State of the Wild goes unnoticed

In anticipation of President Bush’s State of the Union address tonight, the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for America’s Wilderness has released a State of the Wild report outlining pending and expected wilderness legislation in Congress. The four-page document, detailing laws that would affect more than 2.5 million acres in California and lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Utah’s Red Rock Wilderness and the Wild Sky areas of Washington state, has been distributed to members of Congress, President Bush and the public, said Kathryn Seck, deputy director of communications for the group.

But like the proverbial tree falling in the forest, the document appears to be an unseen phenomenon. “I haven’t heard of it, sir,” said Pete Jeffries, communications director for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

“I have no idea why they wrote this,” said Nicole Andrews, spokeswoman for the Republican-controlled House Committee on Resources. “I’d be surprised if anyone in Congress will read this.”

Lori Ashley, field and outreach coordinator for the Wilderness Institute, a pro-protection group, said she was “not familiar with this document. It would be wonderful if it prompts the president to protect more lands, but I doubt it will.”

Campaign for Wilderness representatives believe the State of the Wild will bring awareness to areas that need more protection.

But critics charge the motive is politics. “This document has nothing to do with protecting public lands,” said Andrews. “It has everything to do with the fact that we are coming up on a campaign season.”

-- Charles Duhigg