America's Wild Legacy

Explore, enjoy and protect the planet

AMERICA’S WILD LEGACY

www.sierraclub.org/52places

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 85 Second Street, 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: 415-977-5500 Fax: 415-977-5799

LEGISLATIVE OFFICE 408 C Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone: (202) 547-1141 Fax: 202-547-6009

This report was produced by the America's Wild Legacy Conservation Initiative Committee. Dozens of staff and volunteers contributed to this report — from writing copy to tracking down photographs to editing and proofreading. Special thanks to those activists in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia who contributed drafts and/or photographs of their neighborhood wild places and open spaces. We would like to thank the Sierra Club Foundation for making this report possible. For more information about this report or how you can get involved to help protect America's special places, please call (202) 547-1141 or visit www.sierraclub.org September 2007

AMERICA’S WILD LEGACY

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early 150 years ago, the American conservation movement was born and the first National Parks and forest reserves were created. In 1892, John Muir established the Sierra Club with a mission to, “explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth.” More than seventy years later, in 1964, the National Wilderness Preservation System was created to ensure the permanent protection of our publicly owned federal lands. Today, the wilderness system encompasses more than 100 million acres of congressionally designated wilderness areas.
But despite this progress, we continue to lose ground as our forests, mountains, wetlands, coasts, and deserts are destroyed faster than they can be rescued. Fortunately, a century of fighting to protect our land, air, water, and wildlife has taught us many lessons in how we can resist unchecked development, special interests like oil, gas, mining and logging industries, and irresponsible recreation. And now we face our greatest challenge yet: Global warming. But the hardest lesson we have learned is that no place — despite any official designation, environmental value, or storied past — is ever completely protected. In this report, “America’s Wild Legacy,” we offer snapshots of the remaining American landscape, and of our work to protect it. We highlight six places that define our nation’s outdoor heritage — places that face immediate threat. We’ve whittled down the hundreds of wild places that need to be saved to a list of just 52 — one in each state as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Finally, we aim to offer solutions, to educate, and to celebrate our shared wild legacy. The Sierra Club is committed to saving all 52 of these places over the next ten years. As our nation grows, so do the pressures to drill, log, and build these last remaining wild places. Our founder, John Muir, once said, “Every good thing, great and small, needs defense.” Now, more than ever, we must continue to fight to save open spaces, leave trees standing, protect communities and wildlife, and preserve America’s Wild Legacy.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
– JOHN MUIR, The Yosemite (1912)

Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

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Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

I N T RO D U C T I O N
hundred years ago, two men who barely knew each other climbed into the Sierra Nevada wilderness and spent four days hiking meadows and tracking wildlife together. They saw elk and marmots, lupines and harebells. They didn’t shave. They slept on beds of pine needles. By the time they came down from the mountains, Sierra Club founder John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt had become good friends. And when they parted that day, they made a pact: They would work together to save America’s wilderness, including Yosemite National Park.
When Muir and Roosevelt met, America was undergoing dramatic social and cultural upheavals as the forces of manifest destiny expanded westward across a largely undeveloped wilderness continent. As it spread from the east coast, America’s industrial development brought air and water pollution, deforestation, and the loss of open space and wildlife habitat. The transcontinental railroad connecting the East and West Coasts had been completed in 1869. That same year, Major John Wesley Powell led the first successful expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers from Wyoming through the Grand Canyon, opening up the last blank spot on the map of America. The railroad, and Powell’s exploration, ushered in an unparalleled era of westward migration and growth. Boom towns sprang up across the West. They clustered around mining claims in the 4 Rocky Mountains, logging operations in the Pacific Northwest, and every forest and gold mine imaginable in California. By the time Roosevelt and Muir met, America had already lost most of its buffalo, tallgrass prairies, eastern old-growth forests and grizzly bears. The same thing was now occurring throughout the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, and even in the inhospitable deserts of the Southwest. If anything was going to be left of the remaining rugged mountains and forests, bold, immediate action would need to be taken. And it was. Between 1901 and 1909, in an attempt to save America’s last remaining wild places, President Theodore Roosevelt established five National Parks-including the Grand Canyon-along with more than 50 wildlife reserves, and almost 99 million acres of forest reserves. The conservation legacy of Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir is unmatched in the history of our country. Though they faced

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strong resistance at every step, the National Parks, National Monuments, and Wildlife Refuges that sprang from the work they begun are some of the shining jewels of the American landscape. Today, more than ever, these wild lands are an essential part of our American identity. Now, a century later, we once again need bold and urgent action. Despite the progress we have made since 1900 in protecting our most important lands, we continue to lose groundand forests, marshes, and mountains-faster than they can be restored or rescued. The threats to our wild places and open spaces have increased dramatically since the days of Muir and Roosevelt. Global warming, along with energy development, suburban sprawl, and off-road vehicle damage have topped off the continuing impacts of logging, mining, and overgrazing. Some of our nation’s most spectacular landscapes — places like the Arctic, the Everglades, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Utah’s Red Rock wilderness and the Tongass National Forest — are teetering at the edge and could be lost forever. This report, America’s Wild Legacy includes profiles of fifty of our nation’s most important landscapes. All of them are beautiful. All of them are threatened. From Alaska’s Teshekpuk Lake to Colorado’s Roan Plateau and Wyoming’s Red Desert, millions of acres of vital wildlife habitat are jeopardized by oil and gas drilling.

THE HUNDRED MILLION-ACRE MAN
Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

California’s Marin Headlands, the Misty Fjords and Admiralty Island in southeastern Alaska, Washington’s North Cascades National Park, and a hundred million more acres across our country are wild and protected lands today thanks to the work of one quiet and committed man, Dr Edgar Wayburn. In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Dr. Wayburn our nation’s highest civilian honor,the Presidential Medal of Freedom.In doing so,President Clinton credited him with saving “more of our wilderness than any other person alive.” As a five-term president of the Sierra Club and private citizen, Dr. Wayburn was instrumental in forming and expanding Redwood National Park. America enjoys the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore because of him. Along with his wife, Peggy, Dr. Wayburn successfully led the campaign to pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which created ten new national park units and doubled the size of America’s National Park system. A practicing physician and a family man,Dr.

Wayburn dedicated his spare hours and weekends to the health of the planet, saving more than 100 million acres in his “time off.” Dr. Wayburn considered the Medal of Freedom “a tremendous honor.” He went on to say, however, that “the true reward is in knowing our grandchildren can hike the trails my wife, Peggy, and I hiked fifty years ago and that those places will be much like they were when we first saw them.” Dr. Wayburn is 100 years young and still active in the fight to safeguard Alaska’s wild lands. Taking inspiration from leaders like him, the Sierra Club continues to work through our 450 groups and 65 chapters to protect our communities from pollution and our wild lands and wildlife from the unceasing demand to drill, log, mine, and build. Dr.Wayburn taught us that,“Conservation campaigns never really end. They cross certain milestones, but wild lands must always be defended against those who would encroach their edges, bind their soils,log their forests,or drill their shores. Conservation is never complete. To conserve is the act of preservation: the very name implies an ongoing process.”

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Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

Introduction continued
Illegal off-road vehicle abuse is scarring irreplaceable lands like Utah’s Red Rock wilderness. Meanwhile, commercial logging continues to threaten some of our most important forests, including California’s Giant Sequoia National Monument, Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest, and Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The American landscape was once a vast expanse of magnificent wild lands stretching from coast to coast. But many settlers viewed the wilderness as an enemy to be conquered and an endless supply of resources to be exploited. The result has been the loss of many of our nation’s wild lands over the past two centuries. Today, we’re left only with the remnants of our wilderness heritage. That makes it that much more important to protect the parts of our nation that are still wild and free. The Sierra Club America’s Wild Legacy Conservation Initiative is dedicated to protecting and restoring our rich natural heritage of wildlands and wildlife, and engaging citizens as stewards of our nation’s special places.

WHAT’S BEEN LOST
■ More than 90 percent of America’s native old-growth forests have been logged. ■ More than half of our National Forests (52 percent) have been logged, mined, or drilled for oil and gas. ■ More than 60 million acres of undeveloped National Forests (30 percent) are without protection from logging, mining, oil and gas drilling and other threats. ■ More than 90 percent of America’s prairies have been lost to cultivation. More than 99 percent of the tallgrass prairies are gone ■ More than half of America’s wetlands that were here 200 years ago have been drained or developed. The nation continues to lose more than 100,000 acres of wetlands per year. ■ Development and sprawl are consuming one million acres of farmland per year.

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AMERICA’S WILD LEGACY
ll across America, communities are working to protect, preserve and restore wild lands and special places. Some of these places are spectacular world-famous national landscapes, while others are small, relatively unknown local treasures.

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Photo courtesy of Getty Images

If future generations are to enjoy these important lands, we must act now to end the destructive and short-sighted industrial development that threatens them. Protecting America’s wild places and natural heritage won’t be easy. Extractive industries and powerful, well-financed special interests have their own designs on these national treasures.

In order to save what remains of our wild legacy, the Sierra Club has launched a ten-year campaign to protect fifty two of our most exceptional places — one in every state — over the next ten years. Fifty-two special places, one in each of the fifty states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, in ten years. Once protected, these wild lands will serve as lasting monuments to the independent spirit and wilderness heritage of our nation.

WHAT’S BEEN SAVED

1864

June 30, 1864 In what is considered by many to be the first Federal action to protect public land,Congress transfers the Yosemite Valley from the public domain to the State of California with the express directive that the state,“shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within the said reservation and against their capture and destruction for purposes of merchandise or profit.”

March 1,1872 Yellowstone National Park established. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world.

1872 1891

1892

May 28, 1892 John Muir organizes the Sierra Club in San Francisco, California.The American conservation movement is born.

March 3, 1891 Congress establishes the first Forest Reserves which would eventually become National Forests when the U.S.Forest Service was created in 1905.

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AMERICA’S ARCTIC

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he far north of our country is one of the last expansive and truly wild places we have left. The Arctic, from pristine Teshekpuk Lake to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is one of America’s greatest natural treasures.

Nestled between the Brooks Mountain Range and the shores of the Beaufort Sea in remote northeast Alaska, the narrow 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is the biological heart of this untamed wilderness.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

But Big Oil, supported by the Bush administration and pro-drilling advocates in Congress, continue to concoct schemes to open the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas drilling — despite indisputable proof that oil drilling irreparably damages the fragile tundra and its wildlife. And the Arctic’s irreplaceable Teshekpuk Lake, a magnet for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds, caribou, and other wildlife, is facing increasing pressure from special interests who want to drill its delicate shores. Recent Alaskan oil spills, pipeline shutdowns, and the visible effects of global warming underscore the need to break America's oil addiction. There is a better way. Americans are already starting to embrace smart energy solutions like wind and solar power, and technologies

that make a car go farther on a gallon of gas. The same spirit of innovation and exploration that prompted Americans to settle the Last Frontier can drive us into a new, clean energy future.

Wildlife
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains the greatest diversity of animal life of any conservation area in the circumpolar region.

Caribou:
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Each year the Porcupine caribou, North America’s largest international herd, migrates over 1,400 miles across Alaska and Canada. In late May the herd travels to the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge where they typically give birth to 40-50,000 calves. The gathering of these animals during calving and post-calving is one of the most spectacular wildlife spectacles on earth. Local Native residents in Alaska and Canada depend on the caribou as one of their most important sources of food.

Birds:
More than 135 bird species from every state in the U.S. and four continents have been seen in the Arctic Refuge. Birds such as the American golden plover fly from South America to nest on the

coastal plain. Elegant tundra swans, numerous ducks and shorebird species use the tundra wetlands and coastal lagoons. Over 300,000 snow geese gather in the Arctic Refuge each fall to feed on cottongrass in preparation for their long migration.

1893

▲ President Benjamin Harrison establishes a 13 million-acre Sierra Forest Reserve in California.

1897

▲ Membership in Sierra Club reaches 300. ▲ Club supports recommendations of U.S. Forestry Commission to creation additional “forest national parks”including Grand Canyon and Mount Rainier.

1898

▲ Sierra Club establishes office in Yosemite Valley to aid and educate visitors.

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Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Polar Bears and Musk Oxen:
The Arctic Refuge has the highest density of land-denning polar bears in the U.S. In late fall, after most of the birds have headed south, pregnant polar bears move onshore to dig their dens in snow drifts. They give birth to one or two cubs in December or January. Several hundred musk oxen are year-round residents of the Arctic Refuge. These shaggy, Ice Age mammals are well adapted for the arctic winter. They and other smaller mammals, such as wolves, wolverines and arctic foxes, roam freely across the coastal plain.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

People of the Arctic
exploration and development were to occur in the Arctic Refuge, where the Porcupine Caribou Herd makes its annual migration to calve each spring, the Gwich’in way of life would be radically disrupted.
Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

The Gwich’in are united in their opposition to the opening of the Arctic Refuge for development. The Episcopal Church, the National Congress of American Indians, and the Canadian Government support the Gwich’in position against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Global Warming in the Arctic
Approximately 7,000 Gwich’in make their homes along the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers of the Arctic, scattered throughout 15 villages in northeast Alaska, and in the Yukon and Northwest Territories of Canada. The word “Gwich’in” means “people of the caribou”, and it refers to a people who have lived in the Arctic since before the political boundaries were drawn on maps dividing Alaska and Canada. Oral tradition indicates that the Gwich’in have occupied this area since time immemorial, or, according to conventional belief, for as long as 20,000 years. The Gwich’in have subsisted off of the Porcupine Caribou Herd for thousands of years. Over the last decade, the Gwich’in have hunted an average of 3,000 to 5,000 caribou each year as part of their subsistence way of life. Gwich’in villages are located along the migratory paths of the Porcupine Caribou Herd in the interior and arctic regions of Alaska and Northwest Canada. Scientists have proven that existing North Slope oil development has already disturbed the migration patterns and habits of the caribou in areas affected by development. If oil and gas
Global warming poses a special danger to the Arctic, a region in which wildlife and nature have formed a complex interrelationship.Now,this delicate balance is threatened by rising temperatures — a threat symbolized by the plight of the king of the north, the polar bear. A major concern is the declining population of ringed seal, the polar bear’s chief prey. Unseasonable warmth causes the snow dens of the seal to collapse, leaving their pups vulnerable. The warmth also shrinks the sea ice that is the bear’s hunting ground, making it harder to find the seals during the short winter hunting season. A decline in its chief food source will result in a decline in polar bear populations.A new study by the United States Geological Service indicates that global warming would cause twothirds of the world’s polar bear populations to disappear by the middle of the century. By these scientists’ estimates, if global warming continues unchecked, not a single polar bear will be left in Alaska by the year 2050.

1899

▲ Congress establishes Mt. Rainier National park through legislation based on a statement prepared by Sierra Club and other conservation organizations.

1901

▲ In the Club’s first outing,William Colby leads 96 participants on a trip to Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, beginning a tradition of annual High Trips.

1902

▲ President Theodore Roosevelt signs legislation supporting the conservation of game in the Alaskan Territory.

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SMART ENERGY SOLUTIONS
Oil and gas drilling in the Arctic would ruin one of America’s last unspoiled wild places, but it would not put a dent in our dependence on oil. Arctic drilling would do nothing to strengthen our national security. It would only add to the billions in profits already being made by Big Oil and would not lower gas prices for American families. This kind of dirty energy accelerates our single biggest environmental problem: Global Warming. It’s time to use America’s technological knowhow and innovation to reduce our dangerous dependence on oil. Instead of increasing oil drilling, Congress should raise the fuel economy of our cars, encourage the use of renewable energy like wind and solar power, and adopt other existing energy-saving technologies that cut pollution, curb global warming and create good jobs. Such a strategy will decrease our dependence on oil, reduce pollution, and protect wild places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We know our nation can do it — our history shows that there are few challenges we have not overcome with American ingenuity. There’s no denying that America faces an urgent energy challenge. We can continue the current, expensive and unsustainable energy practices and policies that have left us addicted to oil and force us to sacrifice national treasures like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Or we can make the changes and take the actions that will put us on the path to a smarter, cheaper, and cleaner energy future. Cheaper: The U.S. Department of Energy’s own Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that even 20 years down the road, when Arctic Refuge oil is at or near peak production, gas prices would be affected by about a penny per gallon. If our cars, trucks and SUVs together averaged 40 miles per gallon — something that is achievable with existing technology — we would save as much oil as the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf, with another million barrels to spare. And the average driver would save nearly $600 a year at the pump. Photo courtesy of iStockphoto Faster: It would be more than 10 years before a single drop of oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could first be produced. We can immediately start saving energy and money by using more efficient appliances and technology, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs, and by increasing the energy efficiency of our cars, trucks and buildings. Increasing energy efficiency technology and fuel efficiency will drastically decrease our energy use today. Cleaner: Oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will require hundreds of miles of pipelines and roads, numerous drilling pads, production wells, waste pits and airstrips. By choosing energy options such as solar, wind and energy-efficient technologies, we can move beyond our dependence on polluting oil and gas drilling. By using clean, safe and affordable renewable energy sources we can protect our clean air, clean water and special places.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

1903

▲ March 14, 1903 Teddy Roosevelt establishes Pelican Island national Wildlife Refuge, along Florida’s Atlantic coast, as America’s first National Wildlife Refuge. ▲ Sierra Club membership reaches 663.

1904 1905

▲ Club first local outings begin in San Francisco.

