protecting wild places and wildlife, for their sake – and ours December 2011 Sloan Shoemaker A VOICE FOR WILD NATURE Celebrating successes on behalf of the land and its creatures aybe it’s the tough economy; pressure. It’s challenging work, and acres is steadily getting its Congres- Mmaybe it’s the increasingly stri- only getting more so, but with your sional ducks in a row (page 8). dent political climate. At any rate, these support we’ve scored some significant And the first project of our new days it seems like discussions about our victories in the past few months: restoration program (page 4) and a public lands too often turn into shout- A recent court ruling upholding the conference on forest health (page ing matches, with a chorus of voices Roadless Rule gives us much stron- 11) both bode well for the future. asserting their “right” to use this or that ger grounds for challenging drilling piece of ground. in roadless areas (page 2). The threats will always be with us; But what about the land itself – does the price of a healthy environment is it have a say in all this? The human restraint evidenced in eternal vigilance. But as we approach When decisions about public lands the final Travel Management Plan is a new year, let’s take a moment to cel- are made, do the elk and lynx have a a testament to the power of patient, ebrate our successes and remember our seat at the table? Do the trees have a strategic advocacy for wild ecosys- strength in numbers. Because the more voice? tems (page 6). voices we join together in the defense Of course the answer is yes, but only The Hidden Gems Campaign to of wild places and wildlife, the more indirectly. The land and its non-voting, protect hundreds of thousands of successful we – and they – will be. non-political-campaign-contributing creatures rely on a relatively few mem- bers of the human race to speak for ROLLING UP OUR SLEEVES them. Their fate is in the hands of those who care. WW board member Mary Dominick wielded a mighty Fortunately in Colorado we have a shovel against invasive thistles lot of humans who care, and together and houndstongue at our fi rst- we do a pretty fair job of advocating for ever volunteer work day, held in the rights of nature, sometimes even the Maroon Creek Valley in July. at the expense of our own short-term The pilot project of our new interests. We support a strong network habitat restoration program of conservation groups, including the was a big success, with more Wilderness Workshop here in the than 50 participants. White River National Forest region. More photos on page 4. WW speaks for some important Melanie Finan ecosystems that are under considerable Get ready for Naturalist Nights - see schedule, page 7 Roadless ruling good for Th ompsonompson DivideDivide n October 21, the cated here in Colorado. Oheadwind that we’ve The Roadless Rule has been fighting for nearly been plagued by compli- five years in efforts to pro- cations all along. While tect the Thompson Divide opponents contested it in eased substantially, when various courts, the Bush the Tenth Circuit Court of administration in 2005 Appeals upheld the 2001 attempted to replace it Roadless Area Conserva- with an optional “petition” tion Rule. process that made states Conservation groups responsible for developing around the country are their own roadless plans. hailing the decision as a This rollback was met by a major victory, because it Sloan Shoemaker swift legal challenge of its lifts the cloud of uncer- Community for Thompson Divide: A rally in Carbondale in October own, and was eventually tainty that has hung over ended with an impromptu parade led by local ranchers. overturned by the Ninth 49 million acres of Forest Circuit Court in 2009. But Service roadless areas since a Wyoming derness,” says WW staff attorney Peter in the meantime, two states – Colorado federal district judge enjoined the Hart, who has been on the front lines and Idaho – had started their own road- Roadless Rule in 2008. Although there of this issue for four years. “Healthy less rule-making processes. may be a bit of judicial foot-dragging forests equal a healthy economy, and The Colorado Roadless Rule, now before the case is finally closed, what’s the ’01 Roadless Rule helps protect awaiting final approval by Forest Ser- certain is that these roadless areas will both.” vice honchos in Washington, is inferior retain the protections of the 2001 Rule. The Thompson Divide, the vast to the federal one on multiple levels. It For us at the Wilderness Workshop, headwaters area southwest of Carbon- provides “top tier” protection to only the ruling