WASHINGTON May 25 -- The Wilderness Society (TWS)-the leading national organization focused on the protection of U.S. public lands-published its annual report of the "15 Most Endangered Wildlands" today and identified the White River National Forest as one of the nation's 15 most endangered wildlands.

The White River NF is currently redoing its management plan that will determine how its 2.2 million acres will be managed for the next 15-years. At stake is up to 300,000 acres that the Forest Service has found eligible for addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS), wild lands surrounding 12 ski resorts, the integrity of wildlife habitats and quality of experience for nonmotorized recreationists in the backcountry, and the ecological health of the forest.

Across Colorado's Western Slope, thousands of acres are lost each year to real estate development, which sprawls across valley floors up to national forest boundaries. In addition, with Colorado's booming population and growing recreation pressure, the White River NF is at risk of becoming nothing more than a glorified outdoor theme park, with a myriad of major four-season resorts connected by a spaghetti network of roads and trails.

"At stake here is more than just the unique and spectacular lands of the White River National Forest," said Michael Francis, TWS director of National Forest. "A Forest Service failure to recommend additional wilderness protections here or a retreat from its reasonable proposals to more responsibly manage unchecked and environmentally damaging recreation, will set back national forest management across the country."

The Wilderness Society's 2000 "15 Most Endangered Wild Lands" report reveals environmental threats are on the rise across our nation's precious wild lands. Each wild land highlighted in the report has unique and distinct characteristics, but the threats they each face are sadly similar. The misuse of dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles (ORVs) is one of the fastest growing threats.

The Forest Service has taken a careful look at the effects of motorized routes and ORV use in the White River National Forest, and has designed a plan to manage them within the natural limits of the forest. Specifically, the agency proposes to limit all non-winter motorized and mechanized recreation to designated routes, and to close unnecessary or environmentally damaging routes. It also proposes modest restrictions on snowmobile use to create some "quiet use" areas for backcountry skiers and snowshoers outside of designated wilderness.

"Other agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and other national forests are watching to see if the White River National Forest will back down under pressure or become a pioneer in bringing ORVs under control," said Suzanne Jones, assistant regional director of TWS Denver office. "The era when a person could go churning across the landscape ripping their own trail without regard for wildlife or other recreationists should have ended long ago."

For each of the 15 wildlands listed in the report, The Wilderness Society recognized a "voice of the land," someone who cares about these special places and finds particular inspiration from them. The White River voice is Dorothea Farris, she is currently a commissioner for Pitkin County in Central Colorado and has spent a lifetime advocating for the environment.

Other significant environmental problems listed in the report are logging, grazing, water diversion, invasive weeds, mining, mismanaged recreation, noise pollution, oil and gas development, and road building. In addition to the White River National Forest 14 other wildlands were identified in the report---Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (AK); Copper River Delta (AK); Denali National Park and Preserve (AK); Grand Canyon National Park (AZ); Sonoran Desert (AZ); Sierra Nevada (CA); Klamath Basin (CA/OR); Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (ID/OR); Maine's North Woods (ME); Little Missouri National Grasslands (ND); Utah Wilderness (UT); High Knob, Jefferson National Forest (VA); Cascade Crest (WA); and Greater Yellowstone (WY/MT/ID).

The "15 Most Endangered Wildlands Report" also contains a "watch list" of locations that TWS believes deserve special attention, the Medicine Bow and Routt National Forests were among seven wild places identified. The Medicine Bow and Routt National Forests were listed as one the 15 critical sites in TWS 1998 and 1999 report. These two forests have suffered extensive environmental damage due to past management practices, including expansive clearcuts and road construction to support industrial timber harvest. This legacy has threatened ecological sustainability, critical wildlife habitat and roadless areas, as well as the connectivity between the two forests across the Colorado-Wyoming border.

The other six sites on the "watch list" are: Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (AK); Mojave (CA); The Everglades (FL); Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (GA/FL); Owyhee Canyonlands (ID); and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (MN).

Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to preserve America's wilderness and to develop a network of wildlands through public education, scientific analysis and advocacy. Our goal is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air and water, wildlife, natural beauty, opportunities for recreation and spiritual renewal that protected forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide.

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