Wildlands policy

Colorado Officials Sign on to Interior Wilderness Plan

Kirk Siegler, KUNC- Colorado Public Radio
Feb 3, 2011

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A group of 70 mostly Democratic elected officials from around Colorado have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar praising a recent decision that could extend wilderness protections to millions of new acres of western lands.

Salazar is in the process of implementing a secretarial order announced in Denver late last year which could bring more wilderness protection to Bureau of Land Management lands. Oil and gas industry officials argue the order effectively closes off land to development.

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Editorial: No land grab- Salazar rights a wrong policy

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Staff, Salt Lake Tribune
Feb 7, 2011

Excerpts:

The reaction in Utah to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s rather low-key adjustment to a Bush-era “no more wilderness” policy for public lands has been, while not surprising, still a tad extreme.

Salazar announced that a seven-year-old agreement between former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt and former Interior Secretary Gale Norton would be treated going forward for what it was: an illegal usurpation of federal authority to protect public land.

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Readers View: BLM Order simply reaffirms a policy

John Robison, Craig Gehrke, Bill Sedivy and Edwina Alley, Idaho Statesman
Feb 8, 2011

Excerpts:

Idahoans love the wide-open spaces of the state’s high desert lands and are poorly served by Gov. Butch Otter’s rhetoric attacking the Bureau of Land Management’s wild lands policy.

While poking the feds is always popular in some Idaho circles, the governor’s recent statements run counter to the interests of thousands of Idaho hunters, hikers and river runners who use this land and care deeply about it.

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Environmental Rider Attempts to Undermine Wilderness

Anonymous
Apr 12, 2011

The last minute Continuing Resolution that was agreed to by Congressional leaders last week included an environmental rider that attempts to roll back the clock and open our wildest lands to drilling and destruction by blocking the Department of Interior’s Wild Lands policy. The continuing resolution bans Interior, including the Bureau of Land Management, from using any budget funds towards implementing this policy in 2011.

The following statement can be attributed to William H. Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society.

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True Grit

Anonymous
Aug 17, 2011

In order to combat the ongoing lack of accuracy in the debate over the many uses of our public lands The Wilderness Society’s team of legal, economic, and research experts are  launching a series of “bites” of truth about Western economies and public lands—the True Grit. 

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Hearing Denies Wild Lands Policy Supporters Chance to Voice Opinion

Anonymous
Mar 1, 2011

Wilderness Society Submits Statement for Congressional Record

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Western Stakeholders Call for Support of Interior Secretary Wild Lands Policy

Anonymous
Feb 10, 2011

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Reality Check: Wild Lands Policy Myth vs. Fact

Feb 6, 2011

A new Bureau of Land Management policy that protects millions of acres of wilderness quality lands across the West has come under attack.  Public support of the BLM’s Wild Lands policy is important because this new policy is our best shot at protecting many lands that we have fought to defend from degradation and abuse during the Bush administration.

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A first-hand take on the unbalanced wild lands hearing

Mar 1, 2011

The House Natural Resources Committee held their first oversight hearing on the Wild Lands policy that was issued in late 2010.  I flew out from my home in Boise, Idaho to see the hearing first hand and to try and restore some balance to the conversation.  

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Think the Super Bowl battle was big? Fight over conservation funding looms larger

Feb 7, 2011

More than 100 million Americans watched the Super Bowl clash between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers but they may not realize there’s an even bigger battle they should tune into this month – the fight over federal spending that could decimate pristine forests, pollute our air and water, close national parks and more.

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