FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kirk Koepsel
January 18, 2000 (307) 672-0425
CITIZENS SPEAK UP FOR GRASSLANDS PROTECTION
CASPER - The Sierra Club and Predator Conservation Alliance delivered approximately 10,000 public comments to the U.S. Forest Service today. The comments were on the Draft Grasslands Management Plan, which was released in July of last year and which the public comment period closes February 3rd.
This plan will determine how National Grasslands in a four-state area including Wyoming are managed for the next 10-15 years. Northeast Wyoming contains the 553,000-acre Thunder Basin National Grassland.
"These comments are the result of the public taking a real interest in prairie protection," said Kirk Koepsel, Regional Representative for the Sierra Club. "When asked how they would like the National Grasslands managed, people overwhelmingly support the protection of the remaining wildlands for our families and our future."
Among the chief areas of concern by the public were protecting and enhancing wildlife on the National Grasslands.
"The National Grasslands contain habitat for such important species as black-footed ferrets, bison, elk, prairie dogs, and bighorn sheep," stated Jonathan Proctor, Prairie Grassland Coordinator for the Predator Conservation Alliance. "The public is demanding that the Forest Service take the protection of wildlife habitat seriously. The draft plan is very inadequate in this area."
"Wilderness areas and protecting recreational opportunities figured prominently in the public's concerns about the plan," stated Koepsel. "The Forest Service, however, did not provide for much in this area."
The Forest Service plan recommends only 53,000 acres for wilderness designation out of the 574,000 acres which qualify in the four state region, and only one of the recommended areas, Cow Creek Buttes, is located in Wyoming.
Besides asking the Forest Service to protect more grasslands wilderness, the comments call for proving more hiking and horseback trails and designating sensitive lands off-limits to oil and gas development.
The Sierra Club is a national conservation organization with 600,000 members nationwide and with a very active chapter in Wyoming. The Predator Conservation Alliance, a regional based organization with 1200 members, works to conserve and restore predators and their habitat to the Northern Rockies and High Plains.
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