The Red Rock Wilderness Act: Our Chance to Be Present at the Creation
This week marks an historic turning point for people who love the wild canyon country and sweeping mesas of Southern Utah. For the first time, the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest, and Public Lands will consider a bill designed to protect millions of acres of spectacular Utah lands as wilderness.
All of these lands -- some of the last great places on earth -- are owned by the public, but most of them remain vulnerable to industrial development. America's Red Rock Wilderness Act would protect them from oil and gas development, uranium mining, and off-road vehicle use. Meanwhile, hunters, anglers, hikers, and families could continue to enjoy these lands, including the renowned Cedar Mesa, San Rafael Swell, and the Book Cliffs.
This is our chance to be present at the creation. If we pass the Red Rock Wilderness Act, we can tell our grandchildren that we helped birth the latest Yellowstone. We can say we preserved treasures equal to Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. We can add to the wilderness inheritance of future generations, and they will thank us for it.
I love the extraordinary lands encompassed in America's Red Rock Wilderness Act. I have spent decades exploring them, and I am still awed by the beauty of their serpentine canyons and alcoves filled with stone houses built by the ancestors of today's Pueblo people. I have profoundly inspiring memories of the time I've spent hiking with my family under sculpted arches, through pink sand dunes and across mesas that open up to a sea of redrock vistas.
Fortunately, there is growing support in Congress for protecting precious wildlands like these. This February, Congress passed the Omnibus Public Lands Act -- the most significant conservation law in decades. The law designated more than 2.1 million acres of wilderness in nine states. Significantly, this was a bipartisan effort.
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, introduced by true champions Senator Richard Durbin and Congressman Maurice Hinchey, also has bipartisan support. It has a remarkable 139 cosponsors in the House and 31 in the senate--that's almost 1 out of every 3 Members of Congress.
I believe two key forces are fueling this renewed desire to protect the public's lands.
First, lawmakers are finally recognizing the toll climate change is taking on fragile landscapes like Southern Utah. The highly regarded NRDC is releasing a report tomorrow documenting the impacts of global warming on national parks, and Zion is one of the 25 most imperiled. The same extreme heat and drought that plague Zion stretch across the region.
Already, conditions are so dry that high winds are picking up Utah's red dust and dumping it hundreds of miles east on Colorado's San Juan Mountains. Skiers call this red snow or watermelon snow.
When you build roads and lay drill pads and pipelines on this kind of delicate landscape, it rips apart the biological soils that retain precious water and prevent erosion. Scientists agree that protecting large roadless areas is critical for combating climate change.
Lawmakers are also beginning to realize that we can power our nation with cleaner, more sustainable options than dirty fossil fuels. Energy efficiency and plug-in hybrids will do far more to free us from our oil addiction than the tiny amount of fuel found in Utah -- home to just 2.5 percent of the nation' natural gas reserves and 1 percent of oil reserves.
But there is also a second force behind the growing movement for America's Redrock Wilderness Act: the American people. I don't think popular support for wilderness has ever waned in this country -- exploring untrammeled ground is too deeply embedded in American tradition. But I do believe that during the Bush administration, those voices were not heard above industry's clamor.
Still, Americans burst through the din last November, when the Bush administration gave 77 drilling leases as a parting gift to their friends in the oil and gas industry. The leases were all in Southern Utah and many of them were in full view of beloved national parks. More than 150,000 people filed protest comments with the Bureau of Land Management, and the successful effort to block the leases received national attention. It became clear just how much Americans care about this corner of Utah.
There is also strong local support for America's Redrock Wilderness Act. The lands included in the bill were inventories by hundreds of Utah volunteers, and Utah activists, religious leaders, and businesspeople have called on politicians to pass it. The natural assets of the state of Utah and the quality of life they provide continue to be a primary reason individuals and families move there and stay there.
As well, many Utah residents see the economic benefits of choosing wilderness over industrialization. Back when President Clinton first proposed protecting the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, some locals hated the idea. Now many say it was one of the best things that happened to their region. According to a report by the Sonoran Insitute, using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, labor income and personal earning power increased significantly in the years after the monument was designated.
The truth is no generation regrets setting aside land for another. No generation looks back and chastises the previous one for leaving a wilderness inheritance.
The America's Redrock Wilderness Act is our chance to add to this natural heritage. You can do your part by telling your lawmakers to support the bill.