1906

▲ June 8, 1906 The Antiquities Act is signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt. ▲ September 24, 1906 President Roosevelt uses the Antiquities Act authority to designate Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first National Monument.

▲ In one of the Sierra Club’s first conservation campaign victories, the Yosemite Valley is returned to federal management.

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UTAH’S RED ROCK WILDERNESS

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he canyon country of southern Utah, Edward Abbey wrote, “...is something special. Something strange, marvelous, full of wonders. As far as I know there is no other region on earth much like it, or even remotely like it. Nowhere else have we had this lucky combination of vast sedimentary rock formations exposed to a desert climate, a great plateau carved by major rivers...into such a surreal land of form and color.”
The state of Utah abounds with rugged, pristine, lands — places so special they meet requirements for wilderness designation. In fact, more than 9 million acres of public land in the state qualify for permanent wilderness protection under federal law. America’s Redrock Wilderness Act would make this designation a reality for one of the state’s most unusual and beautiful landscapes. Utah has one of the largest blocks of intact wilderness in the lower 48 states. Now more than ever, Americans are prioritizing protection of the vast and iconic landscapes of redrock country. This is a land of layer-cake sedimentary geology, where ancient sand dunes form massive cliffs and domes that range starkly in color, from white to deep, brick red. Here, the great Colorado and Green Rivers have sliced deep, broad canyons through the yielding sandstone. Ephemeral streams have cut slot canyons so narrow you can touch both sides with outstretched arms. The pliant sedimentary rock has eroded into fantastic shapes, and granite remnants of volcanic magma chambers have been uplifted through the overlying sedimentary layers to form tall, isolated mountain ranges. Despite their rugged appearance, the wildlands of Utah are home to an array of sensitive wildlife. Mountain lions, pronghorn antelope, elk, bison and bighorn sheep all roam the landscape. At least two dozen endangered or sensitive wildlife species rely on the area’s specialized desert habitat. These species include lizards like the Gila monster and chuckwalla, as well as desert tortoise and bald eagles, peregrine falcons and endangered fish species of the Colorado, Green, and Virgin Rivers. Scientists have classified roughly 180 of Utah’s plant species as endangered, threatened, or sensitive, and many of these species would enjoy protected habitat through wilderness designation.

Wilderness and the Economy
Utah’s wild landscapes offer more than just biological diversity. The state’s stunning natural features and recreational opportunities have made it a hot spot for tourism. Utah’s economy is among the strongest in the nation; technology and tourism are among the largest and most important economic activities. Over the last few years, the bulk of southern Utah’s new jobs have been in the trade and service industries, reflecting the importance of tourism, travel, and recreation to the state’s economy. Research shows that in the West, rural counties that boast a diverse tax base and are not dependent on extractive industries prosper over the long term, instead of falling prey to the boombust cycle of industries like oil, logging, and mining. Permanent protection of Utah’s unique wilderness-quality lands will make the state an even more attractive place to live, work, and vacation. At the same time, designating wilderness will help to promote smart growth in rural communities instead of allowing unmitigated development to destroy them.

1907 1908

▲ Club submits a resolution to the Secretary of the Interior opposing damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley.

1910

▲ President Howard Taft signs legislation establishing Glacier National Park after a successful campaign by Sierra Club and other conservation organizations.

1911

▲ Devil’s Postpile National Monument established with Sierra Club support and largely through the work of Sierra Club member Walter Huber.

▲ Sierra Club membership reaches 1,000. ▲ January 11, 1908 The Grand Canyon is designated as a National Monument.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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Threats
Today, the fastest growing threat to the wild character of Utah’s desert landscapes comes from the dramatic increase in off-road vehicle use (ORVs). Today’s newer, faster and more powerful ORVs allow users to push their machines farther and farther into previously inaccessible canyons and mountain ranges. The damage from ORVs is already evident across the red rock landscape, and abuse is on the rise. Offroad vehicles erode and compact soil, making it difficult for the desert’s rare, tenacious plants to grow. ORVs disturb ancient cultural sites, harass wildlife, and destroy the fragile biotic crusts that support life in the unforgiving desert. Presently, the agency charged with protecting these lands, the Bureau of Land Management, does little to monitor ORV use or enforce regulations. Mining also continues to threaten the wildlands of Utah. Coal leases and hard-rock “claims” abound. In fact, it was the threat of a large coal mine on the Kaiparowits Plateau just north of the Arizona border that inspired President Clinton to establish the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996. Dams, power lines, road construction, and illegal wood-cutting are also helping to destroy the unusual and precious Red Rock wilderness.
Photo by Kevin Walker

There is overwhelming support across the country to protect this area. Efforts by Congress to designate the area as official wilderness have gained support over the years. But Big Industry has managed to block these efforts and leave millions of acres of irreplaceable wilderness up for grabs. Official wilderness designation would protect sensitive and unspoiled areas from new development, new mining claims, logging, and road building, and mechanized transport. Moreover, wilderness designation would contribute significantly to Utah’s already healthy economy by preserving the natural character that the growing tourist industry relies on. The battle for Utah wilderness has persisted for decades — since the Federal Land Policy and Management Act in 1976 directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct an inventory of potential wilderness areas. The original inventory fell far short of what wilderness advocates knew to be eligible, so citizens conducted their own inventory. By 1990 they had identified 5.7 million acres of wilderness quality areas that should be recommended to Congress as additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System. Efforts to pass comprehensive Utah wilderness bills in Congress have been ongoing. In 1998, citizen activists completed their second round of inventories, using updated scientific methods, and with a much better

appreciation of the biological importance of Utah wildlands. The citizen reinventory removed unprotected lands that had already been scarred by development. But it also identified more than 3 million additional acres that qualified for wilderness designation, bringing the total to over 9 million acres. Even the BLM has increased its estimate of land qualifying as wilderness — confirming what wilderness advocates already knew, and opening the door for protecting even more of Utah’s vibrant canyons, mountains, and desert. Utah wilderness advocates continue to build broad support for a proposal that truly reflects the full, diverse range of the state’s last remaining wilderness lands. As former U.S. Representative Wayne Owens once paraphrased John Muir: “Anyone can destroy a wilderness... But only God can create a wilderness and only wise government and wise laws can preserve it. What we now elect to save in Utah over the next few years of discussion will always remain. What we neglect to protect can never be recovered.”

1913

▲ Congress passes the Raker Act which authorizes the construction of a dam and reservoir on the Tuolome River in the Hetch Hetchy valley of Yosemite National Park.

1914

▲ Last Sierra Club outing to Hetch Hetchy Valley. ▲ December 24, 1914 Sierra Club founding member and first president, John Muir, dies.

1915

▲ Sierra Club wins passage of California legislation appropriating $10,000 for the construction of the John Muir Trail, the first of five such appropriations.

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FLORIDA’S EVERGLADES
“Nothing anywhere else is like them: their vast glittering openness, wider than the enormous visible round of the horizon, the racing free saltness and sweetness of their massive winds, under the dazzling blue heights of space.”
– MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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he marshy grasslands of the Florida Everglades — home to wading birds, alligators, and the rare Florida panther — are on the brink of collapse, thanks to overdevelopment, agricultural pollution, and overzealous water-diversion projects.
Today, 14 federally-listed endangered species rely on the Everglades unique resources. They include the wood stork, the West Indian manatee and the American crocodile. In fact, the only place in the world where crocodile and the alligator live sideby-side is in the Everglades. In 1949, after years of lobbying by conservationist Ernest Coe and others, the federal government dedicated Everglades National Park to protect the southern portion of the Everglades and Florida Bay from growing human pressures. But the Park’s boundaries left out crucial portions of the Everglades-the upper portion of Key Largo and the coral reefs to the east, and the Big Cypress swamp to the north. Conservationists insisted that without those lands the Park had no control of its water supply and might not survive. In that same year, Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to build a massive system of canals, levees and pumping stations to decrease the risk of flooding and to drain south Florida for development and agriculture. This project, known as the Central and South Florida Project, fueled an economic boom. But it also began the

Gliding across the sawgrass prairie, meandering around vast islands of pine, or slowly creeping through the mangroves into Florida Bay, the Everglades will always be a river — a 60-mile wide river. Conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the enormous wetland that covers most of the southern Florida peninsula “a river of grass.” Douglas’ book, “River of Grass,” put the Everglades on the map. The Everglades’ wildlife have depended on a complex annual rhythm of drought and flood. At one time, flying “supercolonies” of wading birds were so thick in the area that they would blot out the sun. The Everglades headwaters actually begin just south of Orlando from the Kissimmee River, which runs into Florida’s largest lake, Okeechobee. The water historically “spilled over” the bottom half of the peninsula in a solid sheet generally no more than two feet deep. This 300-mile sheet of water provided habitat for hundreds of thousands of wading birds like herons, spoonbills and pelicans. Panthers, deer, crocodiles and alligators roamed the banks of this river.

1916

▲ August 25th, 1916 The United States Park Service is established. Sierra Club member Stephen Mather is appointed the first Director.

1917

▲ Mt. McKinley National Park Act signed, creating Mt. McKinley-Denali National Park in Alaska.

1923

1920

▲ Sierra Club successfully convinces Federal Power Commission to rule against the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada. ▲ Sierra Club assists National Park service in purchasing Redwood meadow for inclusion in Sequoia National Park enlargement.

▲ Club opposes plan to build dams in Yellowstone National Park.

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gradual decline of the Everglades system. Water that once flowed as sheets was now compartmentalized and controlled by man and machines. Acres upon acres of sugar farms sprung out of the rich peat soil below Lake Okeechobee, and Miami suburbs consumed the land where sawgrass swamps once reigned. Today 5.5 million people call south Florida home and plans are under way to accommodate another 7 million to 10 million new inhabitants. Sugar farms continue to dump thousands of pounds of phosphates into the water, contaminating plants and wildlife. While the government tries to time its pumps and control structures to imitate the natural water cycle, it generally fails. One short century of human settlement in south Florida has pushed the Everglades to the brink. Nearly half the Everglades have been drained. Nine out of every 10 wading birds have disappeared since the turn of the century, and the Florida panther stands perilously low, at just 30. Mercury-laden fish, a sure sign of polluted water, are ubiquitous. The natural but fragile balance that made this area flourish has been altered. But with sound science, the natural functioning of the greater Everglades region might be repaired. Engineers, scientists, anthropologists, land managers and conservationists agree that drastic steps are necessary if we are to rescue the Everglades. Plans are in development to rework south Florida’s complex plumbing system and restore the ecosystem’s natural balance.

Land acquisition is a key component of any restoration plan. Extending the park’s boundaries will bolster habitat protection efforts and provide a protective buffer between the natural landscape and ever-expanding urban areas. Removing lands from destructive sugar farming will help improve water quality, and will provide much-needed water storage capacity. Land acquisition for water preserves must come first, before the land available is lost forever to development. Funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund would enable the Park Service to purchase critical lands from willing sellers, thus carrying out the first step toward restoring the viability of this wondrous ecosystem. As a result of development, the Everglades have been cut off from their natural water supplies. It is essential that new water storage be used to hydrate the withering wildlands of the Everglades, rather than to develop more agriculture and sprawling suburban communities, as some plans have proposed. In addition, Everglades restoration efforts must remove the dikes that prevent fresh water from reaching the Everglades in order to restore natural water flows. More than one million tourists from all over the world flock to Everglades National Park expecting to see the healthy, natural “river of grass,” first made famous by Douglas. But her vision of the Everglades is already almost gone. A major national restoration effort is needed to ensure this national treasure is not entirely lost for future generations. “The Everglades is a test,” said Douglas. “If we pass, we get to keep the planet.” Let’s hope we do.

1929 1930
14

▲ Federal Waterfowl Refuge System established.

1932

▲ Club urges National Park Service to investigate Alaska’s Admiralty Island as a national park.

1934

▲ Sierra Club membership reaches 2,537.

▲ Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act becomes law, establishing a mechanism by which sportsmen will financially support the expansion of the National Wildlife and Waterfowl Refuge Systems.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

THE TONGASS: AMERICA’S RAINFOREST

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t 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest in Alaska is America’s largest national forest, a jumble of mountain peaks, glaciers, free-flowing rivers, muskeg, forest and fjords.

Beautiful, lush, and remote, the Tongass is the largest remaining pristine temperate rainforest on Earth, a last remnant of an increasingly rare ecosystem. Within these wild places, centuries-old trees provide critical habitat for wolves, bald eagles, grizzly bears and salmon, which fill the streams every spawning season. The Tongass National Forest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. This magnificent national treasure was first set aside by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1907 as a Forest Reserve. Giant Sitka Spruce, hemlock and other old-growth trees create habitat for wolves, bears, marten and millions of wild salmon. Undeveloped and unroaded watersheds on the Tongass provide the richness of wildlife and beauty that is so important for maintaining the region’s fish, wildlife, subsistence, economic benefits and recreational values. The Tongass National Forest provides abundant habitat for a diversity of fish and wildlife species, many of which have declined substantially in the lower 48 states. However, logging in the Tongass primarily targets these groves of large oldgrowth trees, and over time, commercial logging and road building has taken priority over all other forest uses. Over the past five decades American taxpayers have subsidized the destruction of nearly half of the Tongass National Forest. Since 1982, taxpayers have paid over a billion dollars subsidizing the timber industry in the Tongass. Currently, no permanent protections exist for the Tongass.

1940 1946

▲ Congress establishes Kings Canyon National Park following a 5 year Sierra Club campaign.

1948

▲ Club opposes construction of Glacier View Dam, which would flood 20,000 acres of Glacier National Park. Club successfully protests hydroelectric dams proposed for Kings Canyon National Park.

1949

▲ Secretaries of Interior and Army reject Glacier View Dam after a public hearing in which the Club is represented by Olaus Murie.

▲ Club supports legislation to establish Joshua Tree National Monument.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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American Taxpayers are Paying to Clearcut the Tongass
Today, the U.S. Forest Service is continuing a pattern of waste, fraud and abuse in the Tongass. For over 50 years, private timber companies have targeted the biggest ancient trees in our country’s largest National Forest and have logged nearly half a million acres of old-growth forest and constructed over 5,000 miles of logging roads in the Tongass. One of the most disturbing things about this history of clear-cutting and reckless destruction is that it has all been subsidized by American tax dollars: ■ The US Forest Service typically loses an average of $40 million each year logging the Tongass. ■ Since 1982, American taxpayers have spent nearly $1 billion subsidizing the timber industry’s clearcutting of the Tongass National Forest. ■ The timber industry in Southeast Alaska currently employs about 200 people. The amount of annual subsidies currently enjoyed by the industry is more than $200,000 per timber job. ■ According to Forest Service estimates, 90-95 percent of all existing Tongass timber sale contracts were determined to be unprofitable due to persistently poor conditions in global timber markets.

Tongass Wildlife is an Economic Treasure
While the Tongass has many spectacular wild places, it is also a forest where people and wilderness co-exist. The two dozen diverse communities thrive within the Tongass rainforest, ranging from Juneau, the state’s capital with 29,000 residents, to small remote Native villages of less than one hundred residents. Over 80 percent of the area’s rural households, Native and non-Native, engage in some form of subsistence hunting, fishing, or food gathering in the Tongass. The abundant wildlife in Southeast Alaska cannot be overvalued for the use that local people enjoy whether it is economic, subsistence, recreation or as a part of their regional cultural identity. The Tongass National Forest also supports 80 percent of Southeast Alaska’s salmon fishing industry. Southeast Alaska’s salmon grace the tables of homes and the finest restaurants in the lower 48 states, as well as Europe. This high-quality sustainable resource is diminished with every logging road that goes into a salmon-bearing watershed. Currently, the commercial fishing fleet in Southeast Alaska employs 4,000 workers. Tourism and outdoor recreation for Alaskans and outside visitors is a substantial part of the economy. In 2006, an estimated 5,900 made their living from tourism-and the jobs and economic value of each job is growing each year. The enjoyment of outdoor recreation is a huge regional asset and a source of community pride. Between 1984 and 1994, recreational use and tourism in the Tongass more than doubled, and it is expected to double again in the first decade of the 21st century. There is no reason to subsidize the destruction of the asset that will support Southeast Alaska’s economy for years to come.

1950

▲ Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter, comprising 18 eastern states and the District of Columbia, becomes first Club chapter outside of California.

1951

▲ In a campaign viewed as a test of the integrity of national parks and a major challenge for the Sierra Club, Club decides to fight to protect Dinosaur National Monument from two dams proposed by the federal government.

1956

▲ Bureau of Reclamation drops plans to dam Dinosaur National Monument following a successful 5 year Sierra Club campaign. ▲ Bureau of Reclamation begins construction of Glen Canyon Dam.

