After the previous issue of Watersheds Messenger, WWP received comments from some people about our emphasis on wolves. They wanted to know if we were abandoning our mission to protect watersheds?

It is important for Western Watersheds Project members to understand the relationship between wolves and watersheds. Simply put, if WWP manages watersheds to support wolves, bears and other large mammals, it means we will have healthy plant communities to support the prey base for wolves and vegetation for bears. (Did you know that 97 percent of a bear's diet is plants?)

Healthy plant communities mean a diverse assemblage of grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees, all providing for insects, birds and mammals. They mean healthy streams and riparian areas with clean water, good habitat and fish populations. Large mammals require large areas to survive. Protection of watersheds over these large areas and their connecting links to other habitats is crucial to their survival.

Livestock grazing, clear-cutting, roads, snowmobiles and ORVs are anathema to these values. They are what we are working to diminish in order to protect wildlife such as wolves and the healthy watersheds that support them.

What gets lost in the West's fight over water and worries about drought is the mismanagement of public lands that results in water depletion. Livestock grazing, roads and timber harvest in inappropriate locations are three glaring examples.

Did you know that most of the drinking water in the West is filtered through cow manure before it reaches groundwater aquifers?

During the past few months, WWP has inspected millions of acres of Bureau of Land Management lands in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. We have appealed U.S. Forest Service plan revisions for the Wasatch-Cache and Caribou national forests as well as the Curlew National Grassland, where all semblance of protection from livestock, prescribed fire, logging, roads, snowmobiles and ORVs has been diluted to such an extent that the Forest Service will be able to continue abusive levels of these uses without effective challenge.

The Bush Administration is gutting environmental protections to such an extent that, unless Congress takes action, the public soon will have no voice in management of their public lands.

WWP has contributed its scientific expertise to the Southern Utah Land Restoration Project, which is developing a conservation alternative to the upcoming grazing EIS for 2 million acres of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Our model for determining livestock grazing capacity will be submitted this fall to a peer-reviewed journal.

WWP has surveyed numerous allotments to assist our attorneys with scientific evidence and testimony for our lawsuits in Idaho and Utah. We will be back in the Uinta Wilderness this fall to survey more watersheds and oppose continued sheep grazing of this unique ecosystem.

WWP is conducting research into ecological issues in order to challenge BLM and Forest Service myths and mismanagement with peer-reviewed science. This information is also being used in our court cases and hearings.

John Carter is Utah director of WWP. He lives in Mendon, Utah.