Photo of Gooseneck of Colorado River taken by Ray Bloxham for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
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Mr. Redford -- most of the 77 oil and gas leases in Utah that were issued late in 2008 and supposedly canceled by the new administration in February 2009 have risen from the dead: the Department of the Interior only suspended those leases, pending the outcome of an investigation. The investigation is done, the report is out, and a news release was issued today by DOI:
Only 8 of those 77 parcels are now officially snuffed.
There's a much bigger story here that goes beyond a single lease sale, and will have long-lasting repercussions across the West: natural-gas boosters are very effectively promoting more gas consumption as the best way to reduce our use of coal and cut down our overall CO2 emissions. What gets swept under the rug is that we'll have to drill tens of thousands of new wells, many of them on public lands in Utah and throughout the Rocky Mountain West, to produce that additional gas. We're seeing plenty of impacts from current natural-gas drilling on landscapes, habitat, wildlife, air quality -- even people's drinking water.
Unless we seriously overhaul the way drilling is done, we can expect to see a lot more of this in coming years: http://skytruth.mediatools.org/sites/default/files/jonah_5x5_300dpi_2008_412.jpg
DOI's report on the Utah leases is here: http://www.doi.gov/documents/BLM_Utah77LeaseParcelReport.pdf
Today's news release on the report is here: http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/100809a.html
i remember when Bill Clinton signed the legislation creating Grand Stair Case Escalante. The locals hated him so much that the local sheriff, a GOP activist, started a lie campaign that trees were deliberately cut down so there would be a more majestic view of Clinton on location signing the bill.
I hope Mr. Redford is right when he says attitudes towards the environment have changed there.
I drive through southern Utah 15-20 times per year as part of my job travelling from Phoenix to Salt Lake City. The interstate would be faster, but US89 from Flagstaff to Panguitch, part of a designated scenic byway, is so beautiful that I leave home earlier to take the longer route.
I've worked in almost every state west of the Mississippi and found nothing can compare to the beauty of southern Utah.
Thanks for writing this informative article and for bringing this question to our attention. We are contacting congressional members to voice support for ARRWA.
I just got back from Zion, my third time there. Water is being irrigated from the Virgin river
and spread throughout the Watchman Campground. Despite the drought trees are getting
water and a forest is now spreading across the valley floor. There is more shade in Zion
now than ever before, especially in the campgrounds. There are good things happening
and I wish Huff Post would report them more oftern.
Keep up the great work Bob.
Your voice is a powerful one.
Only republicans regret setting aside land for another generation. Republicans want to wreck everything NOW. "Drill Baby Drill". They are dinosaurs. Which is why the are comfortable around oil.
I'll tell every Senator I know to support this Bill. Thanks Robert. Thank you for caring.
What's wrong with off-road vehicles? How else can you get out to see this beauty?
ORV's are destructive little buggers. It is amazing to see the places ORV drivers seem to need to get to and the wake of their destruction. And, since ORV's are mechanized, noisy polluters, they are not allowed in wilderness areas, thank god.
Wilderness areas are not necessarily there for us to 'get to' but are there so we know that there are places in our great country that will remain wild.
Fully support this.
I urge my friends in the United States to support The Red Rock Wilderness Act
Mr Redford's post describes closely the situation near my home in Perth,Ontario,Canada,where uranium drilling has begun 40 kilometers from my home in the middle of some of Ontario's pristine countryside.These drill-sites are only a few kilometers from several Provincial Parks and hundreds of lakes.Long time local residents and several First Nations Organizations are deep into protesting against local and provincial/federal regulations that permit this to happen.
Horizontal uranium mining is destroying this country !!!!!!!!
Was also going to mention the PBS series by Ken Byrnes on the "US National Parks America's Best Idea". Have been watching this all week and am pleasantly impressed by the substance and quality of this series. It is a great effort and if anyone hasn't been watching, it looks like it will be rebroadcast over the weekend. It is really worth the time and would encourage young people to watch it as well.
Would like to echo the appreciation directed toward Robert Redford for his efforts to preserve these lands as our national heritage. These unique landscapes, natural wonders, and wildlife inhabiting them are truly our national treasure. Thank you, Mr. Redford.
No generation looks back and chastises the previous one for leaving a wilderness inheritance.
So very true. I too am awed by the Ken Burns narrative. I was so proud (and grateful) for the individuals and organizations that worked so tirelessly to ensure these treasures could be appreciated by future generations. I've always pointed out to those who insist that the resources need to be exploited for jobs and economic wealth regardless of impact on the ecosystem, that once they're gone, they're gone. To see how close we came to losing the Everglades because so many thought it served no useful purpose as well as wasn't suited to the typical visitor recreation model that was such an indespensible selling point of the early national parks.
