Hello my name is Jason Gablaski. I am a seasonal ranger whose work has brought me all over this great country. Being a park ranger is more than just a job to me. Protecting America's most iconic and wild places is my life. I have learned in my work and travels that there are many iconic parks waiting for wilderness designation. Some for over 40 years. Practically sense the passing of the Wilderness Act of 1964. I have gone to DC and had meetings with MA Senator Elizabeth Warren's Office (while dropping info. off at the other Senator's Offices), and I plan to go back. I would like to go back to all of the Senator's offices listed below with an army of signatures in the form of a petition, to convince them of sponsoring this bill. This is our first step in adding further designation and protection to some of the wild backcountry of the United States of America's National Parks. After all they are our best idea.

The purpose of this petition is to get any of the following US Senators to sponsor the National Park System Wilderness Expansion Act:

MA Senator Elizabeth Warren (D)

OR Senator Ron Wyden (D)

AL Senator Jefferson Sessions (R)

VT Senator Bernie Sanders (I)

NM Senator Martin Heinrich (D)

This bill would designate and expand wilderness throughout the United States National Park System. It would designate over 22 million acres of wilderness across the country within many National Park Units. Federally Designated Wilderness is the highest form of protection that the US Government can give to the most pristine places in the United States. Many places have already been designated, but much of the backcountry within National Park Service lands have been waiting for 30+ years as eligible. It's time for us to change that and make America's most cherished lands have the highest form of protection and the status they deserve. The following National Park Units listed below are the places that the National Park Service has found eligible and are in the bill. (Note: the numbers are acres of wilderness that would be designated within each individual unit)

Designate New Wilderness within the following National Park Units:

1. Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve (590,272)

2. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (2,690,179)

3. Cape Krusenstern National Monument (623,490)

4. El Malpais National Monument (97,428)

5. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (637,810)

6. Grand Canyon National Park (980,088)

7. Kenai Fjords National Park (569,000)

8. Voyageurs National Park (91,635)

9. Yellowstone National Park (2,022,221)

10. Arches National Park (73,310)

11. Big Bend National Park (609,431)

12. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (8,108)

13. Bryce Canyon National Park (20,810)

14. Canyonlands National Park (278,420)

15. Cape Lookout National Seashore (2,992)

16. Capitol Reef National Park (183,865)

17. Cedar Breaks National Monument (4,830)

18. Colorado National Monument (14,779)

19. Crater Lake National Park (127,058)

20. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (14,091)

21. Dinosaur National Monument (210,727)

22. Glacier National Park (930,910)

23. Grand Teton National Park (161,502)

24. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (390,500)

25. Big Cypress National Preserve (71,263)

26. John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway (21,500)

27. Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve (1,815,370)

28. Assateague Island National Seashore (4,034)

Total: 13,245,623 acres

Expand Wilderness Designation within the following National Park Units:

1. Denali National Park & Preserve (3,726,233)

2. Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve (1,019,279)

3. Kobuk Valley National Park (1,557,067)

4. Lake Clark National Park (1,240,280)

5. Noatak National Preserve (759,000)

6. Katmai National Park & Preserve (626,000)

7. Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve (46,000)

8. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (All lands above 8,000 ft within the Mineral King Unit)

Total: 8,973,859 acres 

Grand Total: 22,219,482 acres

 

Thank you for showing your support and for being a Defender of Wilderness! 

For more information, maps, and photos about the eligible wilderness areas go to the Defenders of Wilderness Facebook Page! 

https://www.facebook.com/defendersofwilderness