“Wilderness, above all its definitions and uses, is sacred space,
with sacred powers, the heart of a moral world.”
-- Michael Frome
- ACTION ALERT—A Chance to Remove a Dam in Wilderness
- ACTION ALERT—Forest Service Pemigewasset Wilderness Bridge Removal Project In-Line with Wilderness Act
- UPDATE—North Cascades Fish Stocking Legislation Advances
- New Agency Leaders Named and Nominated
- Everybody Loves a Parade...
- Wildfire Season Starts in the Southwest
- Rescuing Nature from Nature—Is This What Wilderness Management has Become?
- Helicopter Rescue Turns Deadly
- Wilderness Not a Venue for Mountain Biking
- 75-Acre Inholding in the Holy Cross Wilderness Protected
- Vehicle Access will be Closed in New Wilderness in Oregon
- We Need Your Help To Keep Wilderness Wild!
- Just for fun: Eight-year old activist works to protect coastal forests
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ACTION ALERT—A Chance to Remove a Dam in Wilderness: The Forest Service is proposing maintenance work on the Fish Lake Dam in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, citing its responsibility to comply with federal dam safety laws and regulations and to protect national forest lands. However, the Fish Lake Dam presents an extraordinary opportunity to restore a piece of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to a condition that existed prior to its degradation by humans. Wilderness Watch believes the proposed project is incompatible with Wilderness, as it seeks to maintain a non-conforming structure in Wilderness using motorized
ACTION ALERT—Forest Service Pemigewasset Wilderness Bridge Removal UPDATE—North Cascades Fish Stocking Legislation Advances: On June 2, the House of  Representatives approved a bill introduced by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) directing the National Park Service to continue stocking fish in lakes in North Cascades National Park. The Park Service proposed to end the practice, barring Congressional authority to do so, in the Stephen Mather Wilderness within the park because the practice runs counter to its mission of preserving natural conditions and to agency policy. Wilderness Watch members, especially those living in Washington State, would do well to contact their senators asking them to reject the bill.
Photo by C. Gudgeon, courtesy of the National Park Service New Agency Leaders Nominated and Named: On June 17, Tom Tidwell was named new Chief for the U.S. Forest Service. Earlier in the month, President Obama announced his intention to name Bob Abbey as Director of the Bureau of Land Management and Sam Hamilton as Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The nominations require Senate confirmation. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has raised serious concerns about Hamilton's nomination. Everybody Loves a Parade... Sponsored by Rep. Lamborn (R-CO), HR 2809 would amend the Wilderness Act to grant "members of a recreation organization acting as an organized unit and regardless of their number...the right to cross wilderness areas on established trails without restriction..." for day use. The bill would apply to any large group, but was designed to facilitate an annual event by the "Roundup Riders of the Rockies," a group described in a Colorado newspaper in this way: "In July 2007, the secretive fraternity of 150 wealthy horsemen rode through the Spanish Peaks Wilderness in Southern Colorado. The Round Up Riders paid the USFS $15,000 to cover any damage. The elaborate campsites (heated tents, evening entertainment, catered food service) were on private land. Environmentalist groups spoke up against this because the '25 heartbeat' policy was set aside for this politically connected group." Click here for more information on this proposal.
Helicopter Rescue Turns Deadly: A helicopter attempting a hiker rescue crashed on Baldy Peak in the Pecos Wilderness, killing the hiker and the pilot.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A New Mexico state police helicopter pilot died of hypothermia complicated by injuries he received in a crash during a mountain rescue mission, the state medical examiner's office said Tuesday. Wilderness Not a Venue for Mountain Biking: Click here to read a guest opinion from the Missoulian that makes a couple of good points regarding the incompatibility of mountain bikes and Wilderness.
Click here to read: BLM to close wilderness to vehicles soon by the Mail Tribune  WE NEED YOUR HELP TO KEEP WILDERNESS WILD! If you value our efforts to protect Wilderness
and produce publications like this, please consider an online donation to support our work. Thank you!
Just for fun: Eight-year old activist works to protect coastal forests |
Project In-Line with Wilderness Act: The White Mountain National Forest's proposal to remove two bridges and close 0.7 mile of trail in the Pemigewasset Wilderness in order to address visitor safety and enhance the wilderness character of the Pemigewasset is the right thing to do for the public and the forest. The public comment period has been extended to 7/7/09, and we encourage you to express your support for the bridge's removal. To view the USFS scoping letter with instructions on how to comment, 
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