Protect the Hidden Treasures of the American West
The National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) was created to protect the West's hidden treasures. |
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, UT. Photo by Ray Mathis.
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But in its first five years of existence, the NLCS has suffered from lack of vision, lack of funding, and lack of staff.
As a result, these wild and historic places remain protected only on paper.
At a time when the Department of the Interior should be putting resources into exploring the many wonders of this new system, instead, it's pouring money into leasing western lands for oil and gas development.
Please sign The Wilderness Society's petition below to demand that Interior Secretary Norton make conservation the top priority for the NLCS. Then do one thing more -- sign up for WildAlert, The Wilderness Society's online community that regularly takes action to save America's wilderness and wildlife.
Dear Secretary Norton,
The National Landscape Conservation System is a remarkable achievement. Its 5th anniversary is an opportunity for you to make history by ensuring that, from its earliest stages, it is well managed. To do that, I urge you to make the System and its protection a top priority for your administration by doing the following:
Work with the President and Congress to fully fund critical conservation needs in the National Landscape Conservation System, cultural site research and protection, water quality and species monitoring, road closures and restoration, and law enforcement staff. Promote the System's special values--wildness, species, opportunities for primitive recreation and scientific research--within the BLM as well as with the public. Support partnerships that fill gaps in our knowledge of cultural resources through systematic inventories of archeological sites, including monitoring, and stabilization of sites at risk.
[YOUR COMMENT HERE]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