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Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS

The rivers of the Pacific Northwest are more than just iconic regional symbols — these storied tributaries and surrounding forest lands provide critical habitat for the region’s threatened salmon, steelhead and other wildlife. Yet 20 years have passed since lands in the region were permanently protected, and in that time the region’s fish and wildlife populations have come under increased threat from development. The need to secure critical habitat couldn’t be greater. The wild salmon runs of the Pacific Northwest are one of America’s most valuable natural resources, supporting coastal commercial fishing economies, traditional Native American cultures and providing endless hours of enjoyment for recreational anglers. The salmon and steelhead of the Northwest are also key indicators of the health of our watersheds and rivers. According to the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, salmon and steelhead anglers spend over $600 million per year in the Northwest. The total economic contribution to the region in terms of hotel and motel revenue, restaurant meals, and other indirect fishing-related spending, tops $3 billion per year. Wild salmon are also critical components of the natural habitats of the region, providing food for people and wildlife, and adding key nutrients to soils and waters. Unfortunately, over a century of mismanagement of Pacific Salmon, characterized by habitat loss, led to the listing of many U.S. stocks in 1992 under the federal Endangered Species Act. With proper care and sound management based on the best available science, America’s wild salmon stocks can recover to historic populations All 35 species of threatened and endangered trout and salmon spend some portion of their lifecycle in watersheds on federal lands. In fact, 50 percent of our nation’s native fish habitat is found on these public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Park Service and other agencies. We can save wild salmon, create jobs in our fishing communities, and save tax dollars by taking the following steps. ■ First, because national forest roadless areas are critical to the successful reproduction of wild salmon, the Bush Administration should support the landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule that would maintain roadless, wild forests in perpetuity. ■ Second, the administration should reverse its directive to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency Field Offices so that the Clean Water Act applies to headwater streams, streams that are essential to salmon conservation. ■ Third, the administration should support a strong federal Endangered Species Act so that a safety net exists for wild salmon, and over 1,000 other U.S. species threatened with extinction. ■ Fourth, Federal agencies should be directed to initiate and fully fund habitat restoration programs to restore salmon and steelhead runs to streams damaged by resource extraction activities. ■ Fifth, existing dams that most impact salmon recovery or restoration must be modified or removed in some instances. The Elwha dams on the Olympic Peninsula scheduled from removal will allow the restoration of all five species of Pacific salmon to this river system. Similarly bypassing the four Lower Snake River dams would open critical spawning areas and restore a healthy migratory corridor to important watersheds in Eastern Washington, Oregon, and Central Idaho.

1960 1963

▲ Sierra Club membership reaches 16,000.

1964

▲ Club launches campaign to protect the Grand Canyon following congressional proposals to dam and flood parts of it.

▲ September 3, 1964 the Wilderness Act signed into law, creating the National Wilderness Preservation System to ensure the permanent protection of America’s wilderness legacy.

1966

▲ Club’s full-page newspaper ads urging protection of the Grand Canyon prompt Internal Revenue Service to rule that donations to the Club are no longer taxdeductible.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

SALMON

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GLOBAL WARMING: THE GREATEST THREAT TO WILDLIFE AND WILD PLACES

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he single largest threat to America’s public lands, wildlife habitat and ecosystems is global warming. In the 100 years since Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir explored Yosemite National Park, greenhouse gas pollution has caused a global temperature increase of one degree Fahrenheit-a change that is unprecedented. The world’s scientists agree: Unless we are able to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the pace of warming will only increase.
As the temperature rises, we will see increased sea levels, which will flood low-lying coastal wetlands and estuaries and reshape coastlines. We will experience more severe and frequent storm events such as hurricanes. We will suffer from persistent droughts, which make our forests more susceptible to disease and insect infestations. An increase in stands of dead trees will lead to more catastrophic wildfires. All plants and animals, no matter where they live, will be affected in some way. A changing climate has the potential to lead to the mass extinction of numerous species.

1968

▲ Club succeeds in campaigns to stop dams in the Grand Canyon . ▲ Congress establishes Redwood National Park following a successful 3 year Sierra Club campaign. ▲ Congress establishes North Cascades National Park. ▲ October 2, 1968 The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is signed into law.

1970

▲ April 22, 1970 Over 20 million people participated in the very first Earth Day. ▲ Congress enacts the National Environmental Policy Act, establishes the Environmental Protection Agency. ▲ Membership passes 114, 000 and Club chapters cover all 50 states.

1974 1975

▲ Eastern Wilderness Act passes Congress, securing 250,000 acres of Wilderness.

▲ Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area established.

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Photo courtesy of Getty Images

It’s no wonder that the polar bear is one of the world’s most fearsome predators.These powerful carnivores have been filmed killing and hauling beluga whales that weigh several tons out of the water for a meal.They prefer to live solitary lives out on the ice pack, in temperatures that reach dozens of degrees below freezing. Polar bears — which have the same body temperature as humans — can swim miles in the Arctic ocean with their heads pushing aside slushy ice, then lay for hours in the snow watching and sniffing for a seal to poke its nose into an air hole. Polar bears in the Hudson Bay region of Canada hibernate without eating for up to eight months at a time and hunt only in the winter. It’s hard to imagine that such a powerful predator is helpless at the hands of something as common as the everyday pollution that comes out of our cars and power plants. The polar bear can be found on the islands and coasts of the five nations that ring the Arctic Circle — the U.S., Russia, Canada, Denmark and Norway.The estimated worldwide polar bear population is about 20,000, but real data is evasive due to the remote expanse of the bear’s habitat.What we do know is that polar bears are highly dependent on sea ice for hunting ringed seals. Warming temperatures from climate change threaten to shrink sea ice, making it near impossible for polar bears to hunt. According to the Canadian Wildlife Services, the Hudson Bay population of polar bears is already watching its sea ice hunting

grounds melt three weeks earlier than it did in the mid-1970s. As a result, the bears have to migrate further inland before they can come back out on the ice in the winter. For a polar bear that fasts each year for six to eight months, those extra three weeks can mean the difference between starving and living. Nursing polar bear cubs have a much lower chance of making it through their first year. In fact, scientists have already found a 15 percent drop in birth rates among Hudson Bay’s polar bears. In a recent report, the U.S. Geological Survey predicts that if global warming continues unchecked, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears will disappear by mid-century, and there will not be a single polar bear left in Alaska by the year 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, set up by the United Nations to determine the impact of global warming, has found that the Arctic is likely the most vulnerable place on the planet to global warming impacts.The severity of changes to habitat and impacts on wildlife that we are seeing in the Arctic now are an early warning of the impacts that other wildlife face. Arctic and Antarctic species such as walrus, seals, and penguins may soon find themselves in the same precarious situation as the polar bear. And wildlife in all corners of the planet — deserts, mountain ranges, and coastal regions — face similar threats due to global warming.

Illegal Off-Road Vehicle Abuse
All across America, irresponsible and illegal off-road vehicle (ORV) use — driving all-terrain vehicles, four-wheelers, motorcycles, swamp buggies, jet-skis and snowmobiles off designated routes and into the backcountry — is threatening our national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands. Uncontrolled offroad vehicle use pollutes our air and water, degrades wildlife habitat, and carves countless miles of new roads into wild lands. More than twenty years ago, the White House Council on Environmental Quality had already recognized that: “ORVs have damaged every kind of ecosystem found in the United States... In some cases the wounds will heal naturally; in others they will not, at least for millennia.” Sadly, not only do these abuses continue

on our public lands today, but in many areas ORV use has increased dramatically. In addition, in recent years the machines themselves have become bigger, faster, and more destructive. As off-road vehicles leave legally designated routes, they carve new “ghost roads” through sensitive habitat like forests, streams, wetlands and deserts. Illegally created routes erode and compact soil, destroy plants, degrade wildlife habitat and water quality, and spread invasive weeds-and they encourage more incursions by other ORV users Americans treasure our public lands as places to hike, hunt, camp, fish, and explore with their families. Unfortunately, whether it’s ATVs in a desert landscape, dirt bikes carving new roads through a National Forest, a jet-ski buzzing down a quiet stretch of river, or snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Voyageurs National Park — there are fewer and fewer places where people can go to escape the roar of engines.

1978

▲ Sierra Club campaign leads to the 48,000 acre enlargement of Redwood National Park.

1980

▲ December 2, 1980 The Alaska National Interest Lands Act provided for the creation or expansion of 15 National Parks and protected over 79.5 million acres of land,fully a third of which was designated as wilderness.

1984

▲ Congress passes wilderness bills that protect 6.8 million acres in national forests and 1.4 million acres in national parks.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

THE GREAT POLAR BEAR: Powerful, fearsome...but helpless in the face of Global Warming

19

Logging and Roadbuilding
Less than 18 percent of America’s publicly-owned forest land is permanently protected as wilderness. More than half (52 percent) has already suffered from decades of timber cutting, logging-road construction and other industrial uses. The remaining 30 percent remains wild but unprotected. Every American is part owner of these federal lands. Today, the U.S. Forest Service not only allows the timber industry to use these lands for private profit, it uses taxpayer dollars to help subsidize logging and road building. Between 1992 and 1997, the agency’s timber program cost taxpayers $2 billion. The environmental losses are incalculable. Clearcutting, and the more than 440,000 miles of roads that crisscross our National Forests, have left stumps where healthy forests once thrived, along with increased soil erosion, water pollution and flooding. Runaway logging has destroyed and fragmented wildlife habitat, making it increasingly difficult for animals and plants to survive.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Oil and Gas Development
Most of our public lands are open to oil and gas leasing and the destructive activities associated with the exploration and development. Activities like pipeline, road and well pad construction destroy wildlife habitat, create air and water pollution and forever compromise the wild character of the landscape. And the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management continue to issue new oil drilling leases in the places where wildlife live and raise their young. More than 200 oil and gas wells have already scarred the Greater Yellowstone area, a stronghold for threatened grizzly bears. And the Forest Service is currently planning to lease up to 5.7 million additional acres—nearly one quarter of the entire Greater Yellowstone area. In the Beaverhead National Forest, which is part of Greater Yellowstone, more than 99 percent of the legally available lands have been opened to oil and gas development. On Greater Yellowstone’s east side, 100 percent of the legally available lands in the BLM’s Grass Creek Resource Area have been leased to oil developers. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of America’s premier wild natural treasures, is also threatened by Big Oil. As the last wild stretch of Alaska’s North Slope that is not already open to oil and gas development, the Refuge faces constant threat from special interests. In fact, many of our nation’s most fragile lands are threatened by expanded oil and gas drilling. On Colorado’s Roan Plateau, Alaska’s Teshekpuk Lake, and up and down America’s coasts, the threat of drilling looms large.

1986

▲ Club helps win congressional designation of 270,000-acre Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area and supports enactment of a 76,000-acre Great Basin National Park in Nevada. Congress passes wilderness legislation for national forest areas in Georgia, Nebraska and Tennessee.

1989

▲ Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska., spilling over 11 million gallons of crude oil. The ensuing oil slick, North America’s largest spill to date, covers over 500 miles of coastline and decimates the local ecosystem, Alaska Native communities, and local fisheries.

1990

▲ Congress passes the Arizona Wilderness Act, securing 1.1 million acres of BLM land and 1.3 million acres of national wildlife refuge lands

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Photo courtesy of Pamela A. Miller

VALLE VIDAL
acres of this special place to increased develNew Mexico’s Valle Vidal — The Valley of Life opment. Scientific research has shown that oil — is a lush mountain basin in the heart of and gas drilling like the kind that could occur the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Donated to in the Valle Vidal devastates big game such as the American people in 1982, the valley is elk and the hunting opportunities they supmanaged by the U.S. Forest Service as part of port. Drilling would also pollute the now the Carson National Forest. One of the most clean waters of this pristine valley. treasured places in the Rocky Mountains, the Photo courtesy of Gary Kreller Valle Vidal is home to abundant wildlife, Americans don’t have to choose between energy independence including mule deer, black bear, mountain lion, bald eagle, and protecting one-of-a-kind landscapes like the Valle Vidal. Rio Grande cutthroat trout and the largest herd of elk in American ingenuity has already produced new technologies, New Mexico. The combination of scenery, wildness and renewable energy sources, and efficiency tools that make new wildlife makes a visit to the Valle Vidal a highpoint in the life drilling for dirty, polluting oil and gas unnecessary. These clean of many outdoorsmen energy solutions will allow us to protect our natural treasures while keeping the lights on. By investing in our clean energy However, the oil and gas industry has pressured the U.S. Forest future, we can ensure that the Valle Vidal remains a special place Service to “fast track” opening the Valle Vidal to oil and gas drilling and the government is now considering opening 40,000 that supports fish, wildlife and outdoor recreation.

Mining
While many of the wild places of Muir and Roosevelt’s day have disappeared, one ugly relic remains. The 1872 Mining Law, designed to encourage westward expansion, still governs mining on our most valuable western lands. Under this archaic law, mining companies can stake claims anywhere on federal public land unless the land has been formally protected. Mining operations not only scar the landscape, they threaten wildlife with new roads, noisy equipment, denuded soil, and poisoned water that can be undrinkable for generations to come. And mining operations consume vast quantities of fresh water, something that is frequently in short supply in the West. There are an estimated 557,650 abandoned hardrock mining sites in the United States, 16,000 of which continue to seriously degrade water quality. Mining companies use deadly cyanide to extract gold from ore. Mining discharge has already contaminated more than 12,000 miles of America’s rivers and streams and 180,000 acres of lakes. At least 50 billion tons of untreated mining waste have been dumped on our public and private lands. Sixty of the nation’s most toxic dumps on the federal Superfund list were caused by mining operations.

And American taxpayers continue to subsidize this dirty, destructive industry. Each year, Big Industry takes billions of dollars worth of valuable minerals from the lands Americans share, without paying a penny in royalties back to the taxpayer.

1991

▲ Club helps defeat Johnson-Wallop energy bill,which would allowed drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

1994

1993

▲ After a decade-long Club campaign, Colorado Wilderness bill enacted.

▲ After a 20 year campaign by Sierra Club, Congress passes the California Desert Protection Act, securing 3.5 million acres of BLM land as Wilderness and adding over 2.8 million acres of land to the National Park System.

1996

▲ September 1996, The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is created by President Clinton. The first National Monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management encompasses 1.7 million acres.

Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

21

MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING DESTROYS APPALACHIA

One of the most devastating types of coal mining is known as mountaintop removal mining, a technique common in Appalachia. Mining companies literally blow the tops off mountains to reach thin seams of coal and then, to minimize waste disposal costs, dump millions of tons of waste rock into the valleys and streams below, causing permanent damage to the ecosystem and landscape. This destructive practice has damaged or destroyed approximately 1,200 miles of streams, disrupted drinking water supplies, flooded communities, eliminated forests, and destroyed wildlife habitat1 Coal companies have created at least 6,800 fills to hold their mining wastes, and the government estimates that if this mining continues unabated in Appalachia it will destroy 1.4 million acres of land by 2020-the date when the coal is expected to run out.2 Beyond these environmental concerns, mountaintop removal mining poses other dangers to local communities. One stunning example is Sundial, West Virginia, where Marsh Fork Elementary School lies a mere 400 yards downhill from a massive coal waste impoundment containing 2.8 billion gallons of toxic sludge.3 The state acknowledges the facility would likely cause deaths if it fails,4 and estimates students and teachers

would have only about three minutes to escape if a breach occurred.5 Alarmingly, almost a third of impoundments in the state built since 1972 have ruptured, spilling more than 170 million gallons of sludge.6 Even worse is the track record of the parent company, Massey Energy, which owns the impoundment; it is responsible for over half of the state’s spills. Impoundment dam breaks have caused widespread devastation in West Virginia before, like the Buffalo Creek disaster that killed 125 people and left thousands more homeless.7 Central Appalachia is home to some of the poorest counties in the nation.8 Interestingly, while mining production rose in West Virginia 32 percent over a ten-year period, the number of mining jobs dropped by 29 percent because mountaintop removal mining relies on machinery and explosives rather than experienced miners.9 Mountaintop removal mining has also caused the value of some homes to drop 90 percent, and is responsible for cracking the foundations and walls of nearby houses.10 This mining also jeopardizes the much needed income brought into the region from tourism. Mountaintop removal mining is simply the most destructive-and irresponsible-mining technique used today.

2000

▲ Club campaign results in President Clinton designating national monuments to protect giant sequoias threatened by logging in the Sierra Nevada, the Hanford Reach, a 51-mile stretch of the Columbia River and the only free-flowing stretch left, along with Canyon of the Ancients in Colorado, Ironwood Forest in Arizona, Cascade-Siskiyou in Oregon, Grand

Canyon-Parashant in Arizona, Agua Fria in Arizona, Coastal Rocks & Islands in California, and Pinnacles National Monument expansion in California. ▲ The National Landscape Conservation System is created to oversee and manage 15 newly designated BLM National Monuments

2001

▲ Outgoing President Clinton moves to protect 60 million acres of wild national forests, including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

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Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

Overgrazing
Livestock grazing occurs on more federal public lands than any other commercial use, affecting more than 260 million acres — an area the size of Texas and California combined. Impacts related to livestock grazing — including water diversions, wildlife killings, and mile after mile of fencing — threaten the wildlife and wild character of these public lands, including habitats important to many of our most imperiled species of plants and animals. In the United States, livestock grazing has contributed to the listing of 22 percent of federal threatened and endangered speciesalmost equal to logging (12 percent) and mining (11 percent) combined. No other human activity in the West is as responsible for the decline or loss of species as is livestock production. While most western lands are leased to private ranchers for grazing by cattle or sheep, grazing fees are so low that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does not even make enough revenue to monitor the damage, let alone restore the land. Overgrazing on federal lands leads to soil impaction and erosion, which destroys plant life. Grazing also clogs and pollutes streams and rivers. Large cattle herds compete with wildlife like elk and deer, making hunting on public lands more difficult. The BLM reports that public rangeland on the whole is in unsatisfactory condition. The damage is worst in riparian streamside areas where livestock tend to congregate. In fact, 66 percent of riparian range habitat is at risk.

Sprawl and Development
Development gobbles up one million acres of farmland a year. Runaway sprawl creates demand for expensive and destructive new roads, and water, gas and sewage lines. Each day, more and more green and open space is lost to sprawl. As this space is lost, the remaining wild areas face increased pressure. Parks and wilderness areas that were once surrounded by large areas of undeveloped land are now surrounded by highways, tract homes and strip malls. This developPhoto courtesy of Getty Images

ment disturbs the peaceful qualities of these parks and can affect the quality of a protected area’s air, water, and wildlife habitat. This development brings added pressure to open historically protected lands. In 1998, Congress removed land from the Petroglyphs National Monument near Albuquerque, N.M., in order to allow the construction of a six-lane commuter highway across public land considered sacred by Native tribes.

Air and Water Pollution
Air and water pollution continue to threaten the health of American families. Some of the problems were inherited from long-gone industries that left toxic sediments buried in river and lake bottoms. The chemical cocktails at the bottom of the Hudson River and the Great Lakes, for example, have poisoned fish and made them dangerous for human consumption.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Today, air pollution created by Midwest smokestack industries plagues national parks and forests in the East. Haze from power plants also threatens the view in places like the Grand Canyon. Airborne mercury pollutes both the air and ultimately the water where it settles, poisoning fish as well as people. Lead, cyanide and other toxins leaching from hard-rock mining operations contaminate water sources and jeopardize the health of western communities.

today

▲ Today in the United States, there are 193 million acres of National Forests (nearly a third of which remain roadless), 58 National Parks, 548 National Wildlife Refuges, and over 700 congressionally designated wilderness areas ranging in size from the over 9 million acre Wrangell-St.Elias Wilderness in Alaska to a twoacre island off the coast of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan.

▲ Today the Sierra Club is made up of over 1.3 million members and supporters, in 65 Chapters and more than 400 Groups.

23

LESS WORK — MORE PLAY: THE ECONOMICS OF PUBLIC LAND PROTECTION

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he West has forever enchanted Americans and embodied the free spirit and independence of our nation. Thanks to the vision of conservationists like Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Jimmy Carter, our most stunning landscapes have been protected as National Parks, National Forests and wildlife refuges. As part of this natural heritage, every American is part owner of 655 million acres of federal public lands and waters.

These lands also serve as rugged, living monuments to our nation’s wild history. They are a source of clean water, healthy wildlife, recreational opportunity and scientific and cultural discovery. But they also offer tremendous economic benefits. Public lands play a key role in stimulating and sustaining economic development in the West.
Photo courtesy of James Kay

■ Outdoor recreation generates $61 billion annually for the Rocky Mountain West ■ Hunting and fishing contributes over $3 billion to the economy of the Rocky Mountain West. ■ 85 percent of all hunters in the West use public lands for hunting and fishing. As our economy shifts away from traditional industries — mining, wood products, farming and ranching — the West’s economic growth is increasingly driven by new sectors like finance, technology, real estate, business services, and outdoor recreation. Our national forests and parks offer immeasurable benefits to Americans-opportunities for rest, recreation, silence and solace. Our protected public lands are among the nation’s most valuable economic assets. Increasingly, economic growth in the West stems from services to the rising number of residents who want to live, work, or retire in places surrounded by protected natural areas. Several studies have shown that scenery, recreational opportunities, and a slower pace of life are influencing decisions about where people live and do business. The role of public lands in the national economy is often overlooked. As development eats away at America’s remaining wild lands, the places where we can hunt, hike and fish become even more valuable. Threats from development, logging, oil and gas exploration, mining, and off-road vehicle abuse are steadily on the rise. If the West is to continue to thrive, the lands that feed its economy must be protected.

Sierra Club’s Cool Habitats
The world’s top scientists, acting through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have made it very clear: Global warming not only threatens the human environment, it is predicted to lead to ecosystem collapse and mass species extinction throughout the United States and around the world. In its stark 2007 assessment, IPCC predicts “the resilience of many ecosystems is likely to be exceeded this century by an unprecedented combination of climate change, associated disturbances (e.g. flooding, drought, wildfire, insects, ocean acidification) and other global change drivers (e.g. land use changes, pollution, overexploitation of resources).” Scientists predict a drastically altered American landscape. Imagine Glacier National Park with no glaciers by 2050; Joshua Tree 24 National Park with no Joshua Trees; most of the Florida Everglades lost to sea rise; Yellowstone National Park will not be able to support grizzly bears; a North Pole without ice; and the death of most coral reefs and their associated marine life worldwide. In 1950, Bob Marshall reflected on the loss of wild country to development and wrote, “our wilderness is disappearing like a snow bank on a hot July day.” He could not have imagined how true his words would be. Thanks to warming temperatures, many of our alpine wilderness areas no longer have snowbanks that could melt in the sun on a hot July day. We have an opportunity and an obligation to act to mitigate this predicted extinction crisis, to preserve wildlife habitat, and to protect America’s public lands from warming temperatures.

Second, we are working to protect our public lands and wildlife as much as possible from the impacts of rising temperatures. With climate change, ecosystems and species need to be able to shift with the weather. We must protect existing habitats, expand protections on adjacent wildlands, and connect habitats to support species migration in response to changes in climate. Some sea life might need more water to survive in a drier world; we can intervene to provide it. Some species may be able to survive by moving up in elevation or father north to a cooler habitat; we need to establish safe migration corridors so they can make that transition. Some animals are already stressed by human development such as logging, mining, overgrazing, or off-road vehicle abuse, and the added stress of climate change would push them over the edge to extinction. In these cases, we need to reduce or eliminate development so wildlife have the opportunity to adjust to stressful climate change. Where animals are losing their food sources to climbing temperatures, we may be able to identify ways to allow them to migrate to nearby areas with more secure food sources. In a few cases, the last resort may actually be assisted migration, where intervention is necessary to physically transplant an imperiled species to a new habitat that will be suitable in a new climate regime. The Sierra Club’s 115-year investment in saving national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and endangered species — an investment which has protected over 250 million acres of land and water — is now risk. The inviolate boundaries that we had drawn on maps to protect the natural world are now being penetrated by global warming and are rapidly becoming obsolete. If we act now, we can still pass on a world that contains grizzly bears, and giant sequoias. If we fail to act, we will only have ourselves to blame.

Wilderness and Global Warming
America’s wild lands are a repository of nature’s bounty. Worthy and valuable in their own right, they provide humans with a flow of free natural services that, taken as a whole, are essential to the health of our families and the survival of our species. excessive use of fossil fuels, plant and animal life will be forced to migrate in order to survive. The chances for successful migration will be greatly improved by the protection of large core areas of healthy habitat linked together by connecting migration routes. Wilderness designation is one of the best ways to protect those core areas.

Lands receiving formal wilderness designation promote the well-being of all life on The need to protect land and wildlife from our planet and serve as a scientific yardstick extractive industries has motivated many for measuring the health of natural systems. Photo courtesy of Getty Images wilderness campaigns. Wilderness designaThe independent core of the American tion also provides an effective means of preventing the release of carcharacter was profoundly influenced by our engagement with bon into the atmosphere. The more wilderness we have, the healthwilderness. Our determination and ability to set aside these wild ier the planet will be. lands from material exploitation is a measure of the strength of our society. Designated wilderness is key to our national culture. With the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, the United States Wilderness provides families with unparalleled opportunities for charted a new course in world history as the first nation to prehiking, camping, hunting and fishing. serve some of its last remaining wild places. Today, thanks to the wisdom, foresight, and perseverance of many dedicated individuIn addition to supporting our outdoor heritage, wild places are a als, current and future generations can enjoy the open spaces, wild spiritual resource for many Americans. Wilderness enables us to forests, and rugged peaks protected by this cornerstone law. be fully human — it is an economic, patriotic, and spiritual value. Wilderness has an essential part to play in the effort to protect our planet from global warming. Wilderness designation assures the ability of healthy habitat to absorb excess amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. As the planet suffers the inevitable consequences of the Wilderness nourishes the human spirit. To spend time in a wild, undeveloped land-or even just to know that such a place existssustains the sense of freedom and independence that is so important to us as Americans. 25

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

First, the Sierra Club has launched a nationwide campaign to drastically and permanently cut emissions of greenhouse gases. The number of species and ecoystems at risk is directly related to how much we increase the temperature. Much of America’s wild legacy, species, and ecosystems will be saved if the temperature increases two degrees instead of seven degrees. It matters to coastal ecosystems as well as coastal cities whether the sea level rise is one foot or seven feet. The highest point in Everglades National park is just 3 feet above sea level.

THE 52 MOST IMPORTANT PLACES TO PROTECT WITHIN THE NEXT 10 YEARS
ALABAMA

UPPER CAHABA RIVER

The Upper Cahaba is also home to endangered fish, snail and mussels. Although mussels in the river have declined in recent years, the Upper Cahaba is still one of the most biologically diverse warm freshwater bodies in the country. Naturalists find new species here each year. Yet the Upper Cahaba flows through one of the fastest growing regions in the state. Eleven wastewater treatment facilities discharge into the river. As the Birmingham suburbs surge farther outward, the river’s banks have become a prime target for development. Population pressures and suburban sprawl threaten both the quantity and quality of the Upper Cahaba. Up to this point, most of the development has cleared out forests and natural surroundings. One solution to minimizing the impacts on the Upper Cahaba is to concentrate growth in vacant and underutilized sites where some infrastructure is already in place. Sierra Club has teamed up with other local conservation groups to participate in the Upper Cahaba Watershed Study, praised as a coordinated approach to guide future development while protecting the Upper Cahaba River and its tributaries.

ALASKA

THE WESTERN ARCTIC’S TESHEKPUK LAKE
The vast network of wetlands surrounding Teshekpuk Lake has been recognized since 1977 by Congress and by three prior Administrations as a ‘special area’ for its importance to wildlife. Yet in January 2006, the Bush Administration removed the long-standing protections for the Teshekpuk Lake wetlands — opening the lake region to full-scale oil development. There is a better way. Teshekpuk Lake along with the other special areas of America’s arctic should be permanently protected for the benefit of future generations. We don’t need to sacrifice the irreplaceable wildlife habitat around Teshekpuk Lake in the pursuit of oil. American ingenuity has already produced clean energy solutions that make drilling the sensitive Teshekpuk Lake region unnecessary. Instead of ruining one of America’s last truly wild expanses for a very limited amount of oil, we should be investing more in wind and solar power, and technologies that make a car go farther on a gallon of gas.
Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

The far north of Alaska is known throughout the world for its wild landscape and abundant wildlife. Caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, and hundreds of species of birds call the area home. However, the rapid expansion of uncontrolled oil development threatens to permanently alter these unique landscapes and devastate the wildlife and native cultures that live there. Oil development also contributes to one of the biggest threats to the entire Arctic region: global warming. One particularly threatened area is the Teshekpuk Lake region of the Western Arctic. The network of coastal lagoons, deep-water lakes, wet sedge grass meadows, and river deltas around Teshekpuk Lake not only create a spectacular landscape, they are critical habitat that supports some of the Arctic’s most important birds and wildlife. The Teshekpuk region is home to a 26,000-member caribou herd, and provides habitat for up to 60,000 molting geese each summer.12 Waterfowl, like spectacled and Steller’s eider, and yellowbilled loons also rely on the reserve, as does one of the world’s largest Pacific brant populations. 26

Photo by Paul Perret

As Alabama’s longest free-flowing river, the 100-mile Upper Cahaba River provides metropolitan Birmingham and surrounding areas with places to play and water to drink. More than 500,000 people draw their drinking water from the river,11 and many of them head out to the Upper Cahaba in canoes and inner tubes or with rod and reel in hand.

SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS
The highest point in the state of Arizona, the San Francisco Peaks rise from the flat Colorado Plateau, up timbered slopes, to 12,000-foot alpine summits that hold year-round snow. The Peaks can be seen from points all across northern Arizona, and provide the scenic backdrop for the city of Flagstaff. The San Francisco Peaks are also revered as a sacred site to thirteen different Native tribes, including the Hopi and Navajo. Tribes have long fought to protect these holy lands from development and destruction. The Peaks welcome thousands of tourists and outdoor enthusiasts throughout the year. Both residents and visitors enjoy day hikes, overnight camping and hunting in the Peaks. The area provides a home for black bear, goshawks, deer and elk, prairie dogs, peregrine falcons, and the endangered Mexican spotted owl. The mountain range’s inner basin also provides the municipal water supply to the city of Flagstaff. Today, the San Francisco Peaks are threatened by a proposal to expand the Arizona Snow Bowl, a ski resort. The Snow Bowl expansion would open additional ski runs, which will mean cutting thousands of ponderosa pine and aspen trees. Worse, the proposal includes a plan to spray sewage water onto the slopes as part of winter snowmaking. The unregulated chemicals in this sewage threaten to contaminate the underground aquifers that provide a water supply to the area’s residents.

ARIZONA

For Native American tribes who view the Peaks as a sacred site to be respected in its natural condition, any kind of development of the peaks is an insult. It is especially offensive to them if human wasteeven that which has been treated-is spread across this sacred landscape. As global warming reduces snowfall in alpine areas around the world, ski areas like Snow Bowl will likely be forced to produce more artificial snow, and the pressure to spray sewage on the sacred mountain will increase. Sierra Club is working with the Navajo Nation and Hualapali tribe to stop the proposed expansion of the Arizona Snow Bowl and to prevent the use of reclaimed water to be sprayed on the ski slopes.

FOURCHE CREEK
Fourche Creek is a little-known jewel within the city limits of Little Rock, Arkansas. The Creek, which runs through central Arkansas, is one of the longest urban creeks in the United States.

ARKANSAS

It stores the majority of Little Rock’s surface water and storm water — almost one billion gallons.3 The Creek protects Little Rock from floods, reduces urban noise, and provides a haven for wildlife. There are at least ten city parks that run along the Creek, and provide an oasis for the citizens of Little Rock, and a place for canoeing, fishing, and swimming on hot summer days. However, this creek is threatened by a landfill and the industrial waste the landfill holds. Browning Ferris Industries seeks to expand an urban landfill to within 80 feet of the banks of Fourche Creek. This landfill would be located in a floodway- increasing the likelihood a large rainstorm would flush the landfill waste into the creek. Additionally, Fourche Creek is currently the site of a proposed rehabilitation program by Audubon Society-a program that will be threatened by the existence of the expanded landfill. Sierra Club is working with a coalition of neighborhood associations, environmental groups, and others to stop the landfill expansion and save Fourche Creek.

Photo by Audubon Arkansas

Photo by Sarah R. Jacobs

27

CALIFORNIA

GIANT SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT
Monument does little to prevent catastrophic wildfire. Prescribed fires and careful thinning of small trees and underbrush-especially near communities-have proven to be much more effective at preventing tragic wildfires. Sequoia National Park, adjacent to the Monument, already provides a good example of how the forest should be managed. The Park is successfully restoring its giant sequoia ecosystem through the careful use of prescribed fire and a conservative small-tree thinning. Over several decades, the Park Service has made considerable progress in restoring a natural fire cycle to the forest without logging. That same careful stewardship should be applied inside the Monument. That’s why the Sierra Club is calling for the transfer of the Monument’s management to the National Park Service.
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

The fight to protect the giant sequoias of California’s Sierra Nevada range began in the late 1800s, when Sierra Club founder John Muir sought and won the establishment of Sequoia National Park. Over one hundred years later, President Clinton established the Giant Sequoia National Monument to protect nearly half the giant sequoias left in existence. Yet these groves of towering trees are still threatened.

Thousands of hikers, campers, horseback riders, anglers, hunters, and skiers visit the Giant Sequoia National Monument each year. These magnificent forests provide essential habitat for the California spotted owl, Pacific fisher, and myriad other plants and animals. But the Forest Service has called for extensive logging of this natural cathedral, under the guise of fire protection. The Forest Service’s own scientists have found that logging large, fire-resistant trees like those in the

COLORADO

ROAN PLATEAU
Colorado’s most diverse collections of fish, wildlife and native plants. One of the purest strains of imperiled Colorado cutthroat trout can be found in the streams of the Roan Plateau, along with big game such as elk, mule deer, and black bear. But natural gas companies are pressuring the Bureau of Land Management to open the entire Roan Plateau to drilling and to allow as many as 3,000 wells on top of the Plateau. If the Bureau of Land Management agrees to lease the top of the Plateau for oil and gas development, the area could see as much as a 42% decrease in winter habitat for local mule deer population, which will lead to an estimated 33 to 50 percent decrease in its mule deer population.14 These impacts will also dramatically reduce much of the public lands with backcountry recreation opportunities. Recognizing the importance of the Roan Plateau to America’s outdoor heritage, citizens have offered a common-sense, middleground solution which would allow gas drilling around the base of the Plateau while protecting the top as a pristine hunting, fishing, and hiking site. This compromise would protect the Plateau’s rare fish and wildlife, as well as the important recreational opportunities that sustain local businesses and provide a high quality of life to area residents.

Photo by Steve Bailey

The Roan Plateau’s mix of forests, grasslands, canyons and streams make it a paradise for hikers, hunters, and anglers. Managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Plateau rises to 3,500 feet over the Colorado River valley and is home to one of

28

LAST GREEN VALLEY
Each season in the Last Green Valley offers different scenery and opportunities for recreation like hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, cross country skiing, or simply relaxing and enjoying nature. Nestled in the Last Green Valley are the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers, seven state forests, sixteen state wildlife management areas, and five state parks composed of thousands of acres and more than 130 miles of trails, including the East Coast Greenway and a National Millennium Trail. These wild places provide a home for moose, black bear, fishers and sea lamprey — animals that are returning to the Last Green Valley for the first time in generations. People benefit, too, from the Last Green Valley’s clean water and healthy air quality. Tons of carbon that would otherwise remain airborne is filtered by the abundant trees of the area. As host to two of the most scenic and productive river systems in New England, the Last Green Valley holds some of the state’s most pure water, including the largest aquifer in Connecticut. Securing the long-term health and vitality of the Last Green Valley requires eternal vigilance over land use planning and policy. Most of the corridor’s 35 towns have no professional planners, and three towns have no zoning requirements. Development pres-

CONNECTICUT

sure grows exponentially each year, especially pressure to build large-lot subdivisions and potential resorts that are not subject to local or state zoning and environmental protections. Sierra Club and other local environmental groups are working to ensure that land use decisions protect the historic and scenic nature of the area. By conducting anti-sprawl presentations, the Connecticut Sierra Club brings attention to the Last Green Valley and the threats if faces from overdevelopment.

PRIME HOOK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Each year when horseshoe crabs spawn on the beaches of Delaware Bay, the second largest concentration of migrating shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere descends on the beaches for an annual feast. The Bay hosts the world’s largest population of spawning horseshoe crabs, and their eggs provide necessary sus-

DELAWARE

tenance for the thousands of birds like red knots, sanderlings and ruddy turnstones as they move from their winter grounds in South America to their breeding grounds in the sub-arctic. Horseshoe crabs are also an important food source for many species of fish and the loggerhead sea turtle. The Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 8,800 acres of freshwater wetlands and salt marshes and open water in the Delaware Bay Estuary. The Refuge is a stopover spot for snow geese and ducks and is home to the endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrel and the Virginia White Tail Deer. It also provides a safe haven for nesting bald eagles and migrating peregrine falcons. However, the Refuge protects only a tiny part of the important crab habitat and wildlife feeding grounds that once spanned much of Delaware’s lower coastline. Sierra Club and other groups are working to protect the beachfront immediately adjacent to the refuge on Delaware Bay. Protection of this beachfront would assure spawning habitat for the horseshoe crab, and would safeguard the bald eagles, falcons, geese and deer that depend on the area for survival.

Photo by Dave Muhly

Photo by G. Leslie Sweetnam

29

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ANACOSTIA RIVER

The National Park Service manages Anacostia Park, which runs along the eastern side of the river. The park is largely separated from neighboring communities by the presence of train tracks and a major freeway that runs most of its length. On its western edge, the Navy Yard, the Southeast Federal Center, Fort McNair and other federal properties also block public access to the riverfront Older community members remember swimming and fishing in the Anacostia, but today, due to pollution largely from upstream sources in Maryland, heavy metal contamination, and a number of combined sewage overflow outfalls, such activities are things of the past. With each rainfall of an inch or more, raw sewage enters the river along with trash and a variety of toxic chemicals. This creates a silty, polluted soup where fish are frequently caught bearing large tumors making them unfit to eat and definitely not a place for anyone to swim. The Anacostia, however, remains a focal point for the neighborhoods nearby and there is a growing interest in its restoration. A clean Anacostia would encourage greater recreational use and contribute to the economic growth of those already developed areas that border the river and park. Sierra Club, in collaboration with groups such as the Watts Branch Community Alliance, the Penn-Branch Citizens and Civic Association, the Historic Anacostia Block Association, Casey Trees Endowment, and the Earth Conservation Corps is working to restore the waters, fish and wildlife of the Anacostia River. Strategies include public education on the needs of the watershed, wetland restoration; storm water retention projects, trash and debris removal, tree plantings and the support of regional programs and initiatives to restore the river.

FLORIDA

WESTERN EVERGLADES
bear, the American alligator and the swallow-tailed kite. It is also the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles exist side by side. Nature-based tourism abounds in this haven for birdwatching, kayaking and canoeing. The Everglades also serve as an important natural flood control system, vital in this hurricaneprone corner of the world. Yet development is encroaching on the edges of the western Everglades. Years of unchecked growth have squeezed the Everglades and the wildlife that depend on them. Rampant development is taking over critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther: There are only 100 panthers left in the wild.

Photo by South Florida Water Management District

Florida’s Everglades, dubbed the great “River of Grass” by conservationist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, have been a fragile refuge amidst the torrential sea of change in southern Florida. The western chunk of the Everglades includes important wildlife refuges like Big Cypress National Preserve, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. This rich mix of wetlands, pine forests, cypress stands, hardwood hammocks and vast coastal forests supports a colorful mosaic of life, including the endangered Florida panther, the Florida black 30

Massive development proposals for new golf courses and hundreds of thousands of new homes stretch from Naples to Charlotte Harbor in areas critical for the panther’s survival. Additionally, thousands of acres of panther habitat are threatened by proposals to strip mine for phosphate. To protect this valuable and rapidly changing region, and the panthers and black bears that rely on it, we need better enforcement of existing environmental laws. The Sierra Club is working to preserve remaining natural areas and farmland in southwest Florida and to create a large, contiguous wildlife corridor that would adequately protect Florida Panthers and other endangered species.

Photo by Jim Dougherty

Considered one of America’s most endangered rivers, the Anacostia is Washington, D.C.’s “forgotten river.” While very important to commerce and the military in the early days of Washington’s development, the river has since shouldered much of the burden of overdevelopment.

COASTAL WETLANDS
While much of the East Coast’s marshes have already disappeared, Georgia’s 400,000 acres of coastal marshlands still provide vital habitat along the Atlantic coast. Georgia’s coast includes 1,000 acres of rare tidal freshwater wetlands and an estimated 1,200 “marsh hammocks”small upland areas that are surrounded by tidal waters and marshes. These wetlands offer rare, unfragmented habitat to wildlife like wood storks and bald eagles along the Atlantic coast. Wildlife diversity in the marshes nearly rivals that of tropical rainforests. The wetlands are home to deer, turkey, raccoon, opossum, snake, fish, crab and shrimp, and many other types of plants and birds. The marshlands also support commercial seafood and eco-tourism businesses. Coastal tourism is the largest industry in Georgia, and nature-based activities around coastal marshlands drive it.

GEORGIA

But today, Georgia’s coast faces development pressure and rapid growth. The state has allowed unchecked development to destroy many of these critical coastal marshes. Sierra Club is working to get the State of Georgia to consistently enforce the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act, in order to save these important wetlands from careless construction of roads, docks, and shopping malls.

MAHA’ULEPU
Hawaii’s sandy shores attract millions of tourists each year. One of the most spectacular of all the beaches is Maha’ulepu, a beautiful and quiet retreat where local residents and visitors alike find solace, serenity, and sweeping views. Maha’ulepu, long used by residents for subsistence fishing, diving, and hunting, also provides a recreational haven for hiking, beach combing, family picnics, camping, horseback riding, windsurfing, and kite sailing. The beach has been described as a “living museum,” because it holds over 5 million years of Kauai’s natural and human history, including fossil remains and archaeological sites. Native plants and endangered animals, including reclusive cavedwelling species and the Nene goose, Hawaii’s state bird, make Maha’ulepu their home. The sparkling waters off the shore of Maha’ulepu are also home to endangered humpback whales, green sea turtles and Hawaiian monk seals. This jewel is the last accessible undeveloped coastal area on Kaua’i’s south shore, but the future of Maha’ulepu is uncertain. A land owner has proposed developing an exclusive hotel and golf resort in the area. Local residents fear that development of this land would irrevocably alter the natural experience of Maha`ulepu.

HAWAII

The Sierra Club is working to keep Maha’ulepu wild and protect its wildlife in order to provide critical open space between two rapidly urbanizing areas, and in order to preserve the Hawaiian culture and values the beach sustains.

Photo by Eric Wesselman

Photo by Jim Darby

31

IDAHO

THE OWYHEE CANYONLANDS
Located close to the rapidly expanding city of Boise, the Owyhee country is a popular recreation spot for hikers, mountain bikers, campers, hunters and anglers. The Owyhee River and nearby Bruneau River are recognized for their excellent whitewater kayaking and rafting. The remote and rugged Owyhee region is one of the few places left in the disappearing American West where one can still experience the stark, quiet beauty of the high desert. But today the Owyhee’s wild rivers and mountains face threats from off-road vehicle abuse, mining, and overgrazing. The Bush administration has aggressively pursued policies that remove wilderness study area protections for these spectacular desert regions. The result has been unchecked off-road vehicle abuse that has scarred the landscape. Without a means to stop threats like the dirt bike incursion and creation of new, user-created roads, the Owyhee could lose its wild character forever. The Sierra Club has worked actively for over twenty-five years to permanently protect the Owyhee region. Together with local ranchers, sportsmen, Owyhee County commissioners, a coalition of conservationists and congressional staff, we are working on a plan that would permanently protect the wild character of the Owyhee country for future generations.

Photo by John McCarthy

The Owyhee Canyonlands, located in the southwest corner of Idaho and extending into Oregon and Nevada, is one of our nation’s largest expanses of wild, undeveloped land. The diverse landscape of the Owyhee region consists of a mazelike system of steep, colorful river canyons slicing through a broad sagebrush sea. The juniper-covered mountains provide a home to California bighorn sheep, redband trout, sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, elk, deer, raptors and songbirds.

ILLINOIS

SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST

Walking through the Shawnee National Forest, it’s hard to believe you’re in Illinois or even in the Midwest. The state’s only National Forest is an 8-hour drive from Chicago, and its rare rock formations and bluffs set it apart from the rest of the characteristically flat Midwest. The Shawnee rests between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and holds early Native American archaeological sites, some of the most pristine streams in the state, and important wildlife habitat. The forest protects hundreds of threatened and endangered plants and animals, including the Whorled Pogonia Orchid, the Indiana Bat and Scarlet Tanager, a striking red bird. The Shawnee offers endless opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, hunting, camping, and bird watching. The forest boasts 135 miles of hiking trails, including the River to River Trail, the American Discovery Trail, and Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The Shawnee provides the bulk of the state’s pre-European historic landscape. Yet it is under threat on many fronts. Currently, off-road vehicle (ORV) use is illegal and slated to remain illegal. But the Forest Service has been unable to stop rampant illegal offroad vehicle abuse and high-impact illegal outfitting in the forest. And the latest plan for the Shawnee calls for opening 1,000 acres each year to commercial logging over the next decade.15 32
Photo by Douglas Chien

Seven wilderness areas in the forest have already earned the highest level of protection for national forests, and three more of the forest’s most rugged corners have been identified for wilderness protection. But without permanent protection in these areas, the Shawnee is in jeopardy of losing its wild character. The Sierra Club is fighting for expanded wilderness protection in the Shawnee, and is working to get more on-the-ground law enforcement to prevent off-road abuse and illegal outfitting in this living monument to the history of the West.

LOST RIVER KARST SYSTEM

INDIANA

Photo by Bowden Quinn

The Lost River has been called an “underground Grand Canyon” and “three-dimensional river delta.” Without warning, the caves can quickly fill up with water. People are discouraged from going into the caves because they are too fragile and too dangerous. The caves are home to at least 24 extraordinary creatures- nineteen of which are endangered or rare, and five, including the northern cavefish, which can be found only in this region. This system ranks among the top 10 caves in the country for plant and wildlife richness. Relatively little is known about subterranean systems, like the Karst. In order to preserve the cave’s opportunities for research and discovery, it must be carefully protected. But a plan to allow a 31 percent increase in logging in the nearby Hoosier National Forest jeopardizes the cave system and the Lost River with new roads and construction. Septic tanks associated with the development of new homes in the area threaten to disrupt the delicate river system. In order to save this rare and mysterious wonder for future generations, the Sierra Club is working to designate the Lost River Karst system as a Wild and Scenic River, and to create a buffer zone around to protect the fragile habitat of the caves.

One of the most complex hydrological systems in the world winds through southern Indiana. The Lost River is dotted with deep springs, caves and sinkholes. Except for the period following heavy rains, a 22-mile section in the middle of the river is dry, while the water continues to flow underground, coming back to the surface in impressive springs called “rises.” The water flows underground at depths of up to 150 feet.

THE LOESS HILLS
Nestled near the Missouri River, the Loess Hills are one small vestige of the vast prairie that once blanketed Iowa. The rare landscape-a combination of steep peaks and prairie-is not found anywhere else in the United States. In fact, the National Park Service has designated 12 Special Landscape Areas within the Hills’ 660,000 acres. The connected ridges of the area provide an important wildlife corridor. Animals that find refuge in the Hills include wild turkeys, bobwhites, foxes, mink, and badgers. Herons, ducks, hawks, and songbirds also nest in the area. Plains pocket mice, ornate box turtles, Great Plains skinks, and rare prairie rattlesnakes burrow in the Hills. But these untouched prairies will likely disappear within the next fifteen years if we don’t protect them now. Without a comprehensive plan and consistent budget for resource protection, The Loess Hills will fall victim to mining, development, off-road vehicle abuse, invasive species, and wind

IOWA

and water erosion. Sedimentation, pesticide, and fertilizer runoff have already affected streams in the area. The Sierra Club and local allies are working to save this remnant of the vast prairie that once spanned the nation’s heartland by securing conservation easements to protect 20,000 acres by 2020, and ensuring that off-road vehicle bans are enforced.

Photo by Jim Redmond

33

KANSAS

HASKELL BAKER WETLANDS
lesson in the history of the West. The wetlands were once drained to grow food for conscripted Native American children, who were taught to farm here as part of their forced assimilation. When the farming project failed, the land was abandoned and slowly reverted back to wetlands. It was later deeded to the current steward, Baker University. The wetlands, once witness to a dark period in American history, now provide a sacred place to many tribes and local HINU students who come to the area to pray and find comfort. Haskell Baker Wetlands is the largest and closest wild place to the city of Lawrence. Very few other cities in Kansas have a wilderness area accessible so close to home. The only other open space in the county is farmland, quickly falling under the bulldozers of sprawl. This creeping wave of development is now rolling towards the Haskell Baker Wetlands with the proposed construction of the eastern leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway — an eight-lane highway. If the highway is built, the wetlands, along with their wildlife and historic and sacred sites will be lost.

The Haskell Baker Wetlands sit between Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) and the Wakarusa River, just south of Lawrence, Kansas. The wetlands provide 573 acres of habitat for 219 types of birds, including the marsh wren and the pileated woodpecker. An additional 35 types of frogs and reptiles, 13 kinds of fish, 22 species of mammals and 333 different plants make Photo by Kansas Sierra Club their home in the wetlands. One of the area’s plants, the biden, provides a critical source of food for the Monarch butterfly. In addition to providing a home to an astonishing number of plants and animals, the Haskell Baker Wetlands also offer a profound

KENTUCKY

MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK

The dark caverns of Mammoth Cave National Park hold many treasures, from pre-historic cave drawings to Native American burial sites. The Park is one of most visited sites in the National Park System. Millions of people come each year, not just for the caves, but also for hiking, canoeing, and the wide variety of plant and animal life that can be found in the caves. Along with tourism, the cave system provides educational opportunities for the Western Kentucky University students, as well as scientists from all over world. Unfortunately, Mammoth Cave National Park is under siege from a variety of developments. A proposed coal-fired power plant 50 miles upwind is expected to release pollution that will hurt the cave’s wildlife.. Air pollution and visibility are already a problem for the caves. This power plant would only exacerbate this problem. In addition, an industrial development known as Transpark is under construction just six miles from the Park, with even more development proposed. Unfortunately, the developers are using public money to advance the project and have ignored federal laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, which would protect the area. Sierra Club is part of a group of local residents, scientists, environmentalists and cave explorers that is working to save the mysterious and beautiful Mammoth Caves. 34

Photo by Gary Berdeaux

COASTAL CYPRESS FORESTS
The cypress forests of Louisiana’s coasts are part of the region’s bayou and are key to the region’s vibrant Cajun heritage. Many of the trees in these towering hardwood forests and primeval cypress swamps date back to the Louisiana Purchase. Some are as much as one thousand years old. The cypress forests serve as the resting point for neotropical migratory birds traveling to and from South America, and were once home to the rare Ivory-billed woodpecker. The forests are also important for holding together freshwater coastal wetlands, preventing erosion, and acting as a filter for clean water. They also act as a buffer that protects neighboring communities from the devastation of hurricanes like Katrinastorms that are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity with global warming. Louisiana lays claim to about 40 percent of coastal wetlands in the Lower 48, yet the wetlands are being destroyed at an alarming rate. For the past several decades, Louisiana has lost as much as 40 square

LOUISIANA

miles of marsh each year, representing 80 percent of the nation’s annual coastal wetland loss. The most immediate threat to Louisiana’s coastal cypress forests is the backyard garden. Commercial interests are liquidating the state’s cypress forests for garden mulch. Many cypress forests will not regenerate. Once they are logged, they are lost. In addition to ruining a Louisiana landmark and wiping out prime wildlife habitat, ripping apart cypress groves could push Louisiana’s shoreline further inland and remove important storm buffers. We already have significant state and federal dollars invested in restoring Louisiana’s cypress forests. We need to act quickly to prevent more destruction and mitigate the need for future restoration. Sierra Club is working to educate citizens about alternative garden mulches such as pine straw, pine bark or composted yard waste. The Club is also pushing for permanent protection of Louisiana’s remaining coastal cypress forests.

Photo by Harvey Stern

100 MILE WILDERNESS
The spectacular 100 Mile Wilderness of the Maine Woods represents the longest stretch of uninterrupted wilderness along the entire Appalachian Trail. Located in northern Maine, the 100 Mile Wilderness is at the heart of the 10 million acre Maine Woods - the largest contiguous forest land east of the Mississippi. This narrow, protected corridor is rich in Maine’s wilderness heritage — providing opportunities for hiking, cross-country skiing, remote fishing, canoeing, and kayaking. Spectacular natural wonders such as Gulf Hagas, the Cloud Forest and the Debsconeags Lakes offer unparalleled vistas, wild forests and waterways. The area also hosts several 100-plus year-old traditional wilderness sporting camps where sportsmen fly fish for Maine brook trout and watch for loons, bald eagles, moose, bear, lynx and pine marten. But despite its name, this ecologically rich area is by no means a preserved Wilderness. The vast majority of the 100 Mile Wilderness is privately owned by paper companies who have already scarred the forest with clearcuts and road building — in some places as close as 100 feet from the Appalachian Trail. Private landowner Plum Creek recently announced the biggest development plan in Maine’s history in and around the 100 Mile Wilderness and the Moosehead Lake region. The plan calls for nearly 1,000 new homes on pristine ponds, two resorts, sporting

MAINE

camps, an RV park, a golf course and a 30-year timber harvest plan for 400,000 acres of forest. Sierra Club has made protection of the 100 Mile Wilderness and the Moosehead Lake region a top priority. If true wilderness protection isn’t soon secured for the 100 Mile Wilderness it may be lost forever. The Sierra Club of Maine is actively working with sportsmen, public officials, and local residents to acquire key land parcels and protect a vital stretch of the Appalachian Trail and Maine’s wilderness heritage for future generations. 35

Photo by Leanne Krudner

MARYLAND

MATTAWOMAN CREEK
Mattawoman Creek flows through Maryland’s inner coastal plain for twenty miles before forming a seven-mile tidal-freshwater estuary to the Potomac River, located just a few miles downstream from George Washington’s Mt. Vernon. Tidal freshwater is an uncommon habitat and Mattawoman’s freshwater generates forty times more migratory fish than other Chesapeake Bay tributaries. And Mattawoman is the epicenter of the Potomac’s nationally renowned recreational Largemouth Bass fishery. Mattawoman is also known for its vast array of wildlife and plant species, including Maryland’s largest Wood Duck population and one of the state’s few American Lotus sites. Despite its recognized value, almost the entire Mattawoman Creek watershed is slated for development. New multilane highways are proposed through its watershed, which would pave the way for converting protective forests to even more sprawl development. The Sierra Club is partnering with watershed and fishing organizations to protect Mattawoman Creek from immediate and longterm threats to ensure its health for future generations.

As the Chesapeake Bay faces increasing challenges to its water quality, wildlife, and shores, one of its tributaries, Mattawoman Creek, still stands out as a pristine waterway. Maryland state biologists have termed Mattawoman Creek “the best, most productive tributary to the Bay.” Yet its future is in serious jeopardy because of proposed new roads and unchecked sprawl.

MASSACHUSETTS

THE MIDDLESEX FELLS RESERVATION

Today, Middlesex Fells is an important open space offering people in Boston and adjacent communities a respite from the hustle and bustle of urban life. A state park since 1894, the Middlesex Fells offers desirable terrain for hikers, horseback riders, rock climbers, cross-country skiers and picnickers as well as natural and cultural history buffs. Encroaching development is putting this important and historic community resource at risk from increased traffic, air pollution and potential harm to wildlife habitat. Today, a nearly one million square-foot residential and commercial office complex is proposed for an in-holding in the heart of the Middlesex Fells conservation land on a former hospital site. The scenic and historic Parkways may eventually require the widening and expansion of parkways into 36

highways to accommodate an additional estimated 7,000 vehicles per day to the area — a 400 percent increase over present traffic. Sierra Club is working with our neighbors in a campaign to secure permanent conservation protections for the Middlesex Fells, part of our nation’s oldest metropolitan park system. By preserving open space and promoting less destructive development we would limit traffic, and protect the historic Reservation’s incredibly diverse collection of plants and wildlife, including more than 600 different species.

Photo by Mike Ryan

In the 18th century, Massachusetts’ Middlesex Fells Reservation was once prized for logging, granite quarrying, and ice production, as well as for water power for nearby mills. However, in the late 1800’s a group of citizens, alarmed by the environmental impacts resulting from the growing urban areas and industrialization, came together to protect the Fells. Their efforts came to be known as the Middlesex Fells Movement and provided the spark which led to the protection of the Reservation, as well as the eventual creation of the metropolitan park system, the first such system in the nation and in the world.

SALMON TROUT RIVER

MICHIGAN

trout on the south shore of Lake Superior, the Salmon Trout is the wildest part of Michigan. But the Salmon Trout River is in jeopardy. The Kennecott Minerals Corporation wants to sink an underground mine at the headwaters of the river. The company has already acquired almost 500,000 acres of mineral rights in the Upper Peninsula and has identified an ore body thought to contain copper, nickel, platinum and other metallic minerals. The ore is expected to create sulfuric acid when exposed to air or water, which is inevitable once mining begins. In order to ship the ore out, the company will have to build many new roads in the area. One road culvert built by Kennecott has already blown out, dumping more than 90 tons of dirt and sediment into this sparkling-clean river. The Salmon Trout River rises on the Yellow Dog Plains in the wildest part of Michigan and runs almost due north into Lake Superior. The Salmon Trout, possibly the purest waterway in the United States, runs into the cleanest of the five Great Lakes. As home to the last breeding population of the rare Coaster brook Hundreds of citizens from all walks of life have turned out for meetings to protest the construction of this polluting mine. Sierra Club is leading the fight to protect the waters of the Salmon Trout River and Lake Superior by pushing for legislation and regulations that will prevent mining contamination, and by vigilantly monitoring the river’s water quality.

Photo by John Rebers

BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS
A sojourn to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area has proved to be an unforgettable experience for generations of Minnesotans and visitors from around the world. The pine and mixed hardwood forests of northern Minnesota mingle with the hundreds of lakes, ponds and streams that give the area its appeal and its famous name. The Boundary Waters is now the most visited Wilderness area in the United States. Local towns depend on the dollars spent by the thousands of people who visit each year for canoeing, hiking, wildlife viewing and fishing. The Boundary Waters’ magnificent wild character was recognized for protection in the original Wilderness Act of 1964.

MINNESOTA

The U.S. Forest Service has plans to allow clearcut logging on over 10,000 acres of the Superior National Forest each year - some of it immediately adjacent to the Boundary Waters wilderness. The Forest Service logging program is now targeting an area around the Echo Trail. This single logging project will clearcut

twenty-five square miles of forests and scar up to eight separate roadless areas, degrading one-third of Minnesota’s last wild, unprotected woods. 37

Photo by Joshua Davis

But today, many of the area’s wild and roadless forests are still without protection. These forests serve as a buffer that helps protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness from the impacts of off-road vehicles and logging. They also provide backcountry recreation and wilderness opportunities for a growing and increasingly active population.

MISSISSIPPI

GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE
Mississippi’s coastal economy. And oil and gas development only contributes to global warming pollution, which stands to increase hurricanes and swallow wetlands around the world. Sierra Club is working to protect the Gulf Islands National Seashore through a federal buyout of the mineral rights under the park, currently owned by the State of Mississippi.

Stretching along the Gulf Coast, Gulf Islands National Seashore — a water wilderness — is the number one tourist attraction in Mississippi. It has been described as “the crown jewel of Mississippi,” and for good reason. The scenic offshore barrier islands of Horn, Petit Bois, and Ship and Cat are rare national treasures. Here the warm gulf waters lap onto white beaches, coastal marshes, bayou, and live oak and magnolia forests. The Gulf Islands are a prime spot for swimming, kayaking and canoeing. They are also a magnet for birdwatchers, who can observe brown pelicans, great blue herons, and osprey. A variety of sea life—including loggerhead turtles, blue crabs and fiddler crabs, red drum fish, and flounder-call the Gulf Islands home. The islands serve another important need: They act as a storm buffer, protecting the coast from violent storms and hurricanes. But now this National Seashore is threatened by proposed oil and gas development. Recent federal legislation requires the Park Service to ignore the usual environmental rules governing oil and gas exploration in National Parks and leaves Gulf Islands vulnerable. Any offshore oil and gas exploration would harm barrier islands, tourism and the seafood industry, all of which would have ramifications for

MISSOURI

MINGO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
million acres that were drained a century ago. Mingo offers a little piece of paradise for anglers, bird watchers and waterfowl hunters. Each year, some 95 different species of migratory birds find their way to the Mingo’s marshes and forests. In winter, 150,000 ducks, 75,000 geese and 250 other types of birds make their home here. But today, the Mingo bird refuge faces a serious threat. Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal company, wants to build a massive dirty coal plant upwind of the Mingo Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that pollution from the proposed plant’s 700-foot smokestack would disrupt air quality and visibility in the refuge. The pollution from a coal plant would not only disturb this important bird refuge, it would impact the hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing the Mingo is famous for.

Photo by Jill Miller

The migration of ducks and geese along the Mississippi River Flyway is one of North America’s premiere wildlife spectacles. One of the critical stopover points for birds making this annual trek from north to south and back again is Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Southeastern Missouri. Spanning 21,676 acres, this cypress and hardwood bottomland swamp in the Missouri boot heel is all that remains of more than 2.5

At a time when the whole world is turning to new, clean energy solutions in an effort to fight global warming, it makes no sense to build a dirty, inefficient coal plant in one of the nation’s most important wildlife refuges. The Sierra Club and coalition partners across three states are fighting Peabody’s air pollution permit, and asking decision makers to support clean, renewable energy sources instead of dirty, outdated coal.

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Photo by Ship Island Excursions

GREAT BURN WILD FOREST
Old growth forests and sparkling streams lead to towering granite peaks in Montana’s Great Burn Roadless Area. This 100,000-acre wild forest was named after the Great Fire of 1910, and still holds enchanted pockets of ancient western red cedar that were spared by the fire. The forest also provides a home to some of North America’s most revered wildlife. Not only do elk and moose thrive in the Great Burn, the more elusive wolverine, lynx and wolf can be found among the cedars. In 1805-1806, the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery spent nearly a month in and along the Bitterroot Range, near what we now call the Great Burn. Well-loved and very popular with Montanans, and especially the people of nearby Missoula, the Great Burn provides

MONTANA

world-class recreational opportunities including backpacking, wildlife watching and hunting. The clear streams nurtured by this wild forest offer outstanding fishing and habitat for the threatened bull trout and West Slope cutthroat trout. This expansive wild forest was previously protected under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, adopted with broad public support in Montana and across the West. However, the Bush administration repealed the Roadless Rule in May of 2005, leaving the Great Burn in administrative limbo. If future generations are to enjoy the Great Burn’s wildlife, history, and recreational opportunities, it must be permanently protected with a wilderness designation.

Photo by Bob Clark

SAND HILLS
The great dunes of Nebraska’s Sand Hills cover nearly one-quarter of the state’s area. The rolling mounds, gentle ripple patterns, and giant dunes of the Sand Hills stretch across 12 million acres-the largest stretch of dunes in the United States. Some of the dunes span 20 miles and reach towering heights of up to 400 feet.

NEBRASKA

Hundreds of bird species thrive on the area’s dunes and sandy soils. The sandhill crane relies on the Hills as part of its migratory route. Waterfowl including swans, ducks, grebes, sandpipers, and terns share the area with river otters, bats, elk, deer, and pronghorn. Half of the world population of the threatened Blanding’s turtle resides here.

The Sand Hills are one of America’s truly rare natural areas — so wild that even today visitors don’t hesitate to drink directly from its springs. The Sierra Club is fighting development, wetlands draining, and plans to export and sell the Sand Hills’ spring water, in order to protect this unparalleled landscape.

Photo by Buffalo Bruce

But the area is home to much more than sand. Often described as a “sea of grass” because of its abundant grass anchors, the Sand Hills also include wetlands, forest and prairie.

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NEVADA

SLOAN CANYON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA

Today, it still serves as a sacred spiritual site for Southwest tribes. The Canyon provides a home to bighorn sheep, gila monsters, chuckwallas and red tailed hawks, and its extensive hiking and recreation opportunities offer respite from the lights and buildings of the nearby Las Vegas Valley. But the canyon faces a number of threats. Vandalism and theft of valuable petroglyphs persists. And while there is currently a ban on offroad vehicle use in the delicate area, the lack of enforcement resources has allowed for abuse. But the largest threat by far is a proposed heliport to be constructed and operated adjacent to the Canyon. Clark County, Nevada wants to build a heliport for tourist flights to the Hualapi Indian Reservation near the Grand Canyon in Arizona. If the heliport is approved, ninety round trip flights per day will be routed directly

over the Canyon at a height of only 500 to 1,000 feet — substantially lower than the current 3,500 foot height of flights over residential areas. The noise associated with these low level fights will harass wildlife and shatter the solitude of this sacred Native American site. The Southern Nevada Group of the Sierra Club, Friends of Sloan Canyon, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, and other conservation groups have been actively fighting this heliport, urging County Commissioners to consider alternate locations for the heliport or to reroute the flights to travel south of the Canyon, over an existing power corridor.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

MOUNT SUNAPEE HIGHLANDS
More developed portions of the Highlands provide opportunities for family picnicking and camping, and serve as a source of timber for valueadded hardwood products, especially furniture, which means jobs for surrounding rural communities. But the Mount Sunapee Highlands, and the people and wildlife that depend on them, face several threats. A local ski resort is pushing to expand into the few remaining pockets of ancient forest in the area. This kind of expansion would replace wild forests with vacation home developments. In addition, the Highlands’ roadless core faces increasing pressure to open to offroad vehicles, which would destroy the wild character of the area. Sierra Club has partnered with local community organizations to safeguard the wild forests of the Mount Sunapee Highlands and to protect them from ski area expansion, runaway development, and offroad vehicle abuse.

Photo by Bea Jillette

The Mount Sunapee Highlands, the largest expanse of unbroken forest in southern New Hampshire, are a source of clean water, outdoor recreation and jobs in the heavily developed northeast. The headwaters of the Highlands provide drinking water to more than 20 communities. The 30,000 acres of roadless forest in the area attract backcountry hikers, skiers and hunters, as well as moose, black bear, bobcats and other wildlife. Mount Sunapee State Park, first set aside in the early 1900s, contains the largest patches of ancient forest in New Hampshire outside of the White Mountains.

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Photo by Jessica Hodge

Just south of the glittering lights of Las Vegas, the Mojave Desert’s Sloan Canyon holds one of the most important petroglyph sites in North America. The Canyon’s hidden gallery features three hundred rock art panels displaying nearly 1,700 different Native American design elements. Because of the quality of its petroglyphs, the canyon-sometimes referred to as the Sistine Chapel of Native Art-was protected in 2002 as a National Conservation Area.

DELAWARE BAYSHORE
Each year, thousands of birds migrate from North America to South America and back, stopping in the beaches, coves and inlets of southern New Jersey’s Delaware Bay. Birds like the red knot, the sanderling, and the ruddy turnstone are drawn to the Bay to feast on its abundant horseshoe crab eggs. The undeveloped beaches also provide a safe stopover as the animals make their long journey. The thousands of bird watchers who flock to the area each year help to fuel the region’s economy, as do visiting waterfowl hunters, commercial and recreational fishermen, kayakers, and other boaters who enjoy its pristine streams. But the future of the Delaware Bay is uncertain. Unmanaged offroad vehicle use threatens the integrity of the region’s beaches and the wildlife habitat they provide. Each year, sprawl development creeps further and further into fragile areas. Meanwhile, discharges from nearby nuclear power plants kill millions of the Bay’s fish each day.

NEW JERSEY

Sierra Club is working to maintain the health of the Delaware Bay by supporting regional planning and acquisition of open space, as well as enhancing water quality protection, and pushing for the installation of cooling towers at nuclear plants in order to reduce impacts on fish.

OTERO MESA
Photo by Stephen Capra, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

NEW MEXICO

Otero Mesa acts as a habitat to numerous species of wildlife as well as a frequented recreation spot for area residents and tourists; in addition, this region is home to a number of independent cattle ranches, some of which have been in the hands of the same families for five generations. Otero Mesa is also home to a large freshwater aquifer, which according to conservative estimates holds enough water to serve a community of over 500,000 people for over fifty years. Water, not oil, is really New Mexico’s most valuable resource: approximately 90 percent of the state’s population depends on groundwater for drinking water. In spite of widespread local opposition from sportsmen, ranchers and conservationists, the federal Bureau of Land Management plans to open more than 90 percent of the public lands between El Paso, TX and Carlsbad, NM to virtually unchecked oil and gas development. Composed of mountain ranges, broad basins, and volcanic landforms, the Otero Mesa also contains one of the largest stretches of rare Chihuahuan Desert grassland and is host to one of the last genetically pure herds of pronghorn antelope. It used to be a quiet wilderness, but when natural gas was discovered deep in the earth in 1998, a battle began over protections for this treasured area. The Sierra Club and a coalition of partners have joined together to protect the region from the destructive impacts of drilling. Otero Mesa is a unique resource which must be preserved for future generations.

