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| Earthjustice: Urgent Cases: Wilderness Inventory Attack |
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From Email:
To Email:
(enter up to 5 addresses separated by commas)
Message:
--Conservation groups filed a suit challenging a settlement between the Department of the Interior and the state of Utah. The settlement would wipe out the process whereby the Bureau of Land Management identifies which lands deserve wilderness protections, and protects them as ¡šilderness study areas.?It also removed an interim form of protection in many areas the BLM has identified as having wilderness character.
From the basin and range country in Nevada to the forestlands of Oregon and California, many of America£r last wild jewels can now be managed for every conceivable use?ining, loggiing, off-road vehicle playgrounds?very use except one--wilderness. None of these lands will be considered for wilderness protection if the DOI settlement agreement stands.
The district court judge upheld the deal and conservation groups appealed. In February 2005, the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal, agreeing with the state of Utah and the federal government that the appeal was premature because some aspects of the case are still pending in a lower court. The case is expected to return to appellate court at a later date.
For photos of the areas at risk, see or www.tws.org.
Read Earthjustice's opening brief. (pdf file)
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