Smoking Guns
On this page you will find specific examples illustrative of
the corporate inspired trend currently subverting the management directives
for all of our national public lands ...
... the trend toward
'Commercialization,
Privatization and Motorization.'
This feature is updated regularly.
Please check
back frequently for updates!
National Recreation Lakes System: A bad program
that must be stopped [NATIONAL]
(There is no more egregious example of the recreation industry's ongoing attempt to
"commercialize, privatize and motorize" America's public lands than the proposed
National Recreation Lakes System.)
The many links Wild Wilderness has provided on this program
can be found by clicking here.
Stop Selling Off and Commercializing our Lakes
[TEXAS]
(The Corp of Engineers ruined the shoreline with allowing the building of the
Opry Hotel on the pristine wilderness of Grapevine Lake - purporting that it
would save taxes and provide lake upkeep dollars. You may also find through
investigation that the hotel will now control one of the previous public
ramps. Follow the dollars - and we can see now who is destined to control and get
to ultimately enjoy our lake.)
[Source: Citizens Against Recreation Privatization (C.A.R.P.) 1217 Woodsey Court,
Southlake, TX 76092 Tel:(817) 808-8970 gbillingsly@netzero.net.]
A Huge
Shopping Mall at the Entrance to Grand Canyon National Park?
[ARIZONA]
(Thomas De Paolo was kicking around the tiny town of Tusayan, Ariz.,
about a mile from the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. What a spot
for an outlet mall! De Paolo learned that the Forest Service might be interested
in swapping land near the park for larger private holdings elsewhere. He
heard Park Service employees were unhappy with their trailer park housing
and the dearth of basic services.
Putting these two factors together, De Paolo is proposing to build,
on land currently owned by the Forest Service, a whole new community along
the mile-long stretch of highway between Tusayan and the Grand Canyon's
South Rim entrance. He is thinking on a grand scale.)
Updates and links of interest:
Federal Judges Rules AGAINST USFS Plan!!,
2,
3,
4,
Deschutes National Forest Swapping Recreation Funds [OREGON]
(Trail Fees are not creating a source of revenue to supplement
funds available for trail maintenance. Combined Non-motorized and
Wilderness budgets were cut by $40,700 between 1997 and 1998. New
"supplemental" revenues budgeted from Trial Fees are $40,000, i.e.,
just equal to the reduction in allocated budget for the same time
period!
In 1998
the Deschutes National Forest collected $175,400 from fee-demo
and its 1999 budget was cut by $175,800. A coincidence. Hardly! Click for full details. )
[Source: Wild Wilderness, Bend, OR (541) 385-5261.]
Privatizing Texas Public Parks -
Public Land, Private Profit [TEXAS]
(Texas's traditionally rustic state park system may soon be sold
to the highest bidder. This week PEER examines the dramatic changes
proposed by Governor George Bush's administration to the Texas state
park system. Under the pretense that state park visitors demand more
comfortable overnight accommodations, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department has begun opening-up state parks to private businesses and
corporations from the hospitality industry. )
[Source: TX PEER,P.O. Box 684753; Austin TX 78768-4753
Tel:(512) 441-4941 txpeer@PEER.org.]
The Sea to Sea Trail -
Disneyland Meets Wildlands [CALIFORNIA]
( The Sea-to-Sea Trail Foundation has proposed a project that will
extend a 140-mile recreational corridor from the Pacific Ocean to
Salton Sea. The driving force behind the project is that the
Foundation will construct Bed & Breakfast lodges approximately
15-miles apart on nearby private land. Mountain Defense League opposes this blatant
attempt at commercialization of our public wildlands for private
profit. )
[Source: Mountain Defense League, Phone 760.789.8134
Pandora Rose pandorarose_farm@hotmail.com ]
Yosemite Valley Threatened with Massive Commercial Development [CALIFORNIA]
(Today Yosemite is at a crossroads. Contrary to public desires, a
new wave of commercial development plans currently threatens the park
like no time in its history. Since 1997 plans to expand hotels and
restaurants, widen roads, add parking, add commercial diesel busses
and other new development have been proposed. Citizen condemnation and
lawsuits have followed. Developments are animated by an unprecedented
quarter billion dollars in public money. )
[Source: Friends of
Yosemite Valley, P.O. Box 702; Yosemite, CA 95389 Tel 209-379-9337
greg@yosemitevalley.org.]
(To read David Brower article: "Yosemite: National Treasure? or Profit Center click.)
For additional information
1,
2,
3,
4.
Vail Going
Too Far, Again! [COLORADO]
(The current blight atop Vail mountain is called 'Adventure Ridge'
and includes numerous wintertime amenities like tubing, ice skating,
sledding, a half-pipe for boarders, a restaurant and snowmobile
rentals. If Vail Associates fights their way successfully through the
inevitable environmental lawsuit, it will expand greatly and be open
year round. Remember, this is a private corporation raking in the
bucks on our public lands for pitifully little rent at what was
supposed to be a ski area.
Vail's Ken Willis, General Manager of Adventure Ridge recently said;
"Our competition isn't going to be against Steamboat and Copper. It's
going to be against places like the cruise industry and theme parks. I
think it's the wave of the future.)
