Spring 2007 Newsletter

Spring 2007 Newsletter
Vol. IX, No. 2

Read the latest edition of The Wilderness Society's member newsletter.

William H. Meadows

The change in leadershiph on Capitol Hill provides opportunities, but because of the administration's agenda, we must continue to play defense.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is safe for now, and we have scored victories along the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana and at Valle Vidal in New Mexico. Threats remain, however. Read More...

Momentum Has Shifted in Roadless Forest Debate

It has been six years since the Bush administration began its campaign to undo protection of 58.5 million acres of undeveloped national forest lands. In recent months, however, there have been two favorable court rulings and an election that produced a more conservation-minded Congress. Read More...

Striving to Protect God's Creation

More and more people of faith are saying that wilderness is a unique part of God’s creation and should be protected. Such activity is especially evident in West Virginia, where faith-based organizations have printed “God’s Gift of a Wild and Wonderful Land: A Christian Declaration on the Spiritual Values of West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest.” Read More...

New Congress May Reverse Decline in Land Investment

Over the past five years, the federal funding to protect natural areas at risk of development has declined by 72 percent. “Voters retired some of the lawmakers who were crippling these funds, so we see an opportunity to turn things around,” says Sarah Neimeyer, who directs our appropriations effort. Read More...

A Texas Member Shows Her Colors in the Oil Patch

Out in the oil patch, workers treat their hard hats like their car bumpers. “In reality, there are so few women in the field,” says Wilderness Society member Sandy Campbell, “that the stickers on our hard hats are probably the last thing the guys notice, but I wanted to do something to show that the environment is important to me.” Read More...

Western Landscapes Shortchanged Due to Emphasis on Drilling

Canyons of the Ancients is part of the National Landscape Conservation System—26 million acres of historic and wild public lands in the West. The BLM, which oversees the system, is devoting funds for oil and gas drilling elsewhere in its domain, leaving almost no funds for the protection of the Conservation System. Read More...

News from the Field

Read about the issues that The Wilderness Society's regional offices are working on, including efforts to protect Vermillion Basin in Colorado's Canyon Country, and news on Wilderness protection in Virginia. Read More...