THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY JUNE UPDATE

WildAlert
Community News
June 2008

IN THIS ISSUE:
Welcome
Take Action
Inside Story
News
Support Our Work

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

Tell Your Friends about Wilderness Society News today!


WELCOME


Dear sherrie,

Last month was a banner month for Colorado wilderness! We now have three wilderness bills moving through Congress with hopes of passage this year:

Newly introduced Dominguez Canyon Wilderness bill (H.R.6162/ S.3065) will protect unique and colorful canyons south of Grand Junction, preserving more than 30 miles of winding canyon bottoms and habitat for desert bighorn sheep and other wildlife.

Rocky Mountain National Park bill (H.R. 2334/S.1380) moved closer to a vote in May. It will designate 249,000 acres of spectacularly beautiful backcountry terrain in the Park as wilderness.

Brown's Canyon Wilderness, (S. 3066) introduced by Sen. Salazar last month, will protect 20,000 acres of dramatic scenery in the Arkansas Valley south of Buena Vista, and ensure healthy habitat for big horn sheep, elk, bears and many other animals.

You have a key role to play in the passage of these bills, not the least of which is to let Sen. Allard know how important this legislation is, and urge his support. Please take action, below.

And, please consider making a gift to The Wilderness Society this month. Every qualifying gift will be doubled thanks to a matching gift from two generous supporters! Find out more.

Thanks for all you do.



Suzanne Jones
Regional Director

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Take Action

New legislation is moving in Congress that will protect wilderness in three distinctive parts of Colorado. All three bills enjoy a good chance of passing this year, especially if Colorado's Sen. Allard provides his endorsement and support.

Sen. Allard joined Sen. Salazar in introducing the Rocky Mountain National Park bill last year, and he has been active in negotiations over its final details. Similarly, he has been extensively involved in negotiating details for the Dominguez and Brown's Canyon proposals, both of which were introduced in Congress by Sen. Salazar on May 22.

Your action now can persuade Sen. Allard to support these three important bills, thus helping ensure their prompt approval.
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Inside Story

A Cherished Heritage

Americans have cherished their public lands for more than a century - since the first national parks, refuges, and monuments were created.

Our public lands include some of the nation's most intact and diverse ecosystems, and keeping them that way is one of our best hopes for sustaining the plants, animals, birds, clean water and air so at risk now, in the face of global warming.

The Wilderness Society is committed to this challenge. We are working to secure federal funding to restore and better manage public lands where global warming's impacts will be felt most severely. We are working for additional wild land protection to ensure that key ecosystems and wildlife corridors are protected. We are conducting award-winning research and demanding that agencies gather the best scientific information on which to base their land management decisions.

As a member of the WildAlert community, you, too, are a part of this mission. Thank you for all you do to support our work.
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News

Teshekpuk Lake Safe, for Now

The wildlife-rich region of Teshekpuk Lake in arctic Alaska will be saved from oil and gas drilling for at least a decade under a new plan for the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) released by the Interior Department. The decision came after a lawsuit by The Wilderness Society and other groups blocked a controversial lease sale in the area.

An outpouring of public opposition to drilling–much of it from the WildAlert community -- helped shape the decision. As The Wilderness Society's Eleanor Huffines noted, the next step is to move a bill in Congress. "This decision lifts the immediate threat of leasing so that conservationists, subsistence users, scientists and others can work to secure permanent protection, part of a balanced approach to oil and gas development in the larger NPRA," she said.

Court Protects Public's Land

Kane County, Utah, broke the law when it adopted an ordinance encouraging off-road and other vehicles to use routes closed by federal land managers in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and in a designated wilderness area. A U.S. District Judge in May found that Kane County also violated the Constitution by posting dozens of road signs in the places Monument managers had closed to vehicles to protect sensitive wildlife habitat, archeological treasures, and wilderness values.

"The judge's ruling sends a clear message that the county's actions were illegal," said Kristen Brengel of The Wilderness Society. "Encouraging illegal off-road vehicle use can seriously harm the very natural and cultural resources and values that make the Grand Staircase so spectacular."

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Support Our Work

Your Gift Today Goes Twice as Far!

You've shared our successes as we've defended America's wilderness against very difficult odds. Now, in the last months of the Bush administration, we must remain very vigilant, while planning for a new administration and new opportunities. We need your support to do that.

And today, your qualifying gift will be DOUBLED as part of our matching gift campaign.

Knowing that you're behind us as we work to protect America's extraordinary wild heritage helps us push that much harder. As we prepare to meet the opportunities and challenges on the horizon, we're glad to have you as a part of our community.

Contribute to The Wilderness Society today, and see your donation go twice as far.

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Words to Inspire

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever."
- Carl Sagan

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The Wilderness Society's mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. As a subscriber to WildAlert, you join more than 310,000 Wilderness Society members and supporters in protecting and restoring America's wild places.


www.wilderness.org 1615 M St, NW Washington, DC 20036 1.800.THE.WILD action@tws.org