threat to Moab area

[Pru]

following is a call to action I just got that I think many of you might feel compelled to do something about.

The Bush administration's plan for 11 million spectacular acres in Utah is alarming – a sharp increase in oil and gas development and off-road vehicle use. It spells disaster for the rocky canyons and wide vistas that are home to a variety of wildlife and a delight to nature lovers.

Please join me in sending an urgent message to Bush's Bureau of Land Management.

Bob Fertik

Dear Friend,

President Bush is ready to plunder Utah's wildlands.

Click here to protect these public lands from Big Oil and ORVs!
http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/utah_redrock01

If President Bush has his way, some of the most spectacular areas in Utah will be irreversibly degraded by oil rigs and off-road vehicles (ORVs).

Eleven million acres in Utah's red rock canyon country are at immediate risk, and we have until Feb. 8 to speak out. This precious land is filled with breathtaking vistas, ancient cultural artifacts and dinosaur fossils, and a wide range of wildlife.

Concerned people like you can put a stop to the sprawling oil and gas development and ORV use. There is no time to waste.

Urge the Bush administration's Bureau of Land Management to protect this sacred land before it is sacrificed to Big Oil and ORVs!

Your comment today is so important. Unless the public speaks out now, President Bush's land management team will forge ahead aggressively, with little thought to the permanent impact on a fragile, irreplaceable ecosystem.

As the New York Times editorialized , "some of the trails would crisscross about 2.5 million acres of breathtakingly beautiful country that the Clinton administration thought worthy of permanent wilderness protection."

So many iconic national treasures are at stake:

* In Vernal, northeastern Utah, ancient cultural artifacts and dinosaur fossils mingle with a range of wildlife and recreational opportunities.
* Nine Mile Canyon, in the San Rafael swell, offers hiking, serenity and rock carvings over 1,000 years old.
* In the Moab region, you'll find spectacular overlooks into nearby Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.

The damage caused by irresponsible exploration and resource exploitation would be irreversible. Once an area is riddled with roads, it will never be designated as Wilderness. We are working with members of Congress to permanently protect these areas as part of America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, but in the meantime, we need you to help us amplify our campaign.

Tell BLM Director James Caswell to stop the assault on public Utah land immediately.
(same link)
http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/utah_redrock01

Once you have sent your message, you can help us drum up support for protecting Utah's Red Rock Wilderness by spreading the word to your friends and family, encouraging them to also send a message.

The more people like you and me who take action today, the more wild places we can protect.

Sincerely,
Kathy Kilmer
The Wilderness Society

The link will take you to a form with a letter pre-written. If you do send this letter, I urge you to personalize it, and really speak from your heart (respectfully, of course). The BLM has always been open and responsive to public input in the past, at least in my experience (and especially in Utah).

[discojett]

The problem with form letters is that they try and lump them all together and call it 1 comment.

Write something substantial if you're gonna do it. I've worked with a few of those regional BLM offices, most folks on the ground are good people. It's the local county governments and natural gas companies that are constantly trying to push it, and they have powerful friends in DC.

Canyonlands and Arches NP already have drill rigs within their viewsheds, and many more are in the permit process right now.