” petition will receive SUWA hats!  Contest will end August 3rd.