From Valdez to BP: A Toxic Anniversary

Across America, oil spills have wrought havoc on our land, wildlife, and the health of our families and communities. March 24 and April 20 represent the anniversaries of the worst oil spills in U.S. history, the Exxon Valdez and the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, respectively. Together, these events dumped more than 5.65 million barrels of dirty oil in U.S. waters.

In light of this toxic anniversary, the Sierra Club presents a three-week look at oil companies' poisonous legacy across our nation.

Ironically, we begin our review with a current event: the Exxon oil pipeline spill in Arkansas. On Friday, March 29, a leak was discovered, forcing the evacuation of 22 homes. As of Sunday, 12,000 barrels of oil and water were recovered from the site. A toxic spill in a residential area brings the reality of dirty and dangerous pipelines right to Americans' back doors and throws up red flags for the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which would transport 740,000 more barrels of oil per day than Exxon's faulty pipeline in Arkansas.

 

--Claire Price, Lands Team Intern

Monumental Progress Against Climate Disruption

Sierra Club members and supporters have had plenty to celebrate this week. When President Obama used his pen to designate five diverse sites across the country as national monuments, we applauded him and we welcomed the economic and recreational benefits, as well as the cultural preservation, that these sites will bring.

We’ll continue to celebrate the revenue that new national monuments will bring to local economies, the cultural and historical landmarks they will protect, and the opportunities for travel and exploration they will provide for bird watchers, kayakers, climbers, and other adventurers. But designating national monuments will have a much longer lasting effect -- one that goes beyond a fleeting adventure down a river or trip to visit to a historic site -- it will help reverse the disruption of our climate.

By expanding our nation’s fleet of national monuments to include more large landscapes, the president is making great strides in establishing his lasting climate legacy. America's public lands are increasingly under threat from oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and the effects of a changing climate. The same dirty fuels being extracted from our public lands are exacerbating climate disruption at a pace that is too fast for our landscape and wildlife to adapt.

Congressional Inaction Leads to Four Years Without Wilderness Protection

Four years ago this week -- on March 30, 2009 -- the 111th Congress passed a historic piece of legislation that protected over 2 million acres of wilderness across nine states. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 was the largest wilderness bill in decades, and represented the culmination of years of work by countless activists to protect our country’s last wild places. Last year, Congress again reached a historic milestone, albeit an unfortunate one. The 112th Congress became the first since 1966 not to protect a single new acre of wilderness. Dozens of bipartisan, common-sense proposals were stalled in yet one more example of Republican obstructionism.

The real losers of all this bickering are the treasured places that remain unprotected -- landscapes like 20,000 acres in Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest. The Tennessee Wilderness Act would protect these lands from logging and off-road vehicles, and would also create the first new wilderness in Tennessee in over a generation. The local community very much wants to see the area protected because it will draw tourists to the region and be a boon to the local economy. Both of the state’s Senators, both Republican, are strong champions of the bill and actively want to see it move forward. But despite this support, congressional inaction and opposition from Republican leadership to any new wilderness has caused the bill to languish.

Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Wild: San Juan Islands National Monument

Turn Point Light Station, Stuart Island, San Juan Islands, Washington (Photo: Bureau of Land Management)

Almost 1,000 acres of islands, located among pinnacles and reefs in Washington State’s Puget Sound, make up the brand-new San Juan Islands National Monument. The site is one of five unique landmarks that President Obama declared as national monuments Monday, granting them critical federal protection.

Rare -- even ancient -- wildlife inhabits the San Juan Islands, where bald eagles, marine mammals like baby seals, seabird colonies, and 600-year-old trees reside. The area is also steeped in history, and is home to storied lighthouses on both the Patos and Turn Point Islands, along with culturally significant Native American sites, such as ancient fishing grounds and camas gardens.

Thanks to local community efforts and support from the San Juan County Council, State Senator Kevin Ranker, Representatives Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene, Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, Governor Jay Inslee and, ultimately, President Obama, the lush green and rocky islands will be protected for generations to come.

Pristine: Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument

Rio Grande del Norte (Photo: Brian O'Donnell, Conservation Lands Foundation)

Wild elk, deer, and sheep roam the Southwestern terrain of Rio Grande del Norte. Hundreds of species of migratory birds fly over the land, and the rivers are filled with bass and indigenous fish. There are more than 240,000 square acres of this beautiful wilderness and, after decades of grassroots efforts, it's now part of America’s National Monument system.  Rio Grande del Norte in northern New Mexico is the largest of the five sites that President Obama designated as national monuments yesterday in a special signing ceremony.

