Update: Oil Leases in Utah Parklands Canceled

The Obama administration is canceling Bush-era oil drilling leases on more than 130,000 acres near two national parks and other protected areas in Utah. Bush’s Interior Department had planned to auction off the land in December for oil and gas drilling, but the auction was disrupted by activist Tim DeChristopher. The land sale had been slammed as a ‘fire sale’ for the oil and gas industry, and would have placed drilling rigs near treasured national landmarks.

In January, a judge granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Bureau of Land Management from moving forward with the leases after several conservation groups sued to challenge long-term management plans that made the sale of the parcels possible.

From MSNBC:

“In the last weeks in office, the Bush administration rushed ahead to sell oil and gas leases near some of our nation’s most precious landscapes in Utah,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters. ““We need to responsibly develop our oil and gas supplies to help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but we must do so in a thoughtful and balanced way that allows us to protect our signature landscapes and cultural resources.”

“We will take time and a fresh look at these 77 parcels to see if they are appropriate for oil and gas development,” he said, adding that the Bureau of Land Management will return the $6 million in bids from an auction last December.

The 77 leases were for areas near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon, which is sometimes called the world’s longest art gallery for its collection of ancient rock-art panels.

Unsurprisingly, Republicans and the oil industry have responded with claims that the decision will hamper U.S. efforts to reduce reliance on foreign oil. Environmental groups, on the other hand, are thrilled.

Tim DeChristopher isn’t necessarily off the hook – the 27-year-old won $1.7 million in leases despite having no intention to pay, and prosecuters still haven’t decided whether or not to charge him.

This is certainly a victory for conservationists everywhere and for the people of Utah, who can now enjoy the beauty of their state’s national parks without worrying about oil rigs popping up.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Destination 360

New Senate Moves to Increase Wilderness Protection

The United States Senate advanced legislation for the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years in a rare Sunday session. More than 2 million acres in 9 states have been set aside. The bill is a holdover from last year and contains measures sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats, though some Republicans complained about not being able to add amendments to the bill.

From The Huffington Post:

By a 66-12 vote, with only 59 needed to limit debate, lawmakers agreed to clear away procedural hurdles despite partisan wrangling that had threatened pledges by leaders to work cooperatively as the new Obama administration takes office. Senate approval is expected later this week. Supporters hope the House will follow suit.

“Today is a great day for America’s public lands,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. “This big, bipartisan package of bills represents years of work by senators from many states, and both parties, in cooperation with local communities, to enhance places that make America so special.”

The measure _ actually a collection of about 160 bills _ would confer the government’s highest level of protection on land ranging from California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range to Oregon’s Mount Hood, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. Land in Idaho’s Owyhee canyons, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan and Zion National Park in Utah also would be designated as wilderness.

Republicans are also complaining that the bill prevents development of oil and gas on federal lands, which they claim will deepen America’s dependence on foreign oil. No surprise there.

What a great way to for the new Congress to start. Hopefully it will pass in the House and we’ll be on our way to repairing some of the damage done by Bush.

Link [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user OneofThem

Unusual Cluster of Earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park has been experiencing an unusual string of earthquakes lasting three days in a row, from Saturday to Monday. Although such clusters of earthquakes are fairly common in the area due to Yellowstone’s 10,000 geysers and hot springs, scientists say the recent quakes are far more intense than usual.

From LiveScience:

The largest of the earthquakes was a magnitude 3.9 at 10:15 pm MST on Dec. 27, a day after the swarm began. The sequence has included nine events of magnitude 3 to 3.9 and approximately 24 of magnitude 2 to 3 at the time of this release. A total of more than 250 events large enough to be located have occurred in this swarm.

“Scientists cannot identify any causative fault or other feature without further analysis,” according to the statement.

Most of these temblors would not be felt by humans. Earthquakes generally have to exceed magnitude 4.0 to cause light damage.

Scientists wonder if the shaking might presage a larger event. This month’s swarm is the most intense in this area for some years, scientists said. It is centered on the east side of the Yellowstone caldera, a giant basin created in a colossal eruption some 620,000 years ago.

