Gains In 1997

Public lands

The Wilderness Society has made a list of beneficial actions for public lands that occurred in 1997. Among them:

More protection for national wildlife refuges was assured as Congress passed a law to help prevent degradation from military exercises, water scooters, livestock grazing and pesticides.

Significant reductions in traffic in Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Zion National parks are underway because of a public transportation agreement signed by the National Park Service and the Department of Transportation.

A ban on oil and gas development on 70 miles of the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana was announced by the Lewis and Clark National Forest.

The federal government, not the state of Alaska, owns the lands below the lagoons and intertidal areas along the 150-mile coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Supreme Court ruled. The decision ends an 18-year legal fight and gives more assurance that the ecological integrity of the refuge won’t be compromised by oil drilling.

Congress increased funding for public lands, including a 23 percent increase for the national wildlife refuges and 6 percent increases for national parks and national forests.

Timber sales in sensitive areas were canceled, including the Fern Star sale in the Mallard-Larkins roadless area of North Idaho.