Udall, Heinrich, and Lujan Listen to Local Voices in New Mexico

Senator Heinrich, Senator Udall, and Congressman Lujan meeting with New Mexicans speaking out to protect Rio Grande del Norte and Columbine Hondo in Arroyo Seco

The hallmark of true representation is paying attention to the voices of the people you represent. Last Saturday in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and Congressman Ben Ray Lujan did just that. These members of Congress took time out of their schedules in Washington to visit a small town in their home state, holding a listening session to hear the voices of their constituents -- and what they heard was highly promising for the prospects of protecting our special places in the West.

The voices of the citizens gathered in Arroyo Seco were clear: They called on their elected officials to support permanent protections for both Rio Grande del Norte and Columbine Hondo, two key landscapes under threat and in need of conservation. It wasn't just conservation groups speaking out either -– it was land grant groups, long-time residents, hunting groups, a grazing permittee, a representative from the mountain-biking community, local mayors, and county commissioners. And each of these local stakeholders spoke passionately about why permanent protection is needed for the special places in their backyards –- and needed now.

The reasons all of these impassioned people spoke out are as diverse as their backgrounds and occupations. Mayor Ester Garcia, of Questa, comes from a family that has been living in the area for centuries. As she spoke to some of the most powerful officials in the state, Mayor Garcia emphasized the importance of cultural uses of the land, from hunting and fishing to herb gathering. We need to "protect wilderness," said Garcia, "so our watersheds are protected for future generations."

Cisco Guevara, owner of Los Rios River Runners and a local business leader with deep roots in the community, declared that "protecting land and water areas such as Rio Grande del Norte and Columbine Hondo would be a boon for local businesses."

Chuck Howe, the president of National Veterans' Wellness and Healing Center, discussed the inherent healing benefits of the land around Taos, especially for those in the program he runs.

To these New Mexicans, preserving these lands means protecting so many things: the creatures that move through them, the stunning landscapes and their holistic benefits, and the jobs and revenue that are created by having visitors flock to your community to see some of the nation's most beautiful wild areas.  

Congressman Lujan's message thanking local Sierra Club volunteers for their efforts to protect Rio Grande del Norte and Columbine Hondo

More than just those in attendance want New Mexico's wild places protected: the Sierra Club and coalition partners delivered 22,000 petition signatures requesting permanent protection for Rio Grande Del Norte.

The good news is the legislators got the message. Senator Heinrich ended the meeting by saying, "How impressive this group is. It is incredible. It is moving." He said he is convinced that protection of Rio Grande del Norte and Columbine Hondo "will happen" but may take time. "With this group, there is nothing we can't get done," he stated.

Congressman Lujan emphasized that bringing together groups that in the past did not have common ground is "extraordinary." "Finding a way to feed our acequias -- these veins -- is very important to traditional communities," he stated. "We need to open the floodgates in our minds. There is a lot more of that needed at the federal level."

The broad support in New Mexico for protection of Rio Grande Del Norte is exactly why Udall, Heinrich, and Lujan introduced legislation earlier this month. That bill would protect about 235,000 acres of critical animal habitat, a vital source of water for the entire state, and a heavily visited recreation area. The legislation would also allow for continued grazing, hunting, gathering of firewood, and other traditional uses. 

"Getting bills over the crossing line is like going down a river on a raft," Senator Udall stated, referring to the constantly changing landscape one faces. He assured those present that, when it comes to permanent protection for these places, "we will get this stuff done."

The Sierra Club applauds these dedicated leaders for their commitment to these amazing landscapes, particularly Rio Grande Del Norte. While passing such significant legislation in a Congress that seems to be unable to achieve much will be a challenge, their efforts are key to building momentum for permanent protection.

It is a momentum that President Obama can continue with the simple stroke of a pen. Using his power under the Antiquities Act, President Obama can build on this amazing grassroots momentum and ensure that Rio Grande del Norte is protected for generations to come, while also taking a huge step in building his own conservation legacy.

Senators Udall and Heinrich and Congressman Lujan made it clear that they’ve heard the voices of their constituents by supporting protection for these special places. Now President Obama can do the same. That's why we are respectfully asking President Obama to show strong leadership by listening  to these diverse voices from across New Mexico and our country –- start your conservation legacy by making Rio Grande Del Norte a national monument. Now is the time.

-- Drew Ball, Senior Representative, Sierra Club Lands Legacy Campaign

Bipartisan support in congress to protect Alaska’s wild

A new, bipartisan bill introduced in Congress today would take major steps toward protecting and preserving some of America’s most pristine landscapes while making critical progress to turn around the climate crisis. The Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act -- coauthored by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey and Pennsylvania Republican Michael Fitzpatrick -- would prevent dangerous drilling in America's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and protect wild places and wildlife by keeping dirty energy companies out and dirty fuels in the ground.

The Arctic Refuge and its coastal plain are home to a diverse and unique array of wildlife, from polar bears to wolves to muskoxen to more than 130 species of birds. That's why Markey and Fitzpatrick's legislation calls for the recognition of the Arctic Refuge's "extraordinary natural ecosystem," and then takes steps to preserve the area by officially designating it as protected wilderness. The area is one of the nation's last remaining untouched wilderness areas and was initially protected by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, when he created the Arctic National Wildlife Range in 1960, encompassing 8.9 million acres. But the looming threat of fossil fuel drilling in the area would not only destroy wildlife habitat and unparalleled landscapes -- it would also make our climate crisis worse.

Drilling  delivers a one-two punch to America's Arctic. Of course, drills would disrupt and destroy one of our most pristine places -- but they'd also dredge up dirty fuels that would just make the climate crisis worse in the Arctic. Once burned into the atmosphere, the greenhouse gases would exacerbate climate disruption and further melt the Arctic.

At a time when bipartisan support is hard to come by, this bill certainly makes a statement and is something we all need to get behind. Representatives Markey and Fitzpatrick understand that if we are serious about protecting our special places and fixing our climate crisis, then we must preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This legislation is a great step forward not only to protect our wild lands and wildlife but also to ensure that future generations of Americans have a safe and healthy planet.

-- Kristen Elmore, Sierra Club Media Team Intern

Making History in the Arctic: 11 Million Acres Protected

It's not every day that 11 million acres of pristine wildlife habitat are protected. In fact, during the 20 years that I have been working on public lands issues, Thursday marked the first time I've ever seen it. It has happened before, most notably in 1980 when Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act –- but that was decades ago. So when these big victories happen, we should take a moment to celebrate.

I’m very thankful that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed a final decision last week to protect some of the special places in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska. Spanning over 22 million acres across the North Slope of Alaska, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is the largest single stretch of public lands in the nation. The reserve harbors rich wild lands and wildlife, including two caribou herds, millions of migratory birds, grizzly bears, threatened polar bears, walrus, wolves, and much more, making it home to a vast array of globally significant wildlife habitat.

That's why it's critically important that the areas with the highest conservation and habitat value in the reserve are kept off-limits to oil and gas development -– areas including Teshekpuk Lake, the Colville River, Utukok River Uplands, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay. And that's exactly what Secretary Salazar and the Obama administration have done. The first-ever comprehensive plan for the entire reserve was released last week, and it ensures these special places in the Western Arctic are protected from dirty and dangerous drilling.

Initially, Congress recognized the special wildlife values within the reserve when it passed ownership of this spectacular area to the Department of the Interior for management. Now, the Obama administration has been true to this vision by taking steps to ensure that the most important wildlife habitat is protected in America's western Arctic.

For the past 15 years, I have been part of the efforts to help protect the special areas in America'’s Arctic from the threat of oil and gas drilling. I have also had the opportunity to spend time on the ground in this amazing landscape and witness the wildlife spectacles for myself. I've seen 20,000 caribou fill a valley, watched a family of wolverine frolic in a snowfield, floated through a herd of muskox, and been awakened by the howls of seven wolves across a river. Last summer, while walking along a gravel bar, I came across a bar-tailed godwit poking around in the gravel. This bird spends its summer in the western Arctic of Alaska and, when it heads south, it makes the longest nonstop flight of any bird -- traveling 9,000 miles in one flight to the islands of the South Pacific. It's moments like these that you can experience only in one of our most pristine American landscapes. The Arctic is a magical place.

That's why I know that the special places of the western Arctic deserve the protection they received -- and I am not alone. Approximately 400,000 Americans submitted public comments to the Obama administration supporting strong conservation and protection of special areas in the reserve. These comments came from sportsmen, business owners, conservationists, and folks just like me from across the country who feel that balancing oil and gas drilling and protection for key wildlife habitat can be achieved.

