As the Sun Sets on the Red Desert...

by Mac Blewer

The tension was tangible. Happiness, excitement and joy were written on most faces, but some looked worried and angry. More than 200 citizens had come from all corners of Wyoming to fill this room. Reporters, politicians, tribal leaders, conservation activists, ranchers and hunters, all here to meet Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and hear what he had to say about the Red Desert.

On the morning of November 15, the Secretary toured the South Pass area, accompanied by WOC Founder Tom Bell, Eastern Shoshone tribal member Wes Martel and others. During the tour, Tom and Secretary Babbitt chatted like old friends.

"The problem, Bruce, is that Wyoming is 'open for business,'" Tom said as we passed the long-abandoned Atlantic City U.S. Steel Mine. "But for what sort of business?" Secretary Babbitt nodded in agreement.

The press conference in Lander opened with a peaceful prayer by Arapaho tribal elder Burton Hutchinson, followed by eloquent remarks by Tom Bell, Wes Martel, Wilderness Society President Bill Meadows and Wyoming Rep. Kenilynn Zanetti (D-Rock Springs).

"We are lucky to be from this part of the world," said Wes. "The Red Desert grabs your soul and captures your heart.…Yes we need jobs and dollars. But we also need to protect what we have: the plants, the trees, the winged ones....They possess life. They are our relatives. We have to protect our relatives and the water of life. If we don't protect our land and our resources, what will the children have?"

Secretary Babbitt was no less engaging.

"Today, I am not here to make any designations or to sign any paper," he told the crowd. "I want to call a time-out in the process.… The draft EIS [analyzing proposed large-scale oil and gas drilling in the Jack Morrow Hills area of the Red Desert], in my judgment, doesn't frame the debate with enough space and enough vision. It does not match the quality, the beauty, the poetry and expanse of this land. I think that we need to...begin with the presumption that we can protect this landscape…"

The Secretary continued, "What I propose to do before the sun sets on the Red Desert is to instruct the BLM to prepare a supplemental draft EIS. I'm going to instruct the BLM to do that with a conservation alternative as the preferred alternative." (He got a standing ovation with that line, which later made the 10 pm TV news.)

The Secretary credited former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall and conservation activists for bringing the Red Desert to his attention. "You have brought the Red Desert out of the far corner of obscurity," he said.

Wrapping up his remarks, Secretary Babbitt enthused, "This landscape is a national landscape, a world-class landscape." But, he cautioned, the final decision on Red Desert protection will be made by the new administration. "The debate will continue.…Have at it!"

And then he departed into the twilight. The crowd filed out of the room, the film crews packed up their equipment and the chairs were stacked away.

Although the sun was setting, it's clear that it has not yet set on the Red Desert. With Secretary Babbitt's orders to the Wyoming BLM, we hope that a supplemental draft EIS with some form of a conservation alternative as the preferred alternative will be released by the agency in April or May. There will be another comment period before the final plan is issued.

Yes, the debate will continue.

And we are so close. So close to realizing the desert dreams of Tom Bell, Dick Randall, Dr. David Love, Tom Dustin and many others.

Only time will tell if the new administration will allow such a dream to be realized. If not, the Red Desert rats will indeed take up the gauntlet and "Have at it!"