Wilderness News

I am honored to write today as the new President of the Board of Directors for the Warren-based non-profit organization Friends of Allegheny Wilderness (FAW). Though other organizations seek to eliminate logging in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) and oppose all oil and gas activities, FAW seeks instead to foster cooperation among seemingly opposing interests to protect additional areas in the ANF as wilderness while respecting the need to ensure a sustainable, economically viable future for the entire region. 

San Juan County residents who don't want Sen. Bob Bennett's land bill to die have formed a grassroots organization, Friends of Cedar Mesa, to keep citizens in the loop while wilderness-designation discussions hang in limbo.

Mark Meloy, a retired river ranger for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, says Friends of Cedar Mesa seeks to let the citizens' voice be part of any wilderness or other conservation protections for the region in southeastern Utah.

Many of us have heard the opinion expressed many times in Lincoln County that we have enough wilderness already. As a longtime wilderness supporter, I have learned that people who state this opinion often have little idea of how much wilderness we actually have.

Most folks are surprised to learn that only about 2 percent of Lincoln County is presently protected as wilderness, which is the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a new book featuring photography of the Blue Ridge Mountains might offer quite an earful - which is exactly the goal of a conservation group presenting the book to the public at East Tennessee State University Thursday.

The book, titled "The Blue Ridge: Ancient and Majestic," features photography by Johnson City resident Jerry Greer and essays by Jonesborough resident Charles Maynard. It highlights the natural beauty of the world's oldest mountains, stretching from Georgia to Pennsylvania.

A bill designating almost 350,000 acres in Do-a Ana County as wilderness and conservation areas was unanimously approved by a Senate committee Wednesday.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Wilderness Act, sponsored by New Mexico's U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, allows some public use - such as hunting and grazing - while protecting the granite peaks of the Organ Mountains and the volcanic cinder cones of the Portrillo Mountains from development.

U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today reported that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved a bill that protects the Organ Mountains of Dona Ana County. Bingaman and Senator Tom Udall are sponsors of the bill. 

"In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas in the United States ... , leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress to secure for the American people of this and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness."

It has been five years since the debate about wilderness in Doña Ana County began in earnest. These discussions have taken many twists and turns but, thankfully, have resulted in the development of a sound and widely supported proposal for protecting sensitive wildands in our community.

As a wilderness supporter, I am proud to participate in a diverse coalition of organizations and citizens who have fought for the vision of protecting the Organ Mountains and nearby public lands.

An isolated area from high in the Mendocino National Forest in the north down to Lake Berryessa in the south is being considered for designation as a national conservation area.

Out of the 436,077 acres proposed for the area known as Berryessa Snow Mountain, 42,190 acres are located in Glenn County. The proposed area also includes land in Colusa, Lake, Yolo, Napa, Mendocino and Solano counties.

Sarah McCollum and other members of the Larimer County Youth Conservation Corps know the value of public lands.

They said they've been shedding a lot of sweat restoring tundra near the Alpine Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park, and they'd like other kids to have access to spectacular public lands, too, through better outdoor education programs in public schools and other incentives to get kids outside.