Researchers have been predicting for decades that the Yellowstone super volcano will eventually erupt once more, blanketing more than half the country with up to three feet of ash. Yellowstone remains very geologically active, and though it is being monitored, those same researchers say there isn’t any evidence that an eruption is imminent.

If it were to blow, humanity might not survive. Geologists say an eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano would dwarf those of Mount St. Helens, Krakatoa and others that have occurred during the last few dozen millenia. Due to the effects on global climate, agriculture would be devastated and many people would starve.

It’s just another uneasy reminder of how fragile our place in the world really is.

Link [LiveScience]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Feds Halt Drilling Plans in Some Areas of Utah

The Bush Administration has been all too eager to auction off large swaths of scenic parkland in Utah for drilling by oil and gas companies, but it seems pressure from conservation groups may have gotten to them. Though the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hasn’t said why they’ve pulled certain tracts of land from the auction, they’ve met with a lot of resistance by people angry about the potential for oil rigs spoiling beautiful views.

From MSNBC:

For the second time in a week, the bureau announced late Tuesday that it was pulling auction parcels from an expanded oil-and-gas leasing program in Utah. The latest tracts include land inside Nine Mile Canyon and Desolation Canyon on the Green River.

Together with previous deferrals, the BLM has pulled nearly 100,000 acres from an auction set for Dec. 19, leaving more than 276,000 acres up for bid.

Last week, the BLM pulled drilling leases that were located on and near the borders of Arches National Park, Dinosaur National Monument and Canyonlands National Park, all in Utah.

The auction has been slammed by conservationists as a “fire sale” for the oil and gas industry, especially since it was put together so quickly. The National Park Service in Utah wasn’t even properly notified and was rightfully upset about the possibility of oil rigs setting up so close to natural treasures like the Delicate Arch.

Parcels of land on bluffs overlooking Desolation and Nine Mile Canyons are still up for sale, along with areas populated by big game. An attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance says the BLM’s second reversal in a week just goes to show that this whole thing was a rush job.

Seriously, is it January 20th yet? Agencies like the Bureau of Land Management are about to be forced into making some major changes in the way they operate. Obama’s teams are already swarming government offices to review their current modus operandi. No more blatant favors for the oil and gas industries!

Link [MSBNC]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Fewer People Visiting National Forests

Visits to national forests are way down this year, and have been steadily declining since 2004, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Researchers are trying to determine why, and their guesses so far include high gas prices, rising visitor fees, and less interest in the outdoors as people live increasingly urban, television- and video game-centered lives.

From Oregon Live:

They say the decline is troubling for rural economies that increasingly look to tourism and recreation to replace revenue lost when logging dried up. It also may leave fewer people who champion the value of public lands.

“I think that there is cause for concern,” said Thomas More, a researcher at the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station in Vermont. “There’s some important consequences for rural communities and for people’s chance to get out and enjoy being in the outdoors.”

Visitors to national forests do not seem unhappy: More than 80 percent said they were satisfied with facilities and services at developed sites. The most common activity for forest visitors was viewing natural features, with 51 percent saying that was one of their pursuits.

Only 12 percent said they engaged in more traditional pursuits, such as fishing, and 9 percent hunted.

Stevens said some of the visitation decline may be driven by user fees national forests charge to bring in revenue that pays for recreational facilities. Fee systems in the Pacific Northwest include the $30 annual Northwest Forest Pass, required for parking at certain trailheads, picnic areas and other forest sites.

This isn’t good, especially since national parks need visitors in order to stay open and unspoiled.  I’m not sure how my area, Western North Carolina, compares to other places around the country, but here national forests are major recreation destinations. There are opportunities for fishing, swimming, boating, hiking, camping, skiing, mountain biking, mountain climbing and tons of other fun outdoor activities within a 1-2 hour drive. And, they always seem pretty busy. To stay home and watch TV instead of go out and do these things seems like such a waste.