(For additional information: Contact Ted Zukoski, Land &
Water Fund (303) 444-1188 ex. 213 or visit the Wild Wilderness Mountain Resorts web page.)
Groups to
protest Yaquina access fee [OREGON]
( The site also includes a $7.8 million interpretive center that opened in
1997. Recht contends that the BLM has initiated the fee to cover operational
costs of the interpretive center. 'They want to charge admission at the entry
gate because no one wanted to pay to see their interpretive center Recht said.')
Aerial Tram Proposed for Quinault Rain Forest
[WASHINGTON]
( A tramway through the treetops of Olympia National Forest has been
proposed by a Boston company that runs a similar tourist attraction in
Costa Rica. Key issues include how the tram fits into existing plans
and policies, whether it meets a "demonstrated need," whether private
lands could be used and how threatened or endangered species might be
effected. Local opponents say the area is already too developed.)
Is park station a boondoggle?
[WYOMING]
(When user fees went into effect two years ago in Grand Teton
National Park, Wyoming's Teton County residents thought the money
would go toward improving existing facilities. Then the Park Service
proposed to spend that money to build a $1.4 million welcome center
along a remote dirt road in the park's southwest corner.
Local opposition, however, prompted the Park Service to announce a
scaled-back plan, killing a visitor center and employee housing. But
the compromise retains plans to build an entrance station and public
rest room that will cost nearly $400,000 in user fees.)
[Contact: Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, P.O. Box 2728, Jackson,
Wyoming 83001
(307) 733-9417 http://www.jacksonwy.com/jhalliance/ ]
Fore! on the Inyo National Forest [CALIFORNIA]
(For the first time in its history, the U.S. Forest Service says a golf
course will be built on agency land despite the opposition of the Sierra Club
and some national-level agency officials, who fear this expansion will set a
dangerous precedent. Local Forest Service staffers are determined that the Snow
Creek golf course will be built. An expanded golf course will help the Mammoth
Lakes economy, says Bob Hawkins, project leader for the Forest Service.)
[For additional information, contact the Sierra Club Range of
Light Group or P.O. Box 1973, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546.]
End harmful jet ski use in your National Parks [NATIONAL]
(The National Park Service (NPS) recently issued jet ski regulations for
public comment. Unfortunately, pressure from high priced jet ski
lobbyists has prompted the NPS to propose regulations that lock in
status quo jet ski activity. What is worse these regulations create
mechanisms for its use to expand into parks such as Yellowstone, Grand
Teton, and the Everglades.)
[Contact: Bluewater Network, (415) 788-3666, ext. 149. e-mail jetski@earthisland.org ]
Industrial Recreation Hits the Jemez [NEW
MEXICO]
("The Forest Service is proposing to intensity its campaign to develop
industrial recreation in the Jemez mountains on the Santa Fe National Forest.
The Cuba Ranger District wants to construct three campgrounds and a day-use
recreation site along the Rio de Las Vacas... The development of this recreation
complex will attract many more visitors and their cars into an area of
the forest considered critical to the Mexican Spotted Owl... Forest Guardians
will challenge the proposed industrial recreation development on the grounds
that it will negatively affect threatened, endangered, and sensitive species
and actually do more damage to the sensitive riparian ecosystems through
higher visitor use.)
(Source: Forest Guardians;
Newsletter Issue 5, December 10, 1997.)
NPS Okays Commercial Complex in Gettysburg National
Military Park [PENNSYLVANIA]
(In a "test case" for the national park system, the National Park Service
yesterday agreed to a first-of-its-kind deal that will allow a private
developer to run a movie theater and shops in Gettysburg National Military
Park in exchange for erecting a new visitor center there.)
Privatized USFS Campgrounds offer special discounts [OREGON]
("Last October, while driving from Sweet Home to the Santiam Pass,
I went by several 'privatized' US Forest Service campgrounds which were
advertising 'Hunter's Discounts'. At these campground the registration
form required users to write in their hunting license number in order to
qualify for the discount. This sort of discriminatory elitism is outrageous
at a public facility. Next time, I'll bring my birdwatchers' license number
or my photographer's permit number or even my mushroom gatherers' registration
number.")
(Source: David Stone, Conservation Chair, Lane County Audubon
Society, Eugene OR)
Public lands to be
used for Theme-Park development [WASHINGTON D.C.]
(The Island Development Corporation., backed by a London commercial
developer, plans to build an 'educational, family-oriented park' on what
is currently federally managed parkland in Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia
River. Although the blueprints for the park haven't been drawn, they may
include several buildings, a huge movie theater, a virtual reality racetrack
and a pavilion of magic featuring high technology trickery. Restaurants,
shops and a landscaped park are also planned said Lawrence Goodwin, company
Vice President. Six environmental organizations, including the Wilderness
Society testified against the theme park. They argue that giving parkland
to a private developer sets a terrible precedent.)