Photo by Gina Ewald

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NEW YORK

PINE BUSH PRESERVE
In addition to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve trail system is open to the public for a wide variety of recreational uses including hiking, jogging, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, and more. Unfortunately, less than 10% of the original Albany Pine Bush ecosystem still survives today. Originally encompassing over 58,800 acres, today there are only 5,800 acres remaining.16

Picture a wide open landscape filled with dense shrubs, scattered pitch pines, openings of prairie grass and wildflowers, all rooted in sweeping sand dunes. This is the Pine Bush Preserve. The Pine Bush is known as an inland pine barrens ecosystem. One of the largest of only about 20 other inland pine barrens worldwide, the Pine Bush is globally rare. The Pine Bush is important because of its outstanding biological significance. Characterized by well-drained sandy soils and open areas, it hosts a variety of rare plant and animal species. For example, its open areas present ideal conditions for wild blue lupine, a beautiful wildflower which is critical to the survival of the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly. The scrub oaks of the Pine Bush are also important in the survival of another rare insect called the Inland barrens buckmoth. Aside from these two insects, the Pine Bush supports many other species of wildlife including the eastern hognose snake and spadefoot toad.
Photo by Sierra Club

This remaining area is divided by interstate highways, shopping malls, and industrial parks, and is threatened by further habitat loss. Most recently, the City of Albany has proposed to expand the Rapp Road landfill, which is located adjacent to the preserve. The Sierra Club is working closely with local citizens, as part of the Save the Pine Bush coalition, to permanently protect the Pine Bush preserve. In preserving the Pine Bush, we have the opportunity to protect a rare environment for the unique species it supports as well as for the enjoyment of people for years to come.

NORTH CAROLINA

POCOSIN LAKES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

However, the United States Navy has proposed placing a landing field in Washington and Beaufort Counties, North Carolina, farming communities in the northeastern part of the state. The purpose of the landing field is to allow pilots to practice jet aircraft carrier landings. The landing field would see thousands of such landings throughout the year, about one every fifteen minutes by the Navy’s estimate. The proposed landing field would be located just 3.5 miles from the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. To accommodate the airfield the Navy plans to acquire thousands of acres around the airfield, including prime farmlands. The acreage surrounding the landing field provides critical food resources to swans, geese and other waterfowl. The Navy plans to control the bird population include using dogs, fireworks — and poison. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has expressed grave concerns about the Navy’s proposal to use a highly toxic pesticide, Avitrol, which is banned for such uses 42

in North Carolina. The Navy also acknowledges it may use firearms to shoot large migratory birds. Local communities and over 100 diverse groups, ranging from National Wildlife Federation and Audubon Society to Duck Unlimited, the National Rifle Association and the NAACP, have all joined in the fight to get the Navy to choose a more suitable site. Sierra Club’s volunteers and staff have attended rallies and public hearings, advocated before state’s executive branch and with members of Congress, engaged the public on the issue, and worked in the North Carolina General Assembly to pass legislation to improve the state’s ability to negotiate with the federal government on future major federal land acquisitions and uses—-including any new land acquisitions by the Navy for the proposed landing field.

Photo by Juan Pons

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge offers one of the last, best places in the Southeast for families to observe wildlife, fish, and enjoy the outdoors. The refuge is one of the most important waterfowl reserves in North America, where more than 100,000 snow geese and tundra swans spend the winter. Northeastern North Carolina provides winter refuge for 65 to 75 percent of the birds that migrate along the Eastern flyway. The Refuge is also home to the endangered red wolf and the red cockaded woodpecker.

GARRISON REACH, MISSOURI RIVER
The storied Missouri River provided passage for Lewis and Clark when their Corps of Discovery set a course for the West more than 200 years ago. In 1804, the explorers wintered along the Garrison Reach of the Missouri, now the largest stretch of natural river left between the Garrison Dam and St. Louis. The Missouri, once dubbed “Big Muddy,” no longer warrants that name. The whirlpools, sandbars and shifting currents that Lewis and Clark experienced have been destroyed by dams and dredging. Human efforts to harness the river and make it more

NORTH DAKOTA

navigable have taken their toll, leaving the 95-mile Garrison Reach as one of the last untouched vestiges of the once-wild river. The spectacular bluffs and cottonwood forests of Garrison Reach are located along the Central Flyway and welcome flocks of ducks, geese and other migratory birds every spring and fall. The Reach is home to threatened and endangered species like the piping plover, least tern and pallid sturgeon. Hunting, fishing and hiking opportunities abound along the river, offering an opportunity to diversify and enhance North Dakota’s growing tourism economy. Garrison Reach is also rich in archaeological treasures from historic village sites of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Indians. But the area is threatened by booming development along the Missouri’s banks. At the current rate of development, the Garrison Reach will soon look more like a manmade canal than a natural river. Sierra Club is working to keep the remaining natural stretches of the Missouri — one of America’s most dammed and channeled rivers — wild and free. Together with the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, and local citizens, the Club is fighting to protect sacred sites along the river and to keep the undredged, undammed portion Garrison Reach its natural state.

Photo by Tory Jackson

LITTLE MIAMI RIVER
The Little Miami River is rich in natural heritage, and its banks contain artifacts that tell the history of the Shawnee, Adena and Hopewell tribes who once resided here. One of the most biologically diverse rivers in the state of Ohio, the Little Miami River is a sanctuary for endangered fish, birds, and mussel species. Designated as a National Wild and Scenic River, the Little Miami runs through a unique urban setting in Hamilton County, providing a recreation destination for many, and a respite from city life. Towns along its route include Cincinnati, Fairfax, Mariemont and Terrace Park. Local residents and visitors who canoe, swim, fish, and bike the trails that hug the river’s banks generate significant revenue for local businesses and communities. Escalating highway and commercial development, however, has put the Little Miami in peril. A proposed multi-lane highway and bridge project would eclipse the Little Miami River. Road construction would devastate vital stream bank buffers and destroy

OHIO

wildlife habitat along the river’s banks. The bridge would cross the lower river, disturbing migration for a wide variety of birds. Sierra Club is engaging community members in effort to stop the highway development and instead promote rail alternatives. Protecting the river also involves fighting for policies that would eliminate the illegal dumping of sewage into its waterways. As part of our effort to protect the Little Miami, Sierra Club actively tests water quality near wastewater treatment plants along the river.

Photo by Marilyn Wall

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OKLAHOMA

THE GLOVER RIVER

The Glover River is the only remaining tributary of Oklahoma’s Little River that is not choked by dams. Flowing through the southeast corner of the state, this pristine river is known for its scenic value, abundant fish, and recreational opportunities. The Glover River contains the largest known population of the leopard darter, a rare and threatened fish. With whitewater rapids suitable for canoeing and kayaking, the Glover offers a rare treasure to Oklahomans. During the dry season the river provides a perfect site for a gentle canoe ride or fishing for small mouth bass. Dense forests surround the Glover’s steep bluffs, boulder-strewn riverbeds and meandering river banks, and low-water bridges and rock gardens create natural dams and chutes in its waters. Yet the Glover’s reign as the “last free flowing stream in Oklahoma” could draw to a close. Congress has authorized the damming of the Glover under a comprehensive state water plan. The Sierra Club and local citizens have successfully fended off proposals to sell the River’s water to Texas, which would open the door to damming. But the Glover River needs to be permanently protected and recognized as one of America’s great Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Photo by Caryn Vaughn

OREGON

MT. HOOD
resort on the Northeast side of the mountain, which is at present undeveloped and pristine. The large-scale development would include 450 new houses and condominiums, new ski trails and chairlifts cut into the forest, an amphitheater, a covered skating rink, a golf course, a shopping center and accompanying roads and parking lots. The wild forests surrounding Mt. Hood are also threatened by plans for extensive commercial logging. The U.S. Forest Service continues to plan timber sales in biologically sensitive areas of ancient forest older than our nation. These money-losing timber operations threaten the water quality of streams and rivers flowing off the mountain, destroying habitat and endangering fish and wildlife. The rugged, pristine areas around Mt. Hood deserve Wilderness protection and a plan that will safeguard watersheds, wildlife, and recreation areas from logging and development before they are lost forever.

At 11,239 feet, Mount Hood is the second most-climbed peak in the world after Japan’s Mount Fuji. Tourists and residents alike make the short drive from Portland to escape the city and enjoy the quiet forests, free flowing rivers and austere high mountain reaches of this sacred peak known to Native Americans as Wy’east. Visitors also come to witness history and retrace the steps of the pioneers who crossed the mountain on the Oregon Trail.

The Mt. Hood National Forest draws 4 million visitors each year in search of outdoor recreation, wildlife and wilderness experiences. In addition to year-round glacier skiing, the forest offers opportunities for solitude, hiking, camping and wildlife viewing. Recreation and tourism around Mt. Hood creates jobs with local shops, ski lodges, restaurants, and outfitters. Further, over 1 million Oregonians receive their drinking water from the glaciers and forested watersheds surrounding Mt. Hood. But Mt. Hood is threatened by development and ancient forest logging. Developers have proposed construction of a massive destination

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Photo by Nat Parker

SPRING CREEK CANYON
Spring Creek Canyon, near State College, is home to a world-class brown trout fishery as well as 11 species of plants and animals that are listed as Species of Special Concern. Some of these are found nowhere else in Pennsylvania. In December 2006, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy published a report pointing out that the Canyon “... is Photo by Jim Waite an extremely unique area in the county and the state.” The Conservancy expressed concern for the long term viability of this exceptional ecological resource due to rapid urbanization in the region. To protect the Canyon’s biological integrity, they recommended the uplands surrounding the Canyon be reforested. Despite the value of this resource, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell proposes transferring about 1,500 acres of uplands surrounding the Canyon that have been owned by Rockview Penitentiary for nearly 100 years to Penn State University to use for

PENNSYLVANIA

agricultural purposes. The remaining 300 acres, comprising the Canyon itself, would be transferred to Benner Township, who has already said they have neither the funds nor the expertise to manage this property. The Sierra Club has formed the Spring Creek Canyon Alliance, a coalition of 19 hunter, angler, biking, kayaking and community groups whose goal is to see the land transferred to an entity who has the funds, expertise, and mandate to hold and manage land in its natural state and can never sell or develop it. Spring Creek Canyon is a precious asset that the nearby communities use for hunting, fishing, hiking, nature study, biking, bird watching, and other activities compatible with undeveloped land. The surrounding uplands are a significant benefit to the local community and they serve as a buffer that helps preserve the Canyon’s ecological values.

NORTHEAST ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR
Puerto Rico, known as “La Isla del Encanto,” or “The Island of Enchantment,” beckons tourists with its beaches and tropical forests. The Northeast Ecological Corridor on Puerto Rico’s eastern shoreline showcases the natural beauty that makes this United States territory such a popular tourist destination. Its 3,200 acres include forests, wetlands, beaches, coral, a rare bioluminescent lagoon, and one of the hottest surfing spots on Puerto Rico’s east coast, La Selva. The Corridor is home to 40 native and threatened species, and its beaches are one of the three most important nesting sites for the leatherback sea turtle in the U.S. But the wildlife and natural wonders share Puerto Rico’s tight quarters with a growing population, droves of tourists, and the development that accompanies them. The island already has a higher population density than all 50 U.S. states - 1,000 people per square mile - and one of the highest road densities in the world. Puerto Rico is an island in peril, and the Northeast Ecological Corridor faces one of the most imminent threats. Developers have set their sights on the Corridor for two mega resorts, three golf courses and housing developments. The resorts, to be run by Marriott and Four Seasons, would forever alter the character of this natural treasure.

PUERTO RICO

Puerto Rico is already suffering from an alarming lack of water: More than 25,000 residents in this area alone face a 4-million-gallon daily water deficit. The Puerto Rico Chapter of Sierra Club and a coalition of local community and environmental groups are calling for the permanent protection of the Northeast Ecological Corridor as a Nature Reserve, allowing access to surfers, fishermen, Puerto Ricans, tourists, and small-scale ecotourism operations.

Photo by Camilla Feibelman

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PUERTO RICO

CORREDOR ECOLÓGICO DEL NORESTE
Photo by Camilla Feibelman

Puerto Rico, conocida como la “Isla del Encanto,” deslumbra a los turistas con sus espléndidas playas y bosques tropicales. De hecho, el Corredor Ecológico del Noreste, en la costa oriental de la isla, representa la belleza natural que hace a este Estado Libre Asociado de los Estados Unidos un destino turístico tan popular. Sus 3,200 acres incluyen bosques, pantanales, playas, comunidades de coral, una laguna bioluminiscente y una de las playas de "surfing" más populares de Puerto Rico, La Selva. El Corredor alberga más de 40 especies endémicas y amenazadas, y sus playas son uno de los tres lugares más importantes en los Estados Unidos para el anidaje del tinglar, la tortuga marina más grande del mundo. Pero la vida silvestre y las bellezas naturales comparten la isla con la densa población de Puerto Rico, legiones de turistas y el pavimento que les acompaña. Puerto Rico tiene una población más densa que cualquiera de los 50 estados de la Unión — más de 1,000 personas por milla cuadrada — y una de las mayores densidades de carreteras del mundo. Puerto Rico es una isla en peligro, y el Corredor Ecológico del Noreste enfrenta una de las amenazas más inminentes. Proyectistas

locales y companías hoteleras internacionales tienen la mirilla puesta en el Corredor para construir dos mega-proyectos turístico-residenciales con hotles de Four Seasons y J.W Marriott, 3,000 casas de lujo y tres campos de golf los cuales destruirían este tesoro natural.

A los residentes no les iría mejor. El desarrollo económico del turismo históricamente ha dejado fuera a los empresarios y residentes locales, ya que los turistas son transportados en autobuses de los hoteles a megatiendas en lugar de visitar los comercios locales en los cascos urbanos de Luquillo y Fajardo. Además, la región este de Puerto Rico está sufriendo una alarmante falta de agua; tan sólo los 25,000 residentes de esta área tienen un déficit diario de 4 millones de galones de agua. Por eso, el Capítulo de Puerto Rico del Sierra Club -establecido en el 2005 — y una coalición de grupos comunitarios y organizaciones ambientales locales trabajan porla protección permanente del Corredor Ecológico del Noreste para convertirlo en una reserva natural que permita el acceso a los surfers, pescadores, pequeñas operaciones de ecoturismo, turistas y puertorriqueños en general.

RHODE ISLAND

BIG RIVER MANAGEMENT AREA

Rhode Island’s Big River Management Area includes forests, hills, sand dunes and wetlands. It is home to 222 kinds of birds, 55 different mammals, and 39 types of reptiles. A haven for canoeing, hunting, fishing, and horseback riding, the area has evolved into one of the state’s most popular recreation spots. But the Big River area has been threatened, most recently by a proposal to build an immense water reservoir. The proposed water reservoir jeopardized the open space, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities provided by the Big River Management Area. A reservoir in this special place would inundate thousands of acres of wetlands, forests and dunes. In fact, both the Northeast Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency determined that the proposed reservoir would have “very large, severe impacts” on the area’s wildlife and wetlands. In response to proposal, the Sierra Club launched a campaign to educate people about Big River’s value as a wild and open space. During the 2005 legislative session, thanks in large measure to the efforts of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Rhode Island General Assembly struck down the reservoir proposal. But now, many other public lands like the Big River are still threatened by commercial and urban development. The State of Rhode Island needs to permanently protect state and local public land for parks, management areas, and other open space purposes. 46
Photo by Jennifer Tuttle

SAVANNAH RIVER
On a map, the Savannah River simply marks the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. But closer inspection shows a slow, meandering river surrounded by wildlife and outdoor enthusiasts. The Savannah River originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina, and straddles South Carolina and Georgia as it winds down to the piedmont and the low country’s tidal creeks, finally emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. The River borders Sumter National Forest, the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, and the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Historically an important transportation corridor, the river is still home to one of the East Coast’s largest ports.
Photo by Frank Carl

SOUTH CAROLINA

But the wear and tear of the textile industry, agriculture, logging, and sprawl has taken its toll on the Savannah River. The water pollution from the river’s heavily industrialized stretches has been compounded by mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants, leaving fish consumption advisories in its wake. It is currently not a good river basin for recreation, with 17 rivers and creeks polluted with fecal material concentrations well over the limit that define waterways as ‘unfit for recreational uses’. Fishing is equally risky in this small basin with 23 sites designated ‘impaired’ because of metals. In addition, radioactive contamination continues to seep into the Savannah River from unlined seepage basins generated by the Savannah River Site, storage facility for most of the nation’s nuclear waste. Water quality concerns are compounded by quantity concerns. A battle is brewing over the waters of the Savannah River as the rapidly expanding Atlanta metropolitan area reaches farther away for water to supply its population. The River’s water must be protected on two fronts-modern pollution controls are needed to curb mercury contamination, and water conservation is needed to protect water levels.

The river stretches 300 miles and drains into a basin of more than 10,000 square miles, providing water for industry, power generation, and recreation. It also provides drinking supplies for Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, and other communities. More than 75 rare and endangered species live in the river’s banks and waters.

