This is the second installment of a four-part series on the beautiful, threatened Otero Mesa from New Mexico writer and Southwest Regional Office Administrative Assistant Zoe Krasney.

One of us spots something on the road, screaming “turtle”. As we discuss whether or not it is possible for a turtle to live in the desert, a truck roars by, then halts.

The Bush administration’s attempt to fast track oil-shale leasing in Colorado is unacceptable, according to Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO). The Wilderness Society’s Dave Alberswerth, a senior energy policy advisor, shares the view. He says Shell Oil is currently sitting on 32,000 acres of formerly public land sold to the company by the BLM under an 1871 mining law. He also said the government has issued five R&D leases in Colorado that so far have failed to produce large-scale, commercially viable technology for extracting oil from shale.

A new poll conducted for TheCLEAN.org and the Civil Society Institute (CSI) found strong majorities of Colorado residents want to see a big shift away from fossil fuels solutions to our energy challenges. Sixty-two percent said they want the new president to promote green energy, while 86 percent said they want limits on oil-shale subsidies and 76 percent want a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.

Energy development and off-road vehicle abuse in five Utah National Park's endanger clean air and rich history.

The Wilderness Society held a teleconference to discuss the fate of 11 million acres of Utah redrock canyon country, one of the most iconic landscapes in North America.

The Bush administration’s decision to skew the management of these lands to narrowly benefit the oil and natural gas industry and off-road vehicle users was a central focus.