(Source: Associated Press article by Tom Pelton, The Baltimore Sun)"
Citizens for Teton Valley
Oppose Proposed Land-Swap [IDAHO]
(The proposal to privatize up to 265 acres of National Forest land
at the base of the Grand Targhee ski slopes poses a serious threat to the
future of Teton Valley and the surrounding public lands. Only 3 years ago,
the Targhee National Forest ruled against creating a private inholding
for Grand Targhee because to do so was not in the public interest... Please
act now to stop corporate tourism from getting a big foot-hold in the western
Tetons. )
(Source: Citizens for Teton Valley, P.O. Box 585, Driggs, ID 83422)
For additional information
click,
click,
click,
click.
Senator
Craig Prepares Legislation for the 105th Congress
[LEGISLATION]
[The following direct quote comes from the right-wing Oregon
Lands Coalition]
(Idaho Senator Larry Craig has drafted comprehensive legislation to
amend two of the nation's land management laws. The National Forest Management
Act (NFMA) and the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA)... Craig's
bill emphasizes multiple use of federal lands. Craig said, 'We flatly reject
the extremist fantasy that the best thing we can do for our forests is
to walk away and leave them alone...'
...this is how Craig's proposal was described by the Western Ancient
Forest Campaign, an extreme environmental group headed by former Indiana
Congressman Jim Jontz. 'Today Idaho Senator Larry Craig unveiled his legislation
proposed to roll back protections of virtually every law that manages National
Forest Lands... Included among the provisions of the bill are plans to
allow states to manage federal lands...')
[Additional references available 1. ]
(This bill is pure poison. It allows States or non-profit organizations to
assume management responsibilities for federal lands. After 10 years, actual
title to the lands may be passed by the state or non-profit organization.
See Thomas for latest
information on S.1254.)
Land Exchanges Threaten Public
Lands [NATIONAL]
(Land swaps are taking place all over the West. These deals are usually
initiated by private interests reaching for public resources, and the Clinton
Administration and public lands agencies have offered nothing but encouragement.
Between the Forest Service and the BLM, about 200 land swaps take place
every year in the U.S. Some involve very small amounts of land, but a growing
number of them involve tens of thousands of acres apiece. Here are some
examples of recently completed or currently contemplated land swaps...)
[Source: Railroads & Clearcuts News Issue 2, June 1997]
{NOTE: Wild Wilderness is currently working with several other groups
in Central Oregon to modify a 70,000 acre land exchange between Crown Pacific
and the USFS. The lead organization in this effort (Coalition to Change
the Exchange) has focused their attention upon the loss of opportunities
for 'undeveloped recreation' that will result from this exchange.}
Emergency at Glacier National Park [MONTANA]
(The Northern Continental Divide Grizzly Bear Ecosystem is under
attack. The Park is lying to the public when they say the new management plan
"keeps it the way it is." To the contrary, the draft EIS changes
"natural zone" to "visitor services zones". The entire Going to the
Sun corridor including Lake McDonald and St. Mary is changed from
natural and historic zoning to "visitor services", thus allowing
future congested motorized boating at the lakes with unlimited
development. )
[Contact: Protect Glacier Canyon Coalition, P.O. Box 422, Hungry Horse, MT 59919-0422]
Update on
Parks Privatization Initiative [CANADA]
(Canada is far ahead of the United States in it's efforts to
privatize public parks and recreational facilities.
Unfortunately, public lands here in the U.S., as
well as our federal, state and local parks may soon be turned over to private
management or sold outright.)
[For additional information on privatization in Canada 1, 2. For
information on privatization in the United States click
here.]
Conservation Coalition Challenges Forest Service Assault on
Pelican Butte [OREGON]
(Federal bureaucrats are working with developers on a scheme to
create a mega-ski resort anticipated to attract 310,400 people
annually to an area that is right now essentially wilderness.
According to Conservation Advocate, Wendell Wood: "ONRC cannot
imagine a more inappropriate site in the western United States that
would have as great a number of environmental conflicts as does
Pelican Butte."
"Putting a big timber sale and ski development right smack in the
middle of this unprotected wilderness area is absurd," said Ken
Rait, conservation Director of the Oregon Natural Resources Council.
"Let's protect Pelican Butte for the wilderness that it is, not
cut it down and develop it.".)
[For additional information contact ONRC at (541) 885-4886 or
e-mail Wendell Wood.]
[For recent update:
click here ]
Cooter's Pond Land Grab [ALABAMA]
(This past weekend, in a maneuver designed to avoid scrutiny from a
federal court and the public, the Army signed a lease giving Cooter's Pond
to the RSA for the princely sum of one dollar. Immediately thereafter,
the RSA rolled in bulldozers to cut the very heart out of the best and
most beautiful part of Cooter's Pond on Saturday and Sunday.)
[For recent updates: 1, 2.]
Kalmiopsis Wilderness Threatened by Miners/Developers
[OREGON]
(You'd think an area, once designated as Wilderness, would be saved.
But the Wilderness Act, this country's strongest environmental law, has
an Achilles heel: the 1872 Mining Law and the Forest Service's capitulation
to it. Mining road development, illegal motorized access, a property rights
battle and a destination resort now threaten the pristine Kalmiopsis Wilderness.)
