[at-l] Majority of Americans Want More Wilderness

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>From ENS-news.com:

Majority of Americans Want More Wilderness

WASHINGTON, DC, January 28, 2003 (ENS) - More than six in 10 Americans do not
believe enough wilderness has been protected for future generations,
according to a new poll by Zogby International. The poll, conducted for the
Campaign for America's Wilderness, shows strong support for increased
wilderness protection across political parties, regions, age groups, ethnic
and religious backgrounds. More than two-thirds of respondents - 71 percent -
believe that 10 percent or more of all lands in the United States should be
protected as wilderness. When told that in fact only 4.7 percent of the land
in the U.S. has been permanently protected, almost two-thirds feel that is
"not enough." A majority of Republicans - 51 percent - said that 4.7 percent
is not enough wilderness, as did 70 percent of Independents and 72 percent of
Democrats. "The American people want to see more land preserved as
wilderness, and regardless of party or region of the country, they feel very
strongly about this," said John Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby
International. The new survey was released as the Bush administration
increases pressure to open much of the country's remaining unprotected
wildlands to energy exploration. Last week, the Interior Department issued a
draft proposal for widespread oil and gas leasing in the northwest part of
the nation's largest remaining block of unprotected public land: the National
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, or Western Arctic Reserve. Leasing this entire
area, home to some of America's most unique wildlife and wildlands, would be
the largest single onshore offering to industry in the nation's history. Tens
of millions of acres of wildlands across the western states, including
Alaska, are at risk from another Bush directive: a rule allowing an archaic
mining law to grant private "rights of way" across public wildlands,
permitting the bulldozing of a network of roads and highways through now
pristine public lands including national parks, forests and wildlife refuges.
"Support for permanent protection for wilderness has never been higher," said
Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness, a
national initiative to protect the nation's remaining wildlands. "People from
all walks of life, from every region of the country, across political and
ethnic lines value the solitude and recreational opportunities that
wilderness provides. As Americans deal with the threat of terrorism, an
impending war, and a troubled economy, our special wild places are clearly
more important to us than ever." The poll of 1,001 likely voters chosen at
random nationwide, was conducted January 4-6 as part of a larger poll by
Zogby International. The margin of error is +/- 3.2 percent. The new Zogby
numbers are consistent with polling about wilderness issues over the last
four years, as compiled by the Campaign for America's Wilderness and released
in a report titled "A Mandate to Protect America's Wilderness," available at:
<A HREF="http://www.leaveitwild.org/";>http://www.leaveitwild.org</A> The review, the first of its kind, includes all
recent major public opinion findings on wilderness issues by polling firms,
the media, and the U.S. Government's National Survey on Recreation and the
Environment, coordinated by the U.S. Forest Service. "The administration and
Congress must recognize that support for wilderness is strong and deep," said
Matz. "Congress can protect millions of acres of wilderness in states like
California, Idaho, Alaska, and Utah, and they can be confident that this is
exactly what their constituents want."