Klamath Basin among sites group sees as threatenedThe Wilderness Society also lists the Colville National Forest and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Sunday, April 22, 2001
Associated Press
By ROBERT GEHRKE of The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- An environmental group released its list Friday of the 15 most endangered wildlands, including the Northwest's
Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge and parts of the Colville National Forest.
The Wilderness Society also listed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, the area surrounding Yellowstone National Park
and three areas in Utah, Arizona and Colorado.
"Overall the fate of all of our public wildlands is more precarious because of the change in administration," said Suzanne Jones,
spokeswoman for the environmental group's Four Corners office in the Southwest. "Based on what the administration has been
saying they want to do, we take them at their word. We have a lot to worry about."
Millions of migrating birds each year rest and feed at the Klamath Basin, which straddles the Oregon and California border. The
report said the wildlife refuge is threatened by unsustainable farming practices and drought.
Farther north, the organization says some forest lands on the Kettle River Range Mountains, part of the Colville forest in
Washington, will be endangered if the Bush administration does not implement a ban on logging and road-building on about a third of
the country's national forests.
The 19.6 million-acre refuge in northeastern Alaska is the largest in the nation and ended up on the list because of "the Bush
administration's relentless push for drilling," the organization said. Protection of the refuge has become a leading cause for
environmentalists in Congress.
The Copper River Delta in the Chugach National Forest and Denali National Park and Preserve, both in Alaska, also were on the list.
The group said other areas were jeopardized by the push for expanded energy exploration.
Administration suggests drilling
An Interior Department draft report made public earlier this month suggested opening federal lands for drilling. Interior Secretary Gale
Norton has sought input from local leaders on how to best manage 15 national monuments created by the Clinton administration.
Among the Clinton-era monuments the Wilderness Society said were in danger are the new Grand Canyon-Parashant National
Monument, the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument in Montana and the ecosystem around the Grand Canyon National Park.
Lisa Atkins, spokeswoman for Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz., whose district includes the Grand Canyon monument, said there are areas
of the strip that need to be protected, but he said the Bureau of Land Management has the flexibility it needs to manage the area
appropriately without monument designation.
Low-flying aircraft are also threatening the ecosystem in the Grand Canyon area, the group said, while snowmobiles threatened
Yellowstone's air, and the forests surrounding Yellowstone are targeted by oil and natural gas exploration.
The Wilderness Society list included the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Book Cliffs in Utah and the White River
National Forest in Colorado.
Utah Republican Reps. Jim Hansen and Chris Cannon have been pushing for adopting less restrictive management rules and
changing the boundaries for the 1.7 million-acre monument.
The environmental group said that would damage the pristine quality of the land.
The Wilderness Society called for 9 million acres of Utah to be protected as wilderness, a figure Cannon said was absurd.
The organization also listed the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana and the adjacent Badger-Two Medicine roadless area, a sacred
site to the Blackfeet Indian tribe. The Front was put off limits to oil and gas exploration during the Clinton administration, but Norton
has said that decision is being reviewed.
In Colorado, the group warned that a management plan for the White River that is being revised could open the area up to energy
exploration, off-road vehicles and ski resort expansion.