Abandonment Of Wilderness Protections Challenged

"Conservation groups filed papers in the United States District Court late Friday firing back at Gale Norton�s plan to freeze wilderness consideration on more than 200 million acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management...BLM lands at risk include stunning red-rock canyons and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, 14,000-foot peaks as well as the badlands of Vermillion Basin and waterfalls of the Roan Plateau in Colorado, desert grasslands in New Mexico, redwood forests in the Headwaters area of California, the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument as well as pristine Sonoran desert in Arizona. From isolated basin and range country in Nevada to forestlands of Oregon to Sequoia forests in California, many of America�s last wild jewels are suddenly opened to business as a result of the government�s settlement with Utah. None of these lands will be considered for wilderness protection if the Norton settlement agreement stands. For photos of the areas at risk, see www.suwa.org or www.tws.org."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan