Wilderness Blog
Center of the American West Distinguished Lecturer
Annie Proulx Discusses History and Decline of Wyoming’s Red Desert
Hundreds of people braved the snow and below-freezing temperatures last night to hear Annie Proulx deliver a talk in the packed Glenn Miller Ballroom on CU's Boulder campus. Proulx served as this year's Center of the American West Distinguished Lecturer, and shared with the audience an excerpt from a project she's been working on for several years. The Pulitzer-Prize-winning novelist revealed that she hasn't written any fiction for three years. Instead, she has been collaborating with a group of Wyoming scientists and historians to produce a forthcoming book on the state's Red Desert.
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CONSERVATION CONSTERNATION
Gov. Huntsman Gives Utah’s Wilderness the BirdIt should come as no surprise that Governor Huntsman plans to submit his proposal for Utah’s Roadless wilderness area to the federal government, just in time (states have until November 13 of this year) to beat out any restraints that would be placed on the state by the reinstatement of the National Forest Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule, which originated during the Clinton Administration, was put in place to protect millions of acres of America’s wilderness areas, including 8.1 million pristine acres in Utah. The Roadless Rule was abruptly repealed by the Bush Administration in 2005 and replaced with a state petitioning program.
Huntsman has always been clear that he prefers a more “balanced” approach when it comes to conserving Utah’s open spaces; which in most cases translates to more “access;” access to both private development and off-road recreation.
Balance is one thing, but according to some, Huntsman’s petition for Utah goes too far.
Richard Warnick of One Utah writes, “The petition basically says that the State of Utah does not recognize the need to conserve roadless areas (except for designated wilderness).”
A letter-writing campaign to stop the petition is already underway.
Fiery Festival
Mom and Dad Dodge Red Eagle Fire, Return Home Safe From BabbfestBabb, Montana is about nine miles from St. Mary, Montana, on the eastern edge of Glacier National Park.
Every year the tiny town holds its 'Babbfest,' an outdoor music shindig boasting as much PBR, hemp t-shirts, Indian tacos and gourmet tequila shooters as any 20- or 30-something could possibly desire. Bands play all day long, local wares are sold in booths, and everyone generally has a jolly old time. Babbfesters camp at the festival, which makes sense: this year tickets were $40, and admission meant an all-you-can-drink party that reached its pinnacle of fun around 1 A.M. when the headlining band, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band out of New Orleans, began playing.
My parents love Babbfest. I've never been, so I tune in with a keen ear to their stories. They're fond of saying things like 'We were looking to win the award for the oldest people there' when they talk about it. I don't know why; they're fun. Not, you know, mosh pit fun, but they're fun.
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Babe in the Woods
Hiking with a 1-Month Old: Possible, Apparently
There's nothing like 100-degree weather to motivate you to head for the hills, even if you have a new baby and you've not yet tested your wilderness parenting skills. On Saturday as our house grew unbearably hot, my husband and I quickly made a plan to escape town and head for the Indian Peaks Wilderness, about an hour's drive away from Boulder. We weren't sure how cooperative the baby would be, but we thought if we could at least leave the house for the hottest part of the afternoon and walk a few paces with her in the woods, we'd feel like we'd accomplished something. To our surprise, the baby comported herself admirably and we were able to complete an easy, almost five-mile round trip from the trailhead to Lake Isabelle. [more]
MOTIVATIONS
Whatever Happened to Wilderness for Wilderness’ Sake?Designation of big "W" Wilderness is not what it used to be.
In the past, large swaths of undeveloped land were designated for their wild and pristine nature — championed first by progressive public land managers (Gila Wilderness in New Mexico) or citizens' groups (Great Bear Wilderness in Montana), and then handed off to influential politicians who brought them to Congress for approval.
In many cases that has changed.
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For Whitefish, Quainter is Better
New Big Mountain Master Plan More People-FriendlyWhitefish’s Big Mountain presented its new master plan to the Whitefish City-County Planning Board on April 20th, but decisions on the plan were postponed in order to sort out zoning issues. The new plan, which is intended to make the ski area’s village more people-friendly, includes three new lifts, dispersing development around a downsized village concept, and establishing an enlarged beginner skiing area away from the village.
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No ATVs, Please
New Website Celebrates Montana’s Swan Range, Encourages Keeping it WildWe love them, we hike them. We bike them and camp in them. And they’ve always been there. But it’s time to stop taking our forests and natural playgrounds for granted. We need to keep them wild, sacred and motor-free. These were the ideas behind creation of the new website about Northwest Montana’s Swan Mountain Range, Swanrange.org.
I asked Ben Long, one of the website’s co-creators, whose brainchild the website was. “It was much more organic than that,” he told me. Look a little closer at the site and you’ll see what he means. The site, it turns out, was the result of a lot of collaboration between people who love the same wilderness. A page titled “People of the Swan” has pictures and testimonials from artists, business people, hikers and your basic outdoor-loving Montanans. Hell, even Miss Montana USA loves the Swan.
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The Wilderness Blog
Great Bear Compromise Sets Stage for Wilderness FutureThis week’s historic agreement to protect British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest—the world’s largest remaining swath of coastal temperate rainforest, an area twice the size of Yellowstone—marks the culmination of 10 years of haggling, negotiating, and compromising among divergent agendas. It also marks what might be the future of wilderness preservation. The plan, which places four and a half million acres off limits to logging and regulates logging practices on the remaining 10 million acres, is backed by environmentalists, industry, native people, and the provincial government. [more]
WESTERN WILDLANDS
Montana Coalition Seeks Wilderness, Economic DevelopmentCounty officials seek economic development. Environmentalists want to save roadless areas. Snowmobile associations want to ensure continued public access. Federal lawmakers are interested in carrying legislation to Congress to create a wilderness in their state, something that hasn't happened in decades.
If you’re thinking these seemingly unrelated issues together make up the controversial Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA) that Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson is fighting to get through Congress, you’d be mistaken.
No, they are the components of a new plan touted by a Montana coalition of intereted parties that run the gamut from Lincoln County commissioners to snowmobile associations to environmental groups, and the land they’re hoping to bring some multi-use sensibility to lies within their Montana county.
Michael Jamison’s article in the Missoulian mentions only in passing that the bill might be the only wilderness bill to come out of Montana in decades, but given that the proposal has been submitted to Montana’s congressional delegation, it appears the plan may be the foundation for a new, proposed Wilderness Area in the Treasure State.
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OREGON WILDLIFE
Cougars In The Cross HairsFunny thing, those unintended consequences. A decade ago, back when the Clinton presidency was still young and vigorous, Oregonians collectively sighed and said, "Oh, that's so mean!" and voted to ban sport hunters from using dogs to bag cougars. The cougars' population growth is such that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is proposing to cull the cougars. A new plan,released this month, calls for ODFW agents to actively reduce cougar populations in problem areas. Birth control by bullets, one might say. [more]