So, next time you and your friends or family are all sitting around trying to think of something to do with a day off, head out to a national forest. They need your support!

Link [Oregon Live]
Photo credit: Flickr user Bill in Ash Vegas

Bush Administration Departing Proposal Slammed As “Fire Sale” For Oil And Gas Industry

If the Bush Administration has its way, iconic views across the country could be sullied by oil rigs and other machinery owned by oil and gas companies. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has announced a December 19th auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within Arches National Park and two other redrock national parks in Utah – Dinosaur and Canyonlands – in what environmentalists are slamming as a “fire sale” for the industry.

One of the landmarks that could be affected is the Delicate Arch natural bridge in Utah, a scene so treasured it’s on Utah license plates. The top National Park Service official in Utah is justifiably angry about the announcement, given that his agency wasn’t even properly notified, calling the sale “shocking and disturbing”.

From The Huffington Post:

Officials of the BLM, which oversees millions of acres of public land in the West, say the sale is nothing unusual, and one is “puzzled” that the Park Service is upset.

“We find it shocking and disturbing,” said Cordell Roy, the chief Park Service administrator in Utah. “They added 51,000 acres of tracts near Arches, Dinosaur and Canyonlands without telling us about it. That’s 40 tracts within four miles of these parks.”

Top aides to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne stepped into the fray, ordering the sister agencies to make amends. His press secretary, Shane Wolfe, told The Associated Press that deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett “resolved the dispute within 24 hours” last week.

A compromise ordered by the Interior Department requires the BLM to “take quite seriously” the Park Service’s objections, said Wolfe.

However, the BLM didn’t promise to pull any parcels from the sale, and in an interview after the supposed truce, BLM state director Selma Sierra was defiant, saying she saw nothing wrong with drilling near national parks.

Selma Sierra went on to say that there are many parcels leased around parks, and this is nothing new. But Cordell Roy and conservationists have a bone to pick with that statement, saying the bureau has never before put so many drilling parcels directly on the fence lines of national parks. Franklin Seal, a spokesman for the environmental group Wildland CPR, says you can see drill pads on the hillside when standing at Delicate Arch.

It’s obvious enough what this is: Bush’s final gift to the oil and gas industry. They know they won’t be getting this kind of special treatment from Obama, so they’re asking for as many favors as they can get away with before Bush is gone for good. Environmental reform is coming, like it or not!

Link [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Bush Admin Wants To Open Thousands Of Acres Near National Parks For Drilling

In yet another act seemingly bent on cementing the Bush Administration’s reputation as worst ever on the environment, the Bureau of Land Management is giving even more land over to oil and gas companies for drilling. And this time, it will include tens of thousands of acres on or near the boundaries of three national parks.

From The New York Times:

National Park Service officials say that the decision to open lands close to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park was made without the kind of consultation that had previously been routine.

The inclusion of the new lease tracts angered environmental groups, which were already critical of the bureau’s original lease proposal, made public this fall, because they said it could lead to industrial activity in empty areas of the state, some prized for their sweeping vistas, like Desolation Canyon, and others for their ancient petroglyphs, like Nine Mile Canyon.

The bureau’s new maps, made public on Election Day, show not just those empty areas but 40 to 45 new areas where leasing will also be allowed.

Park managers are concerned about how the proximity of industrial activity might affect the air, water and wildlife within the parks. The Park Service was not given time to comment on the leases. The tracts will be sold at auction on December 19th, the final lease sale before Bush leaves office. If any leases are sold that day and delivered to buyers before Inauguration Day, Obama’s new administration may not be able to reverse the decisions.

Bush sure does love oil, doesn’t he? We’ve been so happy about the fact that he is about to leave office, but it seems as if he’s cramming another 4 years of bad decisions into these last few months. Bush is doing all he can to give his buddies in the industry a few last favors before Obama takes over, since Obama will be unlikely to put their needs above those of the environment and the people.  Sickening, but not surprising at all.