With such vocal and active support, it is clear that most Americans believe that protecting the special areas -- the areas most critical to wildlife -- is very important. And, after a year during which our nation experienced record floods, record droughts, record wildfires, and record storms fueled by climate disruption, protecting the Arctic is more important than ever.

The climate crisis has gone from being a threat to a dangerous reality, and these pristine Arctic lands are facing threats from not only dirty energy development but also the effects of climate change from the burning of fossil fuels. More dirty energy threats mean a double whammy for the Arctic, disrupting our landscapes with drills and dredging up more dirty fuel that will further melt the area when burned into the atmosphere.

The Obama administration's final plan for the reserve is a big step in the right direction toward permanently protecting critical wildlife habitat and subsistence needs in America's western Arctic and turning around the climate crisis. It means some of our most pristine places and unique wildlife will be protected for generations to come -- and it does a great deal to ensure the same is true of our planet. The people spoke and President Obama and Secretary Salazar listened. Future generations will surely benefit from his foresight.

-- Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club Alaska Campaign Director

Protecting the Sage Grouse, Protecting Our Land

Across the West, officials from state, federal and local agencies, conservation and sportsmen organizations, and private landowners collaborating to protect an unlikely icon: the sage grouse. Though its small in stature, the future of the sage grouse will have a huge impact on our ability to protect some of our most beautiful landscapes across 11 Western states.  

Over the past century, the sagebrush habitat that the grouse depends on to live has been decimated, reduced by as much as half nationwide. And while half of their home has been wiped out, sage grouse have been disappearing at an even faster rate, with as much as 90% of their population disappearing over the same time period.  These startling declines have spurred questions about how to safeguard this special bird, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service even considering protecting the Sage Grouse by listing it under the Endangered Species Act. It’s a drastic move that the agency has until 2015 to decide on.  In the meantime, the threats to the sage grouse have sparked wildlife conservationists to embark on a new effort to restore and rejuvenate the Sage Grouse population so that they are no longer considered threatened and listing them under the Endangered Species Act is unnecessary.

The effort is partially focused on ensuring that initiatives by federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service Part are focused on stemming or reversing the loss of sagebrush habitat. By developing a National Sage Grouse Planning Strategy that improves the dozens and dozens of public land management plans across the West, the goal is to protect Sage Grouse homes to increase their population.  Of course, with so many plans and so many different communities, the federal agencies involved are considering a wide range of options. The Sierra Club is supporting a plan that will conserve the species, increasing their population to numbers that are viable, secure, and growing by restoring their habitat to its full potential.  

To accomplish these goals, our plan:  

• Establishes a system of conservation areas, protecting specially designated areas that will serve as the foundation for restoring the highest quality sage grouse habitats
• Close priority sage grouse habitats – including land within 4 miles of sage grouse mating areas - to oil and gas leasing
• Reject surface coal mining on priority habitat for sage grouse

By applying these approaches, the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service will not just help to conserve the sage grouse, but help keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground and their carbon-disrupting emissions out of the atmosphere. That means we’ll take major steps in securing not just a future for the grouse, but for other western wildlife and for the people who depend on the same habitat to hunt and raise livestock, securing a future for generations to come. 

--Catherine Semcer, Sierra Club Lands Team

New Poll: Westerners Want to Protect Our Public Lands

   Saguaro National Park (Photo: Matt Urban)

Anyone who has ever rafted down the magnificent Rio Grande in New Mexico, toured the petroglyphs of Nine Mile Canyon in Utah, or hiked the Grand Canyon would tell you that beautiful and stunning landscapes define the American West. 

The western states are home to some of the most treasured landmarks and outdoor areas in the country. So, it should be no surprise that those who live closest to them want to ensure they are protected. The latest evidence is a survey of voters in six western states: Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The numbers don’t lie: Westerners love their public lands, know they help the economy, and want to see them protected.

A whopping 73% of Westerners plan to visit a national park this year. And they know that there are others like them who want to spend their time and resources doing the same. That’s why a full 91% say that public lands like national parks, forests, monuments and wildlife areas are an essential part of their state’s economy - and why 74% say public lands bring high quality employers to their states.