** Click Here
for a related reference from the Kalmiopsis Audubon Society. **
** Click Here
for news of a lawsuit recently filed to protect the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. **
Forest Service Closes Backcountry Trails in Favor of Pay-For-Use
System [CALIFORNIA]
(Summit District Ranger Karen Caldwell (Stanislaus National Forest)
has taken the first step in permanently converting backcountry ski trails
to pay-for-use groomed trails. In her October announcement she gave Dodge
Ridge Corporation a one-year special use permit to groom trails in the
Crabtree area of Pinecrest, which have a long history of use by backcountry
skiers. When questioned about the ethics of granting this permit with no
public input, much less an Environmental Assessment, the Nordic Voice was
informed that the purpose of the one-year permit was to allow Forest users
to experience the Forest Service proposal and thereby stimulate comments.)
State to Use $1 Million for Private Golf
Course [TEXAS]
(You thought that public lands managed by state and federal agencies
were protected from destruction? Think again. Your public lands are for
sale. On January 23, in a move that has conservationists pulling the hair
out of their heads, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a Biological
Opinion giving the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) the authority
to kill 5 endangered Houston toads per mile in order to construct an additional
nine-hole golf course within Bastrop State Park. If the National Park Service
approves TPWD's request for federal funding, then $1 MILLION of our federal
and state tax dollars will be spent to turn over 54 acres of public park
land to a private golf course.)
(Source: State Capitol Report: a publication of the Lone Star State
Chapter, Sierra Club 3-9-95.)
[Footnote: The Bastrop golf course has since been built and today the
local community is paying for their nine new holes with four additional
taxes.]
Olympic Gold
Medal Giveaway
[UTAH]
(Congress is poised to approve a bogus land deal that could line one
man’s pockets with gold at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer. A Utah
businessman wants to swap his cheap land for prime acres owned by the
taxpayer in order to build Olympic venues that aren’t even needed. If
the Senate approves the Snowbasin Land Exchange Act, Team Taxpayer
will end up the loser.
The winner will be wealthy Earl Holding, owner of a ski resort in
Utah’s Snowbasin valley. Holding would very much like to own and
develop the U.S. Forest Service lands in and around Snowbasin, which
happens to be one of the sites for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Holding’s
plans for the valley include the development of a year-round golf and
ski resort, with 450 townhouses, 800 condos and 1,100 hotel rooms.)
(For more information contact Jessie Jenkins at
(202) 546-8500 x109 or jessie@taxpayer.net)
[Footnote: This land swap has already been approved. To learn more
about this tremendous boondoggle: 1, 2, 3.]
A New Type of
National Park
[MASSACHUSETTS]
(The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (BHINRA) was
created by Congress in November 1996 as a unit of the National Park
System and is being managed by the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership,
a 13-member board, representing private and public agencies. The
Partnership will coordinate the activities of the federal, state and
local authorities and the private sector in the development and
implementation of a management plan for the recreation area.)
[Footnote:This project is being closely watched by National Parks
Conservation Association "to ensure that NPS adopts a management plan
that maintains national park standards and adheres to the management
policies of the Park Service under this new local partnership."
(Jan./Feb. 1998)]
[For a good review the many important issues at stake click
here.]
Should
Public Lands Be Run "For Profit" [KENTUCKY-TENNESSEE]
(Would you like to see a waterslide along side Yosemite Falls? Or
a pristine fishing and hunting area install golf courses and lake
front condominiums? We did not think it could ever happen here,
either; but a theme park, golf courses, and condominiums have been
proposed by the managing agency {Tennessee Valley Authority} to be
constructed in the Land Between the Lakes {LBL} !
Concept Zero, a grass-roots group based in Kentucky, spearheaded
the opposition to these proposed concepts. After an initial
victory, Concept Zero rejuvenated when it learned that TVA has been
continuing to commercialize LBL. TVA is allowing greatly increased
timber harvesting in LBL, and using public funds to create
commercial-like enterprises, such as grocery stores, residential
cabins, and a general store/restaurant.)
(Source: Concept Zero Task Force, P.O. Box 56, Eddyville, Ky. 42038)
[For April 20th, 1998 Action Alert click here.]
A
Bill That Allows Motorized Recreation in Designated Wilderness [LEGISLATIVE]
(On 5/7/98, the House Parks Subcommittee approved a bill, H.R. 3625 that
seriously threatens the health of Utah public lands. The bill affects the
San Rafael Swell area in Utah, eliminating 141,000 acres currently protected
as Wilderness Study Areas. The bill not only excludes unique, irreplaceable
natural wonders from wilderness protection, but also waters down what
wilderness protection means. The bill would allow such destructive
activities as roadbuilding and recreation vehicle use in wilderness areas.)
[For additional information:1, 2.]
Public Land For Private Development
[TENNESSEE]
( The Tennessee Valley Authority want to open 660 acres of federal
lake-front property to Hines Interests to allow the construction of a 120-room hotel resort and
conference center, marina, 18-hole gold course and 500 condominiums
threatening the beauty and cultural heritage of Little Cedar Mountain. The
area was home to Dragging Canoe, last of the great Cherokee war chiefs who
fought to save this land from development. Activists are
protesting this sale of public land for private development. )
(Contact the Sacred Little Cedar Mountain Defense
Coalition, cita@chattanooga.net, 423/842-7960 for more information.)
