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Trump administration begins sweeping layoffs with probationary workers, warns of larger cuts to come; NYC music school teachers strike after union negotiations break down; Ohio advocates push for inclusive policies during Black History Month; Health experts recommend sunshine, socializing to cure 'winter blues.'

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Federal workers tasked with securing elections from foreign interference are placed on leave, parents' organizations reject dismantling Dept. of Education, and the Congressional Black Caucus presses discussions on slavery reparations.

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Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation, and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

A New Push to Overturn Bush-era Wilderness Rule

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009   

DURANGO, Colo. - The conservation community is counting on Ken Salazar, the native Coloradan heading the Interior Department, to reverse a ruling by his predecessor. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) used to be able to set aside land in Colorado and elsewhere as "Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs)" to be protected from development until Congress could decide whether to permanently designate all or part of it as federal wilderness. That WSA determination process was halted by Bush administration Interior Secretary Gail Norton, but Salazar could reinstate it.

Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness, Durango, believes the WSA process provides important interim protection for sensitive areas.

"The BLM should take a look at these lands, determine which ones qualify and then protect them until Congress has a chance to act."

Opponents of the policy say it would take more land out of development for natural resources like oil and gas. Matz points out that the BLM manages about 260 million acres of public land, but only a small amount is protected as wilderness.

"Right now, only a little bit over three percent of BLM's vast holdings are included in the National Wilderness Preservation System."

Colorado currently has 53 Wilderness Study areas, and Matz says lots more wild country could be protected.

"We have many canyons, buttes and mesas, and important wildlife habitat for bighorn sheep or pronghorn, as well as a repository of ancient Anasazi sites."

Matz hopes that, once the Interior Department is fully staffed, it will reinstate the WSA policy. He says up to 9 million acres of land in Utah alone could qualify as Wilderness Study Areas, with easily four to five times that much in Alaska.





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