Wilderness Always

A friend showed me this beautifully wild idea today that I hope you’ll support (thanks Chas). It’s a plan to designate three areas of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland as the nation’s first Grassland Wilderness. According to the site, here’s what you can do in a Wilderness:

Allowed in Wilderness Areas

• Hunting and fishing
• Hiking, backpacking, camping
• Horseback riding
• Birdwatching
• Rock collecting for personal use
• Livestock grazing and access, where already established
• Mining on pre-existing patented claims
• Rafting, canoeing, and kayaking
• Outfitting and guiding
• Wheelchairs (including certain motorized wheelchairs)
• Control of wildfires, insects, and disease outbreaks
• Access to private inholdings

Prohibited in Wilderness Areas

• Road building
• Logging
• Oil and gas drilling
• New mining claims
• New reservoirs, power lines and pipelines
• Motorized or mechanized vehicles like ATVs and mountain bikes

So, if you’re a South Dakotan, or if you’d like to visit the grasslands of South Dakota, please visit http://www.sdwildgrassland.org to learn about the plan, and then click on Get Involved for info on contacting our congress men and woman to show your support.

Sounds like a great spot for my next wilderness solo…