WILD ISSUES:
Recent Issues
Wilderness in Congress
Stewardship Concepts
System-wide Threats
Policy Guide
Essays & Whitepapers

Recent Issues Share

• Help Protect the Natural Soundscape of Zion Wilderness and National Park: 8/10
• WW Advocates Removal of Half Dome Cable System in Yosemite Wilderness: 8/10
• Help Protect Wilderness in Glacier National Park: 7/10
• Building New History in Wilderness: 7/10
• Proposed Bighorn Sheep Study in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks Raises Concerns: 7/10
• Help Protect Wilderness Across the Arctic: 7/10
• New Forest Service Rules Allow Commercial Filming in Wilderness: 6/10
• Help Keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Wild!: 4/10
• WW Weighs in on Gates of the Arctic General Management Plan: 3/10
• WW Urges Restoration of Lone Peak Wilderness Through Breaching Silver Lake Dam: 2/10
• WW Challenges Fish Stocking in CA: 2/10
• Action Alert: NPS Plans to Build Cabin in Katmai Wilderness: 2/10
• WW Weighs in on Yosemite's Merced River Plan: 2/10
• WW Battles Against Wolf Collaring Project in the FC-River of No Return Wilderness: 2/10 [UPDATE, 7/10]
• Forest Service Proposing New Rules for Forest Plans: 2/10
• WW Urges FWS not to Approve Communications Tower in Cabeza Prieta: 2/10 [UPDATE, 3/10]
• U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Hears Kofa Wilderness Guzzler Argument: 12/09
• WW Voices Concern Over Water Tank Maintenance in Kofa: 12/09 [UPDATE, 3/10]
• WW Weighs in on Proposed Water Developments Expansion in Cabeza Prieta: 11/09
• WW Comments on Apostle Islands Draft General Management/Wilderness Plan: 10/09
• Camera Data Shows Bighorns Are Not Using Kofa Wilderness Guzzlers: 9/09
• Action Alert: Let it Rust in Peace: 7/09
• Action Alert: A Chance to Remove a Dam in Wilderness: 6/09 [UPDATE, 5/10]
• Oppose H.R. 2809, Which Would Amend the Wilderness Act: 6/09
• WW Supports FS Pemigewasset Wilderness Bridge Removal Project: 6/09 [UPDATE, 9/09]
• Congress Takes Up the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act: 5/09
• Action Alert: Second Mine Proposed for Cabinet Mountains Wilderness: 5/09
• Action Alert: California Fish and Game Proposes to Poison Silver King Creek Again: 4/09
• WW Opposes Chainsaws/Logging in Sandia Mountains Wilderness: 3/09 [UPDATE, 10/09]
• WW Supports Removing Deteriorating Cabins in South Baranof Wilderness: 3/09
• WW Files Legal Appeal to Protect Kofa Wilderness: 2/09 [UPDATE, 12/09]
• WW Lawsuit Challenges Helicopter Training in Wildernesses in Nevada: 2/09
• DOJ Withdraws Proposed Rule on Mobility Devices: 1/09

• Help Protect the Natural Soundscape of Zion Wilderness and National Park: 8/10
  Background: Zion National Park needs your help in crafting an appropriate Soundscape Management Plan for its Wilderness Zone, which comprises 90% of the Park (84% is designated Wilderness and 6% is proposed Wilderness). Its preferred wilderness noise standards are too weak and fail to protect Wilderness values such as solitude, quiet, etc.
  
  This is not just a fight over excessive and mounting aircraft noise. It is a fight to ensure that the National Park Service (NPS) takes and retains a leadership role in preserving our parks. We need an outpouring of public comments urging the Park Service to assert its legal responsibilities under its Organic Act and the Wilderness Act and to follow its own management policies. This Management Plan has the potential to be precedent-setting, so please make your voice heard.
  
  Comments are due to NPS September 3rd and may be submitted online or mailed to: Zion National Park, Attn: SMP/EA, Springdale, Utah 84767.
  
