NESS W R A E T D C L I H W • • K E D WILDERNESS E IL P W IN S G S WILDERNE WATCHER The Quarterly Newsletter of Wilderness Watch Volume 22 • Number 3 • Winter 2012 Arctic Refuge Plan: Wilderness Stewardship Must Be the Priority By Fran Mauer northern half of the Refuge, mountains arch elegantly northward but leave a nar- row productive coastal plain filled with coastal lagoons, deltas, and barrier islands. South of the mountains, the boreal forest transitions to taiga and finally to tundra. The variety of landscapes hosts a cor- responding variety of wildlife: all three species of North American bears (in- cluding land-denning polar bears), some 180 species of birds migrating from six continents and all 50 states, and two caribou herds that use the many different habitats for calving, in- sect relief, migration, and winter range. Caribou, moose, Dall sheep, and musk ox support a full spectrum of predators The coastal plain calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd would be and scavengers such as wolves, griz- recommended for Wilderness designation in Alternative E of the Draft CCP. zly bears, wolverine, arctic and red fox, Photo: Fran Mauer/USFWS golden eagles, ravens, gulls, and jaegers. he U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) The Refuge founders realized that wild recently released a draft management plan nature and for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in its ecological pro- TAlaska that will profoundly affect the wilderness cesses have freely In This Issue... character of this iconic Wilderness for decades to evolved here since Arctic Refuge Plan Page 1 come. This new planning effort builds on earlier the beginning of efforts to protect this area. life on our planet. In Congress Page 4 They envisioned a On the Watch Page 5 A half century ago, after years of difficult work by a commitment by our Essay: Wilderness— small band of conservationists, Secretary of Interior society to keep this A Place to Unplug Page 8 Fred Seaton issued a public land order (PLO 2214), special place forever establishing the Arctic National Wildlife Range. The wild and free of In the Courts Page 10 idea was to preserve an extraordinary diversity of life human control. and landscapes like no other on the planet. In the ...and More Arctic Refuge Plan continued on page 3 from the President insights NESS W R A E T D C L esterday I paused when I realized how I H W excited I was that I could now check out • • K library books on my Kindle. Not that I E D E IL am a techno geek. I don’t even have a television. P W IN Y G SS But I love books and magazines. I have rooms WI NE full of them. But using this new Kindle, I have LDER morphed into someone I didn’t use to be. The Wilderness Watcher Wilderness, too, has morphed into something is the quarterly newsletter that it didn’t use to be. More and more, new ad- of Wilderness Watch, America’s ditions to our National Wilderness Preservation leading conservation organization System allow activities or management tools dedicated solely to protecting the lands and waters in the National that would not have even been considered years ago. Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness Watch continues to be the only national organization that strives Board of Directors to maintain our designated wildernessNE landsS as Sthe Wilderness Act of 1964 Louise Lasley, WY President intended. This is a lot like fighting wildfires. New hotspotsW are popping up all Gary Macfarlane, ID Vice-Pres. the time, in multiple areas,R and require time and a variety of Aactions. Specific Susan Morgan, WA Secretary incidents all seemE related to the general trend to view Wilderness as something Joe Fontaine, CA Treasurer T Jeff Kane, CO less than it should be. Bob Oset, MT D C Kevin Proescholdt, MN Activities conductedL in Wilderness must conform to the Wilderness Act. That’s Howie Wolke, MT our goal. ButI we also want to instill the vision, passion and sense of responsibilH - ity that the authors of the Act brought to the process. Wilderness areas must Founder and Board President Emeritus provide the refuge and wild qualities that make them unique. W Bill Worf, MT When you cringe at the too frequent news of the latest aberrations occurring in Counselor a particular• Wilderness, or shudder at the latest proposal that weakens funda- • mentalK protections of the Wilderness Act, think about increasing your support Jon Dettmann, MN for Wilderness Watch. Our small, dedicated staff does a remarkable job preserv- E D Executive Director ing the very definition of Wilderness. Our members express their concern and L George Nickas awarenessE by making donations. We thank you for this support. I P W Membership & Development Among the manyI magazines I have available in my home is the November 1, Jeff Smith 2011 Atlantic Monthly,N where an article by Howard Finch quotesS E. O. Wilson: “Our evolutionary backgroundG has conditioned us to yearnS for such