Please send a message to President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking them to defend Utah's magnificent redrock wilderness and other landscapes in the West from off-road vehicle abuse, vandalism to archaeological sites, and the drilling of new oil and gas wells until Congress can protect these landscapes permanently under the Wilderness Act.

In 2003 Bush Interior Secretary Gale Norton struck a deal prohibiting the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from protecting lands that qualify as wilderness. This "No More Wilderness" settlement opened the door for the BLM to essentially give away wilderness-caliber public lands to the oil and gas industry and motorized users in places the BLM itself recognizes as wilderness-quality. This includes 6 million acres in Utah; 650,000 acres in Colorado; over 5.5 million acres in Arizona and over 2 million acres in New Mexico.

The Obama administration has the authority to ensure these places retain their wilderness character by rejecting the "No More Wilderness" settlement and designating new wilderness study areas (WSAs) that will provide interim protection to these spectacular landscapes while Congress works on legislation.