Like anyone else, Western voters also don’t want to see their treasured lands trashed. As the ancient rock art at Nine Mile Canyon is threatened by dangerous mining and increased traffic from off-road vehicles, 62% of Utah voters say environmentally-sensitive places on public lands should be protected from drilling while 60% identify as conservationists.

The story is the same in New Mexico, where residents turned out in droves to support permanently protecting the Rio Grande del Norte as a national monument. 76% of voters there say pollution in lakes rivers and streams is a serious problem.

Voters throughout the West know that they want careful oversight, and they want to see these lands protected. More than four-in-five (81%) think that environmentally sensitive places should be permanently protected.

The message from voters in the west to their elected officials is clear: don't mess with our public lands. By an almost 10-to-1 margin, voters said they were more likely to support politicians who spoke out in favor of protecting these areas. Preserving the wild West not only provides a tremendous economic and recreational benefit to communities, it is unquestionably a political winner, as well.

--Devin Castles, Sierra Club Media Team

Stand Up For Our Lands, Stand Up to Fix the Climate Crisis

(Photo: Jennifer Rudolph)

The threat of climate change has become a dangerous new reality. The evidence is everywhere – once-in-a-lifetime weather events are occurring even more rapidly than once-a-year, fuelled by the burning of fossil fuels that drives a changing climate. Whether it is record droughts in the American Midwest, devastating wildfires in Colorado and Oregon, or unprecedented storms like Sandy, over the last year extreme weather has become the new normal.

The cost of dirty energy usage and climate disruption on our lands isn’t limited to what is dried out, flooded, or burned – it’s much worse and much longer lasting than that. Many of the public lands that Americans use to recreate and relax are being targeted by dirty energy companies for drilling and mining that would forever alter some of our most beautiful landscapes. There is a rush for dirty fuels in the West, and places like the Greater Canyonlands in Utah, Otero Mesa in New Mexico, and even the Grand Canyon in Arizona are being eyed for exploitation that would guarantee the places Americans love to visit would be never be the same.

Dirty energy exploitation of our public lands throws a one-two punch at places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. There, destructive drilling would not only ruin the pristine landscape – it would dredge up more dirty fuel that will only further melt the Arctic when burned into our climate.

Of course, threats to our lands from the climate crisis also pose great threats to all the diverse species that inhabit them – humans and wildlife. A new study from the National Wildlife Federation indicates that as our planet warms, some wildlife can no longer handle the stress. Migration patterns are being dramatically disrupted and species like polar bears and walrus are struggling to survive as their habitat disappears.

There’s a solution that can protect our lands and wildlife from dirty energy exploitation and climate disruption: action. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama can protect our cherished landscapes, preserve the Arctic, and keep the dirty fuels that have caused our climate crisis in the ground. But we have to do everything we can to make sure our elected leaders know we support them in making the right decision by putting our American wild legacy before dirty energy profits.

As part of Sierra Club’s 100 Days of Action on Climate and Clean Energy, we are joining 350.org, the Hip-Hop Caucus, and over 130 partner organizations are holding the largest climate rally in history on Sunday, February 17 in Washington, D.C. The “Forward on Climate” rally will give us the chance to speak up for the wildlife and special places that don’t have a voice in this fight. Together, we will call on President Obama to say no to drilling in the Arctic and yes to protecting our public lands – but we can’t do it without your help. That’s why we need you to RSVP today at forwardonclimate.org to join concerned citizens from all across the country urging climate action now.

Stand up this President’s Day weekend and demand that President Obama and policy makers do the right thing: reject dirty energy, take action on climate, and save our wild places for generations to come.

--Kristen Elmore, Sierra Club Media Team

New Mexico Legislators Step Up to Protect Rio Grande del Norte/Legisladores de Nuevo México Intensifican Esfuerzos de Protección del Río Grande del Norte

(Photo: Taylor Streit)

On Thursday, New Mexican lawmakers took a huge step forward in the ongoing effort to preserve the jewel of New Mexico: Rio Grande del Norte.  Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with Representative Ben Ray Luján, have reintroduced legislation to protect more than 240,000 acres around the Rio Grande River and the rich wilderness that surrounds it in Northern New Mexico as a National Conservation Area (NCA).

New Mexicans and visitors alike have long been mesmerized by the sites along the Rio Grande, like the 800-foot deep gorge surrounding the river for miles, providing plentiful hideouts for nesting eagles and peregrine falcons.

