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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fritz the Cat" data-source="post: 183657" data-attributes="member: 605">PG said,"Together we can... together we can tell the Sierra Club to take a hike." PSH!!! What power do you think you have sitting in your hidey hole pounding on your keyboard? When was the last time the media asked you for your opinion? The media does ask Wayde Schafer for his opinion and here is what he is saying,<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265478143_Badlands_on_the_Brink_Is_Wilderness_Designation_the_Answer" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265478143_Badlands_on_the_Brink_Is_Wilderness_Designation_the_Answer</a>North Dakota is the seventeenth largest state covering 70,665 sq. miles. We are an agricultural based state grow-ing everything from soybeans, potatoes and sugarbeets in the fertile Red River Valley to wheat and barley in the cen-tral part of the state. Sheep and cattle are in the far west portion of the state. It's the western part of the state that is embroiled in con-troversy. It pits the cattle and petroleum producers against the preservationists. The preservationists want to take 191,000 acres of public North Dakota range land and des-ignate it for wilderness protection. The pro-wilderness groups have written a proposal for these lands called: "Badlands on the Brink". Myself and several other North Dakotans feel this propos-al is not the best idea for these lands. There is the threat of regulations on grazing levels and recreational uses and the oil and gas exploration could be completely aborted. The western part of our state is known for its large ranches and oil production. Even slight limitations on a few acres would be detrimental to these areas and the state. Everyone has an idea of what our state looked like four hundred years ago. I see North Dakota in the past as a flat treeless area, winding rivers, waist high grass and buffalo herds. Today, North Dakota is crisscrossed by roads, grain and oil fields, inhabited by small towns, civilized with power lines and viewed from airplanes. However, there are lands in Western North Dakota that are virtually uninhabited by humans. These lands are grazed by cattle and sheep, hunt-ed, and explored for the earth's riches. These are the lands the preservationists want to designate for wilderness pro-tection. Using National parks for recreation sparked the whole idea of wilderness designation. In 1964 Congress passed the WIlderness Act. The Act establishes a preservation system that is shaped by federally owned lands set aside by Congress as wilderness. These lands will be regulated in a way that will leave them natural and undamaged for future generations. so as to preserve its natural conditions and which 1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work sub-stantially unnoticeable; 2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recre-ation; 3) has at least 5,000 acres or is of sufficient size as to make practical its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition AND 4) may also contain ecologi-cal, geological, or features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical value. Since the establishment of this Act, almost every state has implemented some sort of wilderness system on their Federal Forest Service land. North Dakota is one of three states that has not implemented a wilderness system to date, but there are 191,000 acres being studied for desig-nation. These acres are split into thirteen different units reg-ulated by the Forest Service in a multiple use system. Currently grazing and range improvements are permitted on all thirteen units. According to Wayde Schafer, Chairman of the Teddy Roosevelt Group of the Sierra Club, who is referring to the establishment of the pro-wilderness proposal, "There is nothing to indicate grazing won't contin-ue... there will be some reductions in grazing." Mr. Schafer doesn't go on to say what those reduction will be. He only states "...reasonable regulations designed to protect wilder-ness." It's not clearly stated what is reasonable nor who will decide the reasonability. Another obstacle ranchers face is the limitations placed on grazing levels. They may only be increased if it has no adverse impact on wilderness values. The development and repair of fences may only be done if it is aimed at pro-tecting resources. Probably the largest obstacle ranchers face is the fact that motorized vehicle travel could be stopped. This would greatly complicate a rancher's work.PG, if these orgs get a wilderness designation, I don't believe they will be asking you for your opinion. When they take things to court for what they deem to be "reasonable regulations" they won't be asking anyone for their opinion.</blockquote>

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