Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton
Office of the Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240

RE: Reverse Utah settlement!

Dear Secretary Norton,

I am outraged at your recent settlement with the state of Utah in which you agreed to surrender the Bureau of Land Management's authority to inventory, evaluate and protect wilderness-quality lands under the agency's jurisdiction.

In 1976, Congress recognized that BLM-managed lands include some of our nation's wildest, most unspoiled in the nation, and that these lands merited congressional designation as permanently protected wilderness. During every administration since then, the agency has reviewed wilderness-quality lands under its jurisdiction and considered protecting them during its inventory and land use planning processes. Your back-room deal with the state of Utah abdicates this responsibility, and undermines Congress' (and the public's) ability to secure permanent protection for millions of acres of western wildlands, including at least six million acres of fragile Redrock canyonlands.

These lands belong to the American public, and I expect you and your agency, as the chief stewards of our nation's natural heritage, to insure their protection for the benefit of present and future generations. Instead you have chosen to simply toss aside your legal responsibilities, and leave these lands vulnerable to more drilling, mining and road construction.

I urge you to reverse your decision and rescind the Utah settlement immediately.

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