July 20, 2001
Contact: Erik Molvar or Jeff Kessler (307) 742-7978

Laramie, WY--Conservation groups seeking protection of roadless lands in Wyoming recently submitted to the Bureau of Land Management exhaustive land inventory results for Adobe Town and several other large roadless areas in Wyoming's Red Desert. The groups requested expanded interim protection for the wild areas. This inventory represents the first ever comprehensive tally of vehicle routes and wilderness qualities ever compiled. "Wyoming is known for its wide open spaces," said Jeff Kessler of Biodiversity Associates. "Under the Bush energy plan, we stand to lose them."

Adobe Town covers almost 200,000 acres of wild and pristine country, a spectacular landscape of jagged rims, fascinating spires and hoodoos, and windswept desert. A little under half of the area has been under interim protection as a "Wilderness Study Area." It is home to herds of wild horses, burrowing owls, and many other rare and sensitive plants and animals. The Park Service evaluated this area in the 1970s and concluded that it was a landscape of National Park quality. Other inventoried areas are within the Red Desert's controversial Jack Morrow Hills area. These areas have recently been proposed by conservation groups as a "National Conservation Area."

Biodiversity Associates of Laramie, Wyoming, conducted the on-the ground inventory with the support of The Wilderness Society, Wyoming Outdoor Council, and The Sierra Club. The group recently delivered to the BLM over 950 pages of documentation, detailed maps, and thousands of photographs that document every human imprint on these wildlands. The ongoing inventory will tackle other roadless areas as the summer progresses.

Federal regulations require the BLM to take a new look at potential wilderness whenever the agency receives evidence of lands that qualify for Wilderness status. The new documents brought forward by conservation groups may lead to additional Wilderness Study Areas in the Red Desert, protecting them from oil and gas drilling.

In a letter asking the BLM to protect additional Red Desert lands, the conservation groups pointed out that past agency recommendations were based on human imprints that have long since faded with time, and that in its original inventory the agency wrongfully disqualified wilderness lands from consideration when protection conflicted with potential oil and gas drilling. "The original survey work behind the BLM's wilderness effort in the '70s was sloppy and biased," notes Erik Molvar, who is coordinating the Roadless inventory for Biodiversity Associates of Laramie, Wyoming. "BLM's original inventories typically did not address all of the imprints in a given area, and had a few dozen photographs as evidence. Our inventories have hundreds of photographs." Molvar went on to state that, "Many lands that should have been wilderness slipped through the cracks. With the new information we have provided, the BLM can, for the first time, make an informed decision on wilderness issues."

Adobe Town is at the center of the storm over President Bush's controversial energy policy. The BLM currently is evaluating a controversial oil and gas exploration project within The Haystacks, an unprotected roadless area that is part of the conservation groups' wilderness proposal for Adobe Town. In a move that alarmed conservation groups, the BLM has tried to limit public access to information on this new project, called the Veritas Haystacks Seismic Project. If allowed to go forward, the project would impact over 50 square miles of wild country. Wyoming's conservation community hopes that the new inventory will compel the BLM to protect the Red Desert's landscapes from industrial developments like this one.

Of the 18 million acres of BLM land in Wyoming, the BLM has recommended only 1.5% for wilderness status. Citizens' groups are pushing for this number to be increase. "For years, the BLM has emphasized industrial exploitation on all of its lands," stated Mac Blewer of Wyoming Outdoor Council. "By setting aside just 6% of the pristine landscapes in the Red Desert for Americans to enjoy, the BLM can restore some balance to land management in Wyoming."

By designating new Wilderness Study Areas in the Red Desert, the BLM would guarantee that these areas will remain wild until Congress can decide whether or not to officially make them wilderness. "This new survey gives us the information we need to protect these irreplaceable lands from the ravages of industry," stated Bart Koehler of the Wilderness Society. "We need to save these wild places for future generations. Once the oil industry thunders across the landscape, the wilderness is gone forever."

View photos of Adobetown WSA and Jack Morrow Hills