Forester led civic panel promoting ski project
[OREGON]
(The U.S. Forest Service official who helped develop the agency's
plan that backs a new Klamath Falls ski area also served as President
of the Klamath Falls Chamber of Commerce pushing for approval of that
project. Charlotte Holzkamper of Ashland questions "whether an
employee should serve on a body that promotes local economic growth,
often at the expense of protection of the natural resources for which
he is responsible.")
[Contact: Charlotte Holzkamper, Conservation Chair, Sierra Club
Rogue Group, 541-535-7452 e-mail
cholz@juno.com ]
FWS Ramrodding Hotel Concession in Wildlife Refuge
[TEXAS]
(Once again it appears that resource management is being thrown into
the back seat while politicians fight for the steering wheel. The U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is working closely with the Conservation
Lodge Foundation to construct a hotel concession complex, complete with
swimming pool, on the Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuge. Matagorda
Island is a recovering undeveloped barrier island that is home to wintering
populations of endangered whooping cranes.)
(Source: State Capitol Report: a publication of the Lone Star State
Chapter, Sierra Club 11-21-96.)
[Footnote: This project was stopped through the cooperative efforts
of several grass-roots groups.]
A BILL to
Authorize the Private Ownership and Use of National Park Systems
Lands [LEGISLATIVE]
(In the House of Representatives, January 7, 1997, Mr. BARTLETT of
Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources: A BILL to authorize the private ownership and
use of Nation Park System lands.)
("The Secretary of the Interior, after determining it to be in
the public interest may dispose of lands, or interests therein {but
not the mineral estate}, within the National Battlefield, National
Historical Parks, and other National Park System units which preserve
American history...")
(The number of this bill is: HR 104, 105th Congress.)
Treetop Walkway Imagined
[OREGON]
(They call it the canopy project. And the center-piece of the $19 million
proposal is a spiderweb of elevated walkways that would allow people to
take an easy mile-long hike as much as 200 feet above the forest floor.
Project leaders see it as an adventure beyond compare, a tourist attraction
that would breathe life into a south coast economy still reeling from slumps
in the timber and fishing industries...)
Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area
[MINNESOTA]
("Motorized user groups will attribute the park's success to strong
partnerships between user groups, with federal, state and local government
agencies, and with off-highway vehicle retailers and manufacturers. This unique
approach will help foster mutual goals and objectives... Off-road vehicle
recreation is among the fastest growing components of overall recreation demand.
Public land management agencies have determined that providing for motorized
recreation on public land is a legitimate and appropriate part of their outdoor
mission. It would be both unwise and irresponsible of public agencies to ignore
or discount motorized recreation because, like it or not, it is an activity that
is here to stay.")
Snowplows could make inroads in forests
[COLORADO]
("John Banker, the attorney for the citizens alliance, said
the Forest Service erred in deciding that motor vehicles were
the only reasonable access in the Pauly case. Banker said
Crested Butte has dozens of other inholding dwellings on old
mining claims, and those are accessible by snowmobile,
cross-country skis or snowshoes in the winter. 'If you start
plowing roads to these, you suddenly open all these backcountry
areas to development. It starts changing the character of the
place. Crested Butte could be five times as big as it is now,'
Banker said.")
[Contact: Steve Glazer, High
Country Citizens Alliance, P.O. Box 1066 Crested Butte, CO
81224, phone (907) 349-7104. Website: http://www.sni.net/hcca ]
Transfer of Public Lands to Private Interests
[ALASKA]
(Bill S. 660 {Murkowski} would grant the University of Alaska 250,000
acres of federal land outright in exchange for just 12,000 acres of
University-owned land within three national parks and two national
wildlife refuges. Up to another 250,000 acres would go to the
University if the State matches each additional federal acre
selected.)
[Contact: David Mortensen, Sierra
Club Task Force to Keep the Public Lands Public, dmortnj@aol.com or click here for further information from
the Sierra Club.]
Trading Public Land for Private Gain in the
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
[MICHIGAN]
(While approval of the swap would have resounding benefits
for Mr. Kuras, the deleterious cost to the national interest
would be extraordinary. The objective of the proposed swap is to
remove a great chunk of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
for Mr. Kuras’s private benefit. As such it represents a
distortion of the national park idea, and if approved by
Congress, would have striking consequences for Sleeping Bear
Dunes and for every other national park.)
[Contact: Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council]
The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Faces
Motorized and Development Threats [MAINE]
(Limited access, lack of motorized vehicles, and little development
have kept the Allagash River a wilderness experience. These aspects
are being threatened by citizens near and far from the River who are
asking the BPL to open up more areas along the river for access,
create parking lots, and permit the use of motorized-vehicles, such as
All-Terrain Vehicles and snowmobiles.)
[Contact: Ken Cline, the Maine Sierra Club: (207) 288-5015
ksc@ecology.coa.edu.]
