Justice Alert: UUA Defending Public Lands Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) Actions – Wilderness Area Reviews
The following commenting projects are being initiated by the Department of the Interior asking their agencies (the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service) to initiate general reviews of their policies and practices regarding wilderness areas. All of them must adhere to the Wilderness Act of 1964. The administration is looking for the means to circumvent environmental protections on all wilderness lands and is trying to do so in whatever way they possibly change, especially if they can avoid dealing with Congress. These are absolutely critical policies and procedures and need to be maintained, even strengthened, not weakened or eliminated. Please use the links to get some background information and talking points. Some of the same language can be used for all of them, some points are specific the agency.
We need to send in comments opposing these reviews.
Comment on August 14, 2026 - BLM 6230 Manual Review
Comment on August 14, 2026 - BLM 6330 Manual Review
Comment on August 14, 2026 - BLM 6340 Manual Review
Comment on August 14, 2026 - NPS Director's Order #41 Review
Comment on August 14, 2026 - USFS Section 610 Review
UUA Defending Public Lands AIW Actions – Virginia Mining Project
VA Outer Continental Shelf Mining Project
Comments due by August 22, 2026. The documentation and instructions for commenting on the seabed mining project off the cost of Virginia in the Outer Continental Shelf are here.
Even though this project is happening in Virginia, it has implications for the Pacific Northwest coastal and outer continental shelf lands and waters. On November 13, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) received an unsolicited request from Odyssey Marine Exploration to lease hard minerals in an area on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore of Virginia
UUA Defending Public Lands AIW Actions – Bear Lodge Pit Mine Project
Comments due by August 28, 2026. Background information and comment instructions are here.
The U.S. Forest Service has announced that Rare Element Resources Inc. has submitted a Mine Plan of Operations near the Devil’s Tower National Monument in the Bear Lodge Mountains in Black Hills National Forest in Crook County in Wyoming. The mine is to be located 14 miles from Devil's Tower National Monument and 6 miles north of Sundance, Wyoming. The project will be a pit mine for rare earth elements like radioactive uranium and thorium among other elements. The proposed Bull Hill or Bear Lodge mine site is situated in the Bear Lodge Mountains which are a part of the Black Hills National Forest. The Black Hills are sacred to many Tribes and Nations in the region.
UUA Defending Public Lands AIW Actions – Oppose the Fix Our Forests Act
The documentation and instructions for opposing the Fix Our Forests Act are here.
The Fix Our Forests Act has already passed the House and is waiting in the Senate. The Act while sounding good, has some provisions in that are alarming. The Act would streamline environmental reviews, reduce Tribal consultation, hampers filing injunctions to stop projects, doesn't address climate change impacts, ignores recreation usage, doesn't address the real causes of wildfires and doesn't account for the cuts in budgets and manpower to implement the projects.
UUA Defending Public Lands AIW Actions – Oppose the Wildfire Prevent Act
The documentation and instructions for opposing the Wildfire Prevention Act are here.
The Wildfire Prevention Act is waiting in the Senate. The Act has several issues but the most glaring of these is the move to permanently eliminate the Roadless Rule. The Act would permanently eliminate the Roadless Rule and ban the ability to create anything else like it. It would prevent agency leads and the courts from restoring it. Only another to restore it is through an Act of Congress signed by the President. The Act also increase the number projects that will bypass or will be streamlined in the environmental review process, significantly increase timber harvesting by 40% by 2029, reduces Tribal consultation and does not address climate change or tthe real causes of wildfires.