Though I am occasionally I am an off-roader, I am glad the area will be restricted to off-roading as unfortunately too great a percentage of them are not mindful of the habitat damage and noise pollution they create.
Though I don't hunt, I target shoot. I am concerned about the impact of the lead from ammunition expended and if there are ways to reduce or eliminate the negative effects that can have.
Also watch Redford's 1972 movie "Jeremiah Johnson."
Thanks for the recommend. I had just recently watched his documentary on Leonard Peltier ("Incident at Oglala") and came away with a conclusion that Peltier was indeed railroaded. The background on the violence between factions happening within the Native American community was previously unknown to me and would certainly fit the bill of what one would call "mitigating circumstances" regarding the shooting of the two FBI agents. Shortly after seeing the Oglala doc, I saw Ken Norton in "Pride and Glory" about crooked NYPD cops (which actually had its release date delayed some 5 years because they did not feel that it was appropriate to have a movie about crooked NY cops so close to 9/11). The parallels to Redford's Oglala doc were quite strong in that law enforcement officials were willing to put forth any testimony regardless of credibility if it would help them acheive their aims.
Hi Robert,
this is off topic. Just wanted to say thank you for all you have done on and off the screen. As I get older I am more able to fully appreciate what hollywood has done to strengthen a mature, more perfect union.
I suppose there will always be an element of chaos in the world. It's odd that we can be alive today and dwell in so much ignorance. Thanks for the vision, it's to damned easy to loose it and that problem begins with the education of our young. Thanks again for showing genuine leadership. The GOP should be ashamed instead of arrogant. Just more proof you know who did not make it out of their volcano.
As a dweller of twenty five years along the Wasatch Front two counties above Robert Redford, I am very aware of what is at stake.
Obviously we need to set aside wilderness from the fossil fuel industries that want to drill, mine and otherwise destroy everything. But I ask you - how much energy do you use?
I commend Mr Redford for paying out of his own pocket the shuttle busses during the film festival in Park City! He sets an example for others to follow. I ask you - do you eat too much meat? It takes forty times the fossil fuel to produce a pound of feedlot beef as does a pound of soybeans.
I am making the personal commitment to using less resources. I have installed UV reflective panels on my windows, added insulation to the attic.
And I have made the biggest commitment of all. I have no children, and plan on one child and adoption.
We are responsible for saving southern Utah by our actions.
EARTH First!!!!
This is good news. I lived in the area and can attest that the scenery is stunning and the archaelogical resources unparalled. Never a week went by when some devastating corporate or military activity was purposed.
The ruling elite can't stand to see anything stay as it is. They have to put their stamp on it even if it decreases it's value.
As a frequent vacationer to Southern Utah, I am very interested in this legislation and grateful that it's been brought to my attention.
I'm writing from Oregon, where protection of old growth forests and the Columbia River Gorge has changed our state over the past 25 years. It was uneasy, thousands of workers displaced, and still causes conflict in many of these communities.
Prior to the last 25 years, however, we protected our beaches and restored access to the Willamette River in the Portland area. This was uneasy, negatively affected many businesses and land owners, and yet today, no conflict. In fact, we are grateful and proud of this change. (We embrace it in fact and call it our state's heritage!)
Despite my over-generalizations (which I'm sure someone will call me on), my point is that our decisions today may be tough because of our disagreements over how best to protect and preserve land. I believe this disagreement is only temporary and that in time we will embrace any action meant to support our future generations.
There were two great moments on the Ken Burns National Park series tonight, both about Wyoming.
First -- a former Wyoming Sen/Gov who said he'd done everything he could do to stop Jackson Hole becoming a national monument (now part of the Tetons), that he'd fought Rockefeller every way he knew how. And he was incredibly grateful now that he had lost those fights.
Second -- a line from Carl Pope of the Sierra Club (I'm paraphrasing) -- "Wyoming bitterly fought the national monument -- and now the Grand Tetons are on their license plates."
Two little anecdotes that suggest that you're right! Nice post.
Those were also powerful moments for me as well. The former politician who stated he was glad he lost the fight illustrates so perfectly the urgency of timely action as the shame of not succeeding in the preservation of these treasures would almost be too much to bear.
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