This landscape, home to centuries of cultural history, deserves widespread protection, and after 15 years of tough grassroots and political advocacy, Rio Grande del Norte is finally getting the designation it deserves. Local elected officials, business owners, Latino organizations, tribal leaders, and conservation activists have all worked hard to see this area become a national monument. Now, thanks to President Obama and his executive authority under the Antiquities Act, Rio Grande del Norte will be protected for generations to explore and enjoy. A total of 16 presidents -- eight Republicans and eight Democrats -- have used the Antiquities Act more than 130 times to set aside public lands for permanent protection since Congress created the Act in 1906.

Iconic: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument

In March, we celebrate Women's History Month to recognize women who have changed the world. Yesterday, 100 years after her death, President Obama designated approximately 11,750 acres of Maryland as the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, protecting a historic American landmark and celebrating an iconic woman who risked her life to fight for a more just society.

Only seven sites in our National Park System were established to commemorate some aspect of women's history. The designation of the Harriet Tubman National Monument is a step in the right direction -- and now, as we look toward the 2016 centennial celebration of the National Park Service, it's important to continue diversifying our national parks to more fully reflect America's shared heritage and cultural diversity. Tubman's fearless leadership as conductor on the Underground Railroad shatters the myth that women and enslaved people of the antebellum period were powerless.

Along with Tubman's birthplace and childhood home, the Jacob Jackson home site and the Brodess Farm, the new monument includes acres of wild land within the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Located on the eastern shore of Maryland, this wildlife refuge has the largest breeding population of bald eagles on the East Coast, north of Florida. It is historically significant because it commemorates sites associated with Tubman's early life as an enslaved woman, including a network of homes and farms, waterways and woods where Tubman and her family lived and worked from the 1820s to the 1840s. It was Tubman's adept understanding of this geography that helped her to escape slavery and ultimately return to Maryland to successfully liberate enslaved relatives and friends.

Five Diverse Wild and Cultural Sites Gain Recognition as National Monuments

Today, President Barack Obama took a bold step in protecting five unique sites on our nation's public land, each one representing a piece of America's beauty and diversity.  Local treasures across the country –- from the First State National Monument honoring historical sites in Delaware, to the tucked-away San Juan Islands in Washington State, from Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico, to the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad historical monument in Maryland, the president helped to ensure permanent protection of these American treasures.

President Obama used his power under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to honor these sites as national monuments. The designations will ensure that each site is protected and maintained as a natural and cultural landmark for public use and will never be destroyed by unnecessary development. The Sierra Club is thrilled by these designations and applauds the president and all of those who fought for the protection of these sights as we celebrate this special day.

Bringing the Call to Protect Utah's Wild to Washington

Corona Arch in Utah (Photo credit: Jeff Clay/Clayhaus Photography)

Organizing to protect our public lands in a red state like Utah can be both extremely frustrating and extremely gratifying. For this blog entry, I'll focus on the latter.

First and foremost, there simply is no landscape for which I am more proud to call myself a public lands advocate than Utah's redrock desert country. None. The reason is simple: There is no landscape like it anywhere else in the world.

Second, it's the people who are drawn to this landscape, who identify and are connected with it, and who speak on its behalf that also bring me huge job satisfaction. I was reminded of this recently when I traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual Utah Wilderness Lobby Week, sponsored by the Sierra Club and our Utah Wilderness Coalition partner, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA).

California Legislators Are Clear: Protect Berryessa Snow Mountain

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune (R) visits Berryessa Snow Mountain in January with his family (Photo: Lyndsay Dawkins)

With wild elk herds and black bears roaming on the ground and bald eagles soaring in the air, the Berryessa Snow Mountain region west of Sacramento, California is home to iconic American wildlife and one of the most uniquely diverse ecosystems in the country. It's a scenic treasure for nearby residents and visitors from across the nation.

Those who are lucky enough to take a trip to the Berryessa Snow Mountain region can view the wildlife, like Tule elk, and wildflowers, hike to the 80-foot high Zim Zim waterfall, or go fly-fishing in Putah Creek -- all just a short distance from Sacramento and the Bay Area. To locals, Berryessa doesn't just provide these wonderful recreational opportunities -- it creates jobs. The area is one of the drivers of California's thriving outdoor recreation economy, which creates $46 billion in economic activity each year and supports more than 400,000 jobs statewide.

