“Wilderness, above all its definitions and uses, is sacred space,
with sacred powers, the heart of a moral world.”
-- Michael Frome
- Giant Cruise Ships Degrading Wildernesses in AK
- In the Courts: Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MN, Suffers Setback in Court
- In Congress: Omnibus Public Land Management Act Signed Into Law
- Copper and Silver Mine Proposed for the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, MT
- Federal and State Plan to Poison Wilderness Stream in Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, CA
- Fire Burns 10,000 acres in Juniper Prairie Wilderness, FL
- Wilderness Watch's New Website is Live!
- Volunteer Opportunity in Wilderness
- Membership Message
- Just for Fun: The Bear Rub Video
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Giant Cruise Ships Degrading Wildernesses in Alaska: Wilderness Watch and other organizations have become concerned with an issue in the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness in AK–that of growing cruise ship use of narrow marine waterways along wilderness lands. Cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers will make more than 200 visits in 2009. Complaints to the US Forest Service about cruise ship traffic include noise, smog and loss of wilderness character. IN THE COURTS Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Suffers Setback in Court: Efforts by Wilderness Watch and two local organizations to have a proposed snowmobile trail adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota declared illegal suffered a setback in court. The court ruled that one of our claims–that the US Forest Service (USF  S) erroneously excluded South Fowl Lake from the official Wilderness boundary–is barred by the statute of limitations. South Fowl Lake is the terminus of the proposed snowmobile trail. Our second claim–that the trail is unlawful because it would degrade the area's wilderness character–was supported by the district court, which ordered the USFS to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to assess the trail's impact on the adjacent Wilderness. The 8th Circuit refused to overturn that decision, which was appealed by snowmobile interests. A note about the misstatements in the article linked to below: the 8th Circuit Court didn't "back" the trail–it simply ruled that our challenge of the status of South Fowl Lake was time-barred. The Court passed no judgment on the trail. Map courtesy of US Forest Service Read this article: The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has backed a snowmobile trail proposed at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness By Duluth News Tribune Back to top
IN CONGRESS Omnibus Public Land Management Act Signed Into Law: President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 into law on 3/30/09. The bill designates two million acres of Wilderness in nine states, but also includes harmful provisons that will affect Wildernesses in Idaho, Utah, and Alaska. One such provision allows construction of a road through the Izembek Wilderness in AK, which provides essential habitat for a great variety of wildlife. We agree with National Wildlife Refuge Association President Evan Hirsche's assessment of this provision–that "Izembek is a sacrificial lamb in the public lands bill." For more information on the road through Izembek, please visit the National Wildlife Refuge Association's website.
Copper Federal and State Plan to Poison Wilderness Stream in Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, California: State and federal officials are revitalizing an effort to poison Silver King Creek in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness in CA, in order to establish a population of Paiute cutthroat trout. Wilderness Watch and several other organizations stopped the original poisoning plan because the poison would destroy much of the stream's native biota and because state and federal agencies pushing the plan could not show: 1) That the proposed introduction site was part of the Paiute cutthroat trout's native habitat 2) That the fish is not already established in enough miles of streams to meet recovery goals. The California Deptartment of Fish and Game considers the Paiute cutthroat trout a highly desirable sport fish. Below is an article on the poisoning plan.
Read this article: Trout restoration plan controversial
Membership Message: We
thank you for being part of this community of people who understand our
nation's ambitious on-going commitment to preserving wilderness. Thank
you for actively participating with us in keeping wilderness as wild as
possible. This year, Wilderness Watch's 20th, happens to be a year of
great economic challenges. We respectfully ask you to officially join
our organization to keep this community of passionate wilderness
supporters strong. It's easy. Just go to www.wildernesswatch.org and click on "Donate." You can use a credit card on-line or print a membership form and mail it and your donation to P.O. Box 9175, Missoula, MT 59807.
Just for Fun: The Bear Rub Video. Click here to see a funny video with dancing bears. |
Fire Burns 10,000 acres in Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Florida: 
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