  Key Point to Make:
  • Natural sounds are an important part of the experience in the Zion Wilderness and National Park, and should be protected and restored as much as possible.
  • The Wilderness Act requires that Wilderness remain untrammeled and its wilderness character be preserved. Motorized noise harms both these wilderness values.
  • NPS policy requires, when evaluating environmental impacts, to take into account the “preservation of natural conditions (including the lack of man-made noise).”
  • The proposed NPS “Desired Conditions” Standard for human noise (including aircraft) in Wilderness in Zion National Park—at generally audible <25% of the time and periodically audible 50% of the time—is too weak to protect Wilderness.
  • The Wilderness Zone “Desired Conditions” Standard should allow for zero motor noise.
  • The NPS should, to the extent legally allowed, prohibit air tours over Wilderness and direct such activities to areas where they won't degrade the experience of those on the ground.
  • NPS should continue to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on addressing noise from high-level aircraft and seek to minimize impacts to the Park.
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• Wilderness Watch Advocates Removal of Cable System from Half Dome in Yosemite Wilderness: 8/10
  The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting an environmental assessment to determine a long-term management strategy for the cable system on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. The EA will address safety, the visitor experience, preservation of wilderness character, including biophysical resource protection. The NPS recently instated an emergency interim permit system to limit the number of visitors using the cables on this famous rock, to address safety concerns due to crowding. [The limit applies Friday through Sunday and during federal holidays and allows 400 people/day (Saturday and holiday use now averages 800 people/day with peak numbers reaching 1000).]
  
  In our scoping comments, Wilderness Watch urged the NPS to restore the area’s wilderness character by removing the cable system. We let the Park Service know we appreciate its efforts to address issues created by the cable system, including its incompatibility within designated Wilderness. We noted that the cable system is unnecessary to preserve the area as Wilderness and it conflicts with the Wilderness Act’s prohibition on structures and installations. We added that the cable system diminishes the area’s wilderness character by altering its natural, undeveloped condition and greatly decreasing opportunities for solitude. We encouraged the NPS to remove the cable system using non-motorized/mechanized tools and transport, and to determine an appropriate use level to preserve the area’s wilderness character. This is a good example of how a different perspective, one that accepts Wilderness on its own terms, is required to protect Wilderness.
  • Click here the read Wilderness Watch’s comments
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• Help Protect Wilderness in Glacier National Park: 7/10
  The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public input on its proposal to stabilize the non-operational Heavens Peak Lookout within recommended wilderness in Glacier National Park. The proposal includes repairing the roof, shutters and exterior wood surfaces, painting the exterior and stabilizing the masonry. A helicopter will be used to fly in reconstruction materials. The lookout was constructed in 1945 and abandoned years ago, as was the trail leading to it.
  
  Please speak up for wilderness in Glacier by asking the NPS to choose the ‘No Action’ alternative and abandon its plan to stabilize the structure. Some points you could include in your comments:
  • Heavens Peak is within the heart of one of our country’s wildest Parks
  • The Wilderness Act prohibits structures unless the minimum required for preserving an area as wilderness
  • The Heavens Peak Lookout serves no purpose for preserving wilderness, therefore it is incompatible with wilderness law and NPS policy for managing recommended wilderness as wilderness
  • Using helicopters to restore the structure will degrade wilderness character (as will the reconstruction and the presence of the structure itself)
  • The Park Service’s guidelines require recommended wilderness to be managed as wilderness
  • The NPS should allow the Lookout to deteriorate so as to restore the site to its natural condition
  
  Please submit comments by 8/16/10 to:
  Superintendent Glacier National Park
  Heavens Peak Lookout EA
  PO Box 128
  West Glacier, MT 59936
  Phone: 406-888-7901
  Or online
  Click here to read Wilderness Watch’s comments
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• Building New History in Wilderness: 7/10
  Wilderness Watch recently alerted its members to the U.S. Forest Service’s (FS) newly constructed Green Mountain “Lookout” in the Glacier Peak Wilderness in Washington’s North Cascades (and also mentioned a number of other outlaw projects we’re dealing with). It was built with freight helicopters and power tools along with a healthy dose of arrogance. It’s actually not intended to serve as a lookout: the last time a person manned a lookout in the area was the early 1970s. No, this was built to be a visitor center of sorts, complete with its resident ranger leading nature hikes, and directly contrary to the legal mandate that there be no structures or installations in Wilderness.
  
