We need your help to stand up for real, wild, authentic Wilderness on America's public lands in Utah!

On July 14, 2016 Rep Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) – who are known for their anti-Wilderness and anti-public lands agenda – introduced the so-called “Utah Public Lands Initiative Act” (H.R. 5780) in Congress.

Wilderness Watch has just released a new, detailed analysis of the Wilderness provisions found in H.R. 5780, and as you might expect, the picture isn't pretty.

Despite designating 41 Wilderness areas in seven Utah counties, H.R. 5780 contains numerous special provisions that depart from the Wilderness Act and severely compromise the protections that would normally be afforded to areas designated as Wilderness.

For example, H.R. 5780 makes private livestock grazing the dominant use of any new Wilderness areas, despite the well-documented impacts to wildlife, watersheds, taxpayers and recreation values. The bill also contains provisions allowing road-building and water developments in the newly designated Wildernesses. These are just two examples of destructive provisions never before included in a Wilderness bill anywhere in the country!

As our executive director George Nickas points out, "The sheer number and types of special provisions in H.R. 5780 are unprecedented and ensure the Wildernesses designed by the bill would lack many of the protections afforded by the Wilderness Act. They would become what are referred to as WINOs— Wilderness In Name Only."

Make no mistake: There’s really nothing in H.R. 5780 for those who love the wild and value the protections afforded by the Wilderness Act.