Redford sends letter: Save Utah canyons, protest Bush oil and gas giveaways

December 15, 3:55 PMSacramento Environmental News ExaminerHarry Osibin

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Redford-NRDC

Activist Robert Redford through the NRDC Action Fund Monday sent a letter via email encouraging citizens to mobilize in protest of the so-called "Midnight Hour" resource "giveaways" by the outgoing Bush administration.

The text:

We only have a few days left to mobilize one million Americans against the Bush-Cheney plan to auction off America's Redrock wilderness to oil and gas speculators.  Please FORWARD my message to everyone you know and help block this outrageous giveaway of our natural heritage.  Thank you for doing your part to save this natural treasure. -- Robert Redford.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Friend,

No one voted on Election Day to hand over Utah's Redrock
wilderness to oil companies.

But the Bush Administration cynically chose that very day to
advance an outrageous plan that will sell off leases for some
160,000 acres of spectacular Utah canyonlands to oil and gas
speculators.

While America was voting for Barack Obama and his vision of a
clean energy future, Bush and Cheney's underlings were
conspiring to plunder one of the crown jewels of our natural
heritage for their fossil fuel cronies.

The auction of Redrock country will take place on December 19.
At stake are world-renowned vistas near Canyonlands and Arches
National Parks, as well as near Dinosaur National Monument. The
highest bidders will earn the right to turn vast tracts of
pristine wilderness into industrial wastelands.

It's bad enough that Bush officials went behind the backs of the
American people with this disastrous scheme. But what's worse,
they didn't even tell their own National Park Service until
after the fact.

In my mind, this theft of our heritage goes beyond the cynical
-- it's criminal. What will be left to give to our children and
their children if we allow this administration, in a parting
shot, to destroy our legacy of public lands for short-term gain?

I hope you're as angry as I am about this blatant land grab,
because we've got to stop it -- and we have to act fast. The
NRDC Action Fund is mobilizing more than one million Americans
in an outpouring of protest over the coming days.

Send your own message of opposition immediately.

Tell the Bush Administration that you will not allow it to
destroy one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

We'll automatically send copies of your message to your two
senators, your representative and to the Obama transition team,
which has signaled their opposition to this disastrous attack on
our Redrock heritage.

The Bush Administration is racing to complete the auction of our
lands before Inauguration Day, which will make sales difficult
to reverse.

We must fend off this land grab now -- before the oil and gas
companies can lay claim to the spoils.

Those spoils include stretches of Desolation Canyon, which has
been proposed for national park status. Bush's own Interior
Department describes the canyon as "a place where a visitor can
experience true solitude -- where the forces of nature continue
to shape the colorful, rugged landscape."

The very idea of oil and gas operations invading these remote
sanctuaries -- which have remained untouched for millennia -- is
deeply upsetting. Once the dirty deed is done, our wilderness
can never be restored. That's why I'm asking you to help us
sound the alarm and organize now.

Tell the Bush Administration to cancel the Redrock auction.

Remind them that we the people are the rightful owners of this
majestic wilderness and that we won't stand for its destruction.

And thank you for joining with me and the NRDC Action Fund to
save these beautiful wildlands for all future generations.

Sincerely,

Robert Redford
NRDC Action Fund

Redford is a board member of NRDC. 

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