Save The Redrock Wilderness!

http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/

It took millions of years to create the delicate sandstone arches and swirling crimson towers that rise over southern Utah's Redrock Wilderness. First, an ancient sea left behind salt deposits; then, the wind began wearing the deposits away until fantastical redrock shapes emerged. Even the fragile soils that ring the towers took thousands of years to adapt to the extreme desert environment. Now, these soils sustain antelope, bighorn sheep and bursts of spring wildflowers.

But it takes only a matter of days to destroy this delicate balance. When the Bush administration allowed 50,000-pound "thumper trucks" to crash through the desert in search of oil and gas in 2002, scientists said up to 300 years might be needed for the soils to recover from the damage. Permanent energy development -- which would deface the desert with a network of roads and pipelines, towering wells and pumps and massive waste pits -- would be even more devastating. And the rapid growth of essentially unmanaged off-road vehicle use also presents an enormous threat to the spectacular national treasures of this region.

Right now the Bush administration wants to escalate oil exploration and other destructive activities in the Redrock Wilderness and other western wildlands by cutting the public out of the review process. Silencing the public's voice would clear the way for more massive thumper trucks (and ultimately oil and gas rigs) to further damage and destroy this region's fragile desert ecosystem and wildlife habitat.

Tell the Bush administration not to weaken protections for the Redrock Wilderness.

TAKE ACTION:
http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=53340