Paving Wilderness: Peril in Utah’s Book Cliffs

Ruedigar Matthes — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:20:43 +0000

Utah’s Book Cliffs exist as one of the largest expanses of land in the lower 48 states without a paved highway. The BLM, however, is considering a project that would change that. Uintah County’s Seep Ridge Road Paving Project proposes paving over an existing road, which would allow greater recreational (and other, including hunting and oil and gas exploration) access. The proposal states that:

“the road is currently composed of dirt or native material and several segments of the existing road do not meet current federal and state road design standards for public safety. All projections indicate a continued substantial increase in light and heavy vehicle traffic on the road, primarily associated with energy development in the Book Cliffs area.” (UT-080-08-0238 section 1.2)

That Old Wilderness Magic Is Still Alive

Jim DiPeso — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:40:32 +0000

This is a guest post by Jim DiPeso, policy director of Republicans for Environmental Protection

That old wilderness magic was in the air in Seattle a few nights ago.

Republicans and Democrats, business leaders and environmentalists, hunters and vegetarians gathered at an outdoor retailer to celebrate the Wild Sky Wilderness in the north Cascades. Earlier this year, legislation designating the 106,000-acre Wild Sky was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed into law by a Republican president.

Just as the authors of the Wilderness Act intended, protecting the Wild Sky Wilderness was a great American cause beyond the dividing lines that crisscross American society.

Green Options » wilderness act

Paving Wilderness: Peril in Utah’s Book Cliffs

That Old Wilderness Magic Is Still Alive