You nudged them, and Congress spoke.

After Wilderness Society members sent  thousands of letters and emails to Congress, U.S. lawmakers have insisted the Forest Service not abandon its duty of protecting vulnerable wild lands recommended for Wilderness designation.

Surviving the 140-degree heat of the Mojave Desert requires a mean set of survival skills that the desert tortoise holds second to none. But while the tortoise can live without water for a year or more, the loss of habitat has caused its numbers to decline by 90 percent since the 1980s. Today, the desert tortoise is listed as a threatened species.