things as Communications & Outreach W E Dawn Serra unspoiled savannas and wilderness.”ILD ERN Wilderness Watch is working to see that we have that now and for generations Advisory Council to come. Magalen Bryant Dr. Derek Craighead Three Wilderness Watch board members who have worked hard for that vi- Dr. M. Rupert Cutler sion recently cycled off the board due to term limits: Jon Dettmann, Stewart Michael Frome Fran Mauer Brandborg, and Bill Worf. I want to thank them for their service to Wilderness Dr. Roderick Nash Watch, and we hope all three will continue their involvement and support long into the future. Though all three have earned well-deserved accolades, the board Wilderness Watch wanted to particularly honor Bill by creating a new title for him: Founder and P.O. Box 9175 President Emeritus. S Missoula, MT 59807 Phone: (406) 542-2048 —Louise Lasley www.wildernesswatch.org [email protected] 2 Wilderness Watcher, Winter 2012 Arctic Refuge Plan (continued from page 1) Fifty years ago, these conservationists envisioned Now, as we move beyond the Arctic Refuge’s 50th anni- the preservation of the whole northeastern wild, versary, Wilderness Watch has seized an opportunity to remote corner of Alaska. Later, they hoped, Canada re-affirm our commitment to keeping this iconic land- would set aside neighboring wilderness across scape wild. The FWS is now halfway through a public the border. process to revise the Arctic Refuge CCP. The period for public comments on the Draft CCP ended on Nov. 15. In 1980 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conserva- tion Act (ANILCA) expanded the original Range to Guided by wildlife biologist Fran Mauer and our 19.3 million acres, designated Wilderness for about Alaska chapter, Wilderness Watch submitted extensive eight million acres, and added three Wild Rivers. comments, and activated a list of nearly 70,000 mem- ANILCA fell short of desig- bers and wilderness supporters, nating Wilderness for the 1.5 many of whom sent in com- million-acre coastal plain. But ments. it did prohibit any further oil and gas exploration and devel- Wilderness Watch found opment in the Arctic Refuge, reasons for hope as well as unless approved by an act several issues of concern. We of Congress. are pleased that the FWS has for the first time in the ANILCA also mandated planning process completed a assessments of fish and wildlife wilderness review of all poten- resources, potential oil and tial Wilderness in the Refuge. gas reserves, and the potential The draft plan also succeeds in impacts of exploration, de- presenting a range of possible velopment, production, and wilderness recommendations transportation of oil and gas in the Alternatives. We threw from the coastal plain. Run- our support behind Alternative ning alongside the assessments E because it would recommend for the past 30 years has been designation of all non-des- a protracted battle in the U.S. ignated lands as Wilderness Congress, with advocates and except for some areas adjacent lobbyists on both sides argu- to villages that are unsuitable ing either to open the Refuge for Wilderness. This includes coastal plain for development Wilderness protection for or designate it as Wilderness. the much-threatened coastal The Arctic Refuge has been Spring migration of the Porcupine Caribou Herd across plain, and would bestow the the subject of books, documen- lands that are recommended for Wilderness designation most appropriate stewardship, in Alternative E of the Draft CCP. Wilderness, for the entire taries, and literally thousands Photo: Fran Mauer/USFWS of magazine and news articles. 19-million-acre Refuge. Also during the past 30 years, visitor use and commercial The draft plan also presents very well-drafted Goals, services in the Refuge have significantly increased, in part Special Values, and Management Guidelines that would spurred by publicity associated with the oil development require protection of ecological processes and wilder- controversy. During the first Comprehensive Conserva- ness character. These provisions emphasize allowing tion Plan (CCP) completed in 1988, the public expressed natural behavior, interactions, habitat, and population concern regarding the already degrading wilderness dynamics of all species to continue, unaltered and unma- character. Public comments noted more encounters nipulated. Further, the guidelines emphasize managing with others, less solitude, an increase in human waste, wilderness recreation to maintain opportunities for visi- impacted camp areas, and more aircraft landing sites. tors to experience solitude, adventure, independence, and The agency promised to address these issues, but didn’t. freedom with minimal interference from management. Arctic Refuge Plan continued on page 10 3 Wilderness Watcher, Winter 2012 Wilderness in Congress House Bills Take Aim at Wilderness Act his is an era of extraordinary lunacy and short- Protection Act,” is anything but.