Tip Sheet -- April 15, 2005

Tip Sheets

Tip Sheet: April 15, 2005

In This Issue

- Conserving Majority is Finding its Voice	- Border Fight
- Campgrounds Could Close	- Forest Roadless Areas in Trouble
- Land Fever in Maine	- Shortchanged
- Common Sense and Wildfires	- Saving Land Is Good Business
- Arctic Refuge	- Carving Up Parks and Wilderness
- Trying a New Approach in Maine	- National Landscape Conservation System
- Rockies Drilling	- Wilderness for California, Washington, Vermont, and More
- NEPA Under the Gun

Earth Day will celebrate its 35th birthday on Friday, April 22. The list of timely conservation topics includes oil and gas drilling in the Rockies, forest fires, wilderness bills, the fifth anniversary of the National Landscape Conservation System, and the future of the Arctic Refuge. These and other issues are highlighted below. Each is followed by the name of a Wilderness Society person to call for more information.

CONSERVATION MAJORITY IS FINDING ITS VOICE: People from all walks of life are speaking out to protect wild places that are close to their hearts: ranchers, ministers, hunters, teachers, scientists, among others. This broad support has led the governors of New Mexico and Wyoming to oppose oil and gas development in some of the wildest country in their states. Numerous polls and state and local elections last fall indicate that people strongly support environmental protection and are alarmed at the energy and forestry agendas of the current administration. Just this week Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) told the Forest Service’s regional director that logging the roadless forests in the Biscuit project in Siskiyou National Forest prior to a court ruling in a pending case will “ …only add to the discord and distress already experienced by the range of interests in this issue.” (Bob Ekey, 406-586-1600; Dave Alberswerth, 202-429-2695)

CAMPGROUNDS COULD CLOSE: Certain campgrounds, trails, picnic sites, and other recreational features in the national forests will be closed or will have reduced hours in the fiscal year that begins October 1, according to a U.S. Forest Service memo cited by the Oregonian, which first reported this story. Campers, hikers, and others should not be alarmed, insisted USDA Deputy Undersecretary Dave Tenny. “This is part of an organized effort to be aware of what our assets are in the field,” he explained. This news comes as the demand for national forest recreation is soaring. In our view, one way to make ends meet might be to cut back on commercial logging projects since in most national forests that activity operates in the red. (Bob Freimark, 206-624-6430, x228; Carolyn Alkire, 202-429-2685)

LAND FEVER IN MAINE: Are the Maine Woods now up for grabs? A development proposal by Plum Creek sure seems to suggest that. The area right around fabled Moosehead Lake would have to absorb nearly 1,000 houses (575 on the shorefront), two resorts (including “eco-friendly” golf courses), three RV parks, an industrial area, and more. Traditionally, these lands, like other timber-company-owned tracts in the Maine Woods, have been mostly open to the public and have been enormously popular among hunters, boaters, anglers, and campers. Once subdivided, will this special region be off-limits? Where will Maine’s next mega-developments be? The state legislature is debating a bond issue that could enable Maine to compete with developers as more acreage comes on the market. We can put you in touch with the lead witness in support of the legislation, seven-year-old Katherine Mawhinney. (Jeremy Sheaffer, 207-626-5553)

COMMON SENSE AND WILDFIRES: Wildfire season is upon us. Many states across the West are once again experiencing serious drought and are bracing for what is likely to be an active season. With so many communities at potential risk, it is important that scarce resources be dedicated to protecting homes and lives. However, the money that is supposed to go toward state and local assistance programs is slated to decline in next year’s budget. A Wilderness Society report to be released at the end of April shows that funding for programs that provide true community assistance remains dangerously low in the National Fire Plan, severely limiting many communities’ ability to prepare for fire. (Lisa Gregory, 303-650-5818, x107; Tom Fry, 303-650-5818, x110)