Link [The New York Times]

FYI: Wildlife Refuges are the Place to Go for Illicit Hookups

So, the men’s restrooms at your local park are now infested with undercover cops who stick out like a sore thumb, given that they don’t have a leash connecting their junk to a collar around their neck. What do you do? The rest stops aren’t safe anymore. Airport bathrooms are now too conspicuous, thanks to that sellout Senator Craig. Fear not, trollers: you can now have anonymous unprotected sex at wildlife refuges without fear of getting caught. You might have to drill some new glory holes, but it will be totally worth it.

From MSNBC:

America’s wildlife refuges are so short of money that one-third have no staff, boardwalks and buildings are in disrepair, and drug dealers are using them to grow marijuana and make methamphetamine, a group pushing for more funding says.

A decrease in law enforcement has left the refuges vulnerable to criminal activity, including prostitution, torched cars and illegal immigrant camps along the Potomac River in suburban Washington, D.C.; gay sex hookups in South Carolina and Alabama; methamphetamine labs in Nevada; and pot growing operations in Washington state.

This is just what you’ve been hoping for. Not only are wildlife refuges free of cops and large enough to have huge meth-fueled gay sex parties, you can enjoy the scenery as you partake in the debauchery. Aww, look, it’s a cute little chipmunk!

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user Ed_45

EPA: Sit Back, Relax and Breathe in Some Coal Smoke at National Parks

Once again, the EPA is failing in what’s supposed to be their main goal: protecting the environment. You just fell over with surprise, right? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

The EPA will soon be allowing coal-fired power plants to set up shop next to national parks, lowering the protection of these areas from the highest level to “the lowest possible degree of protection” against spikes in pollution. The proposed changes would act to hide pollution from regulators, according to Mark Wenzler, clean air director of the National Parks Conservation Association.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Despite blunt internal criticism by its own staff experts, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proceeding with a plan by year’s end to revise regulations under the Clean Air Act that currently safeguard areas with some of the nation’s cleanest air.

Across the United States, 156 national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges have been designated by Congress as Class-1 areas, granting them the toughest legal protection.

Officially, the EPA says it is proposing “refinements” to regulations that measure Class-1 air-quality standards.

But federal air-quality experts at the EPA and the National Park Service say the planned changes would be a backward step for air quality.

Naturally, what we all want when visiting national parks is to choke down black smoke and have formerly beautiful views obscured. Because, we aren’t there to enjoy the meager tracts of somewhat-untouched land that are left in America – no, we’re there to be poisoned and polluted.

Link [Christian Science Monitor] via [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Flickr user OneofThem

Nature Deficit Disorder in the UK: 25 Percent of British 10-Year-Olds Never Play Outside by Themselves

I used to work in various national parks. One thing we hated was the tourist kids, the Prisoners of the Backseat. Whining, mewling, shrieking, occasionally vomiting–we thought they were remarkably bad-smelling little hominids. Sticky, too, should one happen to touch you. Yuck. We considered them beneath our notice, and were most pleased when they never left the backseat.

It was only quite some time later that I came to see the error in my thinking. But now, I’m not alone in that. People are beginning to notice that kids nowadays don’t get out much; in fact, I took the title of this entry from an entire book on the phenomenon (Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv). We covered the issue in EarthFirst here. It pops up all over now, as in this story from Great Britain that we found in the Daily Mail:

[A] quarter of all children between eight and 10 have never played outside without adult supervision.

Ministers are concerned that children now have fewer opportunities than ever to play outdoors thanks to over-zealous health and safety crackdowns and a “no ball games here” culture….

Research has found that the average age at which children are allowed outside without adult supervision has risen from around seven years in the 1960s and 70s to just over eight years now.

One in three parents will not even allow older children, aged eight to 17, to play outside the house or garden.

It’s not clear what effect this is all going to have on a child’s brain. One can only speculate. But I understand now that those vile kids in the backseat, the ones we used to curse, were the future of the national parks. In the coming years, if they don’t care about the parks, no one else will. I hope someone occasionally opened up the car door and let them out.

Link: [The Daily Mail]