TAKE ACTION

Take Action: Action Alerts

Action Alert

Obama Administration Abandons Wildlands Policy

Wilderness policy nationwide is once again "in limbo."

In a short memo released June 1, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar confirmed that the BLM will abandon its recently released Wild Lands Policy (see AWC’s January press release), at least for now.  The Wild Lands Policy would have provided protections for more than 2 million acres of Arizona’s BLM lands.  

In April, Congress passed a legislative rider that barred the agency from implementing the policy during the current fiscal year.  While the BLM still must inventory lands with wilderness character, it will not be obligated to protect those lands from off-road vehicles, drilling, and other development. 

“Secretary Salazar’s flip-flop on the Wild Lands Policy is bad policy and bad for Arizona’s public lands,” says Matt Skroch, AWC’s executive director. “Now that wilderness policy is in limbo once again, we look to Arizona’s congressional delegation to lead efforts to protect Arizona’s special places.” 

In the Sonoran Desert, AWC has identified vast areas with wilderness characteristics.  Currently, many of these lands are slated for consideration by Arizona’s congressional delegation through the Sonoran Desert Heritage Proposal.  In February, more than a dozen elected officials from Arizona wrote to Secretary Salazar expressing their support for the Wild Lands Policy (see AWC’s February press release).  The June 1 memo, while capitulating on the Wild Lands Policy, does set forth two parallel processes for improving BLM’s commitment to managing wilderness-quality lands.  Neither process is clear on timelines or expected outcomes. To read the Secretary’s June 1 memo, click here.

Take Action: Send an email to the Administration!

You can express your disappointment with the Obama Administration and ask them to fight to restore the Wild Lands Policy by sending an EMAIL to the Council on Environmental Quality, which advises the President on matters of natural resource conservation.  

Thank You!

Members help us gain the political support necessary to protect our wild places. Become a member today!