Dear voornaam, Even as our attention is commanded by the Trump administration's other horrors, our public lands are quietly sold to the highest bidders -- the fossil fuel companies. The Bureau of Land Management has opened environmentally vulnerable lands to oil and gas companies. Hundreds of thousands of acres in places near Arches National Park and Bears Ears and Hovenweep National Monuments have been leased in auctions, sometimes for prices as low as $2 per acre. And now they've added land in Nevada, Colorado and Utah -- including parcels outside Capitol Reef National Park. Interior Secretary Zinke seems obsessed with releasing our cherished public lands -- including areas in and near our national parks and monuments -- to mining profiteers, without any thought for the damage done. They clearly know this is wrong -- they're holding these auctions online to dodge public protests, while they sell off as much land as possible. We need your help to put a stop to this travesty. Your monthly gift will help mobilize our grassroots to immediately fight back against these shady auctions and rally pro-environment members of Congress to protect our public lands from further attacks. And a generous donor has offered to chip in $50 for every new monthly donor who signs up. Rush your emergency monthly gift to protect public lands and all of our vital resources. A generous donor will chip in $50 to make your impact go even further. In a September oil and gas lease sale, the BLM is proposing to lease more than 18,000 acres on the eastern border of Great Sand Dunes National Park, directly abutting the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. Our powerful coalition there has generated thousands of comments to Secretary Zinke and the BLM opposing these lease sales. The administration won't heed scientific research about the dangers of poisoned air and water. They ignore the pleas of indigenous people to spare sacred Tribal sites, as recently occurred when they split up and reduced the size of Bears Ears National Monument, ignoring years of advocacy for protection by a coalition of tribal leaders. They don't even listen to their own National Park Service when they testify about the loss of habitat for endangered species or the effect of environmental degradation on tourist revenue -- who wants to camp where gas flares obscure the night sky or where animal habitats have been destroyed? With new lease sales planned across the country every three months, we will continue to work with Tribal nations and local coalitions to protect sacred sites and critical habitat for endangered species, along with the pure water and pure air we all rely on. We are fighting the September sale, and preparing to go to court if necessary. Please take a moment right now to become a valued monthly donor -- and you'll unlock a bonus $50 match. Your contribution will empower the Sierra Club to bring this tragedy out of the darkness and into the glare of public awareness. You and I have the power to fight them in Congress, in the courts of law, and in the court of public opinion. Let's take action today before these precious areas are drilled and fracked out of recognition. Thank you for standing with us. Michael Brune Executive Director Sierra Club Capitol Reef Park Photo: CC2.0/Francesca Cappa. |