An Astonishing Land

In the Jack Morrow Hills, a person can climb to the top of ancient volcanic buttes and look out into the horizon across a wide-open landscape, watch a bull elk bugle to potential mates, or catch a glimpse of a ferruginous hawk - a rare bird of prey declining throughout most of the west. A person can explore pristine rainbow-colored badlands for days, walk across giant and continuously shifting sand dunes, or view petroglyphs carved into rock centuries ago. Unfortunately, the BLM is working to industrialize this incredible desert land and change it forever.

The BLM Has Proposed a Slow Death for the Jack Morrow Hills

The agency, under the anti-environmental Bush administration, is pushing to bring hundreds of new oil, gas, and coalbed methane wells into this spectacular area, along with the associated spiderweb of roads, pipelines, powerlines, and compressor stations. Making matters worse, the BLM is refusing to consider the trade or buyout of mineral leases in the area and is ignoring citizens' proposals to create or expand wilderness study areas.

Even if every acre of the Jack Morrow Hills were drilled and all technically recoverable oil and gas deposits were developed, well beyond the scope of this plan, the nation would be supplied with only 9 weeks of natural gas and 39 minutes of oil. The slow death of the Jack Morrow Hills for a few weeks of energy is simply not worth it!

Please Protect the Jack Morrow Hills, for Future Generations and for Today!

Already, thousands of people have spoken out to save this astonishing place. But thousands more are needed to overcome the powerful anti-environmental pressure coming from Washington D.C. We can protect the Jack Morrow Hills. But it will require everyone's help. Even though the BLM's public comment period has ended, we can still save this place by asking other government officials to conserve the wildlands and wildlife of the Jack Morrow Hills.

Wyoming citizens, please write to:

Governor Dave Freudenthal
Governor's Office
State Capitol, Room 124
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Phone: (307) 777-7434
Governor@state.wy.us

And

Senator Craig Thomas
U.S. Senate
307 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
senator@thomas.senate.gov

U.S. and world citizens, please write to:

BLM Director, Bob Bennett Bob_Bennett@blm.gov

And

Gale Norton
Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
Gale_Norton@ios.doi.gov

Tell these officials that the Red Desert is an important part of our Wyoming's heritage and should be given the strongest protection possible.

Tell them to support the Wildlife and Wildlands Alternative for the Jack Morrow Hills. This balanced alternative is the best plan for protecting the natural beauty and ecological integrity of the Red Desert. It would:

1. Call for the trade or buy-out of mineral leases in the area, while prohibiting all new oil and gas leasing and large-scale mining,
2. Restore and protect wildlife habitat damaged by roads and pipelines,
3. Prevent new roads and developments in roadless areas, increase the size of some Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), establish new WSAs for lands identified as wilderness-quality by citizen's inventories, and recommend that all deserving WSAs and wildlands be designated as wilderness by Congress
4. Give priority to the restoration and protection of air and water quality.
5. Ensure the long-term survival of the Red Desert elk and pronghorn antelope herds and other wildlife populations,
6. Allow for responsible recreation, hunting, off-road vehicle use, grazing and continued access via existing, designated roads,
7. Protect culturally significant areas revered by Native Americans.
8. Provide increased protection for nationally significant trails like the Pony Express Trail and the Oregon Pioneer Trail.

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