Telluride Ski Area Expansion
[COLORADO]
(Ever body else is doing it, so why shouldn't we?, sez Telluride
Ski and Golf Company, as they propose a major expansion of the
Telluride Ski Resort in southwestern Colorado. This proposal would:
carve up scarce old growth forests, increase an existing violation of
the Clean Air Act, eliminate some of the best backcountry skiing in
the Telluride area, and worsen the already severe affordable housing
crisis for workers in the area. Your letters of opposition are
urgently needed by November 23.)
[Contact: Sheep Mountain Alliance, Rocky Smith (303) 839-5900 e-mail: Smithrocky@sinapu.org]
Bureau of Links Management
[NATIONAL]
(The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has a new mission. In
conjunction with the World Golf Foundation's "First Tee" program, the
BLM is offering to give away public land to "help bring one of the
most wholesome, character-building outdoor recreation activities to a
more diverse America in a fashion that is environmentally
friendly. "First Tee's goal is to create 100 new golf courses by the
year 2000. It's looking for cheap land - and the BLM controls more free
real estate than any other federal agency. Over the years, it has
given land to some 40 golf facilities, allowing the BLM to dub itself
"one of the most golf-friendly federal agencies in the nation.")
[Contact: Mark Massara, Sierra Club (415) 977-5500]
Sierra
Club, mountaineers oppose plan to build lodge near hallowed
Yosemite site [CALIFORNIA]
(Jim McCarthy, a past president of the American Alpine Club, the
country's foremost climbing group, said the Park Service's recent
moves have flummoxed Yosemite preservationists. "I think they may have
seized on the flood to give Delaware North (the mother company of
Yosemite Concessions Services Corp., which runs the park's
concessions) the rooms they wanted and a chance to have their
employees housed right in the heart of the valley," he said.
The Park Service, McCarthy said, "is in profound conflict of
interest on this -- they get 16 percent of all receipts from
concessionaire operations, so they're acting as business partners,
not stewards and managers.")
[Contact: Greg Adair, Friends of Yosemite,
e-mail GAdairSF@aol.com ]
The $1,000,000 Glacier National Park Outhouse! [MONTANA]
(The Park Service sold the entire project as a
public-private venture. In an April 1994 finding giving the
go-ahead, the Park Service vowed, "The project will not be
undertaken without strong private sector financial support." The
plan called for Save the Chalets to raise $1.2 million. But the
organization did not deliver and the language, requiring private
support before the job went forward, was removed from a revised
April 1995 finding. Park Service officials maintain they did not
mislead the public.
It cost the agency far more money to maintain the chalets than it
received from a private concession operator. The company, Belton
Chalets, grossed $406,000 in revenue in 1992, the last year of full
operation. The Park Service's take: $7,748. )
US Forest Service Future Image [US FOREST SERVICE]
(The following material was developed as part of the US
Forest Service's "re-invention" campaign in which government employees brainstormed a vision for the future ...
Very clear understanding of the goods and services the public wants,
with a workforce to support the needs.
Develop a “Disneyland” type of experience that could be part of a
Visitor Center or an amusement park.
Public knows the Forest Service exists and trusts, admires, and
respects us.
The public trusts and believes us.
We facilitate others (volunteers, corporate donors, service clubs,
communities, youth, etc.) in accomplishing Forest Service goals.)
Leave Nothing But Bear Prints [ALASKA]
("Glacier Point is yet another pristine, wild area in danger
of being developed into a major, money-making tourist attraction.
Two tour operators have applied for permits to fly cruise ship
tourists to Glacier Point. From there, the masses would ride
buses on a newly built road to a lake which lies at the foot of
Davidson Glacier. One operator hopes to attract as many as 10,000
visitors to the glacier each summer, which amounts to 25 flights
per day.")
[Contact: Absolute Wilderness ]
Mt. Graham threatened with "Industrial Campground" [ARIZONA]
(Twilight currently is a primitive camping area with a diversity of big,
old trees, Mexican spotted owls and the very rare Apache goshawk. The
Forest Service wants to develop this sensitive area with asphalt and
ramadas, volleyball courts, pathways and grills. Their plan is in
violation of their own Standards and Guidelines.)
[Contact: David Hodges, Sky
Island Watch, Tucson AZ, (520) 322-9819]
Another Lopsided Land Swap
[IDAHO]
(Boise businessman Tom Nicholson is planning his third land
exchange with the Boise National Forest, proposing to trade about
500 acres he owns for about 5000 acres of public lands.
Nicholson says he plans to turn the lands he would acquire into big
game habitat where visitors would be charged to hunt or view
wildlife. But the federal land proposed for the trade already provides
crucial winter range for deer and elk, and hunting groups are
incensed at the idea of losing public lands to private outfitters and
potential future development.
The exchange is being opposed by the Idaho Wildlife Federation,
Idaho Conservation League, State Department of Fish and Game, and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)
[For additional information contact Sharon Paris, Boise National
Forest (208) 373-4157]
BLM Proposal Threatens Escalante National
Monument [UTAH]
(In Alternative D, the Burr Trail is categorized as eligible for
developed facilities. This treatment of the Burr Trail, a narrow,
winding, infrequently-traveled route, would have the effect of
changing the character of the road, significantly increasing the
numbers of people who drive it and negatively affecting adjacent wild
areas.)