ARCTIC REFUGE: The battle continues. With the Senate having approved a FY06 budget resolution that includes drilling along the Arctic Refuge’s fabled coastal plain, the focus has shifted to a House-Senate conference. Since the House version of the resolution says nothing about this issue, negotiators are now trying to resolve that difference and a number of others. Some years Congress manages to pass a budget resolution, but Congress failed to do so in both 2003 and 2004. A broad, subsidy-laden energy bill now making its way through House committees provides for Arctic Refuge drilling, but it is highly unlikely that such a measure could win Senate passage. Oblivious to all of this, millions of birds are now flying to the refuge to nest, 130,000 caribou are beginning the long trek to bear calves on the coastal plain, and polar bears are emerging from their dens with cubs. Here’s a kid angle: 13-year-old Savannah Walters has created a site (www.pumpemup.org) to let people know that if American drivers simply pumped up their tires to proper inflation levels, we would save as much oil as is expected to come out of the Arctic Refuge if drilled. (In 1995, the U.S. Energy Department said that under-inflated tires waste an estimated 4 million gallons of gas daily.) Savannah had tire gauges donated for her to distribute to drivers. (Eleanor Huffines, 907-272-9453; Leslie Catherwood, 202-454-2524)

TRYING A NEW APPROACH IN MAINE: Independent artisans in Maine’s western mountains have banded together to make a living while at the same time showing how sustainable use of the forest can work. Take a trip to Farmington and stop in at the SugarWood Gallery, where these business people showcase their wares. The gallery was an instant success and now has expanded, while over in Vermont, it looks like a similar venture is about to start up. There are some wonderful individual stories. The small business people are part of Maine WoodNet, created by The Wilderness Society to illustrate how a healthy forest and a healthy local economy can go hand-in-hand. (Spencer Phillips, 802-895-2882)

ROCKIES DRILLING: The Bush administration is moving as quickly as possible to promote drilling across public lands in the Rockies and elsewhere in the West. In FY2004 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued a record number of federal land drilling permits: 6,052. The energy bill moving toward the House floor is chock-a-block with subsidies and provisions to actually speed up such development. But consider these facts: 1) According to a BLM report, more than 85 percent of the oil and gas in five Rockies states is already available for leasing. 2) In 2004, more than 35 million acres of federal lands were under lease for oil and gas. 3) Of those 35 million acres, only 11.7 million were in production. It sounds like the government should be moving at a more measured pace. Just before the 2004 election, the administration backed away from a controversial leasing proposal in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, but already authorities are revisiting that decision. We can arrange a tour for you (on foot or in air) of some of the areas that are at risk. (Dave Alberswerth, 202-429-2695; Peter Aengst, 406-586-1600; Steve Smith, 303-650-5818, x106)

NEPA UNDER THE GUN: House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) has spearheaded creation of a task force that will spend the next six months, starting April 23 in Tacoma, holding field hearings on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Since being signed by President Nixon 35 years ago, NEPA has come to be known as the Magna Carta of environmental laws. NEPA is the guarantee that Americans affected by a federal action—such as highway construction, oil drilling, or logging—will get the best information about its impacts, a choice of good alternatives, and the right to have their voices heard before the government makes a final decision. The law’s critics like to say that they seek only to “streamline” land management. (Leslie Jones, 202-429-2628; Mike Anderson, 206-624-6430, x227)

BORDER FIGHT: No one has any quarrel with enforcing our immigration laws, but things seem to be getting out of hand. This is not a reference to the “Minutemen,” but to a proposal stuck onto the emergency Iraq-Afghanistan-tsunami funding bill nearing final votes in Congress. It would give the Border Patrol carte blanche in wilderness areas near all our borders, including wilderness within Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, both along the southern Arizona border. Officials would be allowed to use motorized vehicles, build helicopter landing pads and other permanent structures, use round-the-clock floodlights, and take other steps that are in clear violation of the Wilderness Act. (Leslie Catherwood, 202-454-2524)

FOREST ROADLESS AREAS IN TROUBLE: Two news pegs seem to be just around the bend. We are awaiting a final announcement on the administration’s proposal to open up roadless forests to new logging and roading. Under that scheme, a governor will have to petition to protect roadless areas in his/her state. But even if a governor takes that step, the U.S. Forest Service will still have the power to disregard the petition. The administration has already exempted Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, which has the most roadless land, from the Roadless Rule, and conservation groups are now trying to prevent timber sales there. Also, on May 4, the Tenth Circuit will hear oral arguments in conservationists’ appeal of a 2003 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming. He blocked implementation of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, saying that it violated the National Environmental Policy Act, but his decision was at odds with an earlier Ninth Circuit decision. Roadless areas amount to 30 percent of our national forest acreage and can be found in 38 states. Over the past four years, four million Americans have told the Forest Service that they support continued protection of our roadless forests because of the benefits they provide, including clean water, healthy wildlife populations, recreation, and local economic benefits. We can direct you to roadless areas that illustrate these benefits. (Mike Anderson, 206-624-6430, x227)

