WWP has a new board member and has new victories in AZ & ID

Online Messenger #218

(view with pictures, as displayed in Email)

An Exceptional New Board Member for Western Watersheds Project

Friends,

Western Watersheds Project is very pleased to announce that George Wuerthner of Helena, Montana has accepted an invitation to join the WWP Board of Directors. Western Watersheds Project has relied on George's advice and support for many years as a member of WWP's Advisory Board and we look forward to having his advice and participation on the Board of Directors.

Aside from being an inspiration to many of us at WWP, George Wuerthner is the author of 33 books and is a renowned photographer and writer. He was the co-editor of Welfare Ranching, the Subsidized Destruction of the American West. George's multi-decade commitment to protecting and restoring the American West in unequaled.

Welcome George ! Be sure to check out George's web site here:

http://www.wuerthnerphotography.com/

Western Watersheds Project Wins A Stay On a Damaging Water Project Near Safford Arizona

On December 5, 2011 Western Watersheds Project won a stay of a Bureau of Land Managment (BLM) decision to drill a well in the Twin C allotment without analyzing its impact to Gila River flows. The well threatens to negatively affect the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area near Safford, Arizona !

What is particularly egregious about BLM's decision was its failure to notify the public. Western Watersheds Project deputy director Greta Anderson only became aware of the decision after receiving a response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The BLM was obligated by law to inform WWP of this project long before any decision was finalized and did not do so.

Read the Decision

Western Watersheds Project Wins a Withdrawal of Three Grazing Decisions On 170,000 Acres of the Fairfield Ranger District of the Sawtooth National Forest

The Fairfield Ranger District of the Satooth National Forest has withdrawn for "further analysis and consideration" three livestock grazing decisions reauthorizing status quo levels of use on the Willow Creek, Wardrop, and Soldier Creek allotments located in central Idaho.

The Sawtooth National Forest's withdrawl of these decisions follows Western Watersheds Project's appeal of the Forest Services failure to adequately analyze and remedy decades of livestock grazing's brutal impact on this remarkable landscape.

WWP will continue our efforts to encourage the Fairfield Ranger District to dramatically reduce livestock use on the allotments in order to restore the unique wildlife and recreational opportunities on the District.

Jon Marvel
Executive Director