Apart from being a top destination for adventurers and hikers, Rio Grande del Norte is home to challenging rapids for river rafters and prime locations for fishing and big game hunting - outdoor recreation that contributes $3.8 billion annually to New Mexico's economy and employs 47,000 New Mexicans statewide.  It’s estimated that protecting this land would provide even greater economic benefits and create even more jobs for New Mexicans.

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan talks to New Mexicans at a meeting on the status of Rio Grande Del Norte (Photo: Eliza Kretzmann)

As we mentioned here in September, protecting the Rio Grande del Norte is an important priority for local communities in Taos and Rio Arriba Counties, who cherish the land, its wild waters, and the diverse wildlife that rely on the Rio Grande for survival. The overwhelming local backing for designating the Rio Grande del Norte as  a national monument was on full display at a packed town hall meeting hosted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in December, where dozens of community supporters, elected officials and business leaders gathered to show their support. 

These communities recognize the cultural significance of the area, as well as its importance to local business and employment.

For all of these reasons, Rio Grande del Norte deserves permanent protection. This legislation is a great step toward that goal – a goal that can be reached by President Obama designating this beautiful landscape as a national monument. 

Time and weather have carved some remarkable drawings into the Rio Grande del Norte, and many of the piñon and juniper trees that pepper the surrounding landscape are hundreds of years old. These majestic wilds took ages to build, but could quickly be ruined by overdevelopment. It is good to see elected officials listening to the people of New Mexico, who hope this pristine landscape will be around for ages to come, so future generations can enjoy it as well.

--Devin Castles, Sierra Club Media Team

Legisladores de Nuevo México Intensifican Esfuerzos de Protección del Río Grande del Norte

(Photo: Brian O'Donnell)

Tres legisladores de Nuevo México dieron hoy, jueves, un enorme paso en sus esfuerzos por preservar la joya de Nuevo México: el Río Grande del Norte. Los senadores Tom Udall y Martin Heinrich, junto con el Representante Ben Ray Luján, han presentado de nuevo un proyecto de ley para proteger el Río Grande y designar más de 240,000 acres en el norte de Nuevo México como Area Nacional de Conservación.

Los nativos de Nuevo México al igual que los visitantes quedan maravillados por los asombrosos parajes a lo largo del Río Grande, incluyendo una garganta de más de 800 pies de profundidad que se extiende a lo largo de muchas millas junto al río y ofrece abundantes lugares de anidaje a águilas y halcones peregrinos.

Además de ser un atractivo destino para los visitantes, el Río Grande del Norte también ofrece imponentes rápidos para los piragüistas, y excelentes lugares para la caza y la pesca. Las ganancias procedentes de las actividades de recreo al aire libre contribuyen anualmente con $3,800 millones a la economía nuevomexicana, y emplea a 47,000 trabajadores en todo el estado. Se estima que proteger estos terrenos producirá más beneficios económicos y creará más empleos para los nuevomexicanos.

Proteger el Río Grande del Norte es una importante prioridad para las comunidades de los condados de Taos y Río Arriba, las cuales atesoran los terrenos, las aguas blancas y la diversa fauna que depende del Río Grande para su supervivencia. El abrumador apoyo de los residentes locales a la designación del Río Grande del Norte como monumento nacional quedó claro durante una reunión cívica patrocinada por el Secretario del Interior, Ken Salazar en diciembre, cuando decenas de miembros de la comunidad, funcionarios electos y líderes empresariales asistieron para demostrar su apoyo.

Estas comunidades aprecian el significado cultural del área, además de su importancia para la economía local.

Por todas estas razonas, el Río Grande del Norte merece protección permanente. Esta legislación es un gran paso hacia esa meta, una meta que el Presidente Obama puede alcanzar designando estos hermosos parajes como Monumento Nacional.

El tiempo y la intemperie han labrado hermosos lienzos en el Río Grande del Norte, y muchos de los árboles piñón y junípero que pueblan los parajes que lo rodean tienen cientos de años de antigüedad. Estos majestuosos paisajes tardaron eras en labrarse, pero pueden arruinarse rápidamente si se abusan. Nos complace ver a funcionarios electos escuchar al pueblo de Nuevo México, el cual espera que estos prístinos parajes seguirán asombrando a muchas generaciones futuras.

