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What's New at Wilderness.org
This is a list of stories, news items, maps and other documents posted at Wilderness.org in the past 90 days.
Trapper Ridge Fire Success Story 
The Trapper Ridge Fire started on July 17th, 2007 from lightning activity in the Boise National Forest and was managed for resource benefits. This area of the Boise Forest is characterized by mixed conifers, as well as grasses and shrubs. At higher elevations, it was composed mainly of sub-alpine firs and lodgepole pines. Because of past fire suppression, fuels were beginning to build up in this area and managers wanted to use the Trapper Ridge fire to help reintroduce a more natural fire pattern.
| Broder/Beck Fire Success Story
The Broder/Beck Fire began on July 25th, 2006 from lightning activity in the Sequoia National Forest and was managed as a Wildland Fire Use event. Nearly a century of fire exclusion has changed the forest structure and species composition that once created a mosaic of different-aged patches and varied forest floor vegetation into a forest with uniform structure that is now threatened with unnaturally severe, high intensity fire. Forest and fire managers saw the Broder/Beck fire as an opportunity to address this issue by reintroducing a more natural fire pattern.
| Statement on Supreme Court's Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Order
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Mudersback Fire Success Story
The Mudersbach Fire began on June 23, 2005 in Kaibab National Forest. Fire managers were able to quickly determine that this fire was an ideal candidate for fire use. Fire managers had been working for a number of years with fire use events, the preferred method of restoration, to improve ecosystem health. Because of the thorough preparation involved in a fire use event, managers knew the fire was not likely to exhibit extreme behavior, but they correctly planned for a period of high intensity burning until the fire progressed into areas previously treated with fire.
| Lick Creek Fire Success Story
The Lick Creek fire began on July 11, 2006 during a lightning storm in the Payette National Forest. The area impacted by the Lick Creek fire is best classified as a mosaic - a forest with different species and ages. The area contained
moderate to heavy downed wood and was characterized by steep terrain. Managers saw the Lick Creek fire as a way to not only reintroduce a more natural fire pattern, but also advance management goals by utilizing fire use outside of Wilderness.
| Current and Proposed Oil & Gas Leases on Alaska's North Slope
This map shows the breakdown of sold, active, and proposed leases in Alaska's North Slope.
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BLM’s Competitive Oil and Gas Leasing & Drilling Process
This fact sheet summarizes the process by which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issues leases
for oil and gas development and then permits drilling of those leases. The major steps in this process are set out and, for each step, an overview is provided of how the terms of a lease are affected and the opportunities for public participation and influence of oil and gas operations.
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Birds: From the Arctic to Your Backyard
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge provides vital habitat for some of America’s most spectacular wildlife. Birds, in particular, rely heavily on the Arctic Refuge. When the weather turns warm, the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge becomes a haven for millions of migrating birds, affording them a safe place to feed, mate and nest.
| BLM Plans Open for Comment 6/13/08
A summary of the Bureau of Land Management's resource management plans currently open for comment.
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“EPCA III” Fact Sheet
The Bureau of Land Management's “EPCA III” report paints a highly misleading portrait of the extent to which the development of federal onshore oil and gas resources are “inaccessible” to development. Despite the
report’s implications to the contrary, most federal onshore oil and gas resources are available for leasing and drilling, and have been for a long time.
| Statement on Landmark Senate Vote on the Climate Security Act of 2008
This morning, a bipartisan group of 48 Senators voted to move forward with strong action on climate security. An additional six absent Senators expressed their support in letters, bringing the total to 54. While this vote fell short of the 60 votes needed for the bill to proceed, it did confirm that the Senate is growing greener as the climate worsens.
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Factsheet on Oil and Gas Leasing and Drilling on Federal Lands
A factsheet detailing the explosion of oil and gas drilling on federal lands in the last seven years.
| Factsheet on the Inaccuracies and Misleading Information in BLM's EPCA III Report
A factsheet detailing the misleading and inaccurate information in BLM's EPCA III report on oil and gas potential on federal lands in the U.S.
| Factsheet on BLM's use of Categorical Exclusions for Oil and Gas Drilling
A factsheet detailing the BLM's irresponsible use of Categorical Exclusions provided by Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act 2005 to limit review of environmental impacts of proposed drilling for oil and gas.
| The Wilderness Society's Views on Oil and Gas Drilling and Gasoline Prices
| The Wilderness Society's Views on Oil and Gas Drilling and Gasoline Prices
| Bush Administration Exploiting Legal Loopholes to Escalate Drilling Boom
What do the administration's final months hold for public lands energy development? Find out from experts at The Wilderness Society with new info on administration strategies to open vast swaths of remaining Western landscapes.
| Audit Report for The Wilderness Society, 2007
Report from our auditors, Johnson Lambert & CO, LLP, for fiscal year 2007.
| Financial Summary of The Wilderness Society, 2007
Financial summary for The Wilderness Society, excerpted from the 2007 Annual Report.
| Annual Report of The Wilderness Society, 2007
The 2007 Annual Report discusses the accomplishments of staff and volunteers at The Wilderness Society in 2007. Also take a look at financial documentation.