[Contact: Dan
Seligman Sierra Club Action Daily #140 - November 23, 1998]
New Travel Plan Would Damage Wilderness, Wildlife [COLORADO]
(A 43,000 acre roadless area proposed for wilderness
protection would be opened to motor vehicles under a Forest
Service travel plan. This alternative is being touted as a
so-called mix of "recreation opportunities in balance with other
resource concerns and management needs." It is hardly balanced.
The plan increases off-road vehicle access to 150 miles of roads
and trails and increases mountain bike access to 130 miles of trails.
Hikers must settle for the 10 miles of trails already in
place.)
[Contact: The Wilderness Society, Western Colorado Congress,
Colorado Environmental Coalition, Sierra Club.]
Trashing the Tokositna [ALASKA]
(The new plan calls for a 35 to 50 million dollar road 45
miles across the Valley from the existing highway to a point
where a 5,000 square foot Visitor Center, parking lot, cabins,
and 'facilities' would be built.
Visitors come to the area for
the wilderness. They do not come to see more pavement and RV
dumpsites. Changing the land to accommodate cruise ship tour buses
will destroy a potential industry, an industry based in WILD
lands, not roaded lands.)
[Contact: Coalition for Responsible South Denali Development (907) 733-1617 ]
Hiker Alert - High Sierra Wilderness severely threatened [CALIFORNIA]
(The U.S. Forest Service has released a draft management plan
that would allow for unlimited expansion of commercial
mule-packing outfits. Some commercial outfits and livestock
interests are leading an aggressive campaign for still greater access to these High
Sierra wilderness areas — while hiker access would become even more
restricted.
Commercial pack outfits pay only 3% of gross profits to
operate in our national forests. Commercial packers pay nothing
toward trail maintenance, they are exempt from trailhead quotas,
and they are allowed to write their own wilderness permits.)
[Contact: High Sierra
Hikers Association P.O. Box 8920, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158 e-mail HSHAhike@aol.com ]
Yellowstone Proposal has Groups Fuming [WYOMING]
(The National Park Service's environmental impact
statement for Yellowstone National Park has some environmental groups fuming. "The
preferred alternative is totally inadequate, it's not going to solve
any problems," said Andrea Lococo, Rocky Mountain coordinator of Fund
for Animals. "We are pretty disappointed they didn't consider a no
snowmobiling, no grooming alternative.")
[Contact: Andrea Lococo, Fund For Animals, 307-859-8840, e-mail
alococo@wyoming.com ]
For addition information
1,
2
Privatization of the Presidio [CALIFORNIA]
(The major local and national environmental groups that helped
privatize the Presidio are now, finally, lining up in opposition to
the commercial development of the national park. Activists who have
opposed the privatization from the beginning pointed out the bitter irony of
the situation: the park might never have been turned over to private
hands if those same groups hadn't bought into the plan five years ago.)
[Contact: Joan Girardot, President, Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods. ]
For addition information
1,
2,
3,
4,
5 (Editorial Update 9-2-01).
Commercial Airboat Operations Damaging Big Cypress National Preserve [FLORIDA]
Commercial airboat "thrill" rides have caused wide-scale resource
damage to the Big Cypress National Preserve. Airboats have killed
mangroves, caused extensive soil rutting in marshes, impacted
wildlife, and prevented other boaters and canoeists from enjoying the
area. This is clear-cut case of public lands being degraded for
private profit. Letters are critical because the NPS has strong local
political support for continuing these destructive commercial airboat
operations.
[Contact: Brian Scherf, Florida Biodiversity Project,
1060 Tyler Street, Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-922-5828 E-mail rscherf350@aol.com ]
For additional information: 1,
2,
3,
update 9/4/99
USFS moves to develop motorcycles trail in proposed Wilderness [COLORADO]
The US Forest Service's Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison (GMUG)
National Forest is preparing to release their Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) for Travel Management on the Uncompahgre
National Forest, including the Unaweep proposed wilderness. In spite
of numerous requests by citizens and federal wilderness legislation
which seeks permanent protection for this area, Bob Storch (GMUG
forest supervisor) is planning to develop a motorcycle trail through
the heart of Unaweep as well as establishing two other motorized
routes in important roadless areas--Longs Canyon and Dallas Creek.
[Contact: Pete Kolbenschlag - West Slope Field Director, Colorado Environmental Coalition
1000 N. 9th St. #29, Grand Junction, CO 81501, 970-243-0002
EMAIL: Pete1@cecenviro.org.]
USFS and BLM join forces to promote and market off-road recreation [OREGON]
The DESCHUTES & OCHOCO NATIONAL FORESTS & PRINEVILLE BLM COMBINED
OHV OPERATIONS (COHVOPS) CHARTER in a cooperative agreement involving
multiple federal agencies. It was created in March 1998 for the
express purpose of facilitating increased motorization of recreation
opportunities in, and around, Central Oregon. The team is to be self
directed and is to seek out non-agency funding and private
partnerships.
[Agency Contact: Dick DuFourd - Blue Ribbon Coalition / USFS Trails Specialist
Deschutes National Forest, 1645 Highway 20, Bend, OR 97701
541-388-2715 EMAIL: ddufourd/r6pnw_deschutes@fs.fed.us.]
