Sierra Blogging Post Archives

The Obama Administration is considering adding 14 new wilderness areas to the list of our country's national monuments and offering significant additional protection to other federal wild lands across the country.

The move is controversial, of course, with environmentalists supporting the proposal and conservatives fiercely rallying against it.


Richard Peterson-Cremer of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance told the Salt Lake Tribune, “Given the attention Congress gives to Utah wilderness, it should come as no surprise that the administration is considering protections for Utah’s incomparable landscapes such as the San Rafael Swell and Cedar Mesa. The success of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has demonstrated to Utahns and Americans the benefits of protecting these special places.”

Utah Governor Gary Herbert said, “News that the Interior Department is secretly looking at a proposal to lock up public lands in Utah, without seeking input or even having the consideration to contact our state and local officials, is both upsetting and offensive. I will challenge federal officials to explain to me how they could possibly be in a better position to know what’s best for our rural lands than those of us here on the ground in this state.”

If the plan is approved, the following wild areas in 9 western states would receive additional protection and management through our National Park Service. The areas that would be included are:

1. San Rafael Swell, UT
2. Montana’s Northern Prairie, MT
3. Lesser Prairie Chicken Preserve, NM
4. Berryessa Snow Mountains, CA
5. Heart of the Great Basin, NV
6. Otero Mesa, NM
7. Northwest Sonoran Desert, AZ
8. Owyhee Desert, OR/NV
9. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, CA (expansion)
10. Vermillion Basin, CO
11. Bodie Hills, CA
12. The Modoc Plateau, CA
13. Cedar Mesa, UT
14. San Juan Islands, WA

In addition, Bristol Bay in Alaska, Teshekpuk Lake, AK and Red Desert, WY are being considered for protection and management, even though they are ineligible for designation as national monuments.

What do you think? Should the federal government protect these areas or should that be left up to the states?

Via Backpacker's Daily Dirt