UNICOI, Tenn. – More than 7,000 acres of some of Tennessee's pristine wilderness is offered protection in legislation introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee.

The Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2016 would expand the existing wilderness areas in Carter, Johnson, Washington and Unicoi counties in Northeast Tennessee.

If passed, wildlife habitat, recreation and clean drinking water would be protected.

Laura Hodge, campaign coordinator for the Tennessee Wild Coalition, says whether you live near the land or not, the protection would have a positive impact on the entire state.

"We all live downstream,” she points out. “Without protection of these critical watersheds, we don't have clean drinking water, animals don't have clean water to live and thrive in and outdoor recreation is such an important part of Tennessee and these particular areas."

Similar legislation has been introduced four times over the last eight years in the U.S. Senate, but ultimately did not pass.

Opponents express concern over federal control of local lands.

Wilderness status would not change public access to the land, which would remain open to hunting, hiking, camping, fishing and other non-mechanized recreation.

The Outdoor Industry Association estimates recreation generates more than $8 billion in consumer spending annually and creates 83,000 jobs in Tennessee.

The designation would expand existing wilderness areas in Sampson Mountain and Big Laurel Branch.

Jeff Wadley lives near the land in Kingsport that would be protected and says the legislation recognizes a priority often sung about in a Tennessee state song – “Rocky Top.”

"The song 'Rocky Top,' the words indicate that people are tired of the ‘cramped up city life,’ stuck ‘like a duck in a pen,'” Wadley relates. “And being in the wilderness is a place for people to escape from the city and find solace for their soul."

Hodge says the time to act is now when it comes to protecting the land that currently sits as a tempting option for developers who might not maintain public access or protect resources.

"There's no way to bring it back,” she stresses. “Once these areas are gone, they're gone forever and that's why it's so important.

“Wilderness designation protects these areas forever. It's the highest level of protection that land can have. It takes an act of Congress to make it happen and that's why we're so thrilled that Congressman Roe has been a champion of this bill from the very beginning. "

Granting the land wilderness status would not create additional costs to state, local or tribal governments.





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The Bureau of Land Management recently released its final Public Lands Rule, which is set to put conservation on equal footing with other multiple uses taking place on public lands.

The state of Utah has come out in opposition, pointing to the impact it could have on the almost 23 million acres of BLM land in Utah.

Redge Johnson, director of the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, said the state supports conservation efforts but called the rule a "solution looking for a problem."

"What we have already put into conservation designations and then what you have for the acts that promote the conservation of the lands, why do you need to level that playing field?" Johnson questioned. "The playing field has more than leveled over the past 40, 50 years with the passage of all these acts."

Johnson contended Utah's lands and wildlife will suffer as a result of the rule and added it'll make mining critical metals used for batteries even more difficult. He and others, like Gov. Spencer Cox, called on the BLM to immediately withdraw the rule and work with stakeholders on more practical solutions.

Conservationists see the rule as a big win for restoring and sustaining public lands for future generations.

Johnson described Utah's public lands a "fire dependent ecosystem," adding fuel loads have accumulated drastically due to over a century's worth of fire suppression. He argued the rule will make executing and continuing vegetation management projects more difficult, including reducing the threats posed by fuel loads.

"One of the biggest contributors we have to carbon dioxide right now are wildfires, at least in the West," Johnson asserted. "Transportation, all the others, yes absolutely. But wildfires are a huge contributing factor to that. One of the best things we could do is reduce the fuel loads on some of these areas to reduce the fire risk and this rule puts that at risk."

The rule also creates the frameworks for "restoration and mitigation leases," which will allow groups to restore public lands or to offset the effects of a particular use. Johnson argued the leases will leave too many loopholes but the BLM said they will not "disturb existing authorizations."


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Conservation groups are rejoicing over the decision Friday by the Biden administration to reject a proposed mining road in Alaska.

The 211-mile Ambler Road would have sliced through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, severing the migration route for a Western Arctic Caribou herd.

Alex Johnson, interior Alaska director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said it was important for the feds to take a stand in Alaska so mining interests do not start eyeing other national parks.

"This is a very expensive, destructive and just highly speculative project that does not in any way support our clean energy goals as a country," Johnson contended. "And ultimately would permanently threaten the health and well-being of local communities and the tribes."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski slammed the decision, warning it could limit jobs and tax revenues for Alaska by preventing exploration for minerals she said are important to national security, like copper, cobalt, gallium and germanium.

Jayme Dittmar, a photographer and filmmaker from Fairbanks, said the road would have been very disruptive to the 66 Native American villages along the proposed route.

"That'd be 168 trucks passing through close vicinity to the villages," Dittmar pointed out. "There would be hundreds of bridges built. It would dismantle a subsistence livelihood that's been in place for thousands and thousands of years."

The road was seen as a negative for tourism to the Brooks Range area. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, Californians make up 9% of visitors to Alaska.

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part of public lands management.

The agency's new rule puts protecting the environment on par with other land-use priorities.

Scott Garlid, executive director of the Arizona Wildlife Federation, said historically the BLM has done what he termed a "pretty good job," not only managing about 12 million acres of public lands in Arizona, but also protecting natural resources.

"They've got a tough job," Garlid acknowledged. "I think this rule helps make their job a little bit easier because it gives them some tools to balance those different demands on the 12 million acres that they manage."

Garlid predicted the rule will raise what he terms "harder-to-quantify conservation values" to the same level of importance as more extractive land uses like oil and gas exploration and mining. He thinks most Arizonans will recognize the new rule as a positive. A solid majority of Arizona voters across party lines say they are conservationists and use public lands for recreation.

To Garlid, the rule makes it clear the BLM is recognizing certain parts of federal lands, in Arizona and around the West, have been degraded. He contended restoration leases will be a good tool, allowing the BLM to lease acres to groups specifically to improve the conditions on a given landscape. He noted opponents of the new rule might see the leases as a way to "lock up" land but he argued it is not true.

"One example could be a nonprofit, like the Arizona Wildlife Federation," Garlid pointed out. "We could get a conservation lease from the Bureau of Land Management to do riparian restoration work, or work to remove invasive species along a creek bank."

According to the BLM, while a restoration or mitigation lease is in place, casual uses of the leased lands like recreation, hunting, fishing and research activities would generally continue.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.