It's no wonder that there's been an outpouring of support to ensure the area is protected. At town hall meetings in places like Woodland and Clearlake, residents were loud and clear in telling Congressmen Mike Thompson and John Garamendi that they want this region to stay pristine and accessible for everyone. Now, Thompson, Garamendi, and several of their California colleagues in Congress have responded, joining more than 200 local businesses across six counties; dozens of farmers, ranchers, and landowners; and more than 35 local and national recreation and conservation organizations in stepping up for permanent protection of Berryessa Snow Mountain.

Representatives Anna Eshoo, Jared Huffman, and Ami Bera, as wel as Senator Barbara Boxer, are standing alongside Thompson and Garamendi as key supporters of new legislation that would designate Berryessa Snow Mountain a National Conservation Area. The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Act of 2013 was introduced last week in conjunction with Boxer's companion version of the bill in the Senate.

Diverse interests ranging from the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce to Ducks Unlimited to the Sierra Club to more than 65 elected officials are urging anyone who will listen to take this critical step to protect this hidden California treasure while supporting local economies. Now, after extensive input from the citizens in the region, these legislators have acted to do just that.

Protecting Berryessa Snow Mountain is crucial for both the land and the economy to prosper. Efforts to protect other public land sites, like Giant Sequoia in Porterville, CA, have added more than 11 percent job growth to the surrounding area. At a time when everyone agrees we need both jobs and wild places to explore and enjoy, Thompson, Garamendi, Eshoo, Huffman, Bera, and Boxer understand that protecting Berryessa Snow Mountain can help provide both. Now we only hope the rest of Congress does, too, by supporting this legislation to protect a key part of our nation's wild legacy.

--Kristen Elmore, Sierra Club Media Team

Powder River Basin: A Chance to Lead on Climate and Public Lands

Americans Demand Climate Action in Washington (Photo: Javier Sierra)

In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama pledged to the American people that he would make our nation a leader in efforts to fix the climate crisis. It's a formidable challenge, but one that absolutely deserves the attention and action of all federal agencies. And that's especially true of those charged with caring for our public lands, which are already being harmed by climate disruption.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages more than 250 million acres of public lands -- mostly in the American West. In addition, the agency also manages the mineral resources of a much wider area. That duty means that BLM is charged with overseeing the extraction of the fossil fuels that are major culprits in disrupting our climate when burned, making the agency well-positioned to act on the president's inaugural pledge.

A place to start now to transition America away from climate-disrupting dirty energy is the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and Wyoming. This rural landscape, dominated by BLM lands and populated by family ranchers, has become a significant source of coal in recent years, providing upwards of 40 percent of our national supply. A report released this week by the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Powder River Basin contains 25 billion short tons of economically recoverable coal.

Although the market for coal in the United States has been declining, pressure on the BLM to lease coal in the Powder River Basin remains high. Under BLM leasing practices, it's too easy and dirt cheap for big coal companies to lease our public lands, destroy our landscapes to get at the coal, and then profit by selling it overseas. The BLM is effectively aiding companies like Arch Coal and Peabody Energy by off-loading our public lands for such a low price that Big Coal benefits even in a declining market.

The destruction of our public lands isn't the only cost to Americans -- once burned, a single ton of Powder River Basin coal generates more than 3,700 tons of greenhouse gas pollution. Multiply that by either the 25 billion tons of economically recoverable coal or the 162 billion tons of technically recoverable coal identified by USGS in the Powder River Basin, and it becomes clear that federal leasing practices are accelerating and not slowing the devastating consequences of climate disruption. 

But BLM has a chance to position itself as a leader in America's efforts to address climate change. The agency can –- and should -– take into account the extreme harm to our environment, our planet, and the health of the families subjected to breathing polluted air when deciding whether or not to lease coal in the Powder River Basin.  Right now the agency doesn't consider the climate disruption pollution that will result from burning federal coal. 

With a new Interior Department secretary taking office, along with a new BLM director, a tremendous opportunity exists to begin this critical effort. Taking advantage of this opportunity for change should be a priority for these new leaders.

 -- Bill Corcoran, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Western Regional Campaign Director