Via The Wilderness Society:

Save our Open Space

America is losing 6,000 acres of open space each day. The Forest Service has identified loss of open space as one of the four major threats to public and private American forestland. Such development threatens our nation’s ability to manage public lands to maintain healthy forests for wildlife habitat, clean drinking water, and public recreation.

The agency has decided to tackle the problem, and is asking the public to weigh in. Please use the letter here - edit as you see fit - to let the agency know how important this issue is.

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Tagged: environment environmentalist environmentalism action+alerts the+wilderness+society forest+service open+space conservation

Via The Wilderness Society:

Pipelines, transmission lines don’t belong on America’s wildest lands

New energy pipelines and electric power lines are being proposed for America’s wild lands, including across National Parks, Monuments, and Wildlife Refuges. This plan is being expedited by the Bush Administration without public input.

Please take a few minutes to urge your Congressional Representative to support the siting of energy corridors appropriately and cautiously - not in areas where they will harm wildlife, cultural sites, and the wilderness experience.

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Tagged: environment environmentalism action+alerts the+wilderness+society public+lands conservation energy+corridors

Via The Wilderness Society:

Keep O&G Rigs Out of America’s Special Places

The Bush Administration has pulled out all the stops to ramp up oil and gas leasing on public lands, with a target of drilling more than 118,000 new wells within the next two decades. This accelerated level of drilling could mar upwards of one million acres of our public lands, and some of the places being targeted are irreplaceable for their solitude, wilderness and wildlife habitat.

We can and we must put pressure on the Bush Administration to rescind this misguided plan. Please use our letter below to send an urgent message to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.

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Tagged: environment environmentalism oil energy politics action+alerts the+wilderness+society drilling

Via The Wilderness Society:

Keep Roan Plateau Free of Gas Drilling Rigs

The spectacular Roan Plateau, located in western Colorado, is a land of broad and rolling hills, stunning box canyons, rare plant species, and wildlife such as elk, black bear and mountain lion.

Astoundingly, the BLM has announced a management plan that puts drilling for natural gas ahead of other values of the Roan, including wildlife protection and recreation. But we still have a chance to turn this decision around. Please tell the BLM to revise the management plan to provide the highest protection for this very special place. Deadline is Monday, October 16.

Via The Wilderness Society:

Protect Colorado’s Wild Canyon Country

Boasting some of Colorado’s most pristine backcountry and an abundance of elk, antelope and other wildlife, the White River Resource Area located in northwestern Colorado contains some of the most extraordinary examples of geological, cultural, and scientific values of any roadless area in the state.

Yet, incredibly the BLM is considering increasing oil and gas wells in this area by as many as 15,000 wells! Please take action today to help us protect this area and its remarkable wildlife and wilderness.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please tell the BLM to provide the highest protection for this very special place. Comments are due by Friday, September 29, 2006.

Via The Wilderness Society:

Protect Our National Forests - Oppose HR 4200

This week, the Senate Agriculture Committee will review and vote on a bill, HR 4200, that could cause serious harm to the long-term health of our public forests. The Senate is considering linking HR 4200 with funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act (County Payments Act) and including this combination in the Department of Defense bill. The Senate needs to know that this is not OK.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Let your Senators know that you oppose this bill. You may edit our letter below, then click on “Send this Message.”

Via The Wilderness Society:

Protect Wild Utah

The wild lands of the Zion-Mojave region of southwestern Utah feature stunning and dramatic landscapes of sandstone cliffs and canyons, Joshua tree forests, and more. These lands, many of them wilderness quality, are located in one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. and are increasingly threatened by sprawl and off-road vehicle use.

Under a wilderness bill being proposed by Utah Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Jim Matheson, less than a third of these wild areas will win long-term protection and up to 40 square miles of the region could be sold off to private developers. This bill is moving forward with inadequate public input.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Let your Representative and Senators know that you oppose this bill.

Via The Wilderness Society:

Ask Interior Secretary Kempthorne to Support the BLM’s Conservation System

From red rock canyons and ancient archaeological sites to roaring rivers and snowy mountains, BLM’s infant National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) offers abundant opportunities for recreation, scientific learning, and community economic benefits.

But this system needs protection from special interests, and that’s why we need your help today in sending a letter asking Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to take the steps necessary to support—rather than neglect—the BLM’s Conservation System.

Tell me more.

Below is the TOC for the August 2006 edition of Wildalert News, a publication of The Wilderness Society. Click on the links to take action or read more, or visit The Wilderness Society’s site for more info.

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WILDALERT NEWS — August 2006

Brought to you by The Wilderness Society

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In this issue of WildAlert News:

1. Welcome

2. Inside Story: Protecting Roadless National Forest Areas

3. Take Action: Three Montana Wild Forests Need Your Help!

4. News: Three Wilderness Bills Pass in House;

California’s Roadless Areas Could Be Protected;

Wyoming Range Lease Sale On Hold;

Damage Thwarted to Western Conservation Lands.

5. Support Our Work - Wilderness Calendars Now Available

Via The Wilderness Society:

Oil and Gas Leasing Would Damage Alaska’s Teeming Teshekpuk Lake Region

Over the strong objections of Native people, wildlife biologists, sportsmen’s groups, and the general public, the Bureau of Land Management remains intent on leasing one of the most remarkable wetlands complexes on the planet. The place is the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), the largest single block of wild public land left in the United States.

We need your help in urging the new Interior Secretary to postpone the oil and gas lease sale for this fragile area that is now set for late September.

Click here to take action.