  The agency would have gotten away with this egregious breach of wilderness ethics and law had not a Wilderness Watch member and former wilderness ranger discovered the project on his own. You see, FS officials plotted it in private, avoiding public process or participation, thinking they might sneak their unlawful activities under the radar. What is it about the law’s mandate that there be “no structure or installation” built in Wilderness that the Forest Service doesn’t understand?
  Visit our blog to read the rest.
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• Proposed Bighorn Sheep Study within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Raises Concerns: 7/10
  Wilderness Watch has weighed in on a proposed study in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park that would involve capturing 40 endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep using helicopters and “net-guns.” We let the National Park Service know of our deep concerns with the proposal, including: 1) significant adverse effects to wilderness character (e.g., mechanized intrusion, noise, loss of solitude) due to the use of helicopters within designated wilderness; 2) there is no evidence that the project itself is necessary to meet minimum requirements to preserve the area as wilderness; 3) even if the project were necessary to preserve wilderness, the proposed actions are not the “minimum tool” for achieving the project’s objectives, and therefore are inconsistent with the requirements of the Wilderness Act; 4) direct injury to critically endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn, including the death of at least some individuals; and 5) significant adverse sub-lethal and/or indirect effects to Sierra Nevada bighorn, such as decreased long-term survival of captured animals, behavioral changes such as avoidance of key winter range, etc. In our scoping comments, we suggested alternative approaches that would respect wilderness, while promoting better habitat conditions for bighorns.
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch’s comments
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• Help Protect Wilderness Across the Arctic Threatened by Permanent Installations and Helicopter Flights: 7/10
  Background: The National Park Service is proposing to install 17 permanent remote automatic weather stations in Gates of the Arctic National Park (4), Noatak National Preserve (6), Cape Krusenstern National Monument (2), Kobuk Valley National Park (1), and Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (4). Helicopters would be used in nearly all cases to transport stations to sites and for annual maintenance. Nine sites are proposed in designated Wilderness, the remaining eight sites are proposed on wilderness eligible lands. The purpose for these installations stated by NPS in a draft environmental statement is to monitor climatic parameters such as temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, wind, solar radiation and snow depth. Download the environmental assessment at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov (select Gates of the Arctic NP).
  
  The draft environmental assessment released on June 11, 2010:
  * does not include a reasonable array of alternatives for adequate evaluation
  * fails to acknowledge that installations are prohibited in designated Wilderness
  * lacks discussion of data from existing locations in the region and how extrapolation can be made to Wilderness areas without installing weather stations
  * underestimates the impact installations and helicopter flights will have on wilderness character
  * places the desires of researchers above those of Wilderness Act requirements and preservation of Wilderness
  
  WHAT YOU CAN DO:
  Urge the NPS to select the “No Action Alternative” which NPS correctly identifies as the environmentally preferred alternative.
  * Tell NPS that the draft environmental assessment fails to justify that the proposed installations and helicopter flights are necessary to administer and protect the Wilderness
  * Encourage them to utilize data from existing sites outside of Wilderness and make appropriate extrapolations.
  Please send written comments by July 12, 2010 to:
  Attn: Glen Yankus
  National Park Service
  240 West 5th Avenue
  Anchorage, Alaska 99501
  Email: glen_yankus@nps.gov
  or comment on-line at http://parkplanning.nps.gov
  
  For further information contact:
  Fran Mauer (Wilderness Watch AK Chapter Rep)
  907-455-6829
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch's comments, prepared by our Alaska Chapter
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• New Forest Service Rules Allow Commercial Filming in Wilderness: 6/10
  Following controversy over Idaho Public Television's request to film in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho, the Forest Service has released interim Wilderness filming rules. The agency initially made the right decision in denying the request, recognizing the station's commercial nature and the Wilderness Act's prohibition on commercial enterprise, but then bent to political pressure and granted the permit. The FS's new interim rules, effective for the next 18 months, essentially allow commercial filming in Wilderness as long as the Forest Service approves of the film's message. However, the content of the message has no relevance in determining whether the activity is commercial, nor is content-based speech regulation an appropriate role for the Forest Service. Indeed, an agency spokesperson basically conceded in a radio interview (starting about 1/3 of the way through) that the new policy is a total sham when asked if the new rules would allow James Cameron (of Titanic and Avatar fame) to shoot his next film in the Bob Marshall Wilderness—the answer was “yes”!
  
  The Wilderness Act bars commercial enterprise, including filming, because the Act’s framers saw the benefit, indeed the need, to protect Wilderness from being viewed and used as a commodity, and from having its management compromised by economic interests. Upholding this aspect of the law may not always be politically popular, and might sometimes seem like taking things to extreme, but a “bright line” is necessary, and it’s the job of the federal land management agencies to make sure they uphold the law.
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch's Op-ed on the commercial filming, published in the Idaho Statesman.
  • Click here to read the Op-ed on our blog.
  • Click here to read an article on the new rules.
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• Help Keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Wild! 4/10
  The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is our "Geography of Hope," unmatched in its vast scale, remoteness, ecological integrity, and wilderness character. The Refuge should set the benchmark for appropriate stewardship of our entire National Wilderness Preservation System. Now, more than ever, the Arctic Refuge needs your help to become what its founders envisioned.
  
