Montana-Idaho Land Issue

[beatupyj]

[quote]URGENT NATIONWIDE ACTION ALERT



Arizona Congressman Circulating Sign-On Letter to Expand the USFS Unlawful “de-facto Wildernessâ€

[Grumpy]

Underhanded tactics from the get go. The guy is an econazi of the first order..

[Grumpy]

Support America's Last Wilderness Lands
Dear Colleague,
America’s wilderness quality land is a precious resource that continues to vanish at a
rapid pace. I am writing to request your support for the attached letter to Chief Tidwell
calling on him to administratively protect those lands that the Forest Service has
recommended for wilderness designation until Congress can act.
The National Forest System contains over 60 million acres of wilderness quality land
managed by the United States Forest Service. As a part of its regular planning process,
the agency reviews these lands for their wilderness character and recommends to
Congress some of these lands for wilderness designation.
To date, the agency has recommended that Congress designate over three million acres
of national forest wilderness nationwide. Stretching from Alaska to Vermont, these lands
are truly the crown jewels of the National Forest System and are pending Congressional
action.
As Congress considers these areas, is imperative that the Forest Service refrain from
taking actions that may undermine Congress from acting on the agency’s
recommendations. Unfortunately, agency guidelines currently allow for a wide array of
non-conforming uses within their own recommended wilderness areas. These uses—
which include widespread use of motorized vehicles—undermine the agency’s
recommendations, and may impede Congressional action.
A new direction is needed that ensures that wilderness caliber lands that have received
an agency recommendation are properly managed to maintain their wilderness character
and values until Congress can act. Please join me in urging Forest Service Chief Tidwell
do adopt such a policy.
Sincerely,
Raúl M. Grijalva

[Grumpy]

Same damn tactic that's being tried on Moab...

[Dromero]

How do we stop them? What's the best route of action?

[beatupyj]

How do we stop them? What's the best route of action?

I fixed the link in my original post so you can click on it and get full info. Also I have quoted from the rest of that article here:

URGENT ACTION ALERT:

TELL YOUR CONGRESSMAN NO! ON GRIJALVA LETTER TO USFS

THREE STEP ACTION ITEM:

1) Click HERE and enter your zip code to find the phone number for your Representative. Then use the talking points below in your call. Be brief and be polite, but make it clear: NO on Grijalva's Dear College letter.

2) If you live in a state with a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, your call is particularly important. Key states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

3) Ask your friends and family to sign up for BRC's Action Alerts. BRC will keep an eye on this issue and we'll let you know if YOUR Congress Critter signed on to the letter.

Talking Points to Use In Your Calls and Letters

Congressman Raul Grijalva, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, is circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter regarding the management of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands that have been recommended by the agency for Wilderness designation. Please DO NOT sign Representative Grijalva's letter.

These lands are commonly known as Recommended Wilderness Areas or "RWAs." The letter expresses a concern about the agency's continued authorization of activities in RWAs that are disallowed in Wilderness areas, including the use of motorized vehicles. It supports managing RWAs as if Congress had actually designated them as Wilderness.

Only Congress can designate Wilderness. This is logical because Wilderness is the most restrictive land management designation on the planet. It is not wise, nor legal, for any federal land management agency to establish de-facto Wilderness areas.

The policy suggested by Representative Grijalva creates a situation where currently authorized mountain bike and motorized recreation does not preclude lands becoming RWA's - but then mandates those uses be all but eliminated. If the existing uses do not stop the lands from being recommended as Wilderness, then why should those activities not be allowed to continue until Congress acts?

More importantly, the RWA policy precludes collaborative solutions such as those reached in recent land use legislation. This policy presupposes the agency's desires on what is properly between Congress and the American people. By doing so, it eliminates the opportunity for mountain bike and motorized users to reach acceptable compromise with Wilderness advocates, State and local governments, and other stakeholders.

Please DO NOT sign Representative Grijalva's letter.