| Statement from Wilderness Society President William H. Meadows on Rep. Markey’s Proposal, the Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act of 2008
| Analysis of Habitat Fragmentation from Oil and Gas Development and Its Impact on Wildlife: A Framework for Public Land Management Planning
This scoping brief is submitted as part of the NEPA process for this land management proposal. It is intended to identify habitat and wildlife impacts that must be analyzed in the plan, demonstrate the potential impacts on wildlife of habitat fragmentation from oil and gas development at various well-pad densities, and offer methodologies to assist the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to fulfill its responsibility to analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on wildlife of proposed oil and gas development in the management plan.
| Overview of Percent of Federal Minerals and Acreage Available in Selected Resource Management Plans for the Rocky Mountain West
A spreadsheet detailing the percent and acreage of federal lands open for oil and gas development of selected Resource Management Plans in the Rocky Mountain West.
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New Bill Would Protect Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers in the Eastern Sierra and San Gabriel Mountains
More than 470,000 acres of wilderness and 52 miles of wild and scenic rivers would gain permanent protection from legislation introduced yesterday by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita). The Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act preserves the spectacular mountains, rivers and open spaces of California's Eastern Sierra and San Gabriel Mountains near Santa Clarita.
| Facts about Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Rural Heritage Act
Each year, thousands of people flock to the Eastern Sierra to hike, fish, climb, horseback ride, and enjoy the remarkable beauty of the region’s wild lands. Recreation on these public lands is the foundation of the area’s economy. Residents of rapidly growing northern Los Angeles County go to nearby open space in the San Gabriel Mountains to spend time in a natural setting close to home.
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Request from Six Governors for Delay of NIETC
A request from the governors of Virginia, New York, Arizona, Oregon, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for a one year delay of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's implementation of the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors to address critical issues raised by States and others have raised about the process.
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Oil Shale Fact Sheet - Oil Shale Production & Global Warming
The energy intensity and carbon footprint involved in deriving transportation fules from oil shale are higher than conventional fuels. This fact sheet discusses how oil shale production relates to global warming.
| Riverside County Wilderness Bill Approved by House Committee
Local wilderness supporters and a broad coalition of conservation groups today applauded House Natural Resources Committee passage of the California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act (H.R. 3682). Representative Mary Bono Mack’s (R-CA) broadly supported desert, forest and river conservation bill for Riverside County next goes before the House of Representatives for a vote.
| Idaho Fire Story 2007
Idaho saw 1.9 million acres – more than any other state -- burn in 2007. The number probably topped the historic 1910 fires. John McCarthy, the Idaho forest campaign director for The Wilderness Society, traveled through the vast landscape after the fires on many field trips with U.S. Forest Service fire managers and biologists. McCarthy’s report in “Idaho Fire Story 2007” uses text, maps and photographs to tell the story of fire effects, ecology, recovery and re-growth.
| Protest of the Proposed RMP/FEIS for the Yuma Field Office
The Wilderness Society and partners' protest of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS for the Yuma Field Office
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Oil Shale and Tar Sands Fact Sheet - Status of Research & Development
Current federal policy supports a robust oil shale research and development program on federal lands managed by the BLM. The purpose for the R&D program is to overcome significant technological obstacles and provide adequate information to evaluate the impacts of potential development prior to a commercial-scale leasing program.
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Oil Shale and Tar Sands Fact Sheet
The Bureau of Land Management is working overtime to turn over large tracks of western public lands to international oil companies that want to commercially develop the West’s oil shale and tar sands resources, no matter the environmental, economic, and social costs to our wild lands and local communities. Commercial oil shale and tar sands development relies on unproven, environmentally destructive, and economically dubious technologies that are decades away from commercial readiness. Industry does not even know if the technology works – so what’s the rush?
| Arctic Refuge Drilling and Gas Prices: Not a Solution, Now or Later
Proponents of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge opportunistically and incorrectly point to rising
gasoline prices as a reason to drill for oil in one of America’s last wild places. If oil were discovered in commercial
quantities, it would take 10 years before a single drop could be produced. Recent U.S. Energy Information Administration data indicates that in 2030, when oil discovered in the Arctic Refuge would be near peak production levels, the effect at the gas pump would be about two pennies per gallon.
| Wild Sky Wilderness Signed into Law
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Wild Sky Wilderness Passes Congress
After years of work, supporters of the Wild Sky Wilderness Act (H.R. 886/S. 520) celebrated today as the legislation passed Congress and was sent to the White House for final approval.
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Measuring Forest Carbon: Strengths and Weaknesses of Available Tools Summary
As the U.S. moves toward registering and regulating emissions of greenhouse gases, we are hearing more about the potential for forest carbon sequestration to offset fossil fuel emissions. Whether at the national or project level, good decisions about forest offsets depend upon accurate estimates of the carbon stored in forests and the changes in those stores over time. This Brief examines four carbon measurement tools, and provides some general comparisons for broad regions. It also highlights limitations that users should keep in mind; data are particularly limited for very old forests and for carbon reserves in dead wood and underground. |
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