SHORTCHANGED: The president came to Washington pledging to push for the appropriations needed to acquire parklands and other green space threatened by development. But the budget he sent to Capitol Hill in February would slash the money for federal land acquisition from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) from $166 million in Fiscal Year 2005 to just $130 million. Each year this fund receives $900 million in royalties from offshore oil and gas royalties. Some of it is to be used to prevent development of private lands, either inside or next to public lands, that owners are willing to sell to federal agencies. There are scores of places that need to be saved from the bulldozer—along the Connecticut River at Silvio Conte National Wildlife Refuge, in Greater Yellowstone, at Mt. Rainier National Park, and elsewhere. The rest of the LWCF money goes to states and localities to help with recreation projects and land protection initiatives, and the president proposed zero-funding these matching grants. (Sarah Neimeyer, 202-429-2681; Tom Gilbert, 215-343-1110)

SAVING LAND IS GOOD BUSINESS: With the heaviest vacation season approaching, business owners near national forests, parks, and other popular getaways are gearing up for the visitors that make the companies viable. This economic impact is growing rapidly across the country and is one reason for the birth of regional groups such as Businesses for the Northern Forest. Nationally, Business for Wilderness (303-444-3353) is actively engaged in a wide range of land protection campaigns and can hook up reporters with businesspeople who are part of this movement. (Spencer Phillips, 802-895-2882)

CARVING UP PARKS AND WILDERNESS: Utah continues to be a hotbed for the road controversy known as “RS 2477” and the rules issued by the Interior Department that will enable claimants to turn dirt trails and creek bottoms across the West into roads. Six Utah proposals are now under consideration. We are embroiled in a battle royal with the state over documents that citizens must have if they are to assess RS 2477 proposals. Officials continue to hide information that should be public. When former Governor Leavitt cut the original deal with the Interior Department, he promised an open process. But last week the attorney general's office took down the state's RS 2477 Web site. We had a hearing in front of the State Records Committee yesterday and went to court in Emery County to get the primary documents. (Kristen Brengel, 202-429-2694, kristen_brengel@tws.org; Pam Eaton, 303-650-5818, x103)

NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION SYSTEM: We are just two months away from the launch of activities celebrating the fifth anniversary of this 26-million-acre system, created to protect the cultural and natural landscapes of the West. For those seeking a more rugged recreational getaway, these spots provide appealing alternatives to the much more crowded national parks. Raft the Missouri in Lewis & Clark’s wake, hike in the canyons that were home to ancient civilizations, or stroll the quiet beaches of California’s Lost Coast. Right now the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is drawing up plans for some of the flagship national monuments, which will determine what level of protection they actually receive in the face of threats from overdevelopment, uncontrolled off-road vehicle damage, vandalism, and oil and gas interests. We are also preparing a report card on the NLCS. (Wendy Van Asselt, 202-429-7431; Jill Ozarski, 303-650-5818, x111)

WILDERNESS FOR CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON, VERMONT, AND MORE: Though a lot of conservationists are tied up trying to counter the anti-environmental moves by the Bush administration, there are still many citizens busy laying the groundwork for bills that would protect wilderness. Last fall Congress passed bills creating 800,000 acres of wilderness areas in Nevada and Wisconsin. Bills to designate wilderness in California, Washington, Vermont, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, Virginia, and elsewhere will be up for debate in this Congress. The goal is to enlarge and diversify the National Wilderness Preservation System, which we believe should grow far beyond its current 106.5 million acres. Our Wilderness Support Center in Durango is working with grassroots coalitions and can give you details. (Bart Koehler, Melyssa Watson, Michael Carroll, all at 970-247-8788)