--Devin Castles, Sierra Club Media Team

Climate Disruption and Alaskan Natives

It was my privilege last week to meet and speak with Ed Alexander, the Second Chief of Fort Yukon, Alaska, a member of the Gwich’in Indian Nation. He spoke eloquently on the current situation of the Gwich’in, who live in towns so remote they are only accessible by plane, who go months at a time without receiving supplies from the outside world, and who literally depend on hunting caribou to survive.

  Caribou. Source: Alaska Fish and Game

He, along with other Gwich’in, were in town to speak to Congressional staff on the importance of protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the 170,000-strong Porcupine caribou herd on which their communities depend. Proposals to drill on the 1002 area, the calving grounds for the Porcupine herd, are pervasive. “If the caribou are gone, our way of life will be over,” I heard him repeat honestly to each staff member.

The Gwich’in have lived in northern Alaska and Canada since time immemorial. Carbon-dated sites near their present-day home shows evidence of human habitation going back 28,000 years.

Unfortunately, the threat to Native communities does not stop with the Gwich’in and caribou. According to a recent report by the Brookings Institute, climate change has disproportionately affected Alaska and its inhabitants. Since 1950, winter temperatures in Alaska have risen 3.5 degrees Celsius; warming over twice as fast as the rest of the globe.

For wildlife, climactic disruption can mean changing migration routes, loss of native species and an increase in foreign species, increased ocean acidification, and loss of habitat.

 

 Source: Earth Observatory - NASA

 The effects for Alaskan people are similarly devastating. The land itself is changing; permafrost, or permanently frozen subsoil, is melting. Infrastructure built on permafrost is literally sinking into the ground; water and sewage systems, as well as the structural integrity of buildings, are all at risk.

Sea ice, at historically low levels in recent years, is not only utilized by Arctic animals like polar bears and pinnipeds (seals and walruses), but also provides important protection to coastal communities. Coastal pack ice serves as a barrier to storm surges from hurricane-force storms off of the Bering and Chukchi seas. As pack ice disappears, storm surges cause damaging flooding and erosion and compound the effects of melting permafrost.

 

 

Source: EPA, Alaska Conservation Foundation

These uncontrollable changes have led many Alaskan communities to seek relocation. One of the most pressing issues, according to the Brookings report, is the unprecedented nature of the problem. The Government Accountability Office found “that no government agency has the authority to relocate communities, no governmental organization exists that can address the strategic planning needs of relocation, and no funding is specifically designated for relocation.”

The Brookings report ends with a suggestion:

 

“To overcome these challenges, the author recommends as a first step that Congress mend disaster relief legislation to enable communities to use existing  funding mechanisms to construct infrastructure at relocation sites that are not within the disaster area. The author also recommends that Congress enact legislation to provide a relocation governance framework so that communities have the ability to relocate when the traditional erosion and flood control devices  can no longer protect residents in place. In this way, the United States can create a model adaptation strategy that facilitates an effective transition from protection in place to community relocation that governments throughout the world can implement.”

We hope the state of Alaska, along with the federal government, can find a solution to the problem and help these communities soon. The issue underscores the one of the most alarming issues with global warming: its effects are unknown, devastating, and universal.

--Claire Price, Sierra Club Lands Team

Greater Canyonlands: Stories Worth Hearing, a Future Worth Protecting

Editor’s note: Today’s blog post is a guest column from Aron Ralston, a speaker, writer, adventurer and wilderness advocate. The film 127 Hours is based on Ralston’s self-amputation to escape a six-day entrapment during a solo canyoneering excursion.

Red-rock hoodoos thrust skyward over a labyrinth of serpentine mini-canyons.  Living desert stretches, untracked, to the escarpment of horizon thirty miles distant where a single cloud scouts for her lost sisterhood.  In a crack below, I slide down the eight-story fissure of air compressed between two sculpted walls.  My arms chicken-wing against the walls to assist my abducting thighs – spread as around an invisible horse – in braking my descent through three-hundred-million years of rock.  At the bottom of this sandstone wormhole, I rejoin my attendant friends, our unfettered yelps echoing aloft with gratitude for this adventure, this life, this slickrock country. 

photo by Jeff Clay/Clayhaus Photography

Encapsulating Canyonlands National Park, Greater Canyonlands comprises 1.8 million acres of the massive and the sublime: cosmic openness and mind-wrinkling geophysics, as well as delicate fern-lined seeps and pre-Pyramid pictographs.  Unique in the world, Greater Canyonlands is terra Americana, the defining landscape of the West that called forth our courage, ruggedness, and ingenuity, much as Valley Forge, Gettysburg, or Kitty Hawk back East.   