GUANELLA PASS - Rustic Scenic Byway or High Speed Connected Highway [COLORADO]
The Federal Highway Administration is proposing to make
MAJOR changes to the Guanella Pass Scenic and Historic Byway.
Currently, the road is a half-paved, half-dirt, Scenic and Historic
Byway, used primarily for recreational access to the Mt. Evans
Wilderness and the Pike and Arapaho National Forests. The FHWA could
have developed a low impact alternative for review, featuring goad
rehabilitation, good drainage, revegetation, and slope repair, and key
safety fix ups. Instead the road is being designed to funnel much more
traffic and larger vehicles at faster speeds through the area.
[ Contact: Mount Evans Group, Rocky Mountain Chapter Sierra Club
EMAIL: llambert@exhibitvision.com.
October 10, 2002 Denver Post editorial titled Keep Guanella unspoiled].
Sierra Club Opposes Mount Sunapee State Park Development Plan [NEW HAMPSHIRE]
New Hampshire Sierra Club categorically opposes the proposed
"Summer Improvements." They constitute a fundamental change in the
non-ski season ambience of Mount Sunapee State Park. While the
historic role of intensive winter recreational use is well established
and generally accepted, the use of the park in the non-ski season for
such amusement park activities is wholly inappropriate. The lessee and
DRED should not foster a Disneyland atmosphere in the non-skiing
months, but rather an appreciative, nature-intensive, and non-fee
based experience for the public.
[ Contact: Tom Elliott, Chair of Mount Sunapee State Park Taskforce
EMAIL: tde@dartmouth.edu.]
Plan for expanded trails at Wheeler Creek criticized [UTAH]
Snow Basin trail developments proposed. The Wasatch-Cache National
Forest has just released a Scoping Document describing proposed trail
developments in and around the Snow Basin area. While some elements of
this proposal are appropriate (such as mitigating damage where
existing trails cross streams and wetlands), other parts are
unnecessarily destructive and seem to be intended primarily to provide
a playground for downhill mountain bikers (who could ride the ski
lifts up the mountain). There is also a proposal to operate
trail-grooming equipment along cross-country ski routes in the area.
[ Contact: Sierra Club Ogden Group Chair: Dan Schroeder,
801-393-4603 (home), 801-626-6048 (office) EMAIL: dschroeder@cc.weber.edu.]
Stop the Great Western ATV Trail! [MONTANA]
The "Great Western Trail" is a marketing proposal designed to
promote ORV tourism on national forests. In Utah, the Forest Service
is already turning over trail management to ATV groups and counties
actively working to disqualify proposed desert and canyon wilderness.
Despite early opposition from Montana trail users, boosters have
asked the Forest Service study team to select a "preferred" GWT route
across Montana anyway.
[ Contact: Montana Wilderness Association, P.O. BOX 635 Helena, MT
59624
John Gatchell, (406) 443-7350 EMAIL:
jgatchell@wildmontana.org.]
Native Americans, environmentalists question proposed new Lake Powell marina! [ARIZONA]
According to published plans, up to 225 hotel rooms and 300 boat slips
are to be constructed at Antelope Point, as are a gas station and
fueling docks, 150-space RV campground, sewage plant, up to 100 units
of commercial housing, food service, and other commercial operations.
The NPS recently issued a prospectus to five developers seeking to
build and operate the marina, which the NPS and the Navajo Nation
would jointly oversee.
[ Contact: Glen Canyon Action Network, PO Box 466 - Moab, Utah 84532
David Orr, (435)259-1063 EMAIL:
david@drainit.org.]
Forest Service fails to limit commercial uses - Is sued [CALIFORNIA]
Three conservation groups filed a federal lawsuit today
challenging Forest Service mismanagement of the Ansel Adams and John
Muir wildernesses - two popular wilderness areas along the spine of
the Sierra Nevada in California. The High Sierra Hikers Association,
Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, and Wilderness
Watch claim that the Forest Service has failed to properly limit
commercial uses of the wilderness areas to protect their values.
[ Contact: Wilderness Watch Gary Guenther P.O Box 3443
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
phone 760-934-6801 EMAIL: gary@qnet.com.
For additional info click ]
Rogue River IS NOT a theme park for motorized tour boats and jetboats! [OREGON]
Hellgate Excursions has permits to run 19 boats per day in the
Hellgate section of the Wild & Scenic Rogue River. They carry
approximately 75,000 tourists down the Rogue each year with a large
portion of the use coming in the summer months. These tour boats have
significant adverse effects on wildlife, fish, water quality, and
non-motorized recreation. Tell the BLM that the Rogue River is not a
motorized theme park and that the river must be protected from this
onslaught of industrial wreckreation. Ask them to prioritize salmon,
water quality, and non-motorized recreation.
[ Contact: Joe Serres, KS Wild! P.O. Box 332, Williams, OR 97544
phone (541) 846-9273 EMAIL: joeserres@kswild.org.]
For more info: Scott
Silver (ssilver@wildwilderness.org)
Wild Wilderness:
|
248 NW Wilmington Avenue, Bend, OR 97701
Phone (541) 385-5261 |