vindicates all the time and dale, contains the largest contiguous 12 percent of Colorado’s roadless acre- effort we put into defending roadless roadless-area complex in the state. The age, allowing road-building for scien- areas on the White River National For- Tenth Circuit’s ruling offers new hope tifically indefensible beetle and wildfire est while their status was in legal limbo. for that landscape, which is threatened treatments in the rest. It gives exemp- We’d also hedged our bets in case the by oil and gas drilling. Of the 80 gas tions for coal mining in the North Fork ruling went the other way (more about leases there, about 45 were issued in Valley, and for ski area expansions. that in a minute), but this was by far the roadless areas after the 2001 Rule was And dismayingly, it leaves the status better outcome. implemented. It’s now clear that the of the gap leases (more than half of roadless portions of these so-called which happen to be in the Thompson Firm legal ground “gap” leases cannot be developed with Divide) uncertain. The phrase “gap Locally and regionally, many of our roads. leases” is really a misnomer – it alludes favorite places are roadless areas. Think “Basically nobody thinks oil and gas to the fact that the leases were issued Grizzly Creek outside of Glenwood development is appropriate in those during the period when the legal status Springs, Red Mountain and North roadless areas in the Thompson Divide,” of the 2001 Rule was contested. Now Woody in the upper Roaring Fork says Peter. “What this decision tells us is that the Tenth Circuit has upheld the Valley, Spraddle Creek in the Vail area. that it would in fact be illegal.” 2001 Rule, we contend that there never These are areas that provide clean wa- was any gap in roadless protections, and ter, wildlife habitat, hunting, fishing and Complicated Colorado they should be called what they are: a host of other recreational activities. Unfortunately the Tenth Circuit’s “illegally issued leases.” Unfortunately, “Roadless areas generally represent ruling doesn’t automatically settle the the Forest Service’s reading is that the dwindling reserve of healthy forest- matter. Of course nothing’s ever that land that hasn’t been protected as wil- simple, is it? No, and it’s extra compli- CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 2 Wilderness Works December 2011 Lake Ridge Unit remains a puzzle Texas company’s proposal to Roadless Rule and you A “unitize” 18 gas leases in the can bet we’ll challenge it. heart of the Thompson Divide re- More than 450 of you mains the most immediate threat to sent emails via our take- the area, despite a host of encourag- action page to urge the ing recent developments. BLM to deny the unit re- In June we sounded the alarm that quest or at least to subject SG Interests – the same company that it to a more public pro- built the Bull Mountain Pipeline just cess. The unprecedented to the west of the Thompson Divide number of comments on in 2009 – had applied to the BLM a unit proposal apparently to unitize, or combine, the leases in gave the agency pause, what amounts to a long-term lease because it made a point of extension and development plan. The publicly announcing it was process is typically carried out behind going to take its time on closed doors, and the BLM’s regula- the decision. tions require no public notification or Meanwhile, opponents input. of the unit (you know SG’s proposed Lake Ridge Unit who you are) persuaded stretches from Sunlight Peak south- Senators Mark Udall and ward to the edge of Coal Basin, and Michael Bennet to weigh includes much of the headwaters of in with a letter in Octo- Thompson Creek. If you’re a cross- ber calling for more local country skier or a snowmobiler, input and meaningful you’ll know the area as the high coun- stakeholder discussions try just west of Spring Gulch ski area, on the proposal before which is accessed via Marion Gulch, the BLM made a decision. Fourmile Road or Coal Basin. Around the same time, a If the BLM approves SG’s applica- group of citizens calling Alison Galensky/Rocky Mountain Wild tion, the company will then have six themselves Community SG Interests’ “unit” proposal amounts to a long-term months to drill a test well somewhere for Thompson Divide natural-gas development plan for 32,000 acres in in the area. If the well produces gas, staged a massive rally in the heart of the Thompson Divide. SG will be able to hold the entire Carbondale, gathering 32,000 acres as long as it complies more than 300 signatures on a peti- from environmental analysis and with its long-term development plan.