The Town of Kent, in Putnam County, NY, apparently intends to use hydrofracking waste on their roads as part of their snow-removal plans once it becomes available. Several weeks ago the town scuttled an attempt by the county to pass a resolution banning the use of fracking waste on all roads in the county based on a “home rule” issue, that the county cannot pass laws for the towns. The county bill, which eventually passed, now covers only county roads and encourages the towns to create their own. But Kent, … [Read More]

GOP-backed bill is most serious attack on America’s Wilderness Act in history | The Raw Story.

“But this great legacy of American Wilderness is essentially destroyed by H.R. 4089 in several key ways.

First, H.R. 4089 elevates hunting, fishing, shooting, and wildlife management above wilderness protection within designated wilderness areas. Visitors or wildlife managers could drive motor vehicles and build roads, cabins, dams, hunting blinds, aircraft landing strips, and much more in wildernesses if any of these activities could be rationalized as facilitating opportunities for hunting, fishing, shooting, or managing fish and wildlife.

The only limitation in H.R. 4089 on motor vehicles or development is that the activity must be related to hunting, fishing, shooting, or wildlife management, though that need not be its only or even primary use. In reality, almost any recreational or management activity could be shoehorned into one of these exceptions and thereby exempted from Wilderness Act safeguards.

Perhaps even more troubling, H.R. 4089 would waive protections imposed by the Wilderness Act for anything undertaken in the name of wildlife management or for providing recreational opportunities related to wildlife. This would allow endless manipulations of wildlife and [...]