  The Fish and Wildlife Service is beginning to revise the Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Arctic Refuge. This plan will guide stewardship for the next 15 years or more and will include a wilderness review of the entire Refuge. A strong record of public support for preserving the exemplary wilderness character of Arctic Refuge is needed.
  
  The Alaska Chapter of Wilderness Watch has assembled the collective knowledge of veteran Arctic Refuge activists and former agency stewards to identify detailed issues that must be addressed in an effective plan. Click here to see suggested provisions for Arctic Refuge CCP, and formulate your own scoping comments.
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch's comments, prepared by our Alaska Chapter
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• Wilderness Watch Weighs in on Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve General Management Plan: 3/10
  Wilderness Watch has weighed in on the scoping process for amending the general management plan for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. More than seven million acres of the 8.5-million-acre park is Wilderness. Gates is four times the size of Yellowstone NP and helps protect the stunning central Brooks Range, northern boreal forests, and rolling tundra. Caribou, grizzly and black bears, moose, wolves, Dall sheep, and eagles are among the wildlife that live here. Six Wild & Scenic Rivers flow through the park—the Alatna, John, Kobuk, Koyukuk, Noatak, and Tinayguk Rivers—and it borders the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Noatak National Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge.
  
  With all this in mind, we urged the NPS to consider wilderness as the central theme when amending the general management plan. We asked that wilderness character be preserved and serve as the primary consideration for evaluating potential agency actions, that the plan adopt wilderness stewardship principles, that no new developments or structure be allowed, that private visitors take precedence over commercial interests when use is limited, that snowmobiles and motor boats be prohibited, that helicopter use be limited to emergency situations, and that natural diversity and ecological processes be left alone and allowed to evolve as they may.
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch's comments, prepared by our Alaska Chapter
  • Visit the Park’s website for more information on the general management plan amendment
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• WW Urges Restoration of Lone Peak Wilderness Through Breaching Silver Lake Dam (Utah): 2/10
  Wilderness Watch is urging the Forest Service (FS) to restore a piece of the Lone Peak Wilderness by breaching the Silver Lake Dam to its natural level. The dam was built 100 years ago for irrigation purposes, enlarging the original 5.6-acre Silver Lake to its current 13 acres, and abandoned in 1960 following construction of the Silver Lake Flat Reservoir. The dam has been determined by a Utah state water engineer to be a “moderate hazard” that will eventually fail without stabilization, so the FS, in its Silver Lake Dam Stabilization Project, is proposing to “use drilling and blasting to lower the lake’s spillway by six feet from the crest of the dam and to plug the outlet works with concrete.” The proposal includes the use of an excavator, a cement mixer, and a helicopter. Wilderness Watch criticized the FS’ plan because it unnecessarily relies on motorized equipment, and because it stabilizes the lake at a higher than natural level and will continue to alter the natural hydrology. The FS and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources want a bigger lake in order to provide an artificial fishery. We reminded the agency that this structure is prohibited by the Wilderness Act, and should not to be maintained, and also cited FS policy that supports breaching the dam.
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch’s comments
  • Click here to read the FS scoping letter
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• Wilderness Watch Challenges Fish Stocking in California: 2/10
  Wilderness Watch joined other conservation groups in litigation challenging California's fish stocking and hatchery management program, following the release of its EIR, which is the State's equivalent of an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
  
  The primary legal claims are that CA Department of Fish and Game violated the CA Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by: 1) too narrowly stating the program's purpose and need, thereby limiting its review to exclude issues like impacts to wilderness character; 2) improperly using the mid-2000s as the environmental baseline against which the impacts of the alternatives are evaluated, which incorrectly leads to fewer findings of significant impacts; 3) failing to consider a reasonable range of alternatives to both the inland stocking and hatcheries program, including an alternative that ends fish stocking in Wilderness; 4) illegally deferring mitigation to later planning efforts; 5) ignoring potentially significant impacts, particularly to aquatic invertebrates; and 6) failing to evaluate the cumulatively significant impacts of stream and lake poisoning projects throughout CA to remove previously stocked fish.
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• Action Alert: NPS Plans to Build Cabin in Katmai Wilderness (Alaska): 2/10
  The National Park Service (NPS) is expediting public comments on an ill-advised proposal to construct a 20-ft. by 12-ft cabin at Swikshak Bay in the Katmai Wilderness in Alaska. NPS has set the deadline for comments on March, 3, 2010 so it can utilize funding made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (economic stimulus bill). The project’s environmental assessment (EA) can be viewed at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkId=13&projectId=25601.
  • Click here to take action
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch's comments
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• Wilderness Watch Weighs in on Yosemite's Merced River Plan (California): 2/10
  The National Park Service (NPS) released a plan for the Merced Wild and Scenic River in California in August 2000. Following several lawsuits and litigations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided on March 27, 2008 that the plan needed to be revised. Wilderness Watch recently submitted scoping comments to the NPS. Our comments recommended removing the High Sierra Camps and restoring the sites, or, at a minimum, requiring the camps be used and managed in a manner compatible with the surrounding wilderness. We also recommended limiting stock use, and phasing out all commercial developments in and near the Merced River corridor and commercial services in the wilderness.
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• WW Battles Against Wolf Collaring Project in the FC-River of No Return Wilderness (Idaho): 2/10 [UPDATE, 7/10]
  Background:
  In another effort at predator control, Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) proposed as many as 20 helicopter landings in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness (FCRNRW) to radio collar up to 12 wolves. A similar plan from IDFG was defeated in 2006, but the state agency landed a helicopter at least once last winter to collar a darted wolf, and believes it has “the legal authority” to land in the FCRNRW even without Forest Service approval. Given the State’s history, the project could help target wolves for extermination.
  • Click here to view our action alert
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  • Read the Forest Service's Scoping Letter
  
  Unfortunately, in December 2009, the Forest Service (FS) approved IDFG's request, despite the fact that the decision conflicts with the Wilderness Act, the majority of public comments opposed the plan, and in granting permission, the FS is excusing IDFG's prior unlawful Wilderness intrusions.
  
  Wilderness Watch and other conservation groups filed a preliminary injunction brief in the U.S. District Court in Idaho to stop IDFG. The case was heard on 2/18/10. Unfortunately, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill denied our request to stop the helicopter landings. In his ruling, he stated that the use of helicopters will help wolves, whose presence helps protect wilderness character. But he also stated, "The Forest Service must proceed very cautiously here because the law is not on their side if they intend to proceed with further helicopter projects in the Frank Church (sic) Wilderness." His ruling failed to address the issue of how the use of helicopters is the minimum required to preserve the area as Wilderness.
  
  Along with the other plaintiffs, Wilderness Watch moved for a summary judgment motion, which was heard in July 2010. Although Judge Winmill ruled the case moot, as the special use permit had terminated, some good things came out of the hearing.
  
  Laurie Rule of Advocates for the West represented Wilderness Watch. Ms. Rule highlighted the Wilderness Act’s statutory language and underscored that, regardless of IDFG's goals, the Forest Service failed to show that helicopter landings to collar wolves are necessary to maintain wilderness character.
  
  It seemed Judge Winmill understands our concern that he "lowered the bar" (in his words) for helicopter landings in support of so-called research that’s not necessary to preserve wilderness character. He gave the impression that he cares about the Wilderness Act and wants to get it right. In his order, Judge Winmill strengthened his earlier cautions about the incompatibility of helicopters in Wilderness, and he warned the FS it will have to do an EA or EIS on any future projects that involve using a helicopter in Wilderness.
  Click here to read the ruling.
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• Forest Service Proposing New Rules for Forest Plans: 2/10
  The Forest Service (FS) has issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a new planning rule for the national forests. The NOI describes the need this way: A new Agency planning rule is needed to guide land managers in developing, amending, and revising land management plans for the 155 national forests and 20 grasslands in the National Forest System. A new planning rule provides the opportunity to help protect, reconnect, and restore national forests and national grasslands for the benefit of human communities and natural resources. Developing a new rule will allow the Agency to integrate forest restoration, watershed protection, climate resilience, wildlife conservation, the need to support vibrant local economies, and collaboration into how the Agency manages national forests and grasslands, with the goals of protecting our water, climate, and wildlife while enhancing ecosystem services and creating economic opportunity.
  
  Wilderness Watch took this opportunity to remind the FS that 20% of national forests are designated as Wilderness, and to urge the agency to provide necessary direction in national forest plans to ensure that the agency is meeting its responsibility to protect and preserve the resource of wilderness on the national forests.
  • Click here to read Wilderness Watch's comments
  • Click here to read the Federal Register Notice
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  Wilderness Watch Urges FWS not to Approve Communication Tower in Cabeza Prieta Wilderness (Arizona): 2/10
  Wilderness Watch urged the US Fish and Wildlife Service not to allow construction of a communication relay tower in the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness (CPW). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed construction of a tower within the Wilderness as part of its Secure Border Initiative (SBI) and specifically, the SBInet Ajo1 Project. The tower would stand 33.5 feet, with a 16-foot wide by 14- foot tall solar panel array attached to it. All of the government agencies involved state that if Ajo1 is successful, it is very likely that illegal immigrants and drug smugglers will move further westward—deeper into the CPW—to avoid this section's 10 planned clustered towers comprising the Ajo1 ‘virtual fence.' In addition to violating the Wilderness Act, the construction of this tower will likely drive away bighorn sheep, which use this area as a traditional lambing ground.
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on the project
  • Read the FWS's Draft Compatibility Determination for the project
  • Read the DHS's Final Environmental Assessment (Finding of no Significant Impact) *Please note, this is a large pdf file—3.9MB
  
  [UPDATE, 3/10]: The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has approved the construction of this communication relay tower in the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness (CPW) in Arizona, despite opposition from Wilderness Watch and others. The project's approval comes at the same time the DHS has stopped construction of the rest of its SBI because the technology doesn't work and due to cost overruns and other problems.
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• U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Hears Kofa Guzzler Argument: 12/09
  • Listen to Transcript
  • Click here for more information on the Appeal
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• Wilderness Watch Voices Concern Over Water Tank Maintenance in Kofa Wilderness: 12/09 [UPDATE, 3/10]
  Despite concern from Wilderness Watch and other conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) (in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department), is planning to conduct water tank maintenance in early April at the High Tank #3 guzzler. Concerns and comments expressed by us and others caused the FWS to delay the Kofa Wilderness project by about three months, but the scheduled date still falls within the critical bighorn sheep lambing time, which could negatively affect this species, which the tank ostensibly serves. The project involves the use of a helicopter and a gasoline-powered cement mixer. There are also some questions regarding the agency’s notification of the proposal. Wilderness Watch only found out about it after being alerted by a member who saw it posted on Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society’s website—a full week before it was announced to the rest of the public.
  
  In our comments we noted that the proposal violates the FWS’s duty to protect the Kofa’s wilderness character, and requires a proper NEPA review given its impacts.
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments
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• Wilderness Watch Weighs in on Proposed Expansion of Water Developments in Cabeza Prieta Wilderness (Arizona): 11/09
  At the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness in Arizona, the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is proposing to expand three guzzlers for Sonoran pronghorn, using helicopters and motorized equipment. We appreciate efforts to protect and recover Sonoran pronghorn, but those efforts also need to honor the wilderness. We believe the proposed project, including the construction of the original waters in 2003 and 2005, runs afoul of the Wilderness Act. The Act prohibits structures and installations unless necessary to meet the minimum requirement to administer the area for the purpose of the Act, which is to preserve the area's wilderness character. The Act similarly prohibits the use of motorized equipment, such as helicopters, generators, jackhammers, etc., which are all contemplated as part of this action.
  
  We let the FWS know of our concerns with their proposal, including:
  —the project's significant impact to wilderness and its violation of the Wilderness Act;
  —that the project may lead the FWS to develop other tanks in the Wilderness or pursue other activities under the guise of bolstering the pronghorn population;
  —that the proposal fails to consider an alternative to using helicopters;
  —that the FWS prepare either an environmental analysis (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS) that looks at all of the related pronghorn recovery activities (i.e. irrigating the refuge to grow more forage, construction of other water tanks, proposed translocations, etc.
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments
  • Read the FWS Scoping Letter
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• Wilderness Watch Comments on Apostle Islands Draft General Management/Wilderness Plan (Wisconsin): 10/09
  The Gaylord Nelson Wilderness covers 80% of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin, and at 33,500 acres is the state’s largest. The islands have cliffs, sea caves, and some of the most pristine beaches in the Great Lakes region. Wilderness Watch’s comments emphasized two primary concerns related to preserving wilderness character: administrative use of motorized/mechanical equipment and management of historical structures. Our comments also supported many of the excellent concerns expressed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  • Read the NPS Draft Plan
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• Camera Data Shows Bighorns are not Using Kofa Wilderness Guzzlers: 9/09
  Remote cameras installed to detect bighorn sheep use at two controversial man-made water developments constructed in the Kofa Wilderness in 2007 suggest the tanks have completely failed to provide water for bighorns. The cameras, installed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the McPherson and Yaqui Tanks, captured photos of mule deer, hawks, doves, vultures, coyotes and bobcats, but not a single bighorn drinking from the tanks in the two years since their construction. Click here to read the rest of our press release...
  • View a few images taken at the tanks
  • Read an article from the Arizona Daily Star
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• Action Alert: Let it Rust in Peace (Montana): 7/09
  Wilderness Watch opposes the Forest Service's proposal to use a helicopter to remove pieces of an airplane that crashed in 1938 in the Big Prairie area of the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. We urge you to write a short email by 7/31 opposing their proposal.
  • Take Action Now!
  • Read the Forest Service's Scoping Letter
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  • View photos of the wreckage
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• Action Alert: A Chance to Remove a Dam in Wilderness: 6/09
  The Forest Service is proposing maintenance work on the Fish Lake Dam in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, citing its responsibility to comply with federal dam safety laws and regulations and to protect national forest lands. However, the Fish Lake Dam presents an extraordinary opportunity to restore a piece of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to a condition that existed prior to its degradation by humans. Wilderness Watch believes the proposed project is incompatible with Wilderness, as it seeks to maintain a non-conforming structure in Wilderness using motorized equipment. The Forest Service should re-evaluate its plans for the area and consider breaching or removing the dam to restore the area's wilderness character. Click here to view comments submitted by Wilderness Watch and Friends of the Clearwater. Send your comments supporting dam breach/removal to:
  Charles T. Oliver
  Darby District Ranger
  712 N. Main St.
  Darby, MT 59829
  • Read the USFS Scoping Letter
  
  
[UPDATE, 5/10]: We recently received a report on the maintenance work, which was completed by Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) without motorized equipment, using cross cut saws, peavey hooks, cables, and highline rigging setups. Ten tons of driftwood were removed by 21 crew members working 26, 9-hour days, totaling 4914 person hours. Wilderness Watch is continuing to encourage the FS to remove the dam and rewild the Selway-Bitterroot.
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• Oppose H.R. 2809, Which Would Amend the Wilderness Act: 6/09
  Sponsored by Rep. Lamborn (R-CO), H.R. 2809 would to grant "members of a recreation organization acting as an organized unit and regardless of their number...the right to cross wilderness areas on established trails without restriction..." for day use. The genesis of the bill is likely related to a group called the "Roundup Riders of the Rockies," a group of wealthy horsemen who conduct a massive, catered, ride each year involving hundreds of horses, catered camps, music, etc. They've tried to use Wilderness many times, but have been told no, with the exception of a 2007 ride through the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. That trip was approved by the Forest Service Region Two regional forester, despite much internal opposition.
  
  We encourage you to contact your member of Congress to urge his/her opposition to this legislation. For information on how to contact Congress, scroll to the bottom of our Wilderness in Congress page.
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• WW Supports FS Pemigewasset Wilderness Bridge Removal Project (New Hampshire): 6/09
  A controversy is brewing over a Forest Service proposal to remove an unsafe and unnecessary bridge in New Hampshire’s 45,000-acre Pemigewasset Wilderness. White Mountain National Forest’s (WMFN) Pemigewasset Wilderness Bridge Removal Project seeks to address public safety concerns and at the same time, enhance the wilderness character in the Pemigewasset. The proposal to remove, rather than replace, the deteriorating bridge shows a commitment by the WMNF to uphold the intent of the Wilderness Act, our country’s most visionary land protection law. Wilderness Watch believes the Forest Service is doing the right thing for Wilderness and acting in accordance with the law... Click here to read the rest of this Op-Ed published in The Citizen of Laconia...
  
  We encourage visitors to the Pemigewasset Wilderness and citizens throughout the area to lend support to the Forest Service’s efforts to enhance this unique area. Send your comments—
  by letter: Pemigewasset Ranger District
  ATT: John Marunowski
  1171 NH Rte 175, Holderness, NH 03245
  by fax: (603) 536-5147, ATT: John Marunowski
  or by email: jmarunowski@fs.fed.us
  • Read the USFS Scoping Letter
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  
  [UPDATE, 9/09]: In a victory for Wilderness, we received notice recently that the White Mountain National Forest has decided to follow through with its plan to remove this bridge. The Decision Memo states, “As development pressures continue to increase in the Northeast, the value of a wilderness of this size, if it is managed more closely to the intent of the Wilderness Act, will increase…There would no longer be a substantial structure to remind visitors that man’s work extends deep into the middle of the Pemigewasset Wilderness… This decision reflects a desire for an enhanced wilderness experience for generations to come.” We applaud this decision to help re-wild the Pemi.
  • Read the USFS Decision Memo
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• Congress Takes Up the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act: 5/09
  George Nickas, Executive Director of Wilderness Watch, was invited to testify on behalf of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 980). Click here to read George's testimony, heard on 5/5/09. Click here to see what you can do. Click here to view an archived video and get more information on the Subcommittee On National Parks, Forests And Public Lands Legislative Hearing On H.R. 980.
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• Action Alert: Second Mine Proposed for Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in Montana:
  5/09
  An underground copper/silver mine is proposed for the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness south of Libby, MT. Similar to the proposed Rock Creek mine, the Montanore mine would extract ore from beneath the mountains, meadows, and alpine lakes of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The mine would discharge untreated wastewater, impact three threatened species and their habitat–bull trout, grizzly bears and lynx, and divert a perennial stream. The mine proposal also includes a mountain of tailings behind a massive dam. A milling facility and support structures would be built as well.
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  
  The public comment period for the U.S. Forest Service's Draft Environmental Impact Statement ends on June 29, 2009. For more information on the mine and how to take action, please visit Save Our Cabinets' website, call 406-544-1494 or email info@saveourcabinets.org.
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• Action Alert: California Fish and Game Proposes to Poison Silver King Creek (in Carson-Iceberg Wilderness in California) Again:
  4/09
  California Fish and Game is again proposing to poison Silver King Creek in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness in CA, in order to establish a population of Paiute cutthroat trout. The California Deptartment of Fish and Game considers the Paiute cutthroat trout a highly desirable sport fish. Wilderness Watch and other organizations stopped the original poisoning plan in 2005.
  