SOUTH DAKOTA’S GRASSLANDS
The Great Plains of North America is a vast expanse of prairie grasslands stretching from central Canada to the Mexican border, and from the Rockies to Indiana. Indigenous peoples flourished for centuries on this rugged, austere landscape. When Lewis and Clark first arrived, they were awed by the Grasslands, and the wildlife and people that lived on them. Today, the area provides some of the finest examples of potential prairie wilderness left in the nation, including the largest remaining roadless area in the entire Great Plains. With their tranquility and rugged terrain, the Grasslands offer one of the only places in the Great Plains where one can backpack or horsepack on a scale similar to the Rockies or Alaska. Vast expanses of grassland are dotted with mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, coyote, beaver, raptors and songbirds, interior least tern, sharptail grouse, meadowlarks, rattlesnakes and porcupines. Bald eagles winter in the riverine cottonwoods, and prairie dogs sustain predators such as golden eagles, coyotes and owls. The region also supports world-class big game hunting. But if our children and grandchildren are to continue to enjoy this national treasure, we need to take action now. Sierra Club is working with other conservation groups and local citizens to designate key parts of Buffalo Gap National Grassland —

SOUTH DAKOTA

Indian Creek, Red Shirt, Cheyenne River and First Black Canyon — as Wilderness areas. Wilderness designation would create a veritable “string of pearls” to preserve the ecosystems and the pioneer history of this remarkable part of South Dakota. The Grasslands need this designation if they are to survive the growing development threats. 47

Photo by Heather Morijah

TENNESSEE

ROYAL BLUE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

Deep in the Cumberland Mountains, the Despite its natural and recreational value, 53,000-acre Royal Blue Wildlife the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area Management Area shows how vibrant, is in jeopardy. The Tennessee Valley ecologically important landscapes can be Authority, which has the rights to coal restored, and how people can help make under the area, is considering turning over these success stories possible. Once mined 5,000 acres of this special place to coal and logged bare, the Royal Blue Wildlife companies for a new round of mining. If Provided by Tenn. Wildlife Resources Agency and Management Area now holds lush mouncoal mining is allowed to proceed, mining photo by Dan Hicks, Jr. tain forests that provide outstanding and haul roads stand to close off public opportunities for outdoor recreation and a home for wildlife. access to the area, limiting hunting, fishing, and other recreational opportunities. Mining would also require the removal of thouIn its recovering forests, outdoor enthusiasts will find 600 miles of sands of acres of hardwood forests. multi-use trails open to hikers, mountain bikers and off-road vehicles (ORVs). The Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area is also home to Tennessee’s governor has the power to enforce state water quality regone of the only herds of elk in the East, the product of an active ulations, which would effectively stop the mine, and make sure that restoration effort begun in 1997. In addition to elk, the sportsman the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area continues to be managed and wildlife watcher can encounter healthy populations of whitetail for wildlife, not mining. The Office of Surface Mining also has the deer, wild turkey and beaver. For the angler, the area’s waters offer authority to declare the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area as excellent bass and bluegill fishing. The Royal Blue area is also a key unsuitable for mining. If our children and grandchildren are to breeding ground for the cerulean warbler, a songbird that is currentenjoy beauty and recreation opportunities of the Royal Blue Wildlife ly a candidate for listing on the federal endangered species list. Management Area, we must protect it now.

TEXAS

NECHES RIVER

Things come big in Texas, and the Neches River is no exception. It is the longest free-flowing river in East Texas. The 235 miles of river between Lake Palestine and Ba-Steinhagen Lake represent one of two rivers in Texas where the land is the way it was before settlement. Along with this untouched scenery, Indian mounds can be found near the river. Eastern Texas wildlife has also begun to return to the area. The eastern black bear, river otter, bald eagle, beaver, American alligator, endangered paddlefish, and cougar are all found in this area, along with bottomland hardwood forests— forests that are on the top of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s priority conservation list. In addition, the Upland Island Wilderness Area and the Big Slough Wilderness Area run along the Neches River. However, the Neches faces a new threat: A dam proposal, which would require flooding farmland, a state park, and a wildlife area, and would deprive property owners of water downstream.
Photo by Adrian F. Van Dellen

Sierra Club is working with the Texas Committee on Natural Resources to designate the Neches River as a National Wildlife Refuge Area and a National Scenic River, which would help protect it from destructive dam building.

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GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE

UTAH

First designated by President Clinton in 1996, Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument’s multicolored cliffs, steep canyons, plateaus, and rock formations are home to mountain lions, peregrine falcons, and bald eagles. The Monument protects a broad expanse of desert wilderness in Utah’s vast canyon country. Grand Staircase Escalante is known for its extraordinary natural beauty, unprecedented recreational opportunities and irreplaceable evidence of prehistoric life. Remote as the area seems, Grand Staircase-Escalante faces threats from overgrazing, uncontrolled offroad-vehicle use, and lack of adequate funding. Since its establishment, politicians have sought to weaken the protection accorded this special place. Officials in Kane County, Utah, have recently begun placing road signs on faint jeep trails that have been closed by the Bureau of Land Management The county has so far defied the order of the BLM’s Utah State Director to remove the signs. Sierra Club volunteers have photographed and mapped the location of illegal road signs in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. By encouraging the BLM to enforce the law, we can help to protect this piece of our natural heritage.

Photo by Ray Mathis

GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST
The scenic beauty of Vermont’s rolling hillsides, lush forests, and stunning ridgelines are captured in the Green Mountain National Forest. The federal public forest contains 400,000 acres of forests and valleys where Vermonters take their families to hike, hunt, backpack and fish. Thousands of visitors also flock north to the Green Mountains each fall to watch nature’s changing face in the autumn leaves. These visitors bring dollars to the state and help create jobs in the area. In fact, 96 percent of the economic benefits from the National Forest come from recreation and tourism. Healthy watersheds are also the source of much of the clean water for the 53 towns that lie within the Forest’s boundaries. The Green Mountain National Forest is the largest contiguous landholding in the state of Vermont, which makes it critical for wildlife habitat. This large block of land provides the space and type of forest needed for the black bear, songbirds such as the Bicknells’ thrush, and unique medium-sized carnivores such as the pine marten and fisher. But threats the Green Mountain National Forest faces aggressive new attempts to allow new off-road trails on almost half of the forest, along with dramatically expanded clearcut logging. Logging poses a serious threat to the Green Mountain’s rare wild roadless forests, some of the last in the Northeast. There is no rea-

VERMONT

son to destroy the economic benefits of these rare wild forests by subsidizing more commercial logging. The Sierra Club is encouraging the Forest Service to protect this area, recommend additional wilderness areas, and create new jobs by investing in forest restoration instead of continuing a damaging commercial logging program.

Photo by Kim Marion

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VIRGINIA

MATTAPONI RIVER

The Mattaponi River in eastern Virginia, named for the tribe of Native Americans who have lived along its banks for generations, is one of the state’s most pristine waterways. Winding through Virginia’s King William and King and Queen Counties, the river is home to a healthy population of bald eagles and the best shad spawning habitat within the Chesapeake Bay region. The tribe members - descendants of Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas - live on one of the oldest reservations in the United States. But a massive reservoir proposed by the City of Newport News would divert as much as 75 million gallons of water per day from the river, destroying more than 400 acres of forested wetlands, inundating archaeological sites and jeopardizing the Mattaponi tribe’s shad fishery. It would be the single largest permitted destruction of wetlands in Virginia in more than 30 years. Additionally, the project would raise water rates by a projected 50 percent for current users, including low-income residents, in order to subsidize developers and sprawl throughout Virginia’s lower-peninsula. Independent studies have determined that the reservoir is not needed and both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission have ruled against the reservoir only to have those decisions reversed through direct political intervention. The reservoir is now being challenged in federal court.

WASHINGTON

WILD SKY WILDERNESS
Sound Basin. The Forest is home to deer, bald eagles, spotted owls, pine marten, mountain goats, wolverines and cougars. The greatest potential threat to the Wild Sky country is logging with its attendant road-building. Some snowmobile use has been established in the area as well. The Bush administration’s efforts to reverse the Roadless Conservation Rule and eliminate the Northwest Forest Plan could open the Wild Sky to commercial logging operations. Because the Skykomish basin is exposed to “rain on snow” events, logging could increase runoff, and threaten an otherwise healthy fishery. Increased flooding from global warming will only compound the problem. Since most of the Wild Sky country has not been available to timber cutting for many years and the timber industry supports only a small portion of the local economy, this Wilderness proposal is not an economic issue. Protecting this place will produce the greatest value for a broad range of people. A wide range of local communities, conservationists, sportsmen, people of faith and small businesses have voiced a strong commitment to permanently protect the Wild Sky’s 106,000 acres of wild forest. The Sierra Club is a leading member of the coalition that is working to bring about permanent protection of this critical landscape to provide for outstanding recreational opportunities and healthier communities for future generations.

Photo by Charlie Raines

Washington’s Wild Sky country is located in the Mt. BakerSnoqualmie Forest, a short distance from Seattle metropolitan area, and very wild in character. The area ranges from lush low elevation valleys to dramatic mountain peaks covered with alpine flower meadows. The wild forests include ancient stands of Douglas fir and cedar as well a naturally regenerated second growth. Outstanding hiking and camping opportunities abound in and around the Wild Sky country, drawing outdoor enthusiasts from both inside and outside the Pacific Northwest region. Excellent hunting and fishing opportunities also can be found in the area’s rivers and streams. The North Fork Skykomish River, centerpiece of the Wild Sky Country, includes some of the best remaining salmon, steelhead, and Bull Trout spawning habitat in the Puget 50

Photo by Stacy Reed and Frederick D. Atwood

SENECA CREEK BACKCOUNTRY
Located within the highlands of West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest known locally as “The Mon” - the 25,000acre Seneca Creek Backcountry encompasses one of the largest and wildest areas of contiguous federal land left in the eastern United States. Seneca Creek boasts excellent water quality from the lack of disturbance within the watershed. With its deep, cold pools and numerous waterfalls, it is hailed as one of the best trout streams in the region.

WEST VIRGINIA

Photo by Mary Wimmer/Jim Solley

left off the list of areas recommended for Wilderness, but was also split in terms of management. Furthermore, the management guidelines that have protected the Backcountry since 1986 have been altered, opening up this and other special areas to logging and roads in the name of “ecosystem restoration” and “wildlife management.” The area is also threatened by energy development, with recent natural gas discovery at its northern boundary.

The Backcountry has an outstanding system of hiking trails, with exceptional scenic vistas and long loop trails for first-rate backpacking. High-country red spruce and northern hardwood ecosystems provide home to a diversity of wildlife, some endangered. The area’s proximity to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia and a highly popular scenic destination, adds to the need to protect the natural integrity of the surrounding land. The future of the Backcountry is now at stake. In the 2006 Revised Forest Plan for the Mon, the Backcountry was not only

Currently only four percent of the National Wilderness Preservation System lies east of Mississippi, where over 60 percent of U.S. population resides. There is a clear need for more Eastern wilderness, but not many opportunities. Some of the best remaining land is found in the wild and wonderful Monongahela National Forest. West Virginia Sierra Club has helped develop a Citizen’s Wilderness Proposal for 15 areas, including Seneca Creek, covering 143,000 acres within the 917,000-acre Mon. In order to protect this rugged landscape, the Seneca Creek Backcountry needs to be designated as a Wilderness Area.

ICE AGE NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL
When rising temperatures closed the curtains on the Ice Age 10,000 years ago, the receding glaciers sculpted many of the landscapes we cherish today. In Wisconsin, that glacial imprint is most visible along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The Ice Age Trail winds along Black Earth-Creek — one of the top 100 trout streams in the country. Along the trail, you’ll find threatened and endangered species like the pine marten, timber wolf, trumpeter swan, and Karner blue butterfly. The trail connects units of the Kettle Moraine State Forest and Chequamegon National Forest. The Ice Age Trail, which will be 1,000 miles when completed, is an ideal escape for the region’s urban dwellers. Sections of the trail are within a 30-minute drive of Milwaukee, home to half of Wisconsin’s population, as well as a two-hour drive from Chicago, and an hour drive from Minneapolis. Today, communities such as New Glarus, Dundee and La Grange market themselves as “gateways” to the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. Despite the exceptional cultural, historic, environmental and economic benefits of the Ice Age Trail, its completion and protection are in limbo. Development and road building pressures are on the rise. Southeast Wisconsin loses 87 square miles of farmland and forested areas each year to road building and sprawl. Deforestationwhich led to the area’s destructive floods in the 1920s and the sub-

WISCONSIN

sequent establishment of the Kettle Moraine State Forest-has been replaced by the serious threat of forest fragmentation. To maintain this recreational treasure and natural history gem, Sierra Club is working with local groups to permanently protect the Trail corridor and promote smart growth planning by local governments to preserve farmland, forests, wildlife habitat and the Ice Age Trail.

Photo by Eddee Daniel

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WYOMING

THE RED DESERT

Known as the Wild Heart of the West, the Red Desert is lined with rare high-elevation sand dunes, covered with mazes of badlands, and dotted with surreal geologic formations. In addition to providing a crucial habitat for over 350 species, including pronghorn antelope, the Red Desert has deep historic significance. Evidence in the form of rock art, petroglyphs, and ancient artifacts indicates that some of the first humans to exist in North America thrived in the Red Desert. But energy companies have long sought the reservoirs of coal bed methane, natural gas, and oil beneath the desert’s surface. Now, leases are being proposed at an alarming level. A minimum of 10,000 wells are projected for the region over the next few years. Along with these wells will come thousands of miles of roads, pipelines and telephone lines, creating a web of industrialization. Despite more than 65,000 public comments recently submitted to the Bureau of Land Management in support of a balanced approach to development in the area, there is great concern that the BLM will choose a management plan that heavily favors industry and drilling. If this happens, the Wild Heart of the West will be opened for rampant and uncontrolled drilling. This will undoubtedly fragment wildlife habitat and migratory routes, worsen air quality, erode the sensitive desert surface, destroy cultural resources, and diminish the local tourism, hunting, and ranching economies. Development of these dirty energy sources will also exacerbate the growing problem of global warming. Sierra Club advocates permanent protection of the most prized areas in the Red Desert by designating them a National Conservation Area. In order to protect the character of this wide open landscape, new oil and gas development must be prohibited.
Photo by Kirk Koepsel

Endnotes
1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement,” 2003 and “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement,” October 2005. 2 Id.; U.S. Geological Survey, “2000 Resource Assessment of Selected Coal Beds and Zones in the Northern and Central Appalachian Basin Coal Regions,” updated May 2003. 3 Appalachian Voices, “Mountaintop Removal Site Tour #1: Sundial, West Virginia,” accessed April 2007 at http://www.appvoices.org/ index.php?/mtr/mtr_example_sundialwv/ 4 John Mitchell, “When Mountains Move,” National Geographic, March 2006. 5 Appalachian Voices, “Mountaintop Removal Site Tour #1: Sundial, West Virginia,” accessed April 2007 at http://www.appvoices.org /index.php?/mtr/mtr_example_sundialwv/ 6 Michael Shnayerson, “The Rape of Appalachia,” Vanity Fair, May 2006. 7 West Virginia Archives and History, “The Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster,” 1973. 8 Appalachian Voices, “Mountaintop Removal Site Tour #1: Sundial, West Virginia,” accessed April 2007 at http://www.appvoices.org /index.php?/mtr/mtr_example_sundialwv/ 9 Appalachian Voices, “Economics of Mountaintop Removal,” accessed May 2007 at http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/mtr/economics/ 10 Id.; U.S. EPA, “Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment: Mountaintop Removal/ Valley Fill,” updated March 3, 2006. 11 The Cahaba River Society. “Cahaba - The Heart River of Alabama” accessed August 2007 at http://www.cahabariversociety.org/crsfact.htm 12 Alaska Fish and Wildlife Service, “Teshekpuk Lake Area Molting Goose Survey - 2005” accessed August 2007 at http://alaska.fws.gov/ mbsp/mbm/waterfowl/surveys/pdf/Tesh%2005%20report.pdf 13 Fourche Creek Watershed Initiative. http://www.fourchecreek.org/con_index.asp?menu_pid=30&ID=30 14 BLM, Roan Plateau Resource Management Plan and Final EIS. Chapter 3 pages 34-36 15 US Forest Service. “Shawnee National Forest Management Plan” 2006 http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/shawnee/projects/forest_plan/docs/2006 ForestPlan.pdf 16 Save the Pine Bush. http://www.savethepinebush.org/

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AMERICA’S WILD LEGACY
CONCLUSION

I

f we want to continue to enjoy the quiet, solitude, spiritual reflection, healing, and outdoor traditions that nature offers us, we must protect our public lands.
By protecting our last remaining wild lands, we can help ensure that our children and grandchildren have clean drinking water and fresh air, as well as places to camp, hunt, and fish. But we must act now, because once our wild lands are gone, they cannot be replaced.

The national forests, parks, reserves, and refuges highlighted in this report make up the beating heart of America’s Wild Legacy. But many of these places are immediately threatened by oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, off-road vehicle abuse, and the increasing pressure of sprawling development. And global warming poses a greater threat to all of our public lands with each passing day.

Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

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Photo courtesy of Sierra Club

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