Decades ago, the desert began shaping me, too.  Its surging brown rapids, corrugated slots, and severe human history became a searing, dusty yang to Colorado’s cool high-mountain yin.  Today, not least for my experience in Blue John Canyon, red sand is forever embedded in my spirit, as well as in my tread-bare trail-runners, re-stitched backpack, and duct-taped sleeping bag. 

My story is but one of this wildly pristine place.  However, of late, the tales have hardly been uplifting.  In the last ten years, policies that unleashed the extractive energy industries upon southern Utah have inverted the narrative.  These days, the plot is more about humans shaping the wilderness rather than the other way ’round. 

Greater Canyonlands is under attack.  Gas, oil, tar sands, and uranium companies are already on the march, bulldozing and blasting apart the sandstone, spewing pollutants into the air and water, and displacing wildlife from their habitats.  As they proceed, they not only threaten to destroy one of our nation’s most special wild places, they also undermine the Greater Canyonlands’ attractive industries of tourism and recreation that create long-term jobs and drive local economic growth that outlasts a busted commodities cycle.

To make matters worse, Congress is deadlocked in the longest drought of Wilderness legislation in 50 years. 

But there’s still hope.  Using executive powers granted by the Antiquities Act, President Obama can permanently protect Greater Canyonlands by proclaiming it a national monument.  He’s already issued similar declarations for public lands in Colorado and California, extending the practice of 16 earlier presidents.   

photo by Jeff Clay/Clayhaus Photography

I urge the President to cement his conservation legacy, recognize Greater Canyonlands’ significance for our national heritage, and take swift action to steward this landscape into the future. 

In doing so, he will save the region from imminent degradation and allow others the chance to hoot, yell, and holler – feeling most alive – as they create stories among the sensual orange canyons, frog-lined pools, and split-crack spires of the red-rock.  That’s my wish: that Greater Canyonlands National Monument will be there, long after I’m gone, for forthcoming generations to enjoy.  And until I’m gone, that I’ll always have another canyon trip on the books.

Protecting our Most Endangered Places

Stretching along a back country byway in eastern Utah lies one of the more impressive monuments to American history anywhere in the country. It’s an internationally-known rock art goldmine called Nine Mile Canyon.  This prehistoric canyon extends over 40 miles in Duchesne and Carbon counties, Utah.  There are more ancient petroglyphs here than anywhere else in the country.  And in 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) added this Nine Mile Canyon to its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. 

photo courtesy of Wayne Hoskisson

Indeed, Nine Mile Canyon is under threat from development and dirty energy.  Already, fossil fuel companies are eyeing the site - and their stewardship hasn’t been impressive. In November 2012, a natural gas compression station in the canyon owned by Bill Barrett Corporation exploded and injured two people.  Other oil and gas operations also threaten the delicate petroglyphs with their erosive dust and dangerous drilling activity.

The Sierra Club worked alongside the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) to maintain Nine Mile Canyon as a historical site for future generations. Lists like America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places help shed light on and ultimately protect places like Nine Mile Canyon.  In January 2009, both groups filed a formal complaint with the Bureau of Land Management, asking for more protections for Nine Mile Canyon against industrial damage.  Shortly afterwards, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar withdrew the oil and gas lease that contained 77 parcels of land in and around Nine Mile.

But the threats don’t stop there. More natural gas companies are hoping to get their drills into this precious historic habitat. Gasco - a natural gas company - has a plan to drill 1,300 new wells in the region that could cause real damage to an irreplacable site. The Sierra Club is fighting to stop the exploitation of this one-of-a-kind piece of American history, so that its generations-old art can be enjoyed by generations to come.

Together, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Sierra Club are defending our nation’s history through this cultural landmark. Its critical to speak up now to continue to protect places like Nine Mile Canyon and other locations throughout the country that are under attack.  Nominate your historic endangered place today!  Once these special places are gone, we can never get them back.

Written by Sierra Club Media Team intern, Kristen Elmore