RIP NEPA
Our leaders are letting the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) die. But, maybe that’s okay. It’s time for a National Environmental Protection Act.
Blog
Trump administration attacks iconic wildlands in Alaska
On October 23, the Trump administration launched fresh attacks on three iconic wildlands in Alaska, places that Wilderness Watch, our members and supporters, and our conservation allies have fought to safeguard for decades.
Torching the “Range of Light”
Moved by the radiance of sunbursts bouncing between granite peaks, John Muir once called the Sierras the “Range of Light.” Now, a century later, millions of acres of Wilderness and wild forest in the Range of Light are under threat of reckless cutting and incineration at the hands of those tasked with guarding them.
Make a commitment to our shared wild places today
In 1989, I became a wilderness ranger with the Forest Service and spent 25 years working in the Selway-Bitterroot, Anaconda Pintler, and River of No Return Wildernesses of Montana and Idaho.
Why roadless areas matter for Wilderness preservation
We should all be deeply concerned about the most recent challenge to the integrity of America’s national forests—the proposed repeal of the 2001 U.S. Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation Rule. This could open up nearly 45 million acres of our public lands to road-building, logging, mining, and development.
Thinking in wilderness time
“What goes too long unchanged destroys itself. The forest is forever because it dies and dies and so lives.” -Ursula K. Le Guin
The “Eastern Wilderness Act” turns 50
The Eastern Wilderness Areas Act celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Like handfuls of statutes that designated multiple Wilderness areas, this statute—which technically declares no statutory title despite being commonly known as the “Eastern Wilderness Act”—designated 15 Wildernesses and 17 Wilderness Study Areas in the eastern states to be managed as Wilderness until the U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) evaluated them for Congress.
When the dust settles: Creating an agency worthy of Wilderness
The news is filled with stories of how the Trump administration and its so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have fired thousands of federal employees who work for our public land agencies. Though Trump had been talking about gutting the federal workforce, the way it was done without regard for how it would affect the agencies’ ability to carry out their responsibilities came as quite a shock.
Forest Service reverses decades-long phase-out policy for cabins in Wilderness in Alaska
In January, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) approved a policy change for the Tongass National Forest that will disproportionately impact Wilderness. Designated Wilderness makes up about one-third of the 17 million-acre Tongass, which spans the coastal panhandle of Alaska. The Tongass is home to the world’s largest remaining old-growth temperate rainforest and has complete wildlife communities from all five species of Pacific salmon up to the apex predators: brown bears, Alexander Archipelago wolves, and bald eagles.
Comradery in defense of wild places: A recap of the Healthy Public Lands Conference
Over the past two years of grad school, I often sat at my desk learning about the way policy lands in our backyards, just over our fences, and across the public lands that draw many to the West. My office window looked out onto ponderosa pines and blue skies on the best days, wildfire smoke and worry on the worst.
Gutting of the Forest Service will cause irreparable damage to wilderness character
The U.S. Forest Service is headed for obsolescence due to recent personnel reductions, proposed budget cuts, and re-organization plans. The ability of the Forest Service to meet its legislatively mandated multiple-use mission to the American public is being systematically dismantled.
Wilderness ranger speaks out about February wave of firings, impacts to Wilderness
NOTE: In February, the Trump administration fired approximately 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees and 1,000 National Park Service employees, including wilderness rangers and trail crew members across the country. Shortly after termination, some wilderness rangers reached out to Wilderness Watch to share their stories and concerns about the impact to Wilderness. The following essay was written…