  Poisoning a Wilderness makes no sense. Say NO to poison in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. Comments on the plan are due by May 5. Click here for more information on the issue and how to comment on the plan.
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• Wilderness Watch Opposes Chainsaws/Logging in Sandia Mountains Wilderness (New Mexico): 3/09
  Wilderness Watch opposes the Forest Service's proposal to use chainsaws to cut thousands of trees in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness in New Mexico. We urge you to write a short email opposing their proposal.
  • Read the USFS Scoping Letter
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  • Take Action Now!
  
  [UPDATE, 10/09]: We've received good news that the Forest Service (FS) has decided not to log the Sandia Mountain Wilderness to make it safe for visitors! This had been proposed for 80 miles of trails, to deal with insect and disease-killed dead trees, which the FS claims presents a hazard to visitors. Instead, to inform the public about potential hazards, the FS has been using news releases, trailhead signage, and a revised trails brochure and Forest website. This approach they've adopted is the approach suggested by Wilderness Watch.
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• Wilderness Watch Supports Removing Deteriorating Cabins in South Baranof Wilderness (Alaska): 3/09
  Wilderness Watch supports the Forest Service's proposal to remove two deteriorating structures in the South Baranof Wilderness of Alaska. We urge you to write a short email in support of this proposal.
  • Read the USFS Scoping Letter
  • Take Action Now!
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• Wilderness Watch Files Legal Appeal to Protect Kofa Wilderness in Arizona: 2/09
  Construction of artificial water tanks violates the Wilderness Act.
  • Read the News Release
  • Read the District Court Decision
  [UPDATE, 12/09]: U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Hears Kofa Argument
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• Wilderness Watch Lawsuit Challenges Helicopter Training in Wildernesses in Nevada: 2/09
  Wilderness Watch has filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its decision to authorize the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) to conduct motorized search and rescue training operations in the La Madre Mountain Wilderness and Rainbow Mountain Wilderness in southern Nevada.
  
  BLM’s decision authorizes helicopter landings at 33 sites within the Wildernesses. Up to 60 landings per training session could occur, resulting in more than 400 landings per year, in perpetuity. The decision represents the single largest motorized intrusion—by a factor of several-fold—ever authorized in a unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System. LVMPD chose the sites based on their proximity to Las Vegas and ease of access for rescue team members. Read the rest >>
  • Read BLM's Environmental Assessment (1.8 MB)
  • Read Wilderness Watch's Appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals of BLM's Decision
  • Read the Interior Board of Land Appeals Opinion
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• DOJ Withdraws Proposed Rule on Mobility Devices: 1/09
  Several months ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released proposed rules to adopt accessibility standards under the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA). Key provisions under the rule included a definition for "wheelchair" and the use of "other power-driven mobility devices." Both provisions could have had a direct bearing on Wilderness and other wildlands. Wilderness Watch recently learned that the DOJ has officially withdrawn these proposed rules. Prior to the DOJ taking this action, the Obama administration had placed a hold on all pending new regulations. The DOJ can resubmit to OMB, but has not yet stated their intention to do so.
  • Read the DOJ's Proposed Rules
  • Read Wilderness Watch's comments on this proposal
  • Read the OIRA Conclusion of EO 12866 Regulatory